Camp HappyBadFun!

Finally! The Long Awaited and Highly Anticipated Literary Meme! YAY!!!

I got tagged for the literary meme by Songstress of News From The Great Beyond several weeks ago and it’s taken me this long to get my act together and put my thoughts down. Summer fun and all that stuff, ya know!

The topic of books is a highly regarded and deeply personal subject to me. I have always loved books. When I was a girl, I think my first friends were in book form. There was Meg-- a young Nancy Drew type girl with mystery and adventure never more than a decrepit stairway-leading-to-nowhere away. There was Lucy and Edmund, and a girl who discovered a talking dinosaur…there was Laura Ingalls and Fern and Wilbur. Yes, these were my first friends and my fondness for them has not waned with the passage of time.

When my children were young there was barely enough time for the talking, breathing friends let alone the printed ones. At other times, they were my escape from the hustle and bustle of life and I’d hurry through my day just to get to my books. Regardless of my circumstances, these friends were always there for me, awaiting my return.

Over the past three years something that has been a concern has been my inability to sit down and read a book. That may not be a big deal to many people, but tell a pianist her fingers will never make music again, or a singer that he’ll never sing again and then you’ll understand how I have felt at times. It’s been a HUGE frustration.

So on with the meme and my long and sometimes tenuous romance with books…

What is the total number of books you have ever owned?

Ok...here's the thing: I am not a person who feels compelled to own every book I’ve ever read. Some books are good for one read; other books beckon every few years and some books, whether I read them again or not (and I most likely will) demand to be owned. I loaned my Chronicles of Narnia set out then promptly forgot who I’d loaned it to. A few weeks ago, I decided it was time for Natie to start reading them and horror of horrors—they were gone! I called my sister in law because I vaguely recalled loaning them to her daughter when I realized she’d NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THEM (yeah…I had to pretend not to be totally and utterly appalled, too) and she said they weren’t there. All I know is, I made a decision right then and there: If these books don’t show up very very soon, I WILL be buying that set again and it WILL be leather-bound at that!

Rocket Man, on the other hand, wants to own every book that was ever written with the possible exception of the literary endeavors of Jackie Collins and the White House pets. As a result, we have no less than approximately 600 books at any given time in our home with the vast majority belonging to him. And he’s pretty good about reading them, too, or at least portions of them. I’ve had to learn to appreciate his reading style. He usually has a minimum of 3-4 books going at any one time. Depending on his mood and interest, he’ll glean from one of them then move on to another. He may never even finish a book but he’s gotten out of it what he wanted and that’s good enough for him.

What is the last book you purchased?

I bought The #1 Ladies Detective Agency and Seabiscuit last week because I was having trouble getting into The Hobbit. My boys demanded that I read it but the thing is, I DID read The Hobbit when I was in high school, I just didn’t LOVE it the way they LOVE it so they’ve insisted that I couldn’t have possibly been in my right mind because no woman who gave birth to them could NOT love The Hobbit unless she’s “not our mother…hmmm…”. So, yes, I was attempting to prove my parentage to these little punks but I finally decided I’d rather read something else and let them wonder who their real mother is. ;-)

What is the last book you read?

The last book that I read was Seabiscuit. Hillenbrand does a masterful job of telling the tale of this remarkable horse and the characters whose lives were intertwined with his. If you enjoyed the movie, you’ll find the book to be even more fascinating. Also, I read The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis last night. Phenomenal essay but reading that before bedtime is akin to eating a big fat steak right before bed. It was just a little too heavy for late-night consumption and had my mind spinning relentlessly.

What are five books that mean a lot to you?

The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge~ If ever there was a book that has touched me to the core of my being, it is this book. I can’t actually say I discovered it because the truth is, it discovered me. 3 years ago with 5 years of homeschooling under my belt, I hit the wall and was sliding down it with all the finesse of a splattered egg on a hot day when this book captured my heart and rescued me. 3 years later, it still has the profound ability to cut through the veneer and speak directly to the heart. I love this book with every fiber of my being.

Anna Karenina~ I read Anna Karenina last year. It was, without a doubt, my Mt. Everest. I was in the middle of my gloomy reading funk when a friend, who had written a book, asked me to “proof” it. It was “lite fare” but got me into the water after a long dry spell. Hoping to at least stay on shore, I promptly started reading a trilogy I’d previously read and loved. I was barely getting my toes wet but I was in the water and that’s what counted. Next, I read “The Secret Life of Bees” and absolutely loved it and from there, I knew it was time to leave the shallow waters and dive in head first into the deep dark waters of a classic novel.

I went to the book store and immediately eyed Anna Karenina. Man oh man….it was 830 pages of Russian literature! I knew it was a big leap but I had to do it. I had to jump in over my head and see if I could swim. I bought it, got into my car, and promptly broke down crying. It’s one thing for a singer to sing “Mary had a little Lamb” but quite another to sing an aria from “La Bohéme”. I was completely overwhelmed. It took about 2 months but I’m proud to say that I read every last page of that book. And I’d like to go on record as saying that Leo Tolstoy is HIGHLY overrated. Now there was a man with a great deal of time on his hands writing for people with even more on theirs. Oy vie…I should at least get a t-shirt with “I read Anna Karenina. Why? Because it was there.”

Jane Eyre~ this was the first “classic” that I read and completely fell in love with it. The first 5 chapters are a bit dry but if you can get past that…it’s just a fabulous story.

The Chronicles of Narnia~ I didn’t discover The Chronicles until I was in high school. I devoured the series and then promptly turned around and started it all over again. I think I’ve read the complete series 4 times with a few of my favorites edging towards 6 and 7 times. If you haven’t read them, I highly recommend you do so before the movie comes out this Christmas!

So there you have it! Everything you never wanted to know about me and books! :-)

Btw...thanks to everybody for their great summer reading suggestions in the comments section to my previous post. I will be armed and dangerous when I enter the doors of Barnes and Noble this weekend!

Posted by PamCHBF at July 13, 2005 10:17 PM | TrackBack