Anne's Answers

Fun idea Jennie! Thanks for sharing!
1. Are there any books you read over and over again?
Yes, definitely! My favorites are An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott, Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Miracle in the Andes, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Nefertiti, The Hiding Place. I could keep going. I am a re-reader!

2. Name 3 or 4 fictional characters you would like to be and tell us why.


Scarlett O'Hara: who wouldn't want to be the belle of the ball and have an 18 inch waist. She's reckless and headstrong and oh man, I love her!


Elizabeth Bennett: totally agreeing with Jennie! I'd love to be Elizabeth! Love to be loved by Mr. Darcy!

Nefertiti (she's not technically fictional, but she's fictional in a sense in the book Nefertiti by Michelle Moran): Oh, wow! I'd love to be an ancient Egyptian queen/Pharaoh and rule a country, have plenty of servants, dress like a goddess, have someone do my makeup/hair. (I'd be her as long as I could have all the luxury without being hated by nearly everyone.)

3. Name a book that has had you thinking about (and even talking about it) for a long long time afterward.

Here recently, The Poisonwood Bible - can't imagine the hardships people faced and am wondering how I would have handled a year or longer in the deepest, darkest parts of the Congo in the 1960's.
Always thinking about Three Cups of Tea - what can I do to make a difference in this world?

4. Name one "classic" book that you are afraid to admit you don't like. We're all friends here - be honest.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickins - my only expectation with that book was that eventually it would finish. Too much complaining, confusion, and old English to drudge through. I finished it though.

5. Have you ever wanted to write your own book? You don't have to be specific if you don't want, but you can.

Actually, I've written 3 children's books. My sister in law is illustrating them and I am saving the money to get them published! Here's hoping that someday I can say I am officially an author. I've always wanted to be one since I read Little House on the Prairie and to think that I am close to actually fulfilling this dream is pretty darn cool.

Jennie's Answers

1. Are there any books that you read over and over again? If so (and I'm sure there are), name them.
Anne of Green Gables series, Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, Persuasion and Suck In Your Stomach and Put Some Color On

2. Name 3 or 4 fictional characters you'd like to be and why.

Elizabeth Bennet - you knew I was going to list this one - the why should be obvious, but here are my reasons - she's smart, funny, pretty enough, witty and she gets Mr. Darcy in the end.

Antonia from My Antonia - because in the end, she is happy and she's discovered her happiness lies with her family. At least, that's what I remember getting out of that book.

Sunya from Pastries: A Novel - because she has the life I want - well, the bakery anyway.

3. Name a book that has had you thinking (and even talking) about it for a long, long while afterward.

The Island, Triumph of Hope and A Breath of Fresh Air are three that still cross my mind.

4. Name one "classic" book that you are afraid to admit you don't like. We're all friends here - be honest.

Jane Eyre. Liked it okay, but Jane was just too good to be true for me. Nice story, but not one I'll read again. I know, I've just offended the English-speaking world. Hey, I love Jane Austen. Isn't that enough?

5. Have you ever wanted to write your own book? You don't have to be specific if you don't want, but you can.
Yes. I've actually thought about just writing it as a screenplay these days because that's how I see it in my head, like it's a movie. A cute little fluff take on Cyrano de Bergerac - with roles reversed, so it's the girl trying to get the guy. With food. It would be fun, I think. I don't know. I've thought about taking an online screenwriting class and really trying. But then I'm afraid to. Silly.
And a food memoir. I'd like to travel to the South and explore my culinary heritage. Write a fictional book on that. Or just a cookbook.

Book Group Tag

All right, fellow Bluestockings. I was thinking about the different personalities we all have and thought a little "book group tag" would be fun. So here are the questions I thought of:

1. Are there any books that you read over and over again? If so (and I'm sure there are), name them.

2. Name 3 or 4 fictional characters you'd like to be and why.

3. Name a book that has had you thinking (and even talking) about it for a long, long while afterward.

4. Name one "classic" book that you are afraid to admit you don't like. We're all friends here - be honest.

5. Have you ever wanted to write your own book? You don't have to be specific if you don't want, but you can.

There. Five questions. Now I'll do a seperate post with my answers and I challenge y'all to do yours as well. It could be very enlightening. I can't wait to see what you all have to say!

