Friday Books: A Condensed 30-Day Meme

Thank you for responding to my questions in my previous post. Sometimes it’s fun to do something a little different. I really enjoyed seeing your variety of answers. I think it’s good to have to describe yourself sometimes. Makes us stop and think about how others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves. And I was surprised that on the Bucket List question I really had to stop and ponder… what IS on my Bucket List?? Mostly it would be travel while we’re still young and healthy enough to do it and enjoy it. Other than that my Bucket List is just to have dear friends and family in my life for as long as possible.

Well, today I am taking on a meme that my niece did on her blog. She dug deep and pondered some heavy topics, but I’m going to keep mine simple. This is supposed to be a 30-day project, but I’m going to try to cram it all in to as few days as I can. I’m starting it today, because it’s Friday Books day, and I do not have a book to report on yet.. haven’t quite finished the book I am currently reading (which is about PIE and makes me hungry for PIE !!!)

Day 1 – best book I read last year: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. The writing is fabulous. I was awe-struck when I reached the end of that book. Experiencing great writing is such a gift.

Day 2 – a book I have read more than 3 times: I don’t know if such a book exists, but I did read a book 3 times, just not MORE than 3 times. Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn. This book sings, cries out, teaches, and caresses.

Day 3 – my favorite series: I rarely read series, but I am slowly working on the Ladies No. 1 Detective series by Alexander McCall Smith.

Day 4 – favorite book of my favorite series: Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith.

Day 5 – a book that makes me happy: The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. It’s just a sweet, quiet, dear little book, and I learned about snails.

Day 6 – a book that makes you sad: Home of the Brave by Katharine Applegate and Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhaha Lai. Both are kid books (or YA), and both are about coming to the U.S.A. as a refugee/immigrant. It makes me sad that new life in the U.S. is so hard and that we in the U.S. have such a difficult time welcoming newcomers. We should remember where most U.S. Americans came from – we’re just a big mix of willing and unwilling immigrants.

Day 7 – most underrated book: Not sure what this means.. underrated by whom? I think I’ll go with Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. At goodreads(dot)com it is rated less than my rating. Also, my sister who owns a bookstore tried to read it and couldn’t get into it. I, however, LOVED it. I found it to be very touching, with a powerful punch but in a quiet, understated way. Maybe extroverts like my sister can’t get into this book, but introverts like me enjoy the quiet, introvert-ish characters. That’s the only explanation I can come up with.

Day 9 – most overrated book: Easy… The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. This book was not well written! People rated it highly, I think, based on the emotional impact of a person knowing he’s dying and leaving his last wishes for his children and his colleagues. I am sympathetic, but not impressed with the quality of this book. In fact, I found it quite disappointing.

Day 10 – favorite classic book: Do I have a favorite in this category? Books which quickly come to mind: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, My Antonia by Willa Cather, Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. (Is this a classic? At what age does a book become a classic?) With more thought I could name a few more, but I decided to go with what popped into my mind first.

This post is already too long, so I’m going to stop here and continue Days 11-30 at another time. It’s fun to challenge myself to come up with answers for these! Thanks for the meme, Niece.