Week 14: My Favorite Book

Like many writers, I love to read. It is perhaps this love which inspires me to write. As such, it is hard to pick just one, because there are so many books that I absolutely adore and for different reasons. Because I used to have a favorite book, I'll give a nod out to it. It was Les Miserables, a tale of prejudice and second chances and seeing the world as black and white where the law and justice are concerned. It was about redemption as well. I really loved it ever since I saw the movie and then first read the book. I was amazed at how much was left out of the movie (every movie adaptation I've ever seen, in fact).

Growing up I loved a wide variety of books, I read and reread the "Anne of Green Gables" book series about a mischievous orphan who is adopted by a spinster and her shy brother. The book series was very good and certainly age appropriate. I also read the Little Women books growing up. One of my favorite books from this time was Lad: A dog, which was a story about a man and his border collie. It is mostly told from the point of view of the dog, although there are some areas where it is told more from the Master's eyes. I also loved My Friend Flicka, a story about a girl and her horse. Some other books I read as a young girl and teen were the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mystery series.

Now, as an adult, I have expanded my repertoire of books. I was absolutely blown away by the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo book series, which I read around the time of the tumultuous end to my marriage. I loved the Hunger Games, which I started on after I left my ex-husband, but I did predict the end.  More recently, I read and loved American Gods, which is a story about mythology and it follows this everyman character Shadow.

I remember reading The Babysitter's Club and a few if not all of the Alice book series when I was a teen. I have had a little less time for reading of late, but I have been reading the Harry Potter book series to my youngest, which we are both loving. It is well written, and amazing that the author basically went from poverty to world-famous within such a short time. #lifegoals (actually, I'm not certain I'd be fine with being world-famous. That is why I plan to publish anything fiction I write under a psudonym. Although, I suppose that might or might not protect my privacy nowadays).

There are also books I read for class that I fell in love with. One of those is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It took me a while to finish reading it because it was so profoundly moving and deep and touched on many issues that are still prevalent in society today and, most of all, it made me feel guilty for belonging to the race that was at the heart of this horrible oppression, even if I didn't participate in it myself.  I also read Jane Eyre for class, and now see why it is considered to be a classic. Another classic which I'd already read, but reread for a class, was Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Reading a book for class, where you talk about it and dissect it gives you a whole different perspective on the story. I would love to be a member of a book club, but alas, there are too few people in my area who have the time and energy, let alone the will, to make that happen.

Another book I'd like to mention on here is The Green Mile by Stephen King, which may have been the number one deciding factor in me re-estimating my views about the use of the death penalty as a punishment for criminals. A Time to Kill, is also one of my all-time favorites. Both novels address the systemic oppression of Black people in America, but they do it in different ways. Another, worth an honorable mention, is To Kill a Mockingbird, although there is more of the "white savior" in that book than the other two.

One that brings back bitter-sweet memories is A Change of Heart, a story about a girl who needs a heart transplant and the only match is the man who was convicted of killing her sister. The story has a unique twist on the whole messianic hero laying down his life for the greater good. The reason why the book is bitter-sweet to me is that I finished it from the bedside of my gravely ill child. The first two nights, when I was sleepless with worry, I did nothing but read that and listen to their unsteady breathing and the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor.

As you can see, I have read quite a bit, and the list of books on my reading list just keeps growing every day. I am currently reading a few non-fiction books and writing, but once the library opens back up I will probably find another book I haven't read.

Now, of course, like anything, there are books I've read that I haven't liked. There was one that was an odd coming of age story which had incestuous undertones. I didn't really like that one. Then there was Forrest Gump, which was not (in my opinion) even half as good as the movie. Another book I didn't really care for was The Notebook, which seemed very cheesy in comparison to the movie. If any of you, my readers, have a book recommendation which I haven't listed here but you think I'd love based on the ones I have, I'll welcome it. And also, Mom if you're reading this, I have already read the Bible cover to cover and been tested on it, (in case you don't remember).