September and October

Thanks, Anne for the reminder! I changed the reading schedule on the side there to reflect your choice for September and I put mine in for October - something light and fun after a serious classic!
Takers for November and December?

Books??

Do we know what books we are reading for the next couple of months? I am trying to get my life back into order after the crazy summer we just had. I have read most of the books from the summer and have yet to review them. I apologize for my laziness. I will do better. I believe I spoke for September's book so I am hoping that all of you don't mind that I chose a classic. I would like to read The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne if that works for everyone. I will post questions at the end of the month, unless I hear otherwise. I'm flexible.

Reviews

It's almost the end of August and seems to signify the end of summer as well. A good time to wrap up loose ends. I think my reviews are pretty lame when I write them this long after reading the book, but I still feel like I should do it anyway.

"Little Heathens"

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There's something about that old-fashioned work ethic that inspires me to want to be better. As difficult as life was back during the time of the depression, the fight to survive tough times, life almost seemed simpler. Mildred's descriptions portrayed the stern grandparents, yet she didn't speak with bitterness and instead seemed to have a joyful childhood despite the challenges. Every time I picked up the book, I was smiling or laughing at something, and was always intrigued by meal preparations. I appreciated all of the details--it helped my understanding of "the olden days." I was inspired to be more frugal (how appropriate for these economic times!) by things like the way they swiped out the inside of eggshells to make certain they got all the eggwhites. I confess that in all my years of cracking eggs, this has never crossed my mind! In fact, I still might not (fingernails ya know?) but the idea that things weren't wasted, and that they made the most of what little they had, has stuck with me. This will be fun to read parts of it to my kids as they get older to teach them "see what life was like way back when."

The Survivors Club

Another great read! I liked that this book was more than just a compilation of experiences of people who had survived major traumas/accidents/attacks/etc. It used these experiences to point out ways that we can be better prepared to be survivors ourselves, whether it be surviving an accident, or surviving an economic depression, or whatever. There really are things we can do to increase our chances of surviving when faced with adversity. Sherwood (author) doesn't claim to know why some people die while others survive, he simply explores what those survivors did and lets the reader think through it. For example, he studies how some people have a strong will to live, how some people learn to manage fear, some of it is just luck, etc. I found it all quite interesting. The end of the book has a section for taking a test to determine your own survival personality, but since I checked this book out of the library I did not get to do this part (each book contains a single user code for the online test). I'm pretty sure I fall into whatever category includes "fearful" so one of my goals is to work on managing that fear.

Outlander

Gabaldon (author) can really tell a story! It was more than a story it was like some kind of epic romance/adventure. And then I wanted to take a trip to Scotland each time I picked up the book. While I got swept away in the first half of the book, I got annoyed with all the sex scenes in the last half. I mean, a honeymoon is one thing, but seriously I didn't need to read about all the details for EACH passionate encounter! Really wasn't there an editor around prior to publishing? Also I personally thought the evil Capt Randall gay lover bit was pretty icky too. TMI! The book was plenty long enough already, well written, descriptive, exciting, other than these two thumbs-down pieces so it begs the question of whether Gabaldon could have left out some of these details or not? As far as a "time travel" book, she did an amazing job at making it seem realistic and possible rather than fall into the "fantasy" category. (side note: I started to read "The Time Travelers Wife" last year and thought it was obnoxious--couldn't finish it) In doing so, I liked that I couldn't figure out how it was going to end, how everything was going to wrap up in the end, and kept you guessing right till the very end. I was glad that Claire chose to stay with Jamie---now I'm debating on whether or not to continue the series!

Thursday Teaser

"Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull, p. 75

[grandpa speaking] "Assuming you were the right kind of people. Frankly, I don't know you that well. I hoped that the kind of person who would take the trouble to solve my little puzzle would be the kind of person who could handle the notion of a preserve full of magical creatures. Fablehaven would be too much to swallow for most people."

This is a pretty imaginative book. It's targeted for juveniles and so it might not contain enough depth for an adult reader. It still held my interest because I adore creativity in stories!