It seems fitting that on the day that I was planning on writing a post on my favorite books the author of one of my all time favorites past away. JD Salinger past away this morning at the age of ninety-one. You can read his obituary in the New York Times here. I read "The Catcher in the Rye" when I was in high school and chose to do a piece from it for a 'dramatic reading' that we had to do for class. I remember vainly trying to find a section that didn't have any swearing in it. I was still in high school after all. In the end I couldn't find one that I liked, so I bravely said the word, "Damn" in front of my entire English class and my teacher. It was liberating, and scary and made me feel so adult all at the same time. Thanks Mr. Salinger for giving voice to millions of angsty, hormonal teenagers, myself included.
On to my list of books. I love to read. Always have. I remember my mom forcing me to go outside and play and forbidding me to bring a book along because that's all I wanted to do, read. My favorite memories of childhood are reading in our hammock beneath the pine trees and sitting around the campfire with a book in my lap, eating peanuts in the shell and throwing the shells in the campfire. What I wouldn't give to be able to do that now!
There aren't many books that I would re-read. Here's a list of my favorites.
Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery
Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
A Long Way Down and How to Be Good, Nick Hornby
The English Patient, Michael Ondaajte
I'm quite positive that there are some that I am forgetting and that I soon as I hit 'Publish' I will think of a few more. As you can see there's isn't much in the way of new fiction. So help me out.
What are your favorite books, the ones you are willing to read over and over again?
Really? Putting this out to a Reading Teacher?!?! The list is far too long. All of the above are included except "The English Patient"...I could just never get that into it. I would need to track down all my books in order to figure out which ones I read the most. Oh, and even though they are long...anything Jane Austen, I am a sucker.
ReplyDelete"Soulforge" by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis
ReplyDeleteI've taken the same book from a rented apt to a rented home to an apt in China to the first home I've ever owned. Its a good book that sticks to me like boston ivy on a brownstone. And, only heaven knows, but I do believe, I'll take it with me when I go.