"A reader lives 1000 lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one."
- George R. R. Martin

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Books that I love - Part 3

This will round out my "favorite books" posts.  While there are many books that I love, and many categories of favorites, these lists (Parts 1-3) are the ones that move me over and over again!

Often times while reading a book I become attached to the characters and feel as though I'm traveling the pages with friends.  None more so than with "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe".  When this book and I parted ways at the end of the reading, I cried as it is a very moving story.  I found myself crying again about a week later because I missed the people so!  They were as real to me as my family, and I had known them on a very personal level, thanks to the writing and wit of Fannie Flagg.  I know that the film is one of the best "chick flicks" of our time, but the book is so much more!  We follow these people and their lives feeling every slur and heartbreak right along with them.  The book centers around friendship, race, love and cooking and it will take you along for a very satisfying ride.



"Woman: An Intimate Geography" takes you on a tour of the female covering such subjects as organs, orgasm, exercise and the mysterious properties of breast milk.  Pulitzer Prize winner Natalie Angier tackles questions of "female nature" and challenges the Darwinian-based gender stereotypes.  I read this book from cover to cover, often highlighting and dog-earing pages as I went.  It is a journey of discovery answering questions I never would have asked and showing me a new way to look at myself, and women!  A must read for all females (especially those headed out into the world for the first time) it is an education you will love!



I have a very broad and active imagination, and any book that allows me to exercise and explore it always gets 5 stars from me!  Maurice Sendak is a 5 star author/illustrator.  Best known for "Where the Wild Things Are," Sendak never shies away from subjects that may offend, rather basking in them and showing children that there are hardships, but always hope.  "We Are All In the Dumps, With Jack and Guy" is just such an offering.  Centering around the homeless, and touching on the subjects of AIDS, loneliness and vulnerability, Maurice Sendak takes us on a journey where the words are not the main storyteller, rather the pictures and images you create along the way.  I come back to these images over and over as I reach for hope in my everyday life, and am reminded that so long as there is hope, there is help.



Until next time, I wish you good reading!

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