September 25th, 2012
I’ve been nominated for The Booker Award!
Hi my friendlies! Long timey no talkie, huh? Sorry ’bout that, but I’ve been a busy little beetle writing, reviewing the Advanced Reader Copy for J.Taylor Publishing’s MAKE BELIEVE anthology (squee!), preparing for some interviews in December (starts nibbling fingernails *NOW* eep!), and writing writing writing!
However, I’m baaaack! And I’ve been nominated for THE BOOKER AWARD by my writer buddy Rebecca Hart, whose debut novel CALL OF THE SEA is out now through Inkspell Publishing.
The rules for the award are simple, I have to:
1. Choose my top five books
2. post the Booker Award Icon
3. Nominate others for the Award.
Well, to quote Neil Gaiman, “Picking five favorite books is like picking the five body parts you’d like most not to lose.”
eep! I’m no good at choosing favorites! So here’s the top five books I have on my shelf that bear the evidence of repeated reading. In no particular order:
THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton
I read this book in 6th grade and I don’t think I’ve put it down since, hehehe! I’m a superfan of this story, I’ve read this paperback so many times that the spine can barely hold the pages. I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen this movie and I bet I’m one of the few left who remember the TV series they tried to get going, remember, the one with David Arquette playing Two-Bit? *sigh!* This is one of the few stories where I know exactly what’s going to happen, when and how and yet it still elicits an emotional response from me every time I read it.
GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell
I love this book because Katie Scarlett (yes, I know her name is Scarlett O’Hara, but I can’t help but toss in my Irish accent when I call her by her nickname, hehe!) is a character who makes things happen, who’s actions propel the story forward and keep me as a reader clinging to each page.
MISERY by Stephen King
I actually have a love hate love relationship with this book. It’s the first book that gave me nightmares (scary that I love that, hehe!) and it’s the first book that’s ever drove me insane with the “book within a book but it’s all jacked up” scenes. See, Paul Sheldon is forced to write a novel on a typewriter with a few keys missing. So, we, as the reader, get to read Paul’s unedited manuscript, with the absent letters filled in by hand. If I’m not mistaken, I believe the letter “E” was broken (along with a few others that snapped off along the way, adding to Paul’s torment as well as ours). Can you imagin r ading a publish d nov l with a good chunk of l tt rs missing from the t xt, hard nough to r ad a s nt nce in this blog post with th l tt r “E” missing, right? 
Anyways, back to the nightmare part — yes, this is very true. There’s a certain part where Annie is punishing Paul for his attempts to escape, and the description was what had me closing the book and not returning to finish until nearly six months later! eep! So much worse/scarier than the movie (and that is all I have to say about that, hehe!) Oh, and the other reason I love this book is that it’s by Stephen King, the only “monster” in it is human (which can be more terrifying than any space alien, goblin, or ghoul) and it took place in Colorado. 
FARENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury
A city where books are burned and firemen hoses spray kerosene instead of water?! One of my earlier forays into dystopian fiction, where the future is a bleak alternative to what we know now, and how one man’s shift in perspective is enough to spark a change in the world. Totally awesome book. 
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS by Shel Silverstein
This book of poems was fun, goofy, scary and one of my favorites as a kid. Eighteen flavors, ickle me pickle me tickle me too, Sick, Boa Constrictor, For Sale — hehehehe! I loved them all.
So my friendly followers! I nominate YOU to step up and name YOUR five favorite books! Or if you can’t choose five favorites (I feel your pain, trust me! ), how about the last five books you purchased or checked out from the library? omgosh, I’ve been away for so long that I’d love to know what you’re all reading! 
