Now, I love cooking. And baking; and eating. But life would not be worth living for me without the comfort of a good book. If further proof of my love is needed, take into account the library inspired database I created to catalogue these prized possessions of mine. Yes, I am a nerd.
Funnily enough, a big part of my love of reading has its roots in pastry. It's true. My greatest incentive to read was at my Primary school. My best friend and I would spend breaks and lunchtimes sitting inside reading together, and our Scottish English teacher, Mr John, would supply us with his secret stash shortbread. Good memories. To this day, I still believe that nothing complements a good book so well as a cup of tea and a tray of shortbread.
So the question today is...What is your favourite book? My response: Can I have an easier question, Miss?
How can I answer that? My tastes are so wide ranging and eclectic that it's like asking a chef what his favourite food is. We love so many things for such different reasons. I have favourite books that cover the inspiring, the lyrical, the thought-provoking, the completely moving, the absolute escapism, the list goes on. But if I had to pick one book......I couldn't. Wow, I actually couldn't. So here are my favourites, just a few to give you an idea.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - this kind of book, if it was a human, would be the kind to provoke a statement: "That is a face only a mother could love." It is, not badly, but, not well written. It is too long, overdone, and the author rambles. The ideas are debatable, being a book of fiction written by a philosopher about, and to promote, her ideologies. Still, the main character, Dagny Taggart, is the kind of woman that makes ambitious young girls want to look more closely at their Science books, and take on the world. She is a heroine who is smart, strong, and completely capable, while still being attractive and female. It is hard to find heroines like her nowadays. It is a book intended to show the need for a type of capitalism that I admit is more palatable than actually exists in America now, but I must admit, it helped me put more defintion to my own rather Socialist ideals, while letting me know that Capitalism isn't completely evil. This book is a feat. It took my a Summer to read, and a year to understand, and I'm sure Randites would pick apart my own understansding of her book, but even if you disagree with her philosophies, it is a book anyone with an idea of social issues and responsability, or interest in economy should read. If only to argue against it. Reader Beware: not for the weak hearted or short sighted. The text is small and the book is thick.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - Now lots of girly girls would start giggling about Rochester, and lots of feminists would start ranting about the treatment of his first wife, Bertha. I'm none of those. I am however a Christian, however liberal, and what gets to me from this novel is Jane Eyre's resolve and determination that she does what she believes is right. She has her beliefs and no man was going to sway her against them. Right on, girl. She does what it is so hard to do- she removes herself entirely from a possibly corrupting situation instead of risking her beliefs on the hope that she is strong enough to resist Rochester and his "love". Although, it annoys my that she doesn't take any of her things with her. I mean, I'm all for independence and not relying on the one who betrayed you, but forward planning woman! Anyway, this is my depression-busting book. I read it in the bath when I'm feeling low. (Still, I am a girl, and I do love the romance.)
Children of the River by Linda Crew - Duty or love? Maybe this book is where I first started to show my Asiaphile tendencies. I love learning about other cultures, and this book, which may or may not be based on a true story, is an insight into family culture and the tensions of a Cambodian family after they flee Cambodia to America in fear of the Khmer Rouge. Okay, so it is a children's book, but maybe it's a "belong to both worlds" thing, but I totally understood the tensions when the Western influences come into contact with the Eastern culture. Like how an American ruffling a kid's hair doesn't seem such a big deal until that kid is Cambodian, and then apparently the head is where the soul is believed to reside. So ruffling = bad. Regardless of belief and scepticism, it is always important to understand the traditions of other cultures. Especially if you want to date the daughter of a traditional family, as is the case in this book. It is a nice light romance, with the somber background of war and torture from which the main character, Sundara, has escaped. Good read; maybe too good because I lent it to a girl 3 years ago, and I haven't seen it since.
Anything written by Terry Pratchett. Because the man is a legend to be able to create such a wonderful universe. Start with the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants, that stand on the back of a giant turtle called Great A'Tuin. Then add diverse cultures and people that both mimic and parody real life, along with the cultural, political, bureauracratic, and religious realities of our world. One feature of his books which I adore, and which, unfortunately, don't always feature, are the footnotes. Because in a world as complex as his, bearing in mind that we ourselves know only so much about our own world, there will be things to confuse and amuse us. Though the footnotes only serve to add to the last. His books are at once hilarious, and serious. He can cover topics such as racism and land disputes in "Jingo", to death in "Mort", and one of my favourites, gender equality (using witches and wizards as examples) in "Equal Rites." I must add however that Pratchett is English and as such, some readers, typically Americans, won't necessarily understand the humour. There's no shame in this, I'm not anti-American. British wit is just not always easily understood. And Americans tend to feel this the most, as well as having a completely confused grip on the idea of irony. (The Canadians too in this case - yes, Alanis Morissette, I'm talking to you.)
Speaking of British humour, this next book isn't a favourite, but I laughed so hard when I first read it that I felt it deserved special mention, as well as a link. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. It's a little outrageous, so the easily offended need not read. It is like a demented fairytale become real, and seen through the eyes of a teenage boy, so no worries of it being mushy and girly! Robert Rankin, the author, seems to be an eccentric fellow, so this book makes sense from him, but I would recommend it to anyone as a quick but satisfying read, full of slightly-off colour but not overly offensive humour.
happy reading,
Funnily enough, a big part of my love of reading has its roots in pastry. It's true. My greatest incentive to read was at my Primary school. My best friend and I would spend breaks and lunchtimes sitting inside reading together, and our Scottish English teacher, Mr John, would supply us with his secret stash shortbread. Good memories. To this day, I still believe that nothing complements a good book so well as a cup of tea and a tray of shortbread.
