As I have been pondering this
topic I realized just how many books I have read that I want to write about.
Even if their contribution to my life was small I am beginning to acknowledge
that everything I read and take in will have some effect on me good or bad.
There are countless topics rushing through my mind as I contemplate which to
share. I want to focus on the books that have been the most memorable during
the different phases of my life. You can be sure I have not put my finger on a
book I had zero interest in.
When last met (see previous post)
I had just finished talking about Dave Pelzer and how his traumatizing
childhood did not hinder him from becoming a positive voice for others. The
books that came to me during my college years were very powerful.
For this discussion I am turning
to the books I have read post school. However I decided that instead of
breaking the list down by age or life stage I would instead be more specific
and use their genres allowing for a clearer understanding of the reasons behind
the books.
Under normal circumstances I am
not a woman who is into fiction. Popular fiction is even less likely to be in
my hands. I have not read Fifty Shades of Grey or whatever else is currently on
the hot list. In fact the only reason some of these books made their way to me
at all is because of their author. Some talent is just too strong to deprive
myself of.
As for the numerous non-fiction
books that complete my list, I have separated out the memoirs when I so felt
they deserved to stand out on their own. I so love a true story (http://bit.ly/2dAHlIY)
and there are so many out there I have yet to read. Those on this list are the
handful I can’t live without.
It is important to note that these
books are not in any special order within their category. I tried to arrange
them just as they popped into my head. They are not in the order I read them or
their importance to me. The simple fact that they are on this list shows their
meaning in my life.
Fiction
“The Women of Brewster Place”-
Gloria Naylor
The author of my first fiction
pick was Gloria Naylor and she recently passed away. Reading that online made
all of the visions of her story; the Women of Brewster Place come flooding back
into my mind. I saw the movie too but her words were what was left ringing in
my ears. The heartbreaking story shined a light on their very dark tales.
“We Were the Mulvaneys” - Joyce
Carol Oates
I am not sure how this book landed
in my lap but it was certainly one that remained on my mind. You see the family
dynamic and how it changes after one of the members suffers a brutal assault.
You get to be a fly on the wall to see both the victim’s and family’s reactions
as the events unfold. It is one that you won’t be able to forget while also
wishing you could step inside and make it all better.
“To Kill a Mockingbird”- Harper
Lee
Is by far my most favorite book of
all time. I have reread it many times and each time I am blown away by the
words on the page. I have never ever read something so beautifully written
dealing with a heavy story. Those characters became people in my life. Everyone
wanted a father like Atticus Finch, a man who only acted solely on his morals while
trying to shield and educate his children on the way the world works.
This is also one of the few
instances where the movie gets it right. It too is a favorite of mine. That
final courtroom scene gets me every time. No matter how many times I watch it I
am always quiet as a mouse even though I know what will happen.
That courtroom is from Harper
Lee’s childhood town of Monroe, Alabama and is now a museum open for tourists.
It is one of the reasons I want to make sure I get to Alabama sometime next year.
Coincidently that is also the hometown of another writer on this list, Truman
Capote. Harper and Truman were childhood friends. It is said that Dill Harris
was based on him.
It is also noteworthy that when
Truman went to Kansas to research In Cold Blood, Harper went along acting as
his research aide.
“Zoo” & “Zoo 2”- James
Patterson
James Patterson is some kind of
freak. I mean that in the best possible way. No seriously I do. He is a
personal hero of mine but simultaneously a freak. The man has written more
books in one year than most authors publish in their
lifetimes. Where he gets the material, patience, and drive I will never
understand. If he was the only author on the planet we will still have an
ongoing list of materials to come through.
Besides this super natural power
he has managed to get me to read two fiction books, Zoo and Zoo 2, of his both
in about a day. The topic of animals taking over doesn’t sound early as
fascinating as this book is to read. CBS was wise to take this story and make it
the hit series it now is. I am of course a loyal watcher as well.
The only person I think that can
rival James Patterson’s publishing record is Danielle Steel. While I never read
any of her books my mother did when I was growing up and I loved the Lifetime
movies that were made based on them. Jewels, Mixed Blessings, Heartbeat,
Changes, Family Album, Fine Things are all classics.
“Gone with the Wind”- Margaret
Mitchell
I was introduced to the story of
Gone with the Wind by Santa if you can believe it. One Christmas I received the
DVDS as a present so that I could watch it for the first time. This was some
time ago before I had Netflix.
After watching all four hours I
was captivated. The story surrounding Scarlet O’Hara was flawlessly told. I
loved that I could see her resiliency and her strength. She wasn’t perfect but
she was a survivor that’s for damn sure.
