Can we talk about books?

Books in Winter by Jessie Wilcox Smith

I've been tagged for a book meme by KristieJ and I decided what the heck I'll give it a whirl. Although I have to confess I did some estimating with my book count because I didn't take them all off the shelves to count. There are just too damn many to move. K? But if I erred it was on the conservative side I didn't round up.

1. Total number of books I own: Just me? Uh, 2302. Guess I don't have to worry about having something to read when I'm old...right?


2. Last book I bought: COMING UNDONE by Susan Andersen


3. Last book I read: AGNES AND THE HITMAN by Bob Mayer and Jennifer Crusie


4. Five books that mean a lot to me: This one is hard. The most I can say is that just for today these are the five books I'd choose. Tomorrow I might choose a different five books.

a. FAREWELL THE STRANGER by Saliee O'Brien. My first romance. A book found in my grandparents basement. I talked all about it here.

b. OVER THE EDGE by Suzanne Brockmann. This is special for a weird reason. In the book terrorists take over a plane. I finished this book the night of September 10, 2001. Just two weeks before we'd seen a repeat on 60 minutes about this guy Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. When 9/11 happened the first thing I said to GG was it was terrorists and I bet it was that Bin Laden guy. The primary love story isn't what resonated with me it was that Suzanne Brockmann had probably written the book a year (or more) earlier and captured the political times of the world we live in and the men and women who fight against terrorism.

c. SHADES OF TWILIGHT by Linda Howard. I just love the characters Roanna Davenport and Webb Tallant. It's about family, betrayal, dynastys. It's one of the few books I own that I've re-read more than once. I could name a couple of other of Howard's books, but I picked this one to represent them all.

d. JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte. I remember reading this and thinking that everyone deserves to be loved.

e. EXODUS and MILA 18 by Leon Uris. I mentioned MILA 18 before in a meme because this book was very powerful when I read it. These books were written about Jews after the WWII when they were trying to establish a home and country in Israel (Exodus) and about the Polish Jews resistance in the Warsaw ghetto (MILA 18). The books gave history a human face and made it real to me. I cried my eyes out.


5. Tag 5 people. I hate tagging people. I never know who to pick...but I always like reading what other people write. So if you read this and want to do it...please do. How's that?

THREE LITTLE BOOKS

I was tagged by Nath this time with a book meme.

Rules: List and describe three of your favorite books that other people might not be familiar with. You are supposed to tag five people, but I'm not going to do that. If you are interested in doing this, please do!

















HUMMINGBIRD by Lavryle Spencer

This is the story of a lonely woman who was raised to be proper and do the right thing at all costs. Everything changes when there is a train wreck and an injured man is put in her care. The question is whether or not the injured man is one of the train robbers who caused the wreck or just an innocent passenger. Who is Miss Abigail's patient?

I loved this book the very first time I read it. If you've never read Ms. Spencer then you're in for a treat discovering her books. They are well written and true to the time period she writes and wonderful love stories. A couple of her books were made into TV movies. The most popular was MORNING GLORY with Christopher Reeve and Deborah Raffin. As with Nora Roberts' film adaptations the book was much better and more in depth than the movie.

At any rate, I've recommended HUMMINGBIRD any number of times. Good book.

















MILA 18 by Leon Uris

Mr. Uris' most famous books are EXODUS and TRINITY, which I've read and enjoyed, but not as much as this epic. Mila 18 is named for the ghetto the Nazis made out of one quadrant of the city of Warsaw, Poland for the Jews. It follows the story of different members of a family and how they each cope with the Nazi invasion and their response to it. The Polish Jews of Warsaw fought back and were among the first to get news and information out to the rest of the world about what was going on.

The book isn't for the faint hearted. Mr. Uris' books are well researched and historically graphic and accurate. I don't think I've ever cried as much in ANY book as I did in this one, but the story is riveting and compelling.



















REDEEMING LOVE by Francine Rivers

While looking for links for my blog I discovered this book has been rewritten from its original Bantam release in 1991. The original is the book I read and recommend. The book is about a Christian farmer who decides on first sight that he has found his true love when he sees a prostitute walking down the street in town. The problem is Angel doesn't want to be saved or married or in love. Michael visits Angel in her room as a prostitute and tries to convince her to marry him. It isn't until she's badly beaten that she reconsiders her profession.

This is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read and while at times it is hard to believe and see why Michael insists on loving Angel it speaks to a higher truth in all of us which is wanting to be loved flaws and all. REDEEMING LOVE is the last book Ms. Rivers wrote before turning her writing completely to inspirational. She wrote some wonderful western romances that are on my keeper shelf as well.

While REDEEMING LOVE and HUMMINGBIRD are certainly love stories, if you are a reader that likes your love stories spicy these probably aren't for you. They are both more traditional romances. However, I can assure you the writing and stories in these books are very well done.

There you have it. Three of my favorites that you probably didn't know about. What are yours?