Adrianne asked me to do the book meme. I love books and I love Adrianne so ... why not?
First one disclaimer. The language of this meme uses the phrase "must reads." But one of my core values has to do with my belief that there's no such thing as "the best," or that everyone should do anything, or that there's such a thing as a "must read." I loved reading (and re-reading) these books, but they might not mean a thing to you.
--end disclaimer--
FICTION - This category is hard since I haven't read fiction in more than twenty years. Do myths and folktales count as fiction? I tend to see them as cultural studies, but if they count then my collection of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales could be the choice here, especially the story The Snow Queen. I've read that story literally a hundred times, maybe more. Another way cool choice would be a collection of Arctic shamanic folktales. They are so WEIRD. I love them! But if we're talking about novels, the last time I latched on to a "must read" novel, it was Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar. Like I said, that was more than 20 years ago. Does that count?
AUTOBIOGRAPHY - Didn't even have to think about this one. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama is the autobiography of autobiographies for the early 21st century, oh yeah. The book blew me away.
NON-FICTION - This category, too, was difficult because all I read is non-fiction and there are so many categories of non-fiction that I LOVE, including history, biography, philosophy and poetry, as well as all the hard sciences. I decided, finally, on Annals of the Former World by John McPhee. I'm cheating here, since Annals is a compendium of a whole bunch of his books about geology. I loved every one of the books that are a part of the collection, maybe especially The Control of Nature.
RANDOM BOOK - I turn again and again to a collection of Native American portraits, sepia-toned photos taken around the turn of the 20th century by Edward Curtis. My other favorite is Planet Earth As You've Never Seen It Before, the book version of the National Geographic TV special. WOW.
OK, that's it. I'm all memed out for awhile now. Have a great weekend, ya'll.
11 comments:
Jake is straining at his leash ready to bite the next meme that comes too close.
Thanks for doing this (and so quickly, too!). I think that all of your choices "count" and was delighted that you identified more than one book for each category -- gives me lots of ideas for my ever-growing reading list.
I also totally agree with your disclaimer and wish I'd thought to preface my own choices with that same insight.
That's a powerful lean Jake's in. What has his attention?
I really love McPhee's writing.
Jake looks beautiful. i love his thin shadow legs too! Great photos as always Reya!
Do the Harry Potter books go into General fiction or Children' s book fiction category?
I enjoyed "Dreams of My father " very much too--if is is the autobiography, maybe it is one of " the best" after all--
is jake trying to capture those last rays of sunlight....sweet pic.
speaking of sweet pic, like your new avatar... green is a good color for the holidays. although it's not easy being green, at least not according to kermie.
have a good weekend!
I really should read more non-fiction ... I really should. But every time I find the time to read I find myself reaching for escapism. Take me away oh world of fiction ... fantasy ...
Maybe Jake is saying "enough walking mom, let's go home and read."
Ninety-nine point nine percent of what I read is fiction! . .. but what I read for work is not, so I suppose that is the reason.
I have nothing against fiction or people who read fiction. I don't know why I became disinterested. Maybe it's because I read so slowly and want to learn about so many things. I feel I can't afford the luxury of reading novels.
Maybe.
I think Merle is right - Jake is going to bite the next meme tag. Merle, you are so funny.
I just want to wish you all the best.
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