That movie made me want to do two
things. The first was to read the book and I did. That is about one hundred
times better than the movie, even though I loved it. I hung on to every word on
the page told with such heavy emotions I felt more and more connected to the
story.
The second thing this story made
me want to do was visit Atlanta. Besides the history of the Civil War
intriguing me, I know that it is where Margaret Mitchell resided as she wrote
the book, which of course takes place there as well. Soon enough this will be
coming true.
“The Awakening”- Kate Chopin
According to the Kate Chopin
website: “The Awakening is Kate Chopin’s novel about a married woman seeking
greater personal freedom and a more fulfilling life. Condemned as morbid,
vulgar, and disagreeable when it appeared in 1899, it is today acclaimed as an
essential American book.”
That pretty much describes it on a
basic level. I read this book in high school and again a few years ago. It was
the first time I learned about a woman who would do anything for her family
except sacrifice her soul.
As a young woman that brought all
kinds of issues to the forefront for me to think about. I learned how valuable
self-love and self-preservation is for one’s own salvation.
Non-Fiction
“In Cold Blood”- Truman Capote
The best part about this book is
that it all began because of a small paragraph Truman Capote saw in his New
York Times newspaper. A man after my own heart. What followed was a case that
shocked the country with its violence and cruelty and was Capote’s first work
of non-fiction work.
I would argue this book was the
most important in Capote’s career because of his kinship to the killers and his
own upbringing. Capote himself (and I am paraphrasing here) said “it is
like we grew up in the same house but I went out the front door and he went out
the back”. Capote seeks to explore why this crime happened as if understanding
it will make it better. I suppose it is the reason we all watch true crime
channels nowadays. If only we understood that mindset…but then think of how
much worse the world would be.
“Capote”- Gerald Clarke
It started with the movie of the
same name and Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing the lead. Like all of his other
roles I have seen him in, Hoffman was brilliant in bringing Gerald Clarke’s
words to life. It was like he breathed life back into Truman himself.
This book will always be special
to me and not just because I took to it. This was the very first book signing
and talk I ever went to, LONG before I started my blog. I went on a whim
because I saw it advertised in the New York Times. It was fate. Gerald was so
nice and hearing him talk about Truman and the book was fascinating. Clearly it
became a feeling I continued to seek out.
In the words of Truman Capote
himself “Gerald Clarke knows more about me than anybody else does, including
myself.”
And he was right.
“Five Days at Memorial”- Sheri
Fink
I almost don’t know where to begin
or how to describe the experience of reading this book. It was life changing
that is for sure, but really so much more than that. My love for New Orleans
drew me in but after the first paragraph I was holding the book in my hand like
it was a first edition Bible. Each word was precious to me and I paid close
attention to the details. It was like walking in the shadows of a tragic story
fueled by incompetence, neglect, and good intentions by all of the participants
as those who worked and were treated at this hospital got stranded there during
Hurricane Katrina. Five Days at Memorial will stay with me for years as I
rethink all I know about the medical field and those whose job it is to protect
us from harm, in and out of hospitals. For anyone who has lived through a
natural disaster like Katrina you will understand all too well the price some
had to pay when there is no plan of action. A frightening thought that
continues to leave me awestruck.
You will find another of Sheri’s
masterpieces on my current list of books I want to read. Reading this work only
made me more eager to read another of her gems.
“The Stranger Beside Me” - Ann
Rule
“Of all the gin joints in the
world he had to walk into mine.” This line from Casablanca sums this story up
perfectly. Ann Rule, a true crime author extraordinaire, was working a suicide
hotline with the one and only TED BUNDY. Yep, that Ted Bundy and during his
prime killing season no less. Ann befriended the charismatic witty man whom
everyone loved. She always wondered how he could be so sure nothing would ever
happen to her daughter. Once she found out it made for quite the tale.
This was my first introduction to
Ann and by love of her work will last the rest of my lifetime. Sadly we lost
her a few years ago but the many books she wrote are treasures. One always
seemed better than the last. Some were even made into TV movies.
She always spoke for the victims
who no longer could do so while trying to uncover and understand the mess
murderers leave behind. If only I could be a fourth of the writer she was I
would be the happiest woman who ever lived.
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta
Lacks”- Rebecca Skloot
“Science writing is often just
about 'the facts.' Skloot's book is far deeper, braver, and more wonderful . .
