A few Tuesday memes #3
December 23, 2014Amazingly, I don't have a sad/embarrassing story to share with you this Tuesday! I must have gotten better at this whole life thing in the past week.
That being said, I am writing this post in advance (on Sunday afternoon) due to my upcoming trip, so it's entirely possible that something cringe-worthy will happen to me in the next 48-ish hours. Considering my family will soon be involved, it's almost a given. I'll be sure to regale you with whatever comes to pass next week.
Now, book memes!
I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time. It was the early summer of 1945, and we walked through the streets of a Barcelona trapped beneath ashen skies as dawn poured over Rambla de Santa Mónica in a wreath of liquid copper.
"Daniel, you mustn't tell anyone what you're about to see today," my father warned. "Not even your friend Tomás. No one."
"Not even Mommy?"
"Of course you can tell her," he answered, heavyhearted. "We keep no secrets from her. You can tell her everything."The dust jacket blurb is particularly illuminating here. "Barcelona, 1945—Just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes one day to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face." Sheesh, not even a few paragraphs in, and this novel is already doing its worst to tug at my heartstrings. What about you?
1. The Complete Works, by Michel de Montaigne—Yes, I know this is cheating, because I already got it. Thanks, Santa!
2. The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, by Deb Perelman—This one is actually cheating, too, as this was my Day 8 or 9 gift during "The Twelve Days of Christmas" gifting my boyfriend and I did before our vacation. Knowing my diehard love for SK, he took the gift one step further (and almost made me cry) with this personalized inscription:
Um. Yeah. I think he knows me pretty well.
3. The Joy of Cooking, by Irma S. Rombauer—Keeping on the topic of cookbooks, I fell in love with this one leafing through it at my boyfriend's grandparents' house two summers ago.
4. House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski—I've wanted this one for quite a while and almost pulled the trigger on it during my Thanksgiving vacation, but finances/space in my luggage won out.
5. A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn—An oldie but a goodie, it has been on my TBR for who knows how long, but it's so huge that a library stint really wouldn't do it for me. I'd love my own copy!
6. The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett—Same reasoning as above, really.
7. Ferocious Sudoku: 200 Hard Puzzles, by Will Shortz—OK, so this isn't really a "book" book, but I've really enjoyed doing Sudoku puzzles in the evening. I'm getting pretty decent at them, if I do say so myself, and would love to tackle a collection of tough puzzles. Also, there's a dinosaur on the cover. I'm sold.
8. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology, by Arthur Cotterell and Rachel Storm—Another book I fell in love with while visiting my boyfriend's family (his mom has this one). I'm woefully uneducated when it comes to mythology, and I know it means I'm missing out on a ton in my reading. I think this would help me brush up on my major deities and creatures.
So. I'm breaking the rules here (again) because I could only think of eight. Ridiculous, right? I think I'm so used to having an excellent library at my disposal that I almost never think about buying books...
What books do y'all want for the holidays? Link me your memes in the comments!
11 comments
Oh, the excerpts tugged at my heartstrings, too. Thanks for sharing and enjoy. Here's mine: “LILLIAN ON LIFE”
ReplyDeleteI loved the Shadow of the Wind. Hope you do too
ReplyDeleteThank you, and thanks for the visit!
DeleteI've had Shadow of the Wind on my shelf for way too long... must read it soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm very excited for it as well. :) Thanks for the visit!
DeleteI could tell you an embarrassing story that happened to me recently, but I'll save you. LOL
ReplyDeleteI've wanted to read Shadow of the Wind for a while now. I'm not sure why I haven't exactly.
I hope you get some, if not all, of the books you would like Santa to bring you this year! The only way I ever seem to get books for Christmas is through Secret Santa type giveaways. The kind where only books are exchanged. My family rarely knows what books to get me . . . Although, to be fair, my husband sometimes will give me a book off my wish list if he remembers. :-)
Oh, but I'd love to hear it! I like knowing I'm not alone in doing embarrassing things. ;)
DeleteAww, I hope you get some too! I can't wait to hear what your Secret Santa brings. :)
Is this The Shadow of The Wind by Ruiz? I loved that book. Don't remember these first lines.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is! So sorry I forgot to link up the title.
DeleteThanks for the visit!
I still recall that first sentence from when I read that one. Great -- enjoy
ReplyDeleteThanks, I can't wait to dig in to it! Thanks for the visit.
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