All About Books
A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.
-Jerry Seinfeld
I’ve never been considered a book worm. Although I’ve read my share of books, I seem to collect them even more than I read them. The first book I remember being stirred by was a family copy of Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales. The pictures on the cover were deeply disturbing to me as a child, but that’s what drew me to them. My father read Anderson’s “The Snow Queen” to me, and it’s haunted me ever since.
The following meme theme on books was sent to me by Lora at Black Currant Jam and is being passed on to my sister Kathy, a voracious reader, at A Particularly Persistent Point of View. My answers are below:
Total books owned, ever: This is like asking me how many times I’ve eaten spaghetti? Between my husband and me, we can fill a new bookshelf every few years. We both have a weakness for books.
Last Book I bought: Does the $100 gift certificate I won from the Easy Chair bookstore at the last poetry slam count? So far I got “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair” by Pablo Neruda, “The Gold Cell” by Sharon Olds, “Vintage Hughes,” poetry by Langston Hughes, and “A Year by the Sea,” by Joan Anderson (curious after reading her second book first). The last book I bought with cash was “The Hidden Messages in Water,” by Masaru Emoto, which I wrote about here.
Last book I read: I have a lot of books going at once. I lean towards non-fiction, and I confess that I often don’t finish books. I read about ¾ of “Who Let the Blogs Out” before I had to bring it back to the library. I’m just starting “Beauty: The Invisible Embrace” by John O’Donohue, which was a birthday gift. The last book I read from cover to cover was “A Walk on the Beach: Tales of Wisdom from an Unconventional Woman” by Joan Anderson. I bought it and read while I was at the beach in St. Augustine, Florida, this past winter. I particularly liked that this memoir was set in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, near where I grew up.
Five books that mean a lot to me: This is like winning an academy award and trying to remember all the people you want to thank…so says my blogger “more about me” bio in answer to the question ‘what are your favorite books?’ Today I might say:
“Jayber Crow” by Wendell Berry: A fiction that tells the truth about what agri-business does to small town rural life as told by the local barber. Also, a poignant love story.
“The Bones of the Master” by George Crane: A poet and exiled Buddhist monk living in Woodstock NY make a pilgrimage into Inner Mongolia to search for the bones of the monk’s teacher. A compelling and well told true story.
“Writing Down the Bones” by Natalie Goldberg: Although I can’t write in noisy cafés like Natalie does, I enjoy all her books about writing, and this one started it all. She speaks my language.
“Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt: I do prefer true stories. This one is about growing up in riveting poverty as an Irish Catholic, here in the U.S. and in Ireland. McCourt masterfully calls up his inner child and tells the story through that voice. I tapped into my own genetic pool and found my Irish accent while reading parts of this book out loud to my youngest son. (The movie didn’t come close to living up to the book.)
On another day or in another decade, I might say: “The Soul of Sex” by Thomas Moore, “The Spell of the Sensuous” by David Abram, “How the Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill, “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn, “The Mists of Avalon,” “The Aquarian Conspiracy,” “The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You,” or “The Earthsea Trilogy.”
What do you have to say about books?
June 16th, 2005 11:26 am
We’re All Doing Time is a classic by Bo Lozoff who teaches prisoners (and the rest of us) how to use their cell time for spiritual/humnaistic evolvement.His recent book is exceptional as well – It’s a Meaningful Life: It Just Takes Practice. His books can be found through his foundation’s websight at Humankindness.org
Another gem he turned me onto was “Finding Freedom” by Jarvis Jay Masters a death row inmate on the very path Bo encourages. Going On Being – by Mark Epstein is the best comparative narrative i’ve ever read regarding eastern and western psychology. Ishmael and all of Daniel Quinn’s books are high on my list. P.S. your husband gifted you with walk on the beach prior to our last trip to the beach.
June 16th, 2005 11:29 am
of course i also am partial to that little jewel by Credman, the J&D Stories.
June 16th, 2005 11:43 am
Thanks for catching up, joeyk and for the book. I had forgotten you bought it for me. xo
June 16th, 2005 12:37 pm
Angela’s Ashes was a fantastic book. Made me cry.. ‘course that’s not saying much ;0) Great list…some new reads thanks!
June 16th, 2005 12:37 pm
Angela’s Ashes was a fantastic book. Made me cry.. ‘course that’s not saying much ;0) Great list…some new reads thanks!
June 16th, 2005 12:37 pm
Angela’s Ashes was a fantastic book. Made me cry.. ‘course that’s not saying much ;0) Great list…some new reads thanks!
