A Book You Loved And A Book You Hated
Narrowing down the list of books I loved to pick one??? Haaaaaaaa! Haaaaaaaa! Oh wait, you're serious? Oh, oh wait, let me catch my breath.......
One that I read a few years back that I purely adored is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. I loved the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, told from the women's viewpoint. I love that she finally was given a voice -- even fictionally -- instead of being a footnote of history. By the end, I was in tears and hoarse from crying. Yes, tears that made me hoarse. When a book gives you that many feelings.......... 6 stars out of 5.
For a book I hated, I nominate The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Yes, Oprah loved it. Good for her. I couldn't make it through the first quarter of the book and that's when I decided to follow the advice that life is too short to read crappy books. I could not make a connection at all with the main character, Beth. She seemed way too self-absorbed and completely unbelievable to me. I just couldn't get her at all. So I put the book down and I did attempt to read it a couple of years later. It still didn't do anything for me. Let's put this in context...... In high school, I was forced to read Charles Dickens' Dombey & Son, for which there are no Cliffs Notes. That I ranked this ahead of a horrific Dickens novel should tell you everything.
*****
Over the last few years, most of my book purchases have leaned toward non-fiction...... Primarily a crapload of self-help, a library of cookbooks, and lately bookoo of music books. I'll be weeding through my books soon and making a donation for the literacy association book sale this summer. The music books will stay FOR SURE. Quite a few of the cookbooks, indeed. The self-help? Only keeping a select few. The rest can go. Apparently if I haven't used or needed them by now, I don't really need them after all, do I?
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