Top Ten Tuesday - Rewind

This week the folks at The Broke and The Bookish are having us pick a topic we missed or one we'd like to revisit. Since I only recently starting doing Top Ten Tuesdays, there are a lot of topics I've missed, so many that I had a hard time choosing one. But since this winter is dragging on soooo long and I'm so eager for warm weather to arrive, I'm jumping ahead to summer and suggesting ten books to have in your beach bag.

1. The Last Beach Bungalow by Jennie Nash - Well, sure, it seems like a no-brainer from the title but this book is no light weight. Still it's a wonderful book to relax into and the characters will speak to you.

2.Eating Heaven by Jennie Shortridge - I swear this list is not entirely filled with books written by women named Jennie. But here's another work of women's fiction that gives readers just enough depth to make it well worth reading without ruining your beach mood.

3. The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson - NPR listeners will recognize Dickinson's name so you probably won't be surprised by how much you enjoy this memoir. Just be ready to get funny looks on the beach - you will find yourself laughing out loud.

4. Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon - This book falls somewhere between chick lit and women's fiction making it light enough to be fun but with enough to sink your teeth into.

5. Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan - Fun characters, Dolan's great sense of humor; you just might forget to flip over and tan the other side.

6.One For The Money by Janet Evanovich - If you haven't already started the Stephanie Plum books, and aren't already thinking Evanovich has played this series out, you'll enjoy getting to know the inept Plum and the crazy cast of characters that surround her.

7. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett - A short fun look at what would happen if the Queen of England suddenly discovered books. You could knock this one out in one afternoon.

8. On Folly Beach by Karen White - Well, really there are a number of books by White that would make great books to have in your beach bag. Here White blends the South, history and mystery wonderfully.

9. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - I haven't read this one yet, but I'm hearing great things about it and it sounds like just the kind of book you could spend the afternoon reading.

10. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson - I know, I know, another Jenny. Also, another book I haven't read. But you can't go wrong with a humor on the beach and with this one you could read a couple of entries then get up and actually enjoy the beach for a while before you read some more.

What books would you add to your beach bag?

Top Ten Tuesday, er Thursday

This week the ladies at The Broke and The Bookish have asked us to share the top ten books we read before we were book bloggers. Since I've been blogging for almost four years and have read over 300 books in that time, there would certainly be some shakeups on this list. But here, in no particular order, are my top ten books from pre-May 2009.

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. No surprise here, I'm sure, since I'm forever telling you how much I love this book. In fact, I think it's time for a reread soon.

2. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. My favorite non-classic book prior to blogging, by far and maybe the book that pushed me to reading more literary fiction than anything else.

3. Sophie's Choice by William Styron. This might be the first book I ever read because of the movie. And maybe the first time I really was aware that as great as a movie is, the book is almost certain to be better.

4. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. My favorite Austen; it stands in for her entire body of work.

5. Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. Now this one I read first and then saw the movie. It may have been one of the first times I was aware that a movie after a book might not disappoint.

6. Little Women/Little Men by Louisa May Alcott. I got Little Women when I was eight so you'll have to forgive me if I'm more than willing to overlook the preachiness. I wanted to be Jo; I knew I was more like Beth.

7. Chesapeake by James Michener. Never in a million years could you have convinced me that I would love a book that opened with an scene of Canadian geese moving south in the spring before white men ever set foot on this continent. But that's exactly where Michener hooked me on this one.

8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Until I read this one with my son, I might have thought my opinion about this book was colored by the wonderful memories of my dad reading it to us when we were children. But this one stands up to reading as an adult; a brilliant commentary as well as wonderful story.

9. David Cooperfield by Charles Dickens. I'm sure this one had the same drawbacks I found in Bleak House, but I don't remember them. I just remembering loving the characters.

10. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Wharton is a master of writing detail into her books that you will not want to skim over; her descriptions of a dinner party tell the reader as much about society as they do about the meals.

That was a bit painful, I must say. I could easily make a list of top ten favorite childhood favorites, leaving me a couple more spots on this list and it still would be enough room for the books that I feel had the greatest impact on me as a reader pre-2009. Bloggers, what books would be on your list?

