QUOTE OF THE NOW

"Our life evokes our character. You find out more about yourself as you go on. That's why it's good to be able to put yourself in situations that will evoke your higher nature rather than your lower. 'Lead us not into temptation.'" Joseph Campbell

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Drama Continues! Which books should Mabel bring to Nanaimo?!

See Part 1 here wherein I began cataloging my novels, culling some, and thinking about which ones to bring in Nanaimo with me. The following are just who did and didn't make the cull.

Made the Cut
Jest of God
Native Son
Mother Night (you can see we were in Cdn and American Lit)
Hemingway short stories


Made the Cut but I'm Not Sure If I Should Have Bought
The Historian
Wicked

Just Barely Made It
Moby Dick
Huckleberry Finn



CUT
Second Hand Books
Valley of the Dolls
That Yankee Twain book
two less popular Vonneguts
The Sun Also Rises

Bought New, eons ago
Sophies World (never cracked it)
Prayer for Owen Meaney (read a couple pages once)


Now... I read about one book every two weeks, so I should only bring about 25 books with me. But which ones? Do I choose the ones I least want to read (Moby, Huckle) or that I know are hard read (Toni Morrisson, English Patient) ?

Or all Canadian novels? (Golden Mean, Museum Guard)? Or Oprah Picks? (Fall On Your Knees) Contemporary lit? (100 Years of Solitude, Of Human Bondage, To the Lighthouse)? Bestsellers (The Time Travellers Wife, Still Alice)? Award winners (Clara Callan, Mercy Among the Children)? Older classics (Hard Times, Middlemarch)? Non-western novels (Half of a Yellow Sun, The Cairo Trilogy)?



And gotta fit some French books in there...

SFF will be easier--just some Sharon Shinns... I think Game of Thrones is in there somewhere... Mystery will be harder, cause if I end up loving someone, I'll want more, right? So do I bring 5 Anne Perrys or one? Five John Sandfords or one? I won't need mich Romance, cause I have some in my ereader. (And do I bring Outlander? I bought it about 13 years ago! Do I want to read the rape?)

This is the curse of liking most genres, most kinds of reads, potboilers, bestsellers, comedy, difficult reads, long, short.... And of having worked in a bookstore, so the percentage of books you choose, likely to be really good, increases. Frickety frack! ... ... I'm doomed. Or at least wish I was under house arrest, confined with my books and no outside contact.

But I'm also blessed to own such a lovely library, and eyes in working order, so I must stop complaining. I think we should conduct part of this through voting, don't you? I'll find some books I'm unsure of and let my readers decide.

If I owned a home I'd put a Little Library out front so I could share zee wealth. Maybe I could set it up at my bus stop... )

8 comments:

Judy, Judy, Judy said...

Are you saying you haven't read Outlander? Cause if you have not - don't start! The rape plays out throughout more than just one scene and it's horrific. And, in fact, there are other rapes in other books in the series. If I didn't love Jamie and Claire so much I'd have thrown any one of those tomes, hopefully at Gabaldon's head, long ago.
I think this would be easier on you if you realize - if you don't bring something you want - Fernando could send it to you when you want it.

London Mabel said...

It's in part from your past comments that I continue to hesitate with Outlander. At the very most I'll read the first book one day, and then just wiki to find out what happens. That's what I did with Twilight and Hunger Games.

But you're right--maybe shouldn't make The Cut. Or I should read it before I leave. It's just that I've owned it for SO LONG. (From when I first started that bookstore job and Gabaldon was the Dan Brown of the day.)

Anonymous said...

You really should read Spohie's World. I know it is long, but you get caught up in the story and it is worth it. It remains my all time favourite book.
Nancyf

BarbN said...

Ha. I was going to say to skip Sophie's World. But I never finished it, so my opinion doesn't count. It took me several tries to get started on Owen Meany, too, but it is definitely worth it. Great book. Thanks to you and Judy3, I read Breathing Room while we were gone. Good recommendation, that is easily the best one of SEP's that I've read. Now I want to go to Tuscany. For a long time.

BarbN said...

p.s. I am not an Outlander fan, which we have discussed ad nauseum elsewhere, so I will desist. Just wanted you to know you're not alone.

widdershins said...

Oh dear .. are you sure you can't bring them all?

Morgaine said...

All you need to know about Outlander is that there are 1567 references to Jamie's big Scottish dirk. Go with Mercy Among the Children.... it's in my Top Ten of All Time (up to this point)

London Mabel said...

Sophie's World - Oh no, debate! I'm just not sure I'm into this genre. Maybe I'll read the first few pages... give it the First Pages test!

Outlander - At this point I feel like I have to read it... to find out why it's so loved/ hated. Maybe I'll give it a skim.

Mercy Among - Another friend recommended it, it's definitely under consideration.

Widders - I can't! I own hundreds of books!! sob sob sob oh my little books... how do I choose...

Barb - Glad it wasn't a disappointment. :-)

Reading

Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love
Les années douces : Volume 1
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My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
Stupeur et tremblements
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