Sammi Carter's Blog, page 3

Your Favorite Comfort Book

The 30-Day Book Meme, Day 15: Your "Comfort" Book. 
Do you have one? Just one? If you had to pick one Comfort Book, what would it be? 
I think I'm going to have to say So Big by Edna Ferber because (a) it's a book I've read more than once, and (b) it's a book I think about frequently, and (c) every time I think about it or read it, I think about my mother. 
Not because she resembles any of the characters in the book, but because this is one of the books she helped me pick out on my very first grown up trip to the library all those years ago. Which gives this book a special place in my heart. 
I'd tack on Edna Ferber's Giant for the same reasons. Good memories. The comfort of Mom on one of our best days together.
You can't get much better than that. 
So what about you? What's your favorite comfort book? I'd love to hear what's tops on your own list.
 

Who is Your Favorite Character in a Book?

This is getting hard. These daily topics are either too similar or too difficult to make this fun, but I did say I was going to do this and keeping my commitments is important to me. Even little, seemingly insignificant commitments. Commitments that don't matter to anyone else in the world.

So Day 14: Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)

Okay, first of all, any sex OR gender? Wow, that just opens up all sorts of possibilities.

This is a tough question for me. I have lots of favorite characters in books, all for different reasons. My reading tastes are varied. I don't read just one kind of book, so it's not like I can stroke my chin for a minute and say, oh, sure, Anne Tyler's Maggie Moran from Breathing Lessons. It has to be her. Or almost any one of Susan Howatch's characters. She brings every one of them so brilliantly to life, they're each my favorite when I'm reading from their point of view.

Maybe I should default to George Fayne from the Nancy Drew series. Nancy was swell, but George was my gal. I also loved George Harrison best of all the Beatles, but that's a topic for another day.

A sweep of my keeper shelf helps me narrow my search for Favorite Character of all Time down a bit. I have a few keepers on the shelf, including other books I've mentioned during this challenge, but some of my prize books (besides Nancy Drew, of course) are my collection of Agatha Christies. And that narrows down my options down considerably.

Marple or Poirot?

For me, it's gotta be the delightful Miss Jane Marple. She was sharp. She was an amateur. She solved complex crimes based only on her ability to notice things about people, and everyone underestimated her.

What about you? Who is your favorite character in a book? Of any sex OR gender? 

The 30-Day Book Meme: Day 13

Day 13 - Favorite Childhood Book OR Current Favorite YA book (or both!)
Favorite childhood book. I've already talked about my love of the Nancy Drew mystery series, so I'm going to go with a book I loved when I was even younger. Raggedy Ann Stories by Johnny Gruelle. Oh, what a magical world the author created for me in this book and its companion, Raggedy Andy Stories .
I loved the idea of my toys coming to life when I wasn't around. Dancing and moving and playing and talking and eating and doing all the things I secretly knew they did, even before anyone told me. My dolls and toys were so real to me when I was little, and Johnny Gruelle understood that. 
I'd almost forgotten how much I loved the idea of my things coming to life until a few years ago when the movie Night at the Museum was released. The idea was slightly different, but I watched that movie eagerly, waiting for that same magical world Johnny Gruelle created for me years ago. 
I wonder if any adult experience can truly match a childhood memory. 

What do you think?

Today's Challenge: Name the top 10 things you like to do...

Today's Challenge: Name the top 10 things you like to do in the winter. This might be easy for some of you, but it's really difficult for me because winter is not my favorite time of year. In fact, it's right there at the bottom of my list--which is one of the reasons I moved from Utah--where winter is a big thing (Greatest Snow on Earth!)--to Florida, where winter is just like summer, but a little cooler and a lot less humid.



Kind of like spring or fall used to be in my old life.



I was born in Utah, but moved to Montana when I was just 3 weeks old, which means that in my heart, Montana is home and Utah's sort of a step-home. But even though I was born, bred, and raised in states where snow rules, winter is lost on me. I've never enjoyed it and, in fact, every year I used to ask myself why I still lived in a state where snow covers the ground half the time and spring, summer and fall are entirely too short.





So what are the top 10 things I like to do in winter?



10. Walk the dog wearing just a t-shirt and jeans. I love the fact that in my new home state, I don't have to worry about slipping and sliding on the ice, falling down and hyper-extending my knee -- again.



9. Get in the car and drive without having to scrape snow and ice off the windows.



8.  Walk across parking lots without worrying about slipping on the ice.



7. Open my windows and let in the breeze coming off the Gulf.



6. Crochet. I love making new things for friends and family. I've gotten a bit behind lately, but here's my latest project--a baby blanket for good friends whose baby was born a few months ago. Now I'm working on an afghan for my niece's oldest son, promised to him so long ago he's probably forgotten all about it.