. Made my hair stand on end.”—Lisa Margonelli, New York Times Book Review
Lisa you hit the nail right on the
head with that one. Despite the medical jargon I had to digest, to say I
learned a lot is the understatement of the year. HE-LA cells which were cancer
cells taken before Henrietta Lacks died are the reason we have many vaccines
for incurable diseases including but not limited to cancer medications. I was
so into this book I had three women at work reading it alongside me. Not one of
us could have loved it more. It is a sad story needless to say but an important
one. I got the education of a lifetime in one book. If you ever thought you had
to be your own health care advocate reading this book will send shivers down
your back until you are sure what your doctors are doing is really in YOUR best
interest.
No wonder this New York Times best
seller was named by over sixty critics as one of the best books of 2010. For me
it was one of the most important books of all time.
HBO is in the process of filming a
movie about this story featuring Oprah Winfrey. That should be amazing.
Memoirs
“Big Magic”- Elizabeth Gilbert
I am a fan of just about every
nonfiction word this lady has shared with us. Although Eat, Pray, Love struck a
deep chord within me this was not the book that changed my life. It was Liz’s
Big Magic that was the deciding factor in pursuing my love and life of writing
at any cost.
I could go on and on about this
lady and this book but I already have (http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2015/09/for-magical-meeting-with-my-mentor.html).
Suffice it to say this is why she made the list.
“Beneath the Surface” - John
Hargrove
This book is second only to the
documentary Blackfish when it comes to opening my eyes to SeaWorld’s shameful
behavior. After watching Blackfish I felt sick to my stomach but I needed more
information. John Hargrove was a trainer at SeaWorld for many years and saw
first hand how lies were being sold to the public versus what was going on
behind closed tanks. At some point he could no longer keep silent. He had to
speak out against the one place he had grown up worshipping.
The things I learned are hard to
forget. I have never been to SeaWorld but now I know I could never go there to
pay money towards a facility that needs to close. The campaign online is called
Empty The Tanks and hopeful someday they will. For now they have said they will
no longer bred animals. I just hope the way they treat them changes. I have
come to love those big beautiful orcas from afar but the sadness in their eyes
is palpable. I really want to go whale watching on the west coast some day and
see these animals in their natural habitat.
This book has recently been
optioned for a movie so I look forward to seeing what comes from it.
Some of
the Books Currently on My List to Read List
- Emmett Till The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement- https://www.amazon.com/Emmett-Till-Propelled-Movement-Rhetoric/dp/1496802845
- Half a Life- https://www.amazon.com/Half-Life-Memoir-Darin-Strauss/dp/0812982533
- My Own Words- by Ruth Bader Ginsburg- http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/My-Own-Words/Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg/9781501145247
- Patient H.M. A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets- https://www.amazon.com/Patient-H-M-Memory-Madness-Secrets/dp/0812992733
- War Hospital A True Story of Surgery and Survival- by Sheri Fink- https://www.amazon.com/War-Hospital-Story-Surgery-Survival/dp/158648267X
- A Life in Parts- by Bryan Cranston- http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-Life-in-Parts/Bryan-Cranston/9781476793856
- Miracle at Coney Island, How a Sideshow Doctor Saved Thousands of Babies and Transformed American Medicine- https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Coney-Island-Thousands-Transformed-ebook/dp/B01FV5QU5M
- We Are Your Sons- By Ethel and Julius Rosenberg’s Boys- https://www.amazon.com/Are-Your-Sons-Robert-Meeropol/dp/0252012631
- Naming Jack the Ripper- https://www.amazon.com/Naming-Jack-Ripper-Russell-Edwards/dp/1493011901
As I pondered this sequel post it
took a lot of planning to ensure it was the proper way to conclude this blog
series. Of course I feel like I left out so many books but I don’t think that
they really matter in the grand scheme of things. Clearly my interests varied
at different points in my life and as different topics were brought to my
attention.
Now that I have written blogs
about why I write (http://bit.ly/2e6ZRJM)
and why I read what I read, I feel that I am continuing to explore who I am and
what I care about on a deeper level. I feel that this work is similar to the
blog I wrote describing the people who have changed my life for the better (http://bit.ly/2eGMQbM).
Each story, each person’s life has passed something along to me that I will
pass along to those in my future. I am a work in process just like everyone
else.
These books, all told, have
impacted my life, my connection to others, and led me to who I am now. A book
has the power to change the way you think and behave. As a writer I can think
of no higher compliment and I can only aspire to have a work of mine receive
this high level of achievement one day.
For More Information on These
Books:
Comments
Post a Comment