What happened on Thursday July 5th?

White Balloon Flower


Book Meme
Borrowed this from Paul over at Aurora Walking Vacation . Four things I love, my Family, Books, Music and Movies. So a meme to tell people what I like to read .. just up my alley.

1/ Recommend 3 books you believe everyone needs to read and say why people should read them.
Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien-in my eyes the greatest fantasy ever written. the creation of a world so intricate that you can become lost in information that is only slightly covered in the story. the creation of a world that you want to live in. oh to have a home in Dale!
To give you some back ground .. I was delayed in reading in school, I was marked as a slow learner and had to take special classes in math and english. They had also set me up in a special program that taught only phonics(try sounding out Colonel). This put me even further behind my classmates. So I read a lot to Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys and watched a lot of TV. Until I had a teacher that read us the Hobbit. I wanted to read the next book so badly. Dad brought me home a copy of Lord of the Rings, it took me six months to read it. Half way through grade 8 my teacher asked what book I was reading, I said Lord of the Rings, she told me to stop fibbing, and sent a letter home to my parents. My parents had to come to school, meet with the teacher and explain to her that I had read the book. After that I didn't have to spend my time with the slow learners anymore.

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
-as Paul says "For me this book was an epiphany of sorts. When I got to the end, I had to go back and read the entire thing over again with an entirely new kind of understanding."
my sister had to read this book for school, I guess I was 13, I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I think it was the second real book that I had ever read in my life. Now the sex scene on Tralfamadore was mainly what I remembered, but I opened my eyes from a little boy who played at war to a young man who hated the idea of men killing each other. When you read Billy's description of walking through the streets of Dresden after the fire bombing you can understand how this book came to be written, the ability to escape but also to retell a traumatic event.

The Masters of Rome Series - Colleen McCullough
read this series for the first time about 6 years ago. The first book "The First Man Of Rome" was written in 1990. But this was a series written by the lady who had written the Thorn Birds... I was to much of a he-man to read this stuff. Then one day at the book store I couldn't find anything to read and I picked up the first book. Now I can't put them down, I've re read them twice now. If your interested in history and how people lived ..read this series.

2/ Name three books you’ve never been able to finish and explain why.
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany, for some reason I just could not get interested in the story. I feel bad, but I was just not interested in reading it.
Sahara - Clive Cussler, I got bored.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick, I have a original copy, but I saw the movie first and have never been able to finish the book since.

3/ Name three books you want to read, but haven’t yet.
I would like to read Ann Rand, everyone seems to think highly of it but I just don't seem to find the time to pick it up.

4/ Are there any books that you’ve loved, but been disappointed by the film/TV adaptation?
Dune - Frank Herbert, the mini series was great but the movie with Sting was a piece of crap. Wife (pre marriage), her girlfriends and I went to see it. I came out of the theatre swearing and explaining why it was so bad. They thought it was stupid but well done. (non of them had ever read the books).
Shoeless Joe - W. P. Kinsella became Field of Dreams, good movie but a great book.

5/ Which books (apart from the Potter books) do you re-read the most?
The Lord of The Rings -14 times (between 1976 and now)
Slaughterhouse Five - 5 times (between 1976 and now)
Masters of Rome Series - 2 times (between 2001 and now)
WTO - I admit it, I read them because I want to know what happens. It doesn't mean I enjoy it though. (you have to re read the previous novels before you read the latest so you know what is happening)
The Hobbit - 7 times (between 1978 and now)
A Song of Ice and Fire - 4 times(between 1996 and now)
Catch-22 - every time I see the movie (between 1984 and now)
"do you want me to go on - way more than I can list"

6/ Which books do you remember most from your childhood?
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish - Dr Seus

7/ Are there any books that you are proud to say you have read?
every single one.

8/ Are there any books that you are ashamed to admit reading?
I can't remember the name of the book, but it was a by a well know sci-fi author, turned out to be a sci-fi occult soft-core porn novel .. that traveled very weakly from sex scene to sex scene. I admit that I didn't put it down, but I was and still am very sorry that I ever read it. (I think I still have it in the house)

9/ Are there any books that have had a big emotional impact on you? List 2.
Shoeless Joe - there are points where I cry, every time
Stand on Zanzibar - I discovered that other people think like I do. Not as a continues chain of events but a quick jump from here to there and back.

If you want to take this meme go ahead ... If you want to read anything I have suggested .. enjoy .. or if you can suggest a book, let me know. I'm always looking for something new.

Listening to Highway No. 61 Blues - Jack Kelly & His South Memphis Jug Band