Friday, September 08, 2006

Book Love

I've been toying with a way to write about some of my favorite books without boring the jiminy cricket out of you. You'll be pleased to know I haven't figured it out, but I'm going to press ahead anyway. You see, someday, years from now, when Madeline and Connor are in their 20s or 30s, they'll have an overwhelming desire to read some of my favorite books. (Shut up. Yes, they will.) Fortunately, all they'll have to do is flip to page 31 (that would be this post) of the leather-bound collection of my writings available at any good bookstore.

I loves me some books. I can remember being in elementary school and reading "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" because I discovered it was listed at a higher reading level than I "should" have been at. Didn't actually like the book that much -- I can still picture the "Murder She Wrote" gal on the cover -- but it got me into the habit of seeking out books that would force me to think a bit. (No disrespect intended toward "Sweet Valley High," Erin.)

It was also about that time I realized the daily ever-lovin' eternity I spent on Bus 13 passed quickly if I had a book to read. So on that bumpy yellow dog I fostered a reputation as a stuck-up smartypants by burying my nose in books like "Let the Circle Be Unbroken" and "The Red Badge of Courage." "Circle" was my gentle introduction -- through the eyes of four precocious black children in a loving family -- to segregation and racism. "Red Badge" was the first time I'd seen fighting and war portrayed in a way that was neither glamorous nor heroic.

In about seventh grade, there was a miniseries on TV called "North and South." Some of you might remember it for having kick started Patrick Swayze's career. (And aren't we all eternally grateful for "Roadhouse"?)

Well, we just had one TV at home, and Dad was not the type to commit to a miniseries (particularly since he avoids stories about "dogs, Indians and the Civil War"). So every morning during gym, I'd listen to my friends gush about Orry and Madeline and how wonderfabulous it all was. So I went to the library and checked out the book (the first in a trilogy by John Jakes). It was like entering another world. Anytime I could be reading it, I was. Same for the concluding books in the series. When one of the main characters was killed, I cried like a pregnant woman reading Nicholas Sparks and moped for two days. (No, I don't know why Madeline cried when the visiting team scored a touchdown last week. Her dramatic flair is a complete mystery to me.)

In high school, I read a bunch of Dean Koontz books, which introduced me to the idea of magical realism -- something I would come to appreciate even more in college with books by the awesomely original Alice Hoffman ("Practical Magic"), Isabel Allende ("The House of the Spirits") and Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("One Hundred Years of Solitude.") Long before Oprah gave "Solitude" her gold-minting seal of approval, my Latin teacher, Mrs. Lemmon, passed copies out to her graduating seniors with the charge: "Read it." We did.

Books have almost always been a way to escape for me. And I'm certainly not living a life of silent desperation; I just LOVE being transported into other people's stories. For that reason, I stick mostly with fiction. I couldn't possibly list all my favorites, because I'd leave too many off. So I've walked around my house collecting books off the shelves. I'll try to organize them into some semblance of categories. Pay attention now, because when I'm done, I hope you'll reciprocate.

Classics (modern and old):

"A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.
In junior high, our honors English teacher got it in her crazy head that we were plenty old enough to do a research paper. (God bless her.) For whatever reason, I chose Charles Dickens and read "A Tale." We're all familiar with the first few lines: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ..." Besides being an epic run-on sentence (You know I'm a stickler for complete sentences. She said. Sarcastically.), it's not a half-bad opening line. Better even than, "It was a dark and stormy night." The rest of the chapter was pretty much a bore, however, as it just sets up The Times for us. But the story kicks off in Chapter 2, and from that moment on, I was hooked. Up until then, I was pretty much clueless about the French Revolution. This book made me care.

"All The King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren.
I would never have read this book had it not been forced on me by my Southern Lit prof at A&M (along with "The Bear" by Faulkner). Ostensibly, it's a fictionalized telling of the life of Louisiana's most infamous politician, Gov. Huey Long. What it ends up being more about (for me) is how his right-hand man refuses, ultimately, to shed his idealism. It's got everything -- including a Pulitzer Prize.

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison.
Another Pulitzer winner. This book is dadgum fabulous. It blows my mind. Set several years after the Civil War, it involves the loss of a child, a runaway slave, a terrible secret, desire, hope, a haunting. Amazing read.