5. Watch people wearing down-filled vests and fur-lined boots when it's 60 degrees outside -- and then realize that after a year of living here, I'm becoming one of them!



4. Ride my bike. Because I can! 



3. Read. I love to do that all year round, so maybe it doesn't count. But even here there's something really nice about curling up with a book and a blanket and losing yourself for an hour or two.



2. Enjoy a nice, hot cup of cocoa, preferably while reading a good book, watching a good movie, or snuggling with a grandchild. Or all of the above :)



1. Go to the beach. Okay, it's a little nippy here some days, and you probably wouldn't want to go to the beach in your bikini and flip-flops, but you can go to the beach as long as you're bundled up appropriately (see #5 above).

Today's Challenge: Name the top 10 things you like to do ...

Today's Challenge: Name the top 10 things you like to do in the winter. This might be easy for some of you, but it's really difficult for me because winter is not my favorite time of year. In fact, it's right there at the bottom of my list--which is one of the reasons I moved from Utah--where winter is a big thing (Greatest Snow on Earth!)--to Florida, where winter is just like summer, but a little cooler and a lot less humid.

Kind of like spring or fall used to be in my old life.

I was born in Utah, but moved to Montana when I was just 3 weeks old, which means that in my heart, Montana is home and Utah's sort of a step-home. But even though I was born, bred, and raised in states where snow rules, winter is lost on me. I've never enjoyed it and, in fact, every year I used to ask myself why I still lived in a state where snow covers the ground half the time and spring, summer and fall are entirely too short.


So what are the top 10 things I like to do in winter?

10. Walk the dog wearing just a t-shirt and jeans. I love the fact that in my new home state, I don't have to worry about slipping and sliding on the ice, falling down and hyper-extending my knee -- again.

9. Get in the car and drive without having to scrape snow and ice off the windows.

8.  Walk across parking lots without worrying about slipping on the ice.

7. Open my windows and let in the breeze coming off the Gulf.

6. Crochet. I love making new things for friends and family. I've gotten a bit behind lately, but here's my latest project--a baby blanket for good friends whose baby was born a few months ago. Now I'm working on an afghan for my niece's oldest son, promised to him so long ago he's probably forgotten all about it.

5. Watch people wearing down-filled vests and fur-lined boots when it's 60 degrees outside -- and then realize that after a year of living here, I'm becoming one of them!

4. Ride my bike. Because I can! 

3. Read. I love to do that all year round, so maybe it doesn't count. But even here there's something really nice about curling up with a book and a blanket and losing yourself for an hour or two.

2. Enjoy a nice, hot cup of cocoa, preferably while reading a good book, watching a good movie, or snuggling with a grandchild. Or all of the above :)

1. Go to the beach. Okay, it's a little nippy here some days, and you probably wouldn't want to go to the beach in your bikini and flip-flops, but you can go to the beach as long as you're bundled up appropriately (see #5 above).

The 30-Day Book Meme: Day 12

Day 12 - A book or Series of Books You've Read More than Five Times: 

Hmmm. I'm not sure there is such a thing. I have a few keepers on my shelf, but I tend not to read books again unless I really, really love them. Really. Right now, I've listed 62 books on my "Favorites" shelf on goodreads.com but of all those books, I can't find a single one I've read five times. Penmarric and Cashelmara by Susan Howatch probably come closest with 3 times each. And my Agatha Christies. And Gone with the Wind. But though there are some books I really enjoyed on that list, most of them are one shots only. I've tried re-reading some old favorites, but that's ruined a few books for me. They were favorites at the time, but my reading tastes have changed and I didn't enjoy them the second time around. So now I'm kind of hesitant to take the chance. I like the memories I have. I don't want to ruin them with my current reality.

The 30-Day Book Meme: Day 11 A Book that Disappointed

Day 11 - A Book that Disappointed You:
Unfortunately, I have a lot of possibilities here, but I'm going to pick just one. Once Upon a Town by Bob Greene. I read this book for a book club several years ago. In theory, it sounded like a pretty good book club book. Turns out, it was a pretty good book club short story stuffed with a whole lot of filler. 
I had a really tough time getting all the way through it, simply because nothing happened. Or maybe I should say, the same thing kept happening over and over. Like I said, it would have been a nice, inspiring short story but a book? Not so much. 
How about you? Read any disappointing books lately? 

The 30-Day Book Meme: Day #10

Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving

This one's an easy answer for me. At the risk of being stoned by 90% of the romance-reading world, I'm going to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Nora Roberts' books. I am, on the other hand, a huge fan of Nora, herself. I love that she's forthright and pretty down-to-earth considering how rich and famous she is. But the books are too inconsistent for me. In fact, up to a certain time in my reading history, I'd never actually finished a book by Nora.

