Something tells me those of you who love to blog also love to read. I bet some of you are pretty darn good writers too, even BTB (Before The Blogosphere). I am starting a meme, which surprises me probably more than it surprises you. I thought it would be a good way to get to know each other, and allow anyone reading our blogs to do the same. It's summer and a perfect time to read, not that there is ever a bad time.
Please pick your Top Five books of all time, and tell us why you like them so much. Are there books you find yourself revisiting? At some point in your life did you find a book so enthralling you had to read it from start to finish without putting it down -- even if that put your entire life on hold for a day? You can use any criteria for favorite books and the only thing I ask is that you describe why you like the book so much. Personally I think it's only a slightly difficult exercise because narrowing it down to five might be tough. Of course you can take some creative license and make the list longer :-)
***When you post, please come back here and link to your blog. You can post this on any blog 'home' you choose, but please come back and link to it here so we can all find it more easily and also see what books we should add to our reading lists!
****Please tag or meme a few people after you are done so we can learn about them too.
I've enjoyed reading ever since the days my Friend Since Five Connie and I walked to the library...and get stars on a chart there for working on and completing a book reading list. Maybe some of you who are as old as dirt as I am remember those days. As a young girl read Mary Stuart mysteries. The only name I can remember now is The Crystal Cave. I was enamored. In college I devoured every biography or music theory related book and everything on Beethoven. I lean towards non-fiction more often than not, but a great novel is always a joy. Lately I have enjoyed reading my same Friend Since Five's Pepper Martin mysteries. I can't help plugging this; the first book in this series is entitled The Don and the Dead. Trust me on this, if you like mysteries, you will read the last page and be clamoring for the next book.
I'm currently re-reading The White Album by Joan Didion. She is fabulous and of course half the world agrees with me.
As soon as I hit send I will be sorry I included one book and not another, but here goes: 3C's Top Five Books of All Time
1. All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque. I remember it vividly. Freshman year in college. I started the book late one night kept reading until three am. I had a morning economics class and was so affected by the book, I called my Econ professor (Dr. James Burke) and told him I was emotionally drained and still reading. I'll never forget what he said: 'there are times in life when going to class takes second billing to experiencing real life in such a way that it can't be stopped or put aside.' It took a lot for me to miss that class since Dr. Burke is also one of the best professor's I ever had. The book is probably familiar to a lot of you, written from the perspective of a German soldier in WWI.
2. Season Ticket, by Roger Angell. It's really a collection of essays. Angell has written other books about baseball which are also excellent, but this one is my favorite, dealing specifically with seasons occurring in the 80s. I love David Cone and he also wrote an excellent book about pitching featuring Cone (yes I was a Conehead. I guess considering my last name, I still am!) Play Ball!
3. Truman, by David McCullough. He's probably best known for his book on John Adams. I admit to being a bit of a contrarian. I have not read that book (the Adams book) because it was so popular and everyone else seems to have read it. Yes, dumb reason I'm sure. And I have not seen Forest Gump for the same reason. You guys can draw your own conclusion. Back to the book! The Harry Truman era is not covered as much in the book world and that alone made me want to keep turning pages. McCullough's writing style is wonderful. He covers the decades from Truman's youth up through his death. It allows for striking contrasts because Harry Truman's life spanned the 1880s through 1972.I felt as if I was there, through ALL of those decades in history. Not to mention how colorful Harry Truman was, so again, I loved this book.
4. Look Homeward Angel, by Thomas Wolfe. Could not put this down. It's autobiographical and took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Well written, joyous and disturbing and wonderful. Seriously, it's one of the best written books I've ever read. I wish I could write like that!
5. Another Life, by Michael Korda. Korda spent most of his life with Simon and Schuster. Who doesn't like to read about famous people? I know I do! He was assigned to people as diverse as Mob Boss Joseph Bonnano to Jacqueline Susann (the chapter on her is worth the price of the entire book!). This book came out at the end of the 1990s... I remember buying it and reading it as a gleeful, well written escape. A great look into the world of publishing.
I'm already worried about hitting 'send' and then saying omg I left this or that book off the list. But I will do it anyway. AND, I am providing some Amazon.com links to preview the books here, but of course I hope you will choose to go to a local, independent bookseller in your neighborhood to purchase it :-) Peace Out - 3C
I am meming : Jill Zimon, Connie Laux, Brian Brady, Ed Rybczynski, Kristal Kraft, Elaine Reese, Jason Sardi, Teresa Boardman, Maggie Dokic, Mark Lastition, Bonnie Erickson, Jeff Turner, Craig Schiller, Margaret Rome, Geno Petro, Linda Davis and Mitchell Hall.
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Hey, 3C, thanks for the plug for "Don of the Dead" and the Pepper Martin mystery series. It would be impossible for me to pick my 5 favorite books of all times, but I'd have to include:
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (does that count as three?)
"The Devil in the White City" (nonfiction and recent, though I can't remember the author!)
Anything by Elizabeth Peters
Most of PG Wodehouse
All right, it's not an official list, but you get the message!