June 16th, 2005 1:37 pm
Hi Colleen – since you know two Jeanne bloggers, I thought I would differentiate myself by adding my last initial. I too love Natalie Goldberg. I have her “Essential Writer’s Notebook” and I am always using it. Do you read any Annie Dillard? If you haven’t, I think you would love her. Her “The Writing Life,” “Teaching A Stone To Talk,” and “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” are among my favorites. I love to read, but, just like you, I find myself acquiring books more than reading them. There is always a pile on my nightstand, and even more on the bookshelves in the living room just waiting for me to crack them open.
June 16th, 2005 2:34 pm
The Tao of Pooh; Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence by Robert Pirsig; Soul’s Code by James Hillman; Word for World is Forest by Ursula LeGuinn; The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk
June 16th, 2005 4:03 pm
Would you believe the only book you mentioned that I’ve read is The Mists of Avalon, which I have enkoyed several times. I use to be an incredible bookworm, but I find that now I’m more interested in books then I am in actually sitting down and reading them. I hate not finishing them, but I find that I tend to do this more and more.
I just found out for sure today that an old friend of mine has been lurking for a while so I’m a little less jealous now. I will definitely check out Kathy’s blog.
June 16th, 2005 4:07 pm
I love book memes. Yours was great. Some very neat ideas for the list. The Seinfeld quote at the top was really neat and fit perfectly. Great post.
June 16th, 2005 6:12 pm
Colleen, I remember having Shirley Temple paper dolls as well as the Andrews sisters and some movie stars. Too bad we didn’t keep all of them. My mom kept almost everything else; she was a pack rat extrordinaire, but not that stuff.
June 16th, 2005 9:02 pm
Hi Coll, My house is bursting with books! I love books so much. Matthew’s room is also filled to the brim and he has become an incredible reader. This is a mother’s dream. I couldn’t have asked for more. Most nights we have to pry the book out of his hand so he’ll go to bed!
June 16th, 2005 9:47 pm
I meant to mention my favorite book earlier… I can’t stop re-reading it, which is also a reason why I don’t get through as many books as I’d like. Anyway, it’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” I’m more like Jay Gatsby than I would care to admit!
June 17th, 2005 9:37 am
I am apparently alone among the bookworms in that I don’t actually need to own that many books-I regularly purge my shelves with nary a whimper. But I read A LOT; good books, so-so books, literature, trashy novels, biographies, memoirs.
Saturday was library day last week and since then I’ve read Jodi Piccoult’s “Vanishing Acts,” Earlene Fowler’s “Delectable Mountains,” Stephen White’s “The Best Revenge,” and Susan Wiggs’ “Table for Five.”
This week I’m moving into more nonfiction. I have those Joan Anderson books you mentioned on order right now.
June 17th, 2005 1:34 pm
Great blog, I havent really come across many avid readers or book people and its nice to read about someones interest when it reflects your own in so many ways….
Angela’s Ashes is a wonderful book, so much so I have just lent it to a non reader as there first book to get them started.
Thanx for the visit BTW
June 21st, 2005 10:47 am
Total books owned, ever: I have absolutely no idea. My family tends to shuffle books around from person to person, so they rarely go away…but who OWNS them? I dunno. I’d say at the moment my books and my seven-year-old daughter’s books together number well into five-six hundred range. When I get off the computer I am going to finish building the bookshelf I started yesterday. My goal for the summer is to have ALL my books on shelves by the end of August. It will be the first time in probably 10 years.
Last Book I bought: For myself–‘Fuel’ by Naomi Shihab Ny. For a friend: ‘The moon is always female’ by Marge Piercy.
Last book I read: ‘Gut Synmmetries’ by Jeanette Winterson.
Five books that mean a lot to me:
‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ by Robert Heinlein.
‘Living in the Open’ by Marge Piercy
‘The dream of a common language’ by Adrienne Rich
‘Writing on the Body’ by Jeanette Winterson
‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams
Like all of you, this list might change on any given day.
~Mara
June 21st, 2005 11:23 am
Mara, whenever I use a ~ I feel like I’m stealing your signature. I think you were the first that made me even notice that symbol on the key board.
June 21st, 2005 12:10 pm
Ah! My tilde~ I don’t think it is used quite enough, so that is ALWAYS my electronic signature.
My book list has already changed. I have to add:
‘Bird by bird’ by Anne Lamott
‘Prodigal Summer’ by Barbara Kingsolver
and
‘Muses Like Moonlight’and ‘The Jim and Dan Stories’ by Colleen herredself, poet laureate of Floyd County.
June 21st, 2005 6:38 pm
Hey, Colleen, thanks for your visit. It’s nice to meet you. Floyd County has two terrific writers, it would seem. (Don’t tell the other one I included him in that statement though. We don’t want it to go to his head.)
Your mention of Thomas Moore made me realize I should have included him in my list of five books. His “Care of the Soul” changed the way I approach the Big Questions. I completely forgot about it when I was writing my entry.
I’ll be back.