PoeticaL
cluttering the net since 2001

book meme

Wednesday, Jul. 13, 2005
Tagged by meredith
a book meme

Total number of books that I own: I am a nutcase that keeps track of my extensive book collection and therefore I know that I now own 704 books currently.

Last book I bought: My Friend Leonard by James Frey. I read his last book A million little pieces and loved his narrative style a lot and hope this book is just as interesting. I like the fact that he didn�t set out to be a writer but just fell into it simply telling his story. On the same day I also bought Willful Creatures by Amy Bender. Both from ebay as ARC copies because I couldn�t wait for either.

Last book I read: Simplicity by Tod Goldberg. This book is yet to be released but I got a sneak peek and it remains the last entire book I read. It�s a short story collection and this book is one of the few well written short story books outside of Richard Ford�s last one and Amy Bender�s new one which I have read one story from. Amy Bender rules the female world of short stories. Tod rules the male world in my literary world.

Five books that mean a lot to me:
1. Where Love Goes � Joyce Maynard. This is a novel about a newly divorced woman trying to make a new life. I read it shortly after I first moved out on my own and knew the marriage was fractured beyond repair. This book touched home in a timely manner and Maynard knows how to write characters that you care about.

2. What should I do with my life? � Po Bronson. I read this book while I was struggling to figure out if I could actually go to college and be someone different, I was searching for a newfound belief in myself and the answer to the question he poses. His indepth stories and detailed viewpoint helped me figure a lot of things out. Fear is just that�fear. And it can be banished.

3. The Journey from Abandonment and Healing � Susan Anderson This is a self help book suggested by a therapist I saw for awhile. I could relate so closely to so many things that were said in this book that it brought tears of relief and understanding that cannot ever be matched in any self help book again I fear.

4. Sarah � J.T. Leroy � How can anyone read this book and not be forever changed regarding what makes a good story and what makes you read on as if staring at an accident that encompases dead bodys decoratedin bloody sheets. The horror�oh but but please please let me crane my neck to absorb it all. The opening scenes in this novel were so well written I think they should be discussed in all writing classes. The texture and the memories of a child�..how did J.T. write about being a kid long after being a kid and do so so fucing well? I am in awe.

5. Tiger Eyes � Judy Blume I will never forget the main protagonist of this book from my youth. Her father is killed in the opening scene as he works at a retail store. At the young age at which I read this I wanted nothing more than to reach into the book and comfort this character and the realization that a mere book could make me feel so much changed my desire to read into something undeniable. The setting of Arizona and the scenes of Grand Canyon live on decades later in my mind.

The people I would want to tag�but may not even read this or answer �. Tod Goldberg (he�s truly just a damn nice guy) and�.Jodi @ iwilldare.com�.. I respect both of their opinions and have found neither to ever be wrong about a book. Some people love Barbie and Ken�.I love me some Jodi and Tod when it comes to literary knowledge. If I ever won a million dollars I�d invite them both somewhere undeniably great just to have lunch with them at the same time. I believe someday Jodi will write a killer ass book of her own.

P.S. I�m currently reading �Wish you were here� by Stewear O�Nan and it�s set in Western PA where I am from and it�s making me nostalgic for old Steeler�s terrible towels and lakes and wooded areas and smoke filled summer nights and �.just so good it�s making me happy.
10:57 p.m. ::
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