7 Books...no, wait...8!

Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”

~ Lemony Snicket  

I cannot stand it. Some rules cannot be followed.

I was challenged to share the covers of 7 books - one per day. Each day I would challenge someone to do the same thing. All of that I could do, although I posted 2 some days and eventually posted a total of 8 because I couldn't decide on the final selection. 

We were not allowed to post any explanation or review of the books. So I didn't then. I am now.

The Stand is Stephen King's best book ever. I read it straight through. I did not sleep (this was BC - before children). I probably need to read it again, but I know its power and have declined, so far. I didn't see the movie. There is no way it could touch the book.

[One should know I once read all of King's books before It. I stopped reading King at that point. I did not see the movie from this book or from It. I do not see his movies (except for a few). Yes, he gives me nightmares. Yes, it is worth it. King is a genius. He is writing somewhat more gently these days.]

This is John Grisham's best book. I read the first chapter and had to put the book down for a day or so. The movie is good, but not as good as the book - usually the case. I have ready most of Grisham's early books and I have recommended The Pelican Brief to my constitutional law students (it explains the importance of the "Supremes" (the people sitting on the Supreme Court of the U.S) beautifully.

I love Jane Austen. I have read this book more times than I can count. It is a fairy tale - with some important lessons. I probably own 2 or 3 copies of Pride and Prejudice. When I find one on this table or that bookcase, I stop and read a chapter or two. I have seen the series and most, if not all, of the movies made from this book. Watch the BBC series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. The others are crap.

I have only read this Barker book. I have read it twice. The first time was the best. I purchased a number of woven carpets after. If you have read it, you get it. It's a great battle between good and evil story. Good wins. We all need to believe that.

I love frogs - always have. I met one of the authors, Travis Laduc while training for Texas Master Naturalist membership. He's a marvelous lecturer and aided my future teaching of the subject as well as assisted me in planning hikes/field trips involving frogs. The book is a great resource.

Okay. The kids always give me a hard time for purchasing music and books from the sale bin. This book was on the sale TABLE at BookPeople in Austin a number of years ago. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It captures what it means to be a kid using a baseball story. From that summary, I would expect me to hate the book, but I don't. I really love this book. I wrote to Oprah about it. I think I may have sent her a copy...that's how much I love this book. I still have a copy and will be reading it again this summer.

My sister had a friend who was not my favorite of her friends. She introduced me to Harlan Ellison's writing. I ended up reading a great number of his short stories. While still not a fan of the friend, I'm a huge fan of Harlan Ellison. I love this title - I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream. What kind of mind could create that sentence (and that mental picture)? There was another story titled "I see a man sitting on a chair and the chair is biting his leg." At least he had help with that one as it is attributed to Ellison and Robert Sheckley.

I was at dinner once with Ronnie Cox (I don't generally "name drop" because I don't know many people who have names I might want to drop, but I was on a music tour with Cox and got to eat dinner with him and his granddaughter every now and then) and Harlan Ellison came up in conversation. I think I was recommending short stories to someone, maybe Cox's granddaughter. Anyway, Cox said, "Harlan Ellison? Oh, I know Harlan. He's a friend of mine." "Wow," I thought. "What must that be like - to be a friend of Harlan Ellison." [Maybe you had to be there.]

This is the sequel to The Shining. No, I didn't read The Shining. I don't think I have watched the entire movie either, but I have seen bits and pieces of it. Anyway, I believe Doctor Sleep is the first book I read after graduation, um er, retirement. I think I read it straight-through. I loved it.

It seems to me it was written by a kinder/gentler Stephen King. Don't worry if you didn't read The Shining, but you need to know the basics of the story before moving into Doctor Sleep.


These are probably not my favorite books, just books I enjoyed that I am willing to recommend to people. There are others, but these came to mind first or came to mind for some other reason. Read them if you want. We can talk about them later, if you want.

In the end there is more darkness here than light, but most of the dark books have elements of light to them. I think Ellison is the only author where good doesn't always win...at least a little.


BIG UNNECESSARY FOOTNOTE or BONUS BOOKS (it depends on how you look at it):

I always wonder about who makes up those exercises - 7 books in 7 days and such. So I thought, "What if I was asked to list the 7 books within an arm's length from my regular seat (you would have to know what a lousy housekeeper I am)..."

So I had to see what the answer would be. It's a kooky group of books. Sources differ. Here you go:

Anything Can Happen by George and Helen Waite Papashvily (1945) - I think I purchased this tiny volume in a junk store because it is a small book (I love small books) and because of the title.

Walking Ireland for the Craic by Jennifer M. Rooks (2017) - I met Jennifer in Ireland and wanted to see her hiking notes. I cannot imagine a 400 mile journey, even now that I have read her notes, I cannot imagine this trek. [FYI "Craic" means "fun."]

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (2010) - This is likely another sale table book or someone suggested it and handed it to me.

Flowering Judas And Other Stories by Katherine Anne Porter (1935) - Great used bookstore in Houston had this and the next one. The youngest has read and written about Porter so I got these, just because.

Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter (1939)

The Leavers by Lisa Ko (2017) - DH belongs to some kind of "club" with BookPeople and is sent a package of stuff once a quarter of so. This was one selection. I have no intention of reading it.

The Collected Poems of William Alexander Percy (1950) - I believe this came from the Georgetown Public Library used bookstore. I always go to the poetry section and see if anything looks interesting. This did. The book jacket blurb describes Percy as a "lawyer, soldier, cosmopolitan, plantation-owner, and patriot." But I haven't found much of interest within, so far.

FINAL NOTE:
Hopefully no one gets upset that I have shared the covers here. I got them from their Amazon listing and folks should appreciate the recommendations here. It's educational, no? [And I earn nothing from this blog, people.]

No...this is the FINAL, FINAL NOTE: I loved that Lemony Snicket quote above, but I haven't read Lemony Snicket. I can say that DH and I used to bring magazines or books along on our dates - we would hold hands as we read. Later - after we had a family - when we took the kids out to eat everyone in the family would take along something to read (coworkers would see us and talk about it) in case one finished eating and had nothing to do before everyone else was ready to go home. We had conversation, but we also encouraged reading.

My dad didn't allow "reading at the table." We did, do, and will continue to allow reading at the table in our house.