"Franny and Zooey" by J.D. Salinger.
This was originally published in two parts in "The New Yorker." J.D. Salinger is an incredible talent, who frustrates the tar out of me by being such a whack job he won't publish any more of his stuff. You just KNOW his house is full of manuscripts collecting dust bunnies. "Franny and Zooey" is the story of two remarkable siblings who are part of an equally remarkable family. It's just a sweet, melancholy telling of Franny's spiritual struggle and her brother's response. When I read this, it made me want to be smarter.

"All the Pretty Horses" by Cormac McCarthy.
OK. If I HAD to pick a favorite book of all time. This would be it. (I've never seen the movie.) I picked this one up from a display table at a bookstore when Roy and I were living in Dublin in '94. We had just finished college and were doing the expatriate thing, living hand-to-mouth and trying to make friends. It rained all the time. It was beautiful. It was lonely. So when I saw this was a coming-of-age story about a 16-year-old Texan, who travels to Mexico, it struck a chord in me. I wasn't 16 and I sure wasn't in Mexico, but I felt a kinship in the adventure of leaving what you know for what you don't without much more than what's in your pockets.

Y'all. It's just about the most beautiful thing I've ever read. And I don't mean beautiful pretty. I mean lyrical, transcendental, haunting.

"Gift From the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
This book was a wonderful gift from a wonderful woman who, for a very short period, took me under her wing. Lindbergh (yes, that Lindbergh -- who's husband was a wealthy aviator and whose baby was tragically kidnapped) was in her own right a very gifted author. "Gift From the Sea" is a collection of beautiful meditations -- using the ocean and its shells as her muse -- about what it means to be a woman at different stages in life.



After I read this and marked it up a bit, I gave it to my mother who made notations of her own and then returned it. What a treasure.

Just plain good stories:
I could go on forevuh here, so I'll just list three.

"Cold Mountain" by Charles Frazier.
This is one of the best books I've read in the past six years. (Yes, I saw the movie and liked it too.) What I love most about it is how the main female character, Ada, makes the journey from a smart, pretty, genteel, useless woman who can't even stand up to the yard rooster to a person of internal fortitude and strength. At the same time, the hero's journey homeward is very "Odyssey" like. It's some of the best prose writing you'll ever come across and just a beautiful story.

"Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon.
It's hard to categorize this book (the first in a series, but it can be read alone). It's got all the elements that make my reading heart happy: a smart, wisecracking heroine; a strong, good-hearted hero, an epic setting, terrific, realistic writing, a gripping storyline, adventure, romance (though it's not A Romance), tragedy, triumph. Gooood stuff.

"Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers.
You get a group of women together, mention this book and STAND BACK. There will be exclamations and exhortations. And if someone in the group hasn't read it yet, well, buckle up. I'm sure not everyone who reads it loves it, but I'd bet at least 90 percent do. Now, it is "Christian fiction," and I'm not a big fan of the genre. (Don't hurt me.) But this book stands on it own as a work of literature. It will also make you say, "Man. God loves me that much? Really?" One warning: The prologue, in which we learn exactly why the main character is so screwed up, is a downer. It's a necessary setup however, and the book takes off with chapter one. I read until 5 in the morning. It's that good.

Christian literature that has recently rocked my world:

"Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell.
Weird title. Fabulous discussion on what this Walk With Jesus thing is and what it should be or could be. It stretched me. It made my faith bigger. I wish all my non-Christian friends would read this and "Blue Like Jazz" so that, at the very least, they could better get what this faith thing is all about for me -- and a lot of other Christians who don't fit the Pat Buchanan mold.

"Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller.
This is a quirky memoir of one man's growth as a person of faith. One of the many things I love is that it gives "permission," if you will, to love Jesus and still -- gasp -- have a beer and be a Democrat. (I prefer wine and I'm not a fan of either party these days, but that's not the point.)

"Always Enough" by Roland and Heidi Baker.
Here's the story of two missionaries who took that Great Commission thing very seriously. They went out to the poorest of the poor to bring them help and hope. The amazing story they have to tell (and are still telling) took my breath away.