I'd tried. Oh, how I'd tried. Millions of readers can't be wrong, I told myself. Obviously, the woman delivers on many levels to not only win, but keep, so many fans for so long. But book after book ended up moving from my To-Be-Read stack to my Not-Gonna-Happen...Ever stack, and my confusion kept growing.

What was it about her books that kept readers shelling out so much money year in and year out? I just didn't get it. And worse, I began to feel a little bitter over her numerous RITA Award wins. I suspected that some judges automatically marked her books high just because of who she was. 

One year, in my role as judge for a published author contest, I received a box of books to judge and among them was Nora's Birthright. Eager to give the book the score I just knew it would deserve, I plunged in. And within just a few pages, I was hooked. I can't say that I was forever hooked on all of Nora's work, but I can say that I've since found several of her books that I not only finished reading, but liked a lot.

When she's good, she's very, very good.

The 30-Day Book Meme: Day 8 and/or 9

Day 08 - A book everyone should read at least once: 

Seriously? I think I've answered this question already, haven't I? David McCullough's JOHN ADAMS. Moving on. 

Day 09 - Best Scene Ever 

I don't think I can come up with a best scene ever. I'm not 16 anymore. There is no best ever of anything in my world, but there are lots of goods, a very few exceptionals, and way too may mediocres. So instead of the best scene ever, how about a scene that had a great impact on me?

A few years ago, like everyone else who was old enough to read at the time, I read The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. I loved the book, so I immediately picked up September when it came out. Didn't love it with quite the same fever pitch, but it was pretty good, so I picked up Winter Solstice when it came out -- but never got around to reading it. At least not for a very long time.

Flash Forward several years. I'm struggling through a personal crisis, and like a lot of people when they're in personal crisis, I was praying for answers, guidance, and help. A lot. One day I woke up and had the strong impression that I should leave the TV off. And the radio. And everything else that made noise. I spent the next 30 days in silence, doing what I felt prompted to do at any given time. I played the piano, cleaned my house, and I read. 

The first book I felt guided to read was Winter Solstice.

I started the book, but just couldn't get into it, so I put it down. A couple of days later, I again felt strongly that I should pick up the book and finish it. 

After the third time the feeling hit me, I finally listened. I picked up the book and I read. I struggled to keep reading because the book just wasn't connecting for me, but I only have to get hit upside the head a few times before I pay attention. 

The main character was an older woman who (if memory serves) takes in a young relative for the Christmas holiday season. The older woman has just moved to a village in the UK where she also meets an older man who (again, I'm not sure I remember) recently lost his wife. He's the organist for the church, but he hasn't played since his wife died.

The book is definitely a character study because not much happens except that each of the characters is struggling with something. I didn't understand why I was supposed to read that book until almost the final chapter when the old man plays the organ in the church for the first time since his wife's death. And then I knew what I was supposed to get from that book. There was, buried beneath the fiction, a message of healing that I needed at that time.

It's been several years since I read the book and felt the chills of truth revealed in that scene, but I can still remember the feeling. So maybe it does qualify as one of the best scenes ever.

What about you? Is there one scene you'd list as the best ever? Or can you remember one scene that had a profound impact on your life?

The 30-Day book Meme: Day 7

Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise.

Bickering. It's not really conflict, they're just sniping at each other for no good reason. There's no believable motivation for the sniping. People just dislike each other on sight. And it's almost always followed by I-hate-you-but-I-can't-keep-my-hands-off-you-sex.

Puh-lease.

But wait, maybe this isn't the answer since the key phrase in this questions is books you actually enjoyed otherwise.

Once the couple starts bickering, the actually enjoyed otherwise part of the equation disappears. I can't enjoy sniping for the sake of comedy or someone's idea of sexual tension. Bickering isn't sexy or interesting or cool. It's childish and annoying.

But back to the actual question. Least favorite plot device overused in books I'd otherwise enjoy. Hmmmm.

[Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock. Check nails. Look at Twitter feed. Run to bathroom. Pour fresh Diet Coke into my glass . . .]

Serial killers. So-o-o-o-o overdone and they all sound the same. The absence of conflict. Lots of thinking about the potential for conflict. Lots of posturing to avoid conflict, but no actual conflict. I recently read a book that fell into this category and I complained about it for days.Ah! I've got it! 
Serial killers in books with no conflict, stalking bickering characters who repeatedly engage in I-hate-you-but-I-can't-keep-my-hands-off-you-sex!