rhcrayon: The Blog! - 15 Books

Oct. 6th, 2010

12:12 am - 15 Books

I've been tagged by Wendy for the "15 Books" meme on Facebook. Since my entries on LiveJournal automatically post to FB as Notes, I thought I'd go ahead and do this on LJ first.

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Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note.)

- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
- The Bartimaeus Trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
- Holes, by Louis Sachar
- Half Magic, by Edward Eager
- The Changeling, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
- The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
- Interview With The Vampire, by Anne Rice
- Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
- A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
- The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks
- The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Watership Down, by Richard Adams
- There Must Be More To Life Than Having Everything, by Maurice Sendak
- The Sea-Thing Child, by Russell Hoban
- The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston

I'm embarrassed by my list--especially as I can't remember much of Interview With The Vampire and have the sneaking suspicion Good Omens wasn't good. It's a little ambiguous what "always stick with you" means. I'm counting those two as half.

My 17th pick would be Tuesday, by David Wiesner.

I just finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell three days ago, so I'm deep in the thrall of that book. The Bartimaeus Trilogy (another cheat, since that's three books) comes partly in association with that, I'm sure. But I'm gambling both of those oeuvres are sticking with me for good.

:)
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Wow, what a singular portrait of me this is. And that wasn't even the first reason I was embarrassed.

Tagging via Facebook. Feel free to join in!

Oh! I forgot The Princess and The Goblin, by George MacDonald! One of these others has got to go.

Tags: arrested development, college, memes, remembrances of things past, responses to friends' blogs, rita book today, the embodiment of perfection

(5 rounds of rousing discussion | Comments welcome!)

Comments:

From:	rhcrayon
Date:	October 6th, 2010 05:01 pm (UTC)

20 Books

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My 18th or 19th pick would be Behind the Attic Wall, by Sylvia Cassedy. I'll be very impressed if anyone else remembers that book--though it's still in print and is amazing. I've never heard anyone else mention it!

My 20th book would be Chicken Soup With Rice, by Maurice Sendak.

Edited at 2010-10-06 05:35 pm (UTC)

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From:	jc_shipper
Date:	October 6th, 2010 05:15 pm (UTC)

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I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I've let my reading slide of late, but here is what comes to mind:

1. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
2. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E. L. Konigsburg
3. Little House in the Big Woods/Farmer Boy/The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery
5. Rabbit Hill, by Robert Lawson
6. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck
9. Ramona and Beezus, by Beverly Cleary
10. The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
11. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
12. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
13. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
14. Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell
15. The Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey & Gustaff Tenggren

It didn't feel right including the book series that occupied me through the years: Nancy Drew, Elizabeth Gail Johnson, Star Trek:TNG, Star Wars, etc. Those I remember more as a group, not for individual installations. #14 is my serious entry - though it is apparent that I much prefer fiction to nonfiction, I do get a little serious reading in from time to time, lol. The last one is the very first book title that I can recall - I think my mom still has it tucked away somewhere. :)

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From:	rhcrayon
Date:	October 6th, 2010 05:35 pm (UTC)

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Ooh, Jackie. Your list is a thing of beauty. I was surprised to see no Star Trek:TNG until your disclaimer. :D

A lot of your books are pretty high up there for me. Especially Fahrenheit 451!!

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From:	juvin
Date:	October 13th, 2010 04:50 pm (UTC)

15 books

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One way I interpreted "always stick with you" was that reading the book changed my beliefs/behavior in some way. I think that's why I had so many weird non-fiction titles on my list :)

I was always curious to read Holes by Louis Sachar but held off because it seemed so angstful. Have you seen the movie? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311289/

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From:	rhcrayon
Date:	October 21st, 2010 07:49 am (UTC)

Re: "stuck with me"

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So I've concluded that the reason this list adds up so directly to the book I'm working on is that these are the books I've connected, in my mind, to the book I'm working on! Hence, the feeling these books are "with" me. And hence, the list I spit up in response to this meme.

Mystery solved.

(Some of the books are also ones I credit for having influenced how I write. Same idea.)

We saw Holes. I'm a firm believer in not watching a movie too soon after having read the book. Damon read it right before and got super annoyed with Disney for beating us over the head with some of the connections (cf. not just the voiceover but image overlay that happens at one point). I thought the film was . . . benign.

What did you think?

I highly recommend the book. I suppose the outlook in it could feel harsh to some, but it was a hugely satisfying read for me. I'm all over it!

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