It took me a bit, pondering here and there, but I think I can list my five books now without stumbling or stuttering. In no particular order:
*The Talisman by Stephen King- chosen because, while not the first great book my Dad shared with me, it is probably the book he most enjoyed sharing with me. We'd be sitting at dinner and he's go "Whoops! I just flipped. I barely made it back from the territories." He cried with me when I cried about Wolf. It was a toss up between this and the Gunslinger (which he also loved and shared with me), but this is a stand alone, where the Gunslinger sends you into eight books.
*Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott - chosen because I love her. I don't agree with everything she says all the time, but I love her "cock-eyed" way of looking at faith and God. I came to my own faith bass-ackwards and am the world's most reluctant pastor's wife. And I'm not afraid to drop the f-bomb in a crisis. Anne and I get along just fine.
*The Victoria's Secret Catalogue Never Stops Coming by Jennie Nash OR Why I Wore Lipstick to my Masectomy by Geralyn Lucas - chosen because I was diaagnosed with breast cancer at the ripe old age of 22. Both books are marvelous and I just couldn't choose which one better represented what it's like to be young and bald.
*The Essays of EB White - beautiful, lyrical, wonderful even when talking about a pig with erysipelas. This was my first real exposure to what it was like to just write about life as it happens, and what we take from that. It's what I still aspire to someday remotely resemble in my ramblings.
*Dispatches from the Land of Flowers: A Snake Man, a Sad Poet, a Lightning Stalker and Other Stories About Real Florida by Jeff Klinkenberg- chosen because living in Florida is like nowhere else in the world. It took awhile to sink in, but I am so hooked. I love it here in Paradise and want everyone else to love it too.
And there you have it..my choices.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
boy am I going to be busy come August. I love your books. My sis-in-law had a double mastectomy at 31, and somewhere I read at the time what a GREAT book Why I Wore Lipstick to my Mastectomy was. I never read it though. Looks like now is the time!!!
Wow, I want to read everybody's books! Not sure I will be able to fit them all in though...
Great list. Sweet story about your Dad.
Oh, I loved The Talisman
One of King's best. King reminds me of my dad too.
Dana, as much as I love King, I haven't made it through 'The Talisman', maybe this is my year.
I'm looking at 2 of your choices: The Talisman or the E.B. White essays. This is a fun challenge!
I passed my copy of the VC Catalogue Never Stops to our pastor's wife when she got her diagnosis last year. The lipstick one may have to go on my list.
I would not have expected anything less than completely eclectic from you Dana Dahling! What a superb list. :)
I remember my dad reading King when I was growing up, but he always steered me toward reading classics. I think the only one we disagreed upon was "Red Badge of Courage" (He loved it, I didn't!).
I got "Lipstick" today with a coupon really really cheap at B.Dalton!
Post a Comment