Category: lists

My Obsessions

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I’ve been tagged by Don  to confess my obsessions/addictions.  Today I turn 37 and since I’m feeling contemplative I think I’ll list one for every year.

Flavored coffee, black is my favorite way to start the day.  And continues until the afternoon begins.

Red wine is my relaxation in the evening.  I probably like it a little too much, but it’s healthy, right?

Buying books seems like a healthy addiction, but it can override common sense.  I can go to a bookstore and purchase 10 books for a $10 and not have time to read any of them before more books find their way into my shopping bag a few days later.  I do have a reading and writing addiction which seem to fit in with my book problem.

My grandparents passed onto to me the puzzling gene.  Working on jigsaw puzzles is a good way to work out stuff in your head.  If I’ve got a problem I need to work out, doing a jigsaw is the best medicine.  I am currently finishing (600 pieces or so)  a 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of Florence, Italy.  I will include a picture when I get it done because it is a much anticipated achievement.

Chocolate and cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory are two addictions.  I am currently eating a piece of Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake and it is heavenly.

Ohio State football season is my favorite season of the year!  And that explains my favorite color, red.

I love my family and they are my rock.  On a related note I frequently become obsessed with genealogy when I find a new branch in my family tree.  Which leads me to trees – I love them and never feel more at peace with nature than when I am surrounded by them.  I also feel very much at peace when I am surrounded by my wonderful friends.  Cleveland has made me appreciate and look forward to snow.  On the other hand, I adore saunas.  This time of year always reignites my interest in politics (just ask my dad who was here this weekend).  I have become more interested in my blog- and in yours- than I thought I would when I started.  I check email constantly.  But I love getting snail mail.  I also love to send letters and cards. I love meeting new people and going to parties, which go together very nicely, thank you.  My only fashion addiction is Kathy Van Zeeland bags (I’ve given away everything else!) and I won’t confess to how many I own.  I love romantic movies and can watch my favorites over and over. On the TV front…I can spend too much much money at QVC, I tape The View everyday, if I’m home I watch General Hospital with only a little guilt, and when the tv is on, its default station is CNN.  I love to play board games and am a bit competitive.  Especially during March Madness when I become completely obssessed with beating my husband on our brackets.  I go to New York City as often as I get the opportunity (which isn’t often enough!).  I love getting into the hot tub on a cool night with my husband.

Which leads me to my obsession with getting my cat, Scout, to gain weight and getting my dog, Max, to lose the pounds.  Of course, my best obsession is my husband, Jason.  And for #37 I asked Jason what he thought my obsession was.  He thought about for a few minutes and said, “You like to make other people happy.”  Maybe I should just make him addictions 1-36 🙂

I’m tagging Kathy & Elena to confess their obessions/addictions.

Highest Paid Authors

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The new Forbes just listed the world’s 10 best-paid authors (from July1, 2007 to June 30,2008 ).

1. JK Rowling – $300 million – I have nothing but the highest respect for her (and a special wizard named Harry).  Good for her.

2. James Patterson – $50 million – I’ve read several of his books this year.  I think he may be a bit overpaid, but hey, I’m sure that comes from jealousy.

3. Stephen King – $45 million – Good for him.  Well deserved!

4. Tom Clancy – $35 million – I’ve only ever read The Hunt for Red October, so okay.

5. Danielle Steel – $30 million – She writes the same book over and over and women love it.  If it ain’t broke…

6. John Grisham – $25 million – Seems about right since many of his books are made into movies.

7. Dean Koontz – $25 million – He deserves every penny.

8. Ken Follett – $20 million – Oh, the power of Oprah who chose Pillars of the Earth for her book club (and I reviewed it here).

9. Janet Evanovich – $17 million – I like her books and it’s nice to see another woman on this list.

10. Nicholas Sparks – $16 million – That’s why there was a four hour wait to meet him, Kathy 🙂

Banned Books Week, Sept.27-Oct.4

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“Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go into your library and read every book.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
 This week I’ll be focusing on banning books and censorship.  To get the week started I copied this from the American Library Association website.  www.ala.org 
Banned Books Week
Celebrating the Freedom to Read
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2008, marks BBW’s 27th anniversary (September 27 through October 4).
BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.
BBW is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers, National Association of College Stores, and is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

The most frequently challenged books of 2007

The following books were the most frequently challenged in 2007:
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received a total of 420 challenges last year. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.  According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported.
The “10 Most Challenged Books of 2007” reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:
1) “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2) The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence
3) “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit and Offensive Language
4) “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman
Reasons:  Religious Viewpoint
5) “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain
Reasons:  Racism
6) “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,
7) “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
8) “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou
Reasons:  Sexually Explicit
9) “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris
Reasons:  Sex Education, Sexually