PREPARE FOR A MASSIVE POST and sadly I went through and cut a bunch of stuff...and it's still massive.
Birthday cake at a staff meeting, hooray my day is made!
Was going to head home tonight but the weather has changed my plans.
Looks like you're stuck with me for yet another favorites post.
Quote of the day comes from Sketch - "I want a bagel damn it can't you tell i'm hungry and yes it's lame but that's how you are when you're all whoooo." yeah, not gonna explain that one, other than to say it's not the bagel that she's talking about me being all whoooo over.
This time we'll go with books. Writing's in my blood, my grandpa's a published author (posthumous), my aunts have published books on teaching, and I just love to write. If I could it's what I would do all day...if I wasn't blocked, which I have been a lot lately. that's why you're stuck with me on here and not on physical pages.
So, since I'm a librarian and I'm around books all day I'm expanding my list from 5 favorites to 7 instead. The irony about being a librarian is that I haven't read a single one of these books since I started working there. It's like I'm around them all day the last thing I want to do when I go home is read a book. Which is kind of funny in a weird way.
Anyway, on with the list.
All-time favorites:
7. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
Gotta say I started these before she was big time with the movies and everything and I was hooked. I read each of them in like a day, maybe hours. Mass hysteria but they were just soooo good. And so different from other books at the time which I think is why they became so popular. Aside from her writing style and her characters which are also fantastic. I was hooked.
6. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
This might be the funniest book I've ever read. I read the entire thing at a craft show and there were many points at which I was physically laughing so loud that I needed to like step back and contain myself so the people around me didn't think I was some psycho just randomly laughing. Highly recommended if you like nonfiction.
"Itch in da scrubs, go giddit!"
5. The Book Thief - Marcus Zuzak
Read this one for an adolescent lit class in college and fell in love with it. It's narrated by Death which totally stuck out to me so you know everyone is going to die. Which is fine, until you meet the characters and want them to somehow just triumph and live forever. It's basically a German take on the whole nazi killing jews thing. And it follows the story of this little girl who's adopted into a German family. I think it was also cool to be reading it for a class and having that debate aspect where you could get others opinions on it too. Our class consensus was a thumbs up.
4. The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Another favorite from my childhood, we read this in 8th grade for an English class. I love it because it was the first murder mystery I ever read. So it all took off from there. I was hooked from page one and wanted to read it all the way through but we were supposed to read it in section so we could talk in class. I soooo wanted to know who did it!! And I've recommended it to many people over the years. Gotta love it.
3. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Yet another from that adolescent lit class and I think this was the class's favorite. I don't remember anybody not liking it (not like Twilight or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, sorry ZH not so much for me) and I think it was the most fun I had in that class just because everyone loved it and wanted to talk about it. Although the Twilight love it or hate it debate was fun as well.
I've recommended this book to literally everyone who's asked for a recommendation. Which is a lot because I work in a library...two actually. And I'm stoked for the movie. But the problem with recommending it is that those that I recommend it to also read the next two which they love as well but I haven't yet since I started working soon after college. I know, I know. They're on my list.
2. Runaway Jury - John Grisham
I loved this book! I read this one summer during high school and couldn't put it down. So many twists and turns and the movie was great as well but it was totally different than the book since it was on guns instead of cigarettes. Soooo good! Totally recommend this one who likes fiction on like the court system or lawyers or just good vs. evil. It's fantastic.
1. Women's Murder Club series - James Patterson
"In margaritas veritas. I'm in." Big surprise here. Not really. Look at the tattoo to the right. Lindsay Boxer the detective, Cindy Thomas the reporter, Claire Washburn the ME and Jill Bernhardt the lawyer. All different crime aspects covered so when you put them all together and drown them in margaritas you get what we call the Women's Murder Club.
"So, this outfit have a name?"
..."We're sort of a murder club."
"Lindsay's deputized us."
"The margarita posse."
...."Homicide chicks. That's who we are. That's what we do."
The books that lead to the show...that got cut off too early but the books are still going so it's okay. Actually 10th Reunion comes out soon. If you look at my bookshelves one of the first thing you'll notice (aside from that they're organized yes i'm a librarian get over it) is that these are the only books with tabs in them. Cause I'm a nerd. And I can't really explain the tab system just that it's there and it helps me keep track because sometimes I'll just pick one up and start from a random tab and know exactly what's going on. I love them. I love them. And I love them. And yes, I always recommend James Patterson to anyone looking for a good mystery writer as well.
Books I've read for class and loved:
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie this was another adolescent lit class special and we all really liked it. It was really funny and the artwork was a nice touch along with the humor.