And one more:
"Sheet Music" by Kevin Leman
Leman is a Christian author and psychologist who has mostly written about child-raising issues. But this book is all about sexual intimacy in marriage. I hesitate to list it because 1) I don't want people thinking, "Oh, she and her husband needed help." Or, "Oh, she's a pervert." Neither is true (I hope). I give "Sheet Music" to engaged couples about a week before the wedding, and at least one new bride has made a point of pulling me aside to say, "Thank you." Now, this isn't your typical Christian-author sex book (though I've only read one other and that was right before my own wedding). It's very frank. There are no euphemisms. He's no-nonsense about saying: Generally speaking, here are a woman's sexual needs and here are a man's and here's what makes a sexually happy couple. I think in the church and even amongst ourselves, we're too shy about this subject and a lot of couples suffer. That's my two cents.

Assuming anyone is still with me at this point, I'd love to read your comments about what your favorite books are and why. And if you think I'm way off base with one of my picks, tell me. After all, I don't mind telling Sarah she's nuts to like "Silas Marner." ;-)

-30-

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yippy! A BOOK post! I LOVE to read. Just like you, it's a way to be transported to another place. I'm currently in the very middle of "Redeeming Love". I like it, but it's verrry sad so far. Kind of depressing. I was hoping for the happy ending to "redeem" all the sadness, but now I'm a little worried with your epilogue info!

The first book I remember loving as a child was "Charlotte's Web". It made me want to move to a farm and have a pet pig. (I've gotten over that!) In high school we were assigned "The Once and Future King". I remember thinking it sounded like a "boy book"--ugh--fighting wars, pillaging villages, etc. Oh my word, I LOVED IT. It was so rich and the characters so real.

In college, because of all the assigned heavy-duty reading, I went for "chick lit". (I'm in my mid-40s, so that could only mean one Ms. Danielle Steele.) I also loved anything British. "Wuthering Heights" was great. I also loved "Rebecca". Spooky!

In the last few years I have read aloud to my children. A favorite series: "The Narnia Chronicles". I loved the "Mitford Series". Those books appeal to my wish to move to Mayberry R.F.D. for the "simple life"!

My all-time, hands-down favorite book EVER is "To Kill a Mockinbird." Sigh. I never feel like I have time to re-read a book (so many books, so little time) BUT "Mockingbird" is one I have taken the time to re-read.

Thanks for this fun post! I'm adding some of yours to my "to read list". I can't wait to hear what others are reading!

Phyllis

Paulette said...

I love me some books to. This was a great post. A few I havent read and will try. Thanks. I have enjoyed your blog, I read often.
Be Blessed

Big Mama said...

I love this post because honestly, I love all things book related. I adored All the Pretty Horses and was sad to see it end.

I've had so many people mention Outlander lately, I think I'll go buy it today. I'll do my own post in the next few days, my mind is spinning with where to begin.

Lyric said...

Absolutely enjoyed the book reviews! Books have been my friends and every time I move I'm encouraged to pair down my collection because of the dozens of boxes it requires to pack them!

You listed one of my all-time favorites, "Gift from the Sea". I've given away my copies so many times that I just keep purchasing a new one and then read it again... :)

I'm also not a big fan of "Christian fiction", however, I've heard great things from people who've read "Redeeming Love" so it's on my list.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Blue Like Jazz" and bought copies for several friends who agree with your description as well.

One of most meaningful companions I've had in the last year is a book by Ken Gire, "The North Face Of God: Hope for the times when God seems indifferent." Amazingly powerful.

THANKS for the post! I'll be back for more... :)

Toni said...

Phyllis -- Oh! "To Kill a Mockingbird"! Why didn't I mention that one?! Wonderful book.
And I made a mistake when I wrote about "Redeeming Love." I should have said "prologue," not "epilogue." My mistake (now corrected). Keep reading without fear of a hopeless ending.

Lyric -- Haven't heard of "The North Face of God." I'll have to check it out. Thanks.

Lyric said...

Sorry I didn't post the link to the book!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0842371036/ref=pd_rvi_gw_3/102-0049686-5839333?ie=UTF8

Barb said...

The John Jakes trilogy AND the miniseries, North and South, still stand as one of my all time favorites. And Gift From the See is almost my trademark now. Bev gave me my copy years ago for my birthday and I read it at least once a year. My whole web design is based around Anne Morrow Lindberg's word pictures in that book and the quote on my header is hers. I recommend that book to anyone who needs to understand the stages of her life.

Wow. I'm going to have come back to this post and take some notes!

boomama said...

