Ten Books About Which I Had Very Strong Emotions
Check out The Broke and the Bookish for Top Ten Lists every Tuesday!
Top
Ten Books About Which I Had Very Strong Emotions:
DISLIKED
INTENSELY:
1. Look Homeward, Angel by
Thomas Wolfe. Makes me wanna put my head against a door jamb and slam.
Repeatedly. Cannot get through it.
2. Possession by A.S. Byatt.
This is on many lists of Best Books Ever. But it’s about poets and poems and
the scholars who study poems. And did I mention poems? Not exactly first class
action.
3. Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
My goal in life: never read this book.
4. Julie and Julia: My Year of
Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell. Could a person BE more negative? The
author’s pessimism really ruined what could have been a really fun read.
SCARED
ME OUT OF MY BOOTS:
5.
The
Road by Cormac McCarthy. Cannibals with human flesh stuck in their teeth? Spooky!
LAUGHED:
6. Can You Keep a Secret? by
Sophie Kinsella. So funny. The ridiculous main character reminded me of myself.
Not that I am ever ridiculous. Of course not.
7. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain. Love this dude’s sense of humor!
8. Anything by Frank McCourt. He
has such a funny narrative voice and the fact that he maintained a sense of
humor even through tragedy is wonderful. I mean, I realize that you would not
find Angela’s Ashes in the humor section, but I appreciate the light-hearted,
resilient way he views life.
CRIED:
9. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana
Gabaldon. Nathan walked in on me reading this, and noting my sobs, quickly
turned on his heel and fled the scene. To set the scene: it’s the final good-bye of a
husband and wife, as the wife is about to travel in time to her rightful place
in the future (don’t you dare snort/snicker/laugh. It’s very believable, I tell you!) and the husband ventures
bravely to fight at the Battle of Culloden alongside his men,
hunky Scottish warriors, all:
“I will find you,” he whispered in my ear. “I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you—then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. But there is one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest.”His voice dropped, nearly to a whisper, and his arms tightened around me.“Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.”
10. The Yearling by Marjorie
Kinnan Rawlings. An animal lover cannot read this dry-eyed.
Comments
And I second your goal in life of never reading Moby Dick...It's a guy in a boat searching for a whale. Reminds me of The Old Man and the Sea...must be a guy thing?...
I'm planning on reading the Outlander books in 2012. Every single thing I've heard and read about them is as lovely as what you have to say. I can't wait to get started!
~Asheley (Into the Hall of Books)
I only read Julia Child's My Life in France because I didn't like the Julie half of that movie, and it was really good!
I loved Can You Keep a Secret?! It was one of her funniest and probably my favourite Kinsella book.
I've never read Tom Sawyer - I didn't know it was a funny book!
I have Dragonfly in Amber on my list too :)
Here's my list.
asheley, yes! read Outlander. you wont regret it!
shannon, im glad you agree about possession. i guess not everyone loves that book.
tom sawyer is hilarious!
and shannon, the story IS an interesting one... it just didn't suck me in, either!
but i'm gonna make a valiant effort to finish! 2012 book goal: finish the books that have been in the "currently reading" pile for 18-36 mos!