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen which is basically a rite of passage for an English major. Classic, I did a project on it for my final portfolio because I find her fascinating, yes I'm a nerd. But I loved doing it because I got to come up with musical playlists for each character and I even made a board game for the thing and what else, oh wrote updated versions of the scenes and all that stuff. So much fun. Also a good story, Pride Prejudice and Zombies...or the first half which is all I got finished before I started working.
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens another one for an English major this was for British Lit 2 or 3 I can't remember, I think I took them out of order, but I love this one just because of the crazy old lady who wears the wedding dress every day and acts like she's not crazy. Which she is. And I said that repeatedly in a presentation and everyone loved me. hahaha...another fun English presentation was on Mary Robinson.
Me: "She got paid to be a mistress, I love it!"
Dr. Ashby: "You know, there's a word for that..."
Class: "Ohhhhh!!!"
The Illiad and the Odessey - Homer Thurber class and really, reading anything with Thurber was great because even if you didn't like the book he made you see it in a different perspective so you didn't hate it. did that make sense? not really. But there are really classics that deserve to be classics. A classmate and I did a presentation on the Illiad with sock puppets. Oh yeah. Sock puppets. It was awesome.
Bridge to Teribithia - Katherine Paterson More grade school fun, I cried. and that's all I got.
Anything Shakespeare but especially As You Like It and Twelfth Night
we read As You Like It in high school for English 9 I think and I fell in love with his style and his language and just everything. And Twelfth Night I love just because of all the drama and the back and forth and the mistaken identity and mostly because of yet another presentation for yet another Thurber class (Shakespeare, it was my favorite class of his) where he put us into groups and we had to present each play in a unique way. Our group got Twelfth Night so we divided up the scenes and presented them in like a Whose Line is it Anyway kind of thing with a censored scene (I was the Censored Seductress with the name tag to prove it) an E-True Shakespearian story, a soap opera called 'Days of our Night', silent acting, one segment with the crocodile hunter that we called 'Malvolio Hunter', a scene where I got interrogated in a prison cell while Anna sang in rhyme it was hilarious and I had to keep a straight face, and then the final scene was Mystery Date where all the identities were revealed.
Books I loved growing up and for fun throughout school:
You Belong to Me - Mary Higgins ClarkRead this one I think the same summer I read Runaway Jury. I loved it because I loved the song and I thought it was cool to murder people and tie it to something like that. Not that I'm going to go out and do that but it was still a clever way to tell a story.
All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten - Robert Fulghum
Yet another from a summer in high school. I remember reading this one outside on a swing, he's hilarious and this is probably his best work. So if you're looking for good and short nonfiction go for Robert Fulghum.
Princess Bride - William Goldman senior year of high school, class trip to chicago I read it on the plane. I loved the movie so I read the book and there are so many more things in it with the zoo of death and all that, definitely worth reading if you liked the movie.
Carrie - Stephen King yeah, yeah name sake and all that. I read it in grade school and I think it was my first actual adult novel. scared the crap out of me but I was hooked.
Little Girl Lost - Drew Barrymore more high school fun. discovered this book and wrote a report on it. I love Drew, which I'm sure you've picked up since post one, so reading this book was like the best thing ever. Cause she wrote it. It tells all of her life story - up til checking herself into rehab (not for the first time) and doesn't leave out any of the gory details.
Politically Correct Bedtime Stories - James Finn Garner ask the BFF and she'll tell you she only keeps me around for reading her fairy tales in voices.
Julie and Julia - Julie Powell read it during down town of camping with the family, loved it. totally different from the movie which was also good. i attempted her second one "Cleaving" but again, that was after I started working for the library.
The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown read this one and wrote a paper on it for a college class, also totally different from the movie but it's still fantastic. i couldn't put it down.
Heat Wave/Naked Heat - Richard CastleI'm a Castle junkie so when these actually came out to go along with the show I was all over them. Oh crap. That breaks my streak of not finishing anything since I started working, damn. I liked saying that. Oh well, it was worth it. Heat Wave is definitely the best of the two but there are so many more jokes you get if you watch the show.
Holy toast this post is getting long. Well, if you're still around I'll give you the highlights to my favorite plays...which I'm aware aren't books but they're still literature so whatever. I'll make it short.
Favorite Plays:
Arsenic and Old Lace - Joseph Kesselring We had the joy of putting this on my senior year of high school. I played Elaine the minister's daughter who's the fiance to the main character. Soooo much fun!
"There's something about calling for a girl at a parsonage that discourages any man who doesn't embroider."
"For a minister's daughter you sure you a lot about life. Where'd you learn it?"
"In the choir loft."
"I'll explain that to you some time, darling-the close connection between eroticism and religion."
"Religion never gets as high as the choir loft."
The Playboy of the Western World - J.M. Synge oh the joy of Modern and Post-Modern Drama, I loved that class. This was a highlight because this dude comes into town claiming to have murdered his father and everyone loves him. They celebrate him as a hero. Then, when his father shows up not dead they turn their backs on him. Hilarious.
