You can tell by the tape, stains, rubs and tears that when I read a book I really read a book. Iced tea spills are common. Smudgy fingerprints are there too. Sometimes I even find a blade of grass or a pressed flower in them from when I'd read them before outside in the yard...on a quilt with such said dirty fingers from gardening and sweet tea in hand. I love my books but I never consider them a show piece...they're there to be included in my messy life! How very un-Southern of me, eh?, considering I grew up with couches we didn't sit on, towels we didn't use and glasses that were for decor only. I'm sure there's a term for that lurking around in the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture but I've yet to find it. At 1600+ pages it's damn good for almost everything else about the south!
Speaking, or reading, about the south, another one of my favorite books is Wild Card Quilt by Janisse Ray. Ray, who I knew briefly when I was younger and living on Saint Simons Island, is a bit like David Sedaris but without the overarching humor and with a sense of awareness of environment that borders on rapier sharp dry observation as opposed to tongue-in-cheek wit. This book deals with Ray's experiences as she returns to south with her son after finishing a degree in Montana. I highly recommend you give all four of her books a try...
Aaaaand still riding the southern train, there's the New Orleans based book that changed the way I viewed humor, bowling, hot dogs, pants and knit caps as well as men with 'staches. Seriously, A Confederacy of Dunces is a phenomenal work and I own about 5 copies. The one pictured is a collector's edition that I got for my birthday a few years ago and one of the few hardback books I own that isn't a coffee table type book. I proudly display this one on the mantel and rabidly defend it to those who hate it. Maybe my sense of humor is a bit skewed but I love this damn book so very much...
Them is a memoir and I looooove memoirs! Especially about glamor and intrigue and tribulations of the late 1800's and early 1900's and even into the 70's. This one is about eccentric, eclectic parents of a precocious girl and while it's poignant at times it's also enthralling and beautiful. I pick it up from time-to-time and *BAM* I'm right there with them...
Jen's book A Compendium of Collective Nouns is just what I need during the colorful months of spring. Heck, it's also perfect to brighten up dreary winter days! Plus I love that the book was written by one awesome lady! You should get one! Go here to find out more about my original review and the book itself...
Lastly, there's The Dogs of Babel. This and The Book of Ruth are two of my favorite stories about, well, lives that are beyond sad. Yes, I love somewhat depressing books. In fact, I also love Neon Bible which is the other book written by A Confederacy of Dunces author John Kennedy Toole. All the sads!
You can find more about all these title via Goodreads. I also have an account here and should be updating very soon if you're interested in what else I'm reading or have read...
Now, turn off your computer and grab book!
I'm the same way with my books. I see books that others own and they're all crisp and new looking and I think "How do they do that? Do they read with their arms straight out?"
ReplyDeleteA Confederacy of Dunces is INCREDIBLE. It has such a sad story behind it too.
I usually like to buy used books because of the character of the book itself. There's a story within the story. I love finding notes, underlined passages, or a perfumed paged .
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