So the question today is...What is your favourite book? My response: Can I have an easier question, Miss?
How can I answer that? My tastes are so wide ranging and eclectic that it's like asking a chef what his favourite food is. We love so many things for such different reasons. I have favourite books that cover the inspiring, the lyrical, the thought-provoking, the completely moving, the absolute escapism, the list goes on. But if I had to pick one book......I couldn't. Wow, I actually couldn't. So here are my favourites, just a few to give you an idea.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - this kind of book, if it was a human, would be the kind to provoke a statement: "That is a face only a mother could love." It is, not badly, but, not well written. It is too long, overdone, and the author rambles. The ideas are debatable, being a book of fiction written by a philosopher about, and to promote, her ideologies. Still, the main character, Dagny Taggart, is the kind of woman that makes ambitious young girls want to look more closely at their Science books, and take on the world. She is a heroine who is smart, strong, and completely capable, while still being attractive and female. It is hard to find heroines like her nowadays. It is a book intended to show the need for a type of capitalism that I admit is more palatable than actually exists in America now, but I must admit, it helped me put more defintion to my own rather Socialist ideals, while letting me know that Capitalism isn't completely evil. This book is a feat. It took my a Summer to read, and a year to understand, and I'm sure Randites would pick apart my own understansding of her book, but even if you disagree with her philosophies, it is a book anyone with an idea of social issues and responsability, or interest in economy should read. If only to argue against it. Reader Beware: not for the weak hearted or short sighted. The text is small and the book is thick.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - Now lots of girly girls would start giggling about Rochester, and lots of feminists would start ranting about the treatment of his first wife, Bertha. I'm none of those. I am however a Christian, however liberal, and what gets to me from this novel is Jane Eyre's resolve and determination that she does what she believes is right. She has her beliefs and no man was going to sway her against them. Right on, girl. She does what it is so hard to do- she removes herself entirely from a possibly corrupting situation instead of risking her beliefs on the hope that she is strong enough to resist Rochester and his "love". Although, it annoys my that she doesn't take any of her things with her. I mean, I'm all for independence and not relying on the one who betrayed you, but forward planning woman! Anyway, this is my depression-busting book. I read it in the bath when I'm feeling low. (Still, I am a girl, and I do love the romance.)
Children of the River by Linda Crew - Duty or love? Maybe this book is where I first started to show my Asiaphile tendencies. I love learning about other cultures, and this book, which may or may not be based on a true story, is an insight into family culture and the tensions of a Cambodian family after they flee Cambodia to America in fear of the Khmer Rouge. Okay, so it is a children's book, but maybe it's a "belong to both worlds" thing, but I totally understood the tensions when the Western influences come into contact with the Eastern culture. Like how an American ruffling a kid's hair doesn't seem such a big deal until that kid is Cambodian, and then apparently the head is where the soul is believed to reside. So ruffling = bad. Regardless of belief and scepticism, it is always important to understand the traditions of other cultures. Especially if you want to date the daughter of a traditional family, as is the case in this book. It is a nice light romance, with the somber background of war and torture from which the main character, Sundara, has escaped. Good read; maybe too good because I lent it to a girl 3 years ago, and I haven't seen it since.
Anything written by Terry Pratchett. Because the man is a legend to be able to create such a wonderful universe. Start with the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants, that stand on the back of a giant turtle called Great A'Tuin. Then add diverse cultures and people that both mimic and parody real life, along with the cultural, political, bureauracratic, and religious realities of our world. One feature of his books which I adore, and which, unfortunately, don't always feature, are the footnotes. Because in a world as complex as his, bearing in mind that we ourselves know only so much about our own world, there will be things to confuse and amuse us. Though the footnotes only serve to add to the last. His books are at once hilarious, and serious. He can cover topics such as racism and land disputes in "Jingo", to death in "Mort", and one of my favourites, gender equality (using witches and wizards as examples) in "Equal Rites." I must add however that Pratchett is English and as such, some readers, typically Americans, won't necessarily understand the humour. There's no shame in this, I'm not anti-American. British wit is just not always easily understood. And Americans tend to feel this the most, as well as having a completely confused grip on the idea of irony. (The Canadians too in this case - yes, Alanis Morissette, I'm talking to you.)
Speaking of British humour, this next book isn't a favourite, but I laughed so hard when I first read it that I felt it deserved special mention, as well as a link. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. It's a little outrageous, so the easily offended need not read. It is like a demented fairytale become real, and seen through the eyes of a teenage boy, so no worries of it being mushy and girly! Robert Rankin, the author, seems to be an eccentric fellow, so this book makes sense from him, but I would recommend it to anyone as a quick but satisfying read, full of slightly-off colour but not overly offensive humour.
happy reading,
student_gourmand
PS Sorry this is so late, but I'm more productive at night anyway. Also if you want to chat books, just message me. There's nothing I'd love more. x
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