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Bookish Memories

This week the ladies at The Broke and The Bookish have asked us to share our top ten best bookish memories. Here goes, in now particular order, my favorite bookish memories:

1. Sitting in the hallway of my parents house with my dad and my siblings while my dad, in his theatrical way of reading, read us great classic books including Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. I know it wasn't the only time he ever read to us; they are just the times that stick out foremost in my memories.

2. Hours and hours in the library of Eastridge Elementary School, back when a library was a library and not a media center. My very smart teachers figured out pretty quickly that this girl would work hard to earn extra time there. Some of my favorite finds there were these booklets of plays we were allowed to perform on Friday afternoons. I wish I could remember what those books were called!

3. It's seems odd to think now, but I still vividly recall getting a lot of the books I got as a child. We didn't have as many books in ye olden days so books were a real treasure. I remember opening Little Women, Little Men, James and the Giant Peach, Heidi, and The Five Little Peppers And How They Grew. Yep, I was raised on books that even then were classics. Now wonder I love them still.

4. Charles H. Gere Branch Library: hours in the summer finding books for the summer reading program; hours in middle school doing research with friends...and flirting with the boys who were there "doing homework," too. Sorry, Mom!

5. Reading with my own children (including out in the hall, sitting on the floor between bedrooms) has spawned a myriad of memories, tiny little gems of moments. One of the standouts was when Mini-me and I were nearing the end of E.B. White's The Trumpet of The Swan and I realized there were tears in his eyes. Not necessarily because the book was so sad (I don't even recall now if it was at that point) but because the book was nearly done. He had fallen that deeply into the book that he couldn't bear to see it end. I was sad for him but also so happy that he was going to grow up loving books that much.

6. When Mini-him was little and there weren't so many grandchildren to adore and they weren't all running off to play with each other, there used to be time for my dad to sit with Mini-him and read. They didn't sit on the floor in the hall any more but snuggled together in a chair or on the sofa. Mini-him, uncharacteristically, rapt as his grandpa turned him on to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn just as he had me more than 20 years earlier. To this day, it remains one of Mini-him's favorite books.

7. In the fall of 2010, the editors of Omaha.net asked if I'd be interested in attending (downtown) Omaha Lit Fest and writing an article. What? There's a lit fest in Omaha? Heck yes, I was interested. I raved about the lit fest often enough in the past couple of years for you all to know how impressed I was that year by the writers, by the panel topics, and by the efforts of the organizers. You will most especially recall how it sparked an rekindled interest in fairy tales and launched Fairy Tale Fridays. I was so disappointed to have to miss it this year!

8.  I began interacting with author Jennie Nash on her blog after reading her book The Last Beach Bungalow and we struck up a fun correspondence that resulted in her asking me if I would like a copy of her then soon-to-be published book The Threadbare Heart. A few days later, a package arrived at my door. It is no exaggeration to say that I squealed, teared up a little and yes, I may actually have hugged the package for a while before I even opened it. Of course, you all know this story already - I've written about it several times!

9. Some months after that first Omaha Lit Fest, I saw in the paper that author Mary Helen Stefaniak would be speaking at a local indie bookstore. I grabbed my daughter (kicking and screaming) and insisted that we couldn't possibly not support an author coming to town. After all, I'd heard Stefaniak speak at the Lit Fest and was thrilled to get to see her again so soon. Imagine my surprise, then, to have her introduced as being a teacher at Creighton University, right here in Omaha. Seriously. A real, published author from right here in Omaha. Okay, I knew she wasn't the only one but still.

10. A few months after that I worked up the nerve to contact Stefaniak to see if she'd be interested in speaking with the Omaha Bookworms. Not only was she interested, she actually came to the meeting. This lovely woman took time out of her own life to spend the evening charming the book club and joining us in a wonderful discussion of her book The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia as well as joining us in cheering the St. Louis Cardinals on in the World Series. Really, authors are just people, too. Sort of.

Stefaniak, covering her face, as we tease her about being the star of the show