Live Journal's question for today:

You're packing your bag for that other desert island—the one with no electricity—what 5 books do you take with you?

Off the top of my head:

Rebecca
by Daphne Du Maurier
Bleak House
by Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Complete Works of William Shakespeare (hopefully an edition with study guides/glossaries!)

Four favorites, plus one that would take a long time to get through. Five books is not enough. 100 books isn't enough!

I haven't been reading much of anything except cooking and craft books. Hopefully, I'll find time to read this month!

2 books read this month.

Numbers two and three. I finished Brideshead Revisited (though I'm still listening to the audiobook). I liked it, but I liked the first part of the book (the Oxford days) better than the second.


Next was Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. It was a funny memoir by the Star Wars actress, based on her one-woman show. She glibly but frankly describes her drug abuse, relationships, and her bi-polar disorder. It's hilarious but a little bit too short. The best part of the book is the cover art:



I never did re-read Rebecca, but I will.

I picked up one of the last three Torchwood novels: Skypoint. I'll read it this weekend, and pick up the other two next week.

Re-Rebecca.

:p

A live journal meme going around right now has people grabbing the closest book and posting a line from a specific page. The closest book to my computer happened to be Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. And it also happens to be my favorite. I think I'm going to re-read it today for the umpteenth time. "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..."

So that will be book #2 for 2009. No rule that says re-reading books doesn't count!

First book for 2009!

I read Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë in one day. I liked it. It was a simple story without any of the wild drama the other Brontë sisters wrote. No obsessive love like Wuthering Heights, and no crazy wife locked in the attic like Jane Eyre. It's a nice tale about a governess and her life with two different families- one with horrid children, the other with somewhat shallow daughters. She finds love with a vicar. Happy ending for Agnes, no strings attatched! Agnes is almost too good to be real, but she's smart and tough, even when things are terrible.

One book down, 59 to go!

2008 wrap-up.

I went way past my goal of reading 50 books this year...but the past two months have been so crazy I haven't really read anything at all. I would pick up a book, start it, and then put it back. I'm ashamed of myself!

I'm going to start 2009 with Brideshead Revisited, which I started and put away a month ago (hangs head in shame) and Agnes Grey (which has to go back to the library next Monday).

My goal for 2009 will be 60 books. I don't think I'll be able to read 80+ again, unless I count cooking and craft books! And I'll remember to actually post updates on my reading. This blog has been a bit neglected since October.

Yes, I'm still reading!

I just finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. It's a rather depressing tale of an unhappy suburban couple in the 1950's. Their fanicful plans to escape their monotonous life confuses their children and neighbors, and leads to tragedy.

It was hard to enjoy this one. The Wheelers aren't very likable people, and it's a little hard to feel bad for them. It's still very well written and has a lot of truth to it, even nearly fifty years after it was published. I look forward to seeing the upcoming movie!

RIP, Michael Crichton...

I wasn't sure where to put this, because the doctor/ writer also director and creator of quite a few movies (Coma) and television shows (E.R.). But writing is where he started, so I'll put it here. I had no idea he was sick. :( I wasn't a huge fan of some of his books, but I enjoyed the movies made of some, like Jurassic Park.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/11/05/obit.crichton/index.html

Other book news- I'm still reading. I put some books aside because I had some craft and cooking books to look through, but I'll finish Brideshead Revisited this week, at least!