Saturday, January 26, 2013

Bookworm Stuff.


Writer's block.  I kind of have it.  I have all these bits and pieces of stuff I want to say rolling around in my head but no coherent way to type them all out and have them be sensible.  I think I have about ten or twelve draft posts stuck in my computer begging to be finished, just begging. But I'm not ready to oblige them yet.  So I've been reading a little more lately. It helps to get my writing brain going.  And frankly, the long winter days call for a little reading, right? I figured, if I'm always looking for new books to read--you are too--I think, I hope.  

So, here's nine of my favorite books of all time that I've read and some that I've re-read multiple times and will continue to do so.  

1. Bittersweet  I think I daresay this is my favorite book.  It's written by Shauna Niequist and is perfection in the way that she describes the everyday of life and what you learn from the beauty of it, as well as the pain. She gives language to situations that are sometimes hard to find the right words for. You can pick up this book and read a chapter right smack in the middle of it.  Each chapter is something new and you don't have to read all of them to find meaning int he book.  I can't even loan mine out anymore because it's so underlined and starred and highlighted with personal thoughts.  And on top of all that--her writing style is so easy and fluid and fun to read that you feel like you're sitting at a cozy book store with your friend talking about life.

2. French Kids Eat Everything I've never read a book that has taught me so much about parenting and feeding your kids.  You can see my thoughts in detail about this book here.

3.The Historian This book tells the story of two professors who go in search of the real Dracula.  It's mysterious, so descriptive, chocked full of history, picturesque in the way it describes small Eastern block towns of Europe, and hard to put down.  It's been around longer than all the other vampire stories and is great for anyone who needs something a little more heady than Twilight (although--I'm not knocking those--I love me some Cullen's like the rest of America).

4. The Lake of Dead Languages Set at a private prep school for girls that concentrates on a classical education where some of the students take ancient rituals and ceremonies a bit too far.  This book is a great story as well as pretty educational in terms of ancient Roman customs.

5. Girl Meets God I read this a long time ago and was just reminded of it again by a friend.  The style of the writing is similar to Bittersweet--my first choice above--and Cold Tangerines--my selection below.  This book is a memoir that tells the story of one girls search for a meaningful faith and how she weaves together the faith she was born into--Judaism--with that of Christianity.  It's fairly unconventional in terms of what she comes to realize and a great book to get you thinking about your own faith and faith in general.

6. Cold Tangerines Another amazing read by Shauna Niequist.  This one however, focuses on living your life to the fullest and appreciating all of the little things times a thousand and how they make your life richer.  Read it!

7. The Night Villa This book is similar in feel to The Lake of Dead Languages--it's the same author--who clearly loves ancient Rome and spring solstices and pagan rites and rituals--and that's fine by me, because she writes about them so well and so educationally.  This one is actually set in Italy however and tells the tale of a Roman slave girl.

8. Rigged Love Ben Mezrich books! He wrote the book Bringing Down the House about card counting in Vegas and Accidental Billionaires which turned into the movie The Social Network. This one is about the oil industry on Wall Street and its origins in Dubai.  So crazy and interesting! When they make this into a movie it's going to look like one big frat party.

9. The Baby Trail I had to leave my bed while I was reading this book on a regular basis because I laughed so hard--I didn't want to wake up my husband.  This is the only book I ever read about infertility while Chris and I were trying to have a baby--and it's crap chick lit at that--not even a real medically sound responsible book.  But.....the way the main character describes all of the medical procedures she endures and emotional roller coaster riding she does while trying to conceive is so hilarious and nail on the head for anyone going through it themselves.  And sure....it's exaggerated....and outrageous.....and I never did any illegal drugs while trying to conceive--although the way some of them made me feel they should have been illegal--but it's still a riot and about time someone wrote a humorous book on the subject!

So, those are my nine that popped into my head when I thought of my favorite books to read.  I realize they're a little all over the board......I don't really have a type.  What are yours?  What else should I read?

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recommendations, Maggie! I've added several to my way-too-long "To Read" list on goodreads. Did you know "Baby Trail" has two sequels?

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    1. I didn't know that Laurie! But it's so good to know! Thank you!

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  2. This is such a great post! Thanks for the suggestions! My all time favorite is Feathers from my Nest, by Beth Moore. It is such a good, challenging and also easy read. It totally changed my perspective on how I see seemingly "normal", ordinary objects and moments in life. I cannot say enough good things about it! Has great thoughts on marriage, parenting and life :) I love it!
    I am also super excited to read Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham, it's her debut novel. I have high hopes for it since I adore her on Gilmore Girls and Parenthood! Happy readying! :)
    Have you ever thought of doing one of these posts with kids books? I'd love to hear your suggestions and reviews!

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