Today I want to thank two wonderful bloggers for the awards they've given me recently: Jaime at Awakenings and Reflections presented me with the Liebster Blog Award, the Kreativ Blogger Award, and the Versatile Blogger Award, and Krista at The Jelly Beans of Writing handed me The Booker Award. Thank you both so much!
This is the first time I've received The Booker Award, so I thought I'd focus on that one today. Here are the rules:
1. This award is for book bloggers only. To receive this award, the blog must be at least fifty percent about books. (Reading or writing.)
2. You must share your top five favorite books.
3. You must give this award to five to ten other book blogs you adore.
Like most of you, I read a lot. I have a master's in English literature and am rarely without a book in my hands, yet I find it very difficult to list my five favorite books. I like so many, and my favorites change depending on my state of mind and stage in life. Since it's impossible for me to list my top books, I decided to give you a list of several books I love instead, presented in no particular order:
1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
2. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
3. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
6. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
7. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
8. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
9. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser
There are so many more, but these are the books on my mind at this moment. If you ask me tomorrow—or even in an hour—the list might be very different.
Now it's my turn to present these awards, and since I've seen them circling the blogosphere pretty frequently lately and no longer know who has already received them, I'd like to give them to all of you! Take all four or pick and choose (just grab them from my sidebar).
Finally, speaking of books, I found this wonderful YouTube video showing what happens in a bookstore after hours. Enjoy!
Have a great weekend!
Okay, I can't take the award because most of my blog is about kids and being fat, but hold the presses (pun!) - did you list Their Eyes Were Watching God???? That book changed my life and got me so into African American women's literature that I wrote my masters thesis on it! I wrote on how black women (namely from Hurston, Alice Walker, and Harriet Jacobs) from slavery to contemporary times survived their harsh circumstances by use of the written or spoken word, and Janie is just one of my favorite characters in literature. My favorite line from any book ever (okay, maybe not ever) is at the beginning when she's under the tree and it says, "Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman." OH, that just punched me in the gut. And you had me with most of your other list too, but I just love that you had Hurston in there!
ReplyDeleteYou're the first person I've ever talked to who loves that book as much as I do! I had this on my wall when I was a TA: "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by time." It's absolutely gorgeous language!
DeleteThis proves it: BFF!
(My master's thesis was about grammar.) :)
I'm very disappointed in myself. Of your top ten, I've only read one of those books ("To Kill a Mockingbird." Yes, I saw the movie first).
ReplyDeleteI really ought to read more. But, reading the backs of cereal boxes takes a lot of time you know.
Oh, I know. ;)
DeleteGreat video. i agree totally with you that it is so difficult to choose just a few favourite books. I've just seen that Jean M. Auel has her sixth book out in the Earth's Children Series, The Land of Painted Caves. If you haven't read her then I would recommend her writing highly. The first book, Clan of the Cave Bears, had me there right from the opening paragraph. I'm going to have to get this new one very, very soon.
ReplyDeleteClan of the Cave Bears has been on my TBR list for a while. I should probably move it up! Thanks. :)
Deletei have only read 1 and 9 and have seen the movie of #7--robyn has read 1,4 and has just finished #8 and really liked it :)
ReplyDeleteThey're all really good books. :)
DeleteGreat book picks. Very classic! Have a fantastic weekend. :)
ReplyDeleteLikewise! :)
DeleteCongrats on the awards, Dana! Very cute video. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Glad you liked it. :)
DeleteI've seen seven of them in movie form, but I know that doesn't count. ;)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the awards. :)
Thanks, Rita. :)
DeleteI am going to be lynched for this admission but I haven't read a single classic on your list. Or any at all. I read the required books in high school (Hamlet, Dante's Inferno, The Scarlett Letter, A Tale of Two Cities and Metamorphosis) but I was more into Dean Koontz, Judy Bloom, Erma Bombeck and Stephen King. My boys both read To Kill a Mockingbird in 10th grade English and they hated it! I have The Time Travelers Wife but it got so confusing so I saw the movie instead.
ReplyDeleteI also was a huge Nancy Drew and Laura Ingalls fan and I read Black Beauty and Where the Red Fern Grows 100 times.
I love most of the books and authors you mentioned! Judy Blume was my favorite for a long time; I must have read most of her books at least ten times. I read Koontz and Bombeck and a few of King's novels. Nancy Drew was great, as was Trixie Belden, and I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Great picks! (And absolutely no need for lynching!)
Deletecongrats on being recognized by fellow bloggers! I am very interested in peoples favorite books. I read Civil Disobiedence 3 times this week and seem to learn something new every time I read it...and Johnathan Livingston Seagull somewhere midweek..now I need a novel...I will check out your #2 and 3...thanks!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like them. Let me know what you think. :)
DeleteWow, that's a lot of awards! You're one popular lady! I like your choice of books. I've read almost all of them, and I'd have to agree that they are great reads.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the award, Dana! I have read a few of the books you mentioned in your list of favorites like Little Woman, To Kill a Mockingbird (a favorite of mine) and A Prayer for Owen Meaney. I'll have to check out some of the other ones. That video in the bookstore was so cute; whoever put it together was very clever! I always thought it would be fun to work in a bookstore or library restocking the books on the shelves :)
ReplyDeletehave a great Sunday!
betty
I worked in libraries during high school and college and would love to do it again. It's just great to be around all those books. :)
DeleteHappy Sunday!
Congratulations on this award :) It's a nice one and I hadn't seen it before.
ReplyDeleteCute video too ;-)
Congratulations! You named several of my favs too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Wendy. :)
DeleteDana, that video is amazing! What an incredible amount of work that was! Congrats on your awards! I know you gave me one and I Will post it eventually. I'm such a slug. Have a great Sunday!
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday!
DeleteI agree--it's a great video!
Thanks, Fran! Take your time; there's no hurry at all. :)
Love that video! It really is all about the books, isn't it? :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! :)
Delete