My husband announced the other night that "it's a bit much" is my catchphrase these days. Honestly, it applies to EVERYTHING, and currently to my blog, which is about books (and other things on occasion). Dozens of beloved books are jostling around in my head at the moment, all competing for attention and begging to be mentioned first, and really...it's a bit much.
My blog will be mostly about books I love and rarely about those that I hate, for I tend to avoid reading what I hate since I'm not in school any longer. As a result of escaping the oppressive thumb of certain syllabi, I don't feel guilty about cathartically chucking old copies of Atlas Shrugged or Sinclair Lewis's dreaded Main Street into the car backseat and letting the wind rip them to shreds. It does seem wrong to do that to ANY book, insofar as I believe there's something inherently good in a book just because it's a book (although I don't apply that to so much religious non-fiction that I consider to be obvious and insulting and therefore not at all bookish).
My point is, I read what I love, and I yearn to talk with people about it, and I look forward to your feedback and (even better) recommendations!
For a little introduction of some books I think are just GLORIOUS (and to see whether you might be insterested in anything I'll talk about on my blog), I'm linking to two lists I created on amazon.com. Maybe you'll get some ideas for your Christmas list.
"Excessively Diverting Brit Lit"
"Worth it for the Illustrations"
Happy reading, friends!
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Books and Sundry
Watoosa
How Am I Excessively Diverted?
Big Ben
Ben's Bookshelf
The Minerva Louise books & Lawrence, Stoeke
The House in the Night, Swanson
Little Oink, Little Hoot, & Little Pea, Rosenthal
The House in the Night, Swanson
Little Oink, Little Hoot, & Little Pea, Rosenthal
Jackamo
Jackamo's Sophisticated Tea Corner
- The Tea Table
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I Highly Recommend the following decaf delights:
- Orange Spice (lovely for the fall and winter months with just a touch of sugar)
- Green Tea with Apricot (fruity and chock full o' healthy antioxidants)
- Bourbon Street Vanilla Rooibos (mild and pleasant with a nice hint of vanilla and grenadine...one of my very favorite teas!)
- Special Teas
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I Highly Recommend the following decaf delights:
- Chai (nicely flavored with ginger, cinnamon, and vanilla)
- Peach ( a
- Cinnamon Orange Spice (a touch stronger than the Tea Table blend)
- The White Lily Tearoom
- This was a precious tea room until it closed, but you can still order tasty teas and a mix for Vickie's yummy scones online.
Greta
Greta's Favorite Smelly Old Books
Young Horatio Hornblower, C.S. Forester: I love to sniff the old torn spine of this book. I sit primly on the open pages and just rest my nose on the book, getting a high from the musty, basement-y odor.
The Bastable Children, E. Nesbit: It's soft, faded linen cover is almost as tattered & smelly as YHH.
The Father Christmas Letters, J.R.R. Tolkien: I am only able to smell this rare secondhand copy during Advent, and I have to sneak to sit on it when no one is looking.
4 comments:
Ahoy! Beth -
CC's old boy from Baylor, Phil, here. Good stuff. I really look foward to what you have to say on all-things-lit. I, too, read what I want, free from the chains of academia. Actually, I was never bound by them, being a business school student and all. : )
I'm trying to catch up after not reading very much true lit in college.
Today's public reading habits can be summed up in a scene from Seinfeld, where George accuses Jerry of not reading. Jerry says, "I read!" And, George retorts, "Books, Jerry. Books."
do you even have to read in business school?
phil, i'm kidding. i know you have great taste. love the seinfeld quote!
I can remember reading only one "book" in b-school and it had no real literary merit.
When I hear the name Hornblower, I'm reminded of the faux director of Beastie Boys videos, Nathaniel Hornblower. Quite a funny site. You'll have to YouTube.com it sometime.
Regardless, it will be fun to follow along on your reading and recommendations. And...Netflix recommendations, of course.
Yea for your blog! I look forward to breaking up my work day reading all the fun stuff you do and living vicariously through that.
I can't wait for Jack's Tea Corner!
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