Books, Books, and More Books

I think everyone knows I'm a fanatical reader. Last year my goal was to read 1 book a week (that's 52 books) and I did it.  Granted a couple there towards the end were less than 100 pages, but I was so close.

I love what a book does for me.  I read  mostly fiction, but am not adverse to the occasional PM book, time management book, or biography.  I love what books do for me. They create a world somewhere else. I love getting into a real good book and you look up and 2 hours has past.  I love imaging the characters, their surroundings, and their world.  And I will admit there have been times I've flipped to the back of the book because I was dying to know what happened.

My scrapbook enabler, and good friend, Beagle Babe, (Who's name I may have to change to PaperCrafting Queen) put this on her blog and challenged us, her readers, to answer the questions.

My favorite childhood books
I supposed Green Eggs and Ham isn't really a book they'd consider here. But it was one of my favorites.  The first real book I remember reading and just loved was "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret." by Judy Bloom.  Judy Bloom put out a bunch of teenage angst type books that just hit me and stuck with me.  I've often wondered if I should reread them now and see if I'd enjoy them as much. 

The book I enjoyed most in school
This question doesn't specify high school or college, so I'll give you one of both.

At TASIS we had summer reading we had to do. 3 books we could pick from this list and read them and expect to do a book report on later.  The summer between my junior and senior year one of my books was Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. Oh, this gothic novel had me in love with both characters, mad at both, and feeling sorry for both. The romance between Heathcliff and Catherine was one of drama and tradegy.  I've reread Wuthering Heights a number of times since then and have been tempted to make it a book club book.

The book from college is easy, Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes.  I spent a semester having a "date with Cervantes" in a class that I took reading Don Quix0te in Spanish. 

My favorite movie versions of great novels
I'm going to copy BeagleBabe and say the Harry Potter series.  I loved all the characters and each one of them showed up in the movie like I had imagined them.

The classic I’m embarrassed to say I've never read
I've never read anything by Hemingway. None of them. How I missed reading any of his books is beyond me.  I've read a book about Hemingway, but have never cracked The Sun Also Rises or The Old Man and the Sea. And you know what, I'm not even interested in reading them.

A book I consider greatly overrated
The entire series of Fifty Shades of Grey.  I got through the first two books, barely. Then started the third book and tossed it aside after 13 pages.  Ugh. It wasn't the content of the book that bothered, or offended me, it was the writing. It was horrible. 

I'd also like to add that the book I Am Malala was a bit overrated too.  It was the only book I've didn't finish for book club. The story was all over the place and so boring that I just couldn't finish it.

The last book that made me cry – and the last one that made me laugh
Oh gosh...there are a couple that made me cry, but the one that had me blubbering like a baby was My Sister's Keeper by Jody Picoult.  I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed some more.  Whatever you do  though don't watch the movie first. The movie chickened out on the real ending of the book. 

The book that made me laugh out loud throughout the entire book was "Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson. Jenny Lawson is also know as The Bloggess. She's hilarious. Her mind is off the chart crazy and yet I relate so well to her sometimes.  

A book I wish I’d written
Oh golly - I'm gonna totally geek out here and say Herding Chickens: Innovative Techniques for Project Management by Dan Bradbary and David Garrett. This is a Bible in my world. I love how they approached project management realistically.  They show you how to do things in the real world with real world examples. 

What I’m reading right now
Casual Vacancy by Jk Rowling. Don't be fooled.  It's nothing like the Harry Potter books.  In fact, I am so not a fan yet.  I'm about 30 pages in and am having a hard time continuing.  The book is full of cuss words and a lot of hatred. 

Now, as to where I am with regards to my goal of reading 52 books again this year. I'm WELL ahead of where I should be - I've read 28 books (Casual Vacancy will be 29) and by end of June I needed to be at/around 26. So I'll be ahead of the game in case I get behind again later this year.