So, um, what was the topic again? Is it favorite books? Or is it
what I'm reading now? You know, it's a lot easier writing for a blog
with assigned topic days than it is taking a creative writing class.
Beats the pants off of "now take ten minutes and talk about the first
time you experienced hormone-related keening sadness," you know? More
fun to read, too.
OK. Let's go. Books! I love books. From the ages of 12 to about 30, my three favorite books were:
I'm sure that those choices (and the fact that they didn't change
for almost twenty years) say a LOT about me, but I just want to say
that immaturity is good, and when you get to middle age, immaturity
morphs into what they call "a certain freshness."
So there. Besides, the phrase "Her tongue slid past mine like hot
glass" still floats in my brain on occasion, and frankly, "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold"
never LEFT my brain. Shaw is just brilliant. Snide, savvy, with
devastating social criticism skills that leave you snickering into your
tea.
Talking about fiction is hard. It's easier if you use a nom de plume, of course, but still, if it's done properly it can really piss people off.
Years ago, I met someone. She was what was known as the "family
intellectual" in her family, and apparently the whole family (dumb as
rocks, all of them) would, like, practice their cheerleading routines
while she lectured them on her writing tastes. Within the first five
minutes of our meeting, I casually mentioned that John Irving should be
burned at the stake for inserting gratuitous sleaze into his fiction as
a way to wake up his readers (can you tell me that having your penis bitten off
is a classic literary device? I thought not). Well, he was her
favorite writer in the world, and our social interactions have been of
the chilly, handshake variety every since. Darn.
What I mean to say is that I will refrain from criticizing your pet books today. I will be nice. Soft. Snuggly.
Here are some of my favorite books:
Confederacy of Dunces
I
do not like gratuitous disgustingness in books. And this hero is
utterly revolting. But the character and book as a whole fit perfectly
together. It will make you laugh out loud. An awesome book.
Little, Big
A big, beautiful, brilliantly-written fantasy book.
Ngaio Marsh - all of her mysteries
Re-read all of these while nursing. Note: small paperbacks work best for this.
The Beekeeper's Apprentice and the rest of the series
Laurie
King actually pulls off creating a wife for Sherlock Holmes.
Seriously. This is a very well-written book set. I like it a lot.
Fun. Take it to the beach.
Robertson Davies: The Trilogies, probably starting with the Deptford Trilogy
I love these books. All of them. Robertson Davies
was a brilliant writer and when he died, I kept a clipping on my
refrigerator for years. From them you can learn about the theatre,
Canadian history, Jungian archetypes, geeking (as in "carnival"),
magic, running a nonprofit, operatic singing, and so forth. Davies was
one of our generation's most profoundly gifted writers.
The Death of Vishnu
I love this book. Here's my review of it (AND Confederacy of dunces, as it happens) from LibraryThing.com (which I also love).
But let's take a break and talk about tools, shall we? You're
reading this on a computer. Will you actually write these names down?
I don't think so. Let me introduce you to Librarything.
If you love books, check it out. Every time I log into it, I come away
with three or four new ideas for what to read, and now I just buy books
used online. Here, for example, are the books that I have tagged as "best" in my personal library. And here is a look at the best and the most-tagged books on the site. Enjoy. My gift to you.
Currently Reading
In case it's not already clear (or you're not already asleep), I am
serious about my reading. Well, I'll cut this as short as I can. Here
are the some of the books open at my bedside.
Freud on the Ganges
A Christmas present from my husband. I first heard of Sr. Salman Akhtar through this amazing speech titled "The Lure of Fundamentalism." Brilliant cultural insights that give us great insight to fundamentalism all over the world. "In my way of thinking, to be mentally healthy and to be sane is not an easy thing."
Sally Chapman: Raw Data
Found
this at a used bookstore. Sally Chapman has managed to write the best
silicon valley mysteries that I've read. They're a bit dated, but she
does a very good job.
Travels with Charlie, by John Steinbeck. Beautiful book.
Playful Parenting
- because my husband beats the pants off at me for sitting down and
having "quality play time" with trucks, Pokemon, and so forth.
(Luckily, this books says that grabbing my kid and tickling him is good
too.)
An awesome, out of print book called "Push Back the Chairs" that I
cannot find on the internet. It is written by a teacher of 20 years,
who talks about the passion-filled projects that he did with his
students throughout the years (and boy could some of our teachers
nowadays read this book!)
The Golden Gate,
by Vikram Seth, because I wanted to re-read the wonderfully hilarious
silicon valley novel written as sonnets (honest!) by Seth, who is a
genius.
... about 20 more, but I won't bore you, although check this one out!
So that's it. Too many books, but it's a typical day. And how is your reading life, my dumplings?
This first appeared on the Silicon Valley Mom's blog
