The book tag
I’ve been tagged by many people over the last few days on Facebook to do the book tag. I hesitated
Help me, Lord, I am trying to be good here.
Ten books they say.
I have four books out in the market and the son has four too. That makes it (gasp) 8 books in all. How could I miss the chance to recommend all of them. Guys, you tagged me! So don’t object.
Okay, I’ll stop being cheesy and refrain from doing a shameless Me-n-Family-self-plug. Before you heave a sigh of relief, let me tell you I am only refraining because I am scared you will stop reading me.
Ten books are a selection so hard to do, so I will just tell you about the books I’ve read recently which are brilliantly written. What I like about these books is simple. To me a book makes the mark if it is not cliched. Well written, taut, with characters that are life-like and a plot that is so unique that it makes you wonder.
In an aside, has anyone seen the movie Inception? Crazy plot, but for a couple of days I wandered around wondering if the top stopped spinning or not. That for me is the litmus test. A book that makes me pause and think.
These books are really in the order that they pop up in mind, all of them awesome. I can’t say I like one more than the other.
One such book is Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood It brings to life so vividly the politics of girlhood which any girl who grows up among girls knows. We carry it in our subconscious. I wondered for a while after reading the book how the author re-visited her childhood in such vividness.
Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry I loved Renee the concierge, but I loved the obnoxious and judgmental Paloma more. Most of all I loved the playing with societal expectations and how it all unravels. Do we all play to the gallery? More importantly, do we take the time to look beneath the masks that people wear when we meet them?
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi What can I say? I love science fiction, I love shooting aliens, and I love book series. One book is such a come down. I want to live the world of the book. I picked this up. Brilliant plot, wonderful characters. I had a book hangover with this one that lasted for days.
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult Oh I am so jealous. Jodi Picoult did the unthinkable, she gave us a book where there is no villain. One empathizes with the child, her parents, her brother, her sister. That takes talent. There are no bad guys, no good guys, no cliches. It is such a hard book to digest, such an emotional trip!
The Thornbirds by Colleen McCollough A story of forbidden love, but is it? It starts out as a romance, but this book pushes the envelope. It becomes a family saga of the sort that spans generations. I read it as a teenager and it left such an indelible impact on me.
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier Oh the characters, oh the descriptions! The author had serious talent. “Last Night I Dreamt I Went To Manderley Again.” Such a simple sentence and it swallows us whole into the book, into Manderley where the ghost of Rebecca takes us for a ride.
She by H Rider Haggard I read this as a teenager. Ayesha stayed with me, she still does. How does a woman, a queen no less, wait for two thousand years for her lover to return to her? Some story!
Carrie by Stephen King The build up leaves me breathless, always. Stephen King is a genius. This book really shook me up.
Haruki Murakami Kafka on the Shore and his Norwegian Wood. The elegant writing, the mix of mundane everyday observations with the surreal … if I just had a smidgen of his talent.
So many others, I almost forgot the Potter series, the other books that I love. Billy Bunter for instance.
Billy Bunter was the first anti hero that I fell in love with, fat, conceited, racist, mean but oh so lovable. His antics in Greyfrairs School was the prelude to the antics of children at Hogwarts.
This is a hard tag to do …