I'm reading "Blue Like Jazz" right now. Love his style. You mean you can be a Christian AND be a Democrat?!?!?! Toni, I had no idea! :-) (BTW, I'm not much of a fan of either party right now, either).

Never heard of the Leman book. Curious, though.

And I too watched "North and South" in junior high and loooooved it. :-)

My favorite book of all time ever is The Color Purple. And there's this little book by Kaye Gibbons called Ellen Foster that I adore. It makes me cry until I can't breathe. :-)

Velvet Elvis is on my "to read" list.

Loved "And The Shofar Blew" by Francine Rivers.

And Toni? Seriously? I wish we lived closer.

Addie said...

Oo, Phyllis, keep up with Redeeming love, it is definitely worth it!

Toni, my husband and I just picked up Sheet Music a couple of weeks ago, and your right it is very good! I've been thinking of passing it along to the couple we are meeting with for pre-marital counseling. I think I will.

Loved the book list, I now have some new ideas of a few I want to read!

Anonymous said...

I don't know if I can leave a comment. My computer seems to be acting up a bit. But I'm in this window so I will try. I still have to be anonymous thanks to blogger beta and all.

Your list made me want to get more fiction. We also have Sheet Music and I think it's great. Of course, we may all be perverts and not know it. =)

Cold Mountain? Couldn't get past the first chapter. It just never grabbed me. I didn't see the movie either.


I think I will try some of the books you have listed. Will let ya know!

Shawna said...

Gee, thanks, Toni, that's all I need - more books to read. *sigh* No, really, I am kidding. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read, and I am always looking for a great book that makes me think. I am so glad you did this list. I, too, will have to copy these down.

PEZmama said...

I am a lame-o book reader. And if I read a book, it is almost always nonfiction. Some of my favorite nonfiction books are "Lost Daughters of China" by Karin Evans, and "A Walk in the Woods" by (?) Bryson.

I do have "Blue Like Jazz" on my list of books I want to read.

I read "Franny and Zooey" in the ninth grade. Must've been too young to appreciate it (or "Cather in the Rye" for that matter... I had a hard time deciding which one I disliked the most.)

But, oddly, there are a few books I read as a kid that I remember LOVING, but can't really remember what they were about. "A Separate Peace" is one of them. Is it weird to remember liking a book but not remember what it was about?

Yeah, I'm weird like that.

Anonymous said...

Great list here. I'm a big Toni Morrison fan yet I've never read Beloved (Or seen the movie). Must pick it up one of these days.

Anonymous said...

I'm like Lori in that I can remember liking a book but not remember what it was about. That little defect comes in real handy for not spoiling the ending when reading the book again.

Toni said...

Pezmama -- I believe "A Walk in the Woods" is by Bill Bryson. (Not positive and too lazy to check.) It's in my bookshelf, whatever his first name is. I could tell you what "A Separate Peace" is about, but I won't spoil it for you in case you decide to read it again. ;-)
Anonymous -- "Cold Mountain" is actually a book that I gave up on once -- after the first chapter. So I'm with you on it. It annoyed me to no end how helpless Ada was. But a friend insisted I got back and read at least another chapter or two before giving up. I did -- thank goodness. And Ada shapes up along the way.
Addie -- When I pass "Sheet Music" along, it's usually with the caveat that they may not agree with every single opinion Leman has, but that's not really the point (as he says himself). The point is to be healthy in your marriage and talk about stuff. But with that caveat, you protect yourself at least a little so they might not say, "Ehw! They do that?!"

boomama said...

Me again. :-)

Just in case Lori happens to re-read these comments - um, do you remember something about a TREE in "A Separate Peace"? :-) The last paragraph of ASP is, I think, one of the most profound endings I've ever read. Raises all sorts of questions about the human condition.

And I can't believe - cannot BELIEVE - that I forgot "To Kill A Mockingbird." It's a book I will definitely read out loud to my little boy - I think I've read it 15 or 16 times. Every single time Dill runs out of the court room crying and says, "Somehow it just ain't right the way he was talkin' to him, Scout" - I choke up. Same thing with the very last scene, when Scout finally sees her street from Boo's point of view. Oh my word it's brilliant. In a league of its own.

Anonymous said...

