Wednesday, September 02, 2009

fifteen (ok, seventeen) books

"Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Select fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. Choose the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes."
My friend P. tagged me with a book meme on Facebook yesterday. I found myself laying awake last night, thinking through what my choices would be. It was fun to riffle through my mental library and pull out the books that have, for one reason or another, had a lasting impact.

I suspect that if I were to do this meme again next week, my answers would be significantly different.

Another friend, the pseudonymous Winnifred T. Poodle also tagged me. And then I found that my list replicated one of P.'s choices and two of Winnifred's. Would these books have been on my list without the power of suggestion?

Consider yourselves all tagged. And yes, I do know that I have listed seventeen books. I couldn't bear to pare down my list any further; it certainly would have taken me more than fifteen minutes to do so. And besides, it's my blog and I get to make the rules here.

Here are mine, in the approximate order that I read them:

1. Pride And Prejudice (Jane Austen)
2. This Can't Be Happening At Macdonald Hall (Gordon Korman)
3. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (Judy Blume)
4. The Grapes Of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
5. The Lord Of The Flies (William Golding)
6. Kamouraska (Anne Hébert)
7. A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man (James Joyce)
8. The Women's Room (Marilyn French)
9. Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
10. Shikasta (Doris Lessing)
11. The Fifth Child (Doris Lessing)
12. Bastard Out Of Carolina (Dorothy Allison)
13. Fall On Your Knees (Anne-Marie MacDonald)
14. Middlesex (Jeffrey Eugenides)
15. Bitter Chocolate (Carol Off)
16. The Book Of Negroes (Lawrence Hill)
17. Fruit (Brian Francis)

14 comments:

Karlien said...

1. Lord of the rings - Tolkien.
2. The secret history - Donna Tartt
3. Tai Pan - James Clavell
4. The Bourne identity - Robert Ludlum
5. The kite runner - Khaled Hoesseini.
6. De tweeling - Tessa de Loo
7. Eva Luna - Isabel Allende.
8. Pillars of the earth - Ken Follett
9. Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer
10. Komt een vrouw bij de dokter - Kluun
11. I never promised you a rose garden - Hannah Green
12. Het dagboek van Anne Frank - Anne Frank
13. Kruistocht in spijkerbroek - Thea Beckman
14.Anna Hanna en Johanna - Marianne Fredrickson
15. The house of God - Samuel Shem.

It is quite a mix. As a list of important books should be I guess. I don't know whether any of the Dutch titles have been translated...
Karlien

laurie said...

I found that mine was quite a mix, too. As you say, there are many reasons why a book might touch us and stay with us.
Thanks for playing.

JuliaR said...

The Source
We the Living
Atlas Shrugged
The Moonspinners
The Chronicles of Narnia (7 counted as one)
The Trustee from the Toolroom
A Town Like Alice
A Ring of Bright Water
Rascal
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

I've read all of them more than twice, some many more times than that. Interesting exercise. I think these came to mind and stuck with me because I read them more than twice.

laurie said...

Julia - I love how you squeezed 7 books in a series to be counted as 1. :-) Thanks for sharing your list. You have made me curious too about some titles. So many books to read...

deb said...

BTW, if you are looking for your copy of Bastard out of Carolina...I have it. :)

Nat said...

Kamouraska... I love love Anne Hebert but would have chosen Les Fous de Bassans (no clue what it's called in English.)

Let me think on this...

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Christine said...

1. The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill
2. Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel
3. Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl
4. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
5. A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
6. She’s Come Indone, Wally Lamb
7. The Reader, Bernhard Schlink
8. What is the What, Dave Eggers
9. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
10. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah
11. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
12. Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
13. Prince of tides, Pat Conroy
14. The History of Love, Nicole Krauss
15. The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffene

karlien said...

Kruistocht in spijkerbroek = Crusade in jeans. S. might love it.
Komt een vrouw bij de dokter = love life bij Ray Kluun. De teewling = The twins.
All available through amazon....

Capital Mom said...

I need to read more. But you have my number one too.

laurie said...

wow. i am so pleased with all these lists. and everyone (here and on facebook and email) has at least one book (usually more) that i think could have been on mine and at least one (usually more) that i think "i really want to read that."

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