Arcadia - Tom Stoppard such clever writing, two storylines happening at once even though they're decades apart. everything weaves together in the end, stick with it.
On the Verge or The Georgraphy of Yearning - Eric Overmyer my favorite play I read throughout college. These three women take a trip through a jungle and are simultaneously traveling through time as they travel farther and farther through the jungle. "Terra Incognita!" Each character is different and it's just sooo funny.
"Yes, Mary, there are two sorts of people in the world. There are cannibals-and there are lunch."
"Little sasquatch has gone for more snowballs, no doubt!" *hit by snowball* "Ahhh!"
"Baby yeti may have yeti croonies, I think prudence dictates we move on."
"Why is there evil in the world, Alexandra?"
"To thicken the plot." Alex is my hero.
"Alex I believe verse is your province."
"Hang ten. Shoot the pipeline. Curl the Big Kahuna!" Again, Alex is my hero.
"So, when's the shindig?"
"Shindig?"
"I think she means the the authentic suburban charred meat festival you promised us."
"Ah, yes. The bar-be-cue."
and yes, I did write a report on this one as well but it was more focused on the language and how it changes throughout the novel.
Tartuffe - Moliere another presentation where a friend and myself acted out a scene, well two scenes that we combined, for a grade. We got an A it was fantastic. I still remember some of my lines.
"What of Tartuffe then, what of your father's plan?"
"I'll kill myself, if I'm forced to marry that man."
or
"Not Tartuffe! You know I think him-"
"Tartuffe's your cup of tea, and you shall drink him."
"I've always told you everything, and relied-"
"No, you deserve to be tartuffifed."
basically her father wants her to marry this awful man Tartuffe when she's in love with someone else.
here's a bonus if you're still reading.
Books I've read for class that I will never read again aka classics that are overrated:
Moby Dick - Herman Melville no normal person cares how many dimensions a boat has or a whale has. i mean maybe some people but we don't need to read about it in detail in a novel. just no.
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley sorry SuperHumann, loved the discussion with you but the novel was a little like, um...whoa. gross.
Books I've started since working at the library and love so far but still haven't finished them:
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger Yes this may be the most well-loved novel by serial killers everywhere but screw statistics, it's excellent.
Novel Destinations - Shannon McKenna Schmidt this is cool because it's nonfiction about all the different locations in famous novels
Slaugherhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut Kilgore Trout. Need I say more? Even Prentiss is a fan.
You're a Horrible Person, But I Like You: The Believer Book of Advice a gift from my sister, ha! But it's fantastic, people write to celebrities for advice and it publishes their answers.
Okay, more add-ins.
TV - Wipeout, I love the commentary and the big red balls. Hilarious.
And then World's Dumbest, I've already posted a clip from this. I love it, it's where celebrities careers go to die but seriously, it's fantastic. Celebrities do commentary on these stupid clips that people send in and they make lists like the top 20 world's dumbest criminals or 20 world's dumbest brawlers or 20 world's dumbest commercials just that kind of stuff. It's fantastic.
Music - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (remake classics), Johnny Cash growing up I listened to him all the time my dad is a big fan, Theory of a Deadman I've already posted a song of there's a while ago but everything they do is just epic and awesome. And Saving Abel is also another good band you can jam out to. Plus Stop Making Friends aka Pauley Perrette is freaking awesome. Listen to their song "Fear" and tell me what you think. And um, hello, Glee cast soundtracks? They're all I listen to lately, that show has the best remakes. My most recent favorite is "Don't you want me baby" or "She's not there" but all time it's probably the "Time Warp" (already posted) or "Forget You" (also already posted) with Gwyneth Paltrow (okay I remember typing that name lately so maybe that one's in there) she's got a voice man, I'm stoked she's making a reappearance. I'm a total soundtracks junkie, Glee, Moulin Rouge, Calamity Jane, Oklahoma, Music and Lyrics, Rent, NCIS, Hairspray, Avenue Q, Grease 1&2 (oh, another for the movies post), Coyote Ugly (this is the role for maria bello, i can't even listen to her british accent in mummy 3), Chicago, Mamma Mia (minus pierce brosnan), Rocky Horror, Sister Act, Wedding Singer, Walk the Line even Whip It had a kickass soundtrack, which was Drew's mix tape for the world. Oh crap Whip It! It's derby and it's Drew how did I forget that one? There's a poster on the wall in front of me for crying in the sun. Good thing I'm taking the time to edit these things, otherwise the remainder of the week would be These are a few of my favorite things...that I failed to mention earlier in the week. Which, actually...wouldn't be so bad. I'm still debating what I'm going to do for the rest of the week. Besides hobbies. Or like...yeah no just hobbies. Wow. gonna have to be creative.
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