Oh goody, "Mockingbird" quotes!! I also LOVE that final seen. It just gives me chills. And what about the final trial scene where Rev. Sykes says to Scout, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'."??? Oh. my. word.

BooMama, what a GREAT idea to read this classic to your little boy. I have 2 boys (ages 16 and 13) and they LOVE this book. I could barely read parts of it out loud, because I would get so choked up. Hope you can do better than I did with that!

Great, great post, Toni!

Phyllis R.

P.S. Oh, and I've thought of 2 more books that I loved! Has anyone ever read Catherine Marshall's "Christy"? Great!! AND, the first book I remember staying up ALL night to finish: "The Thornbirds." Did I already say how much I love this post?!!

Toni said...

Phyllis -- Oh, yes. "The Thornbirds." By far ol' what's her name's best book. That scene where the matriarch (it's been too long; I read it 18 years ago) just decides it's time to die. And she lays down ... and dies. That blew my mind. Great read.

Toni said...

One more thing, Phyllis -- email me. I think my edress is in my profile.

Anonymous said...

Oh, oh and "Anne of Green Gables". Please some one stop me. :) I do like me some books.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe the only mention of me in this post is in reference to Sweet Valley High! For the record I was ten!

Girl Raised in the South said...

Redeeming Love, Tale of Two Cities, a few others I'm right there with you. Beloved???? Was the book good? If it was the movie with Oprah in it, am I completely wrong here, seems she was in it and if so it was truly the weirdest movie I've ever seen in my entire life. Oprah and Danny Glover maybe. North and South had Lee Horsley in it if I remember right, he sat in front of me in high school english. Cute then, turned out quite handsome.

And yes, Sarah's a little strange to love Silas Marner.

jan@theviewfromher said...

I just discovered your blog, and will be back often. I also suffer from a reading "addiction," as a child the only way I could suffer through our family vacation road trips was to load up with as many books as possible from the library and read from the moment we left the driveway. I plan to check out some of your recommendations. I also thought you might like to know that one of Francine Rivers' novels, "The Last Sin Eater" is currently being made into a full-length feature film. If you're interested, I posted about it today, over at theviewfromher.com.

Sarah said...

Listen, missy (and my mother, too!), Silas Marner is a PRECIOUS story about the love a self-proclaimed loner and an abandoned little girl share. Who doesn't like that??? ;)

I love books more than food, and even more than--gasp, diet Coke. I currently have 12 books on top of my nightstand, all in order of when I want to read them, with another 10 or so inside the nightstand, waiting to be next. I'm a book nerd:)

So now that you've listed several I've never tried, I'm adding them to my book reading journal. Told you I was a nerd!

Oh, and A Walk in the Woods is one of my favorites! But asking me which book is my all-time favorite would be asking me which child I love the most. Impossible!

This is a great post, and instead of boring the jiminy cricket out of me, you made me want to stay up later and read. Abraham Lincoln is what I'm into now:)

Anonymous said...

This is anonymous again. Actually, it's Robin. But since I can't leave comments on non-blogger beta blogs, I have to sign in as anon. Sorry about that! Thanks for the heads up. If I didn't sell it to half priced books, maybe I'll give it another try.

Robin
www.astayathomemom.blogspot.com

Shalee said...

PEZmama pointed me here and I'm so happy she did! I love books! For my 200th post I listed 100 of my favorite reads, and it still wasn't complete. I'm checking out a few that you listed, especially All the Pretty Horses and Sheet Music, not because I'm a pervert (I'm pretty happy sexually, thankyouverymuch), but to read another Christian view on the subject. I would recommend His Needs, Her Needs for another great marriage protection book.

Anonymous said...

I guess To Kill a Mockingbird (to lazy for HTML tags) is too generic, but I love it.

I also loved A Tale. . . (and I wasn't in 8th grade G&T so I read it in 10th.) I didn't think it picked up until the latter half though. I also liked Oliver Twist.

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE anything by Bill Bryson. And I think A Short History of Nearly Everything is a great book.

A number of people have listed Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz and Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis. N.T. Wright seems to be influencing much of what those guys are writing, so I've been reading alot of him lately.

I also loved All The Pretty Horses (isn't it a trilogy?). And after reading it wondered why I should ever bother with correct punctuation. I think I took a copy of yours and never returned it. Sorry. I also think I gave it to Doug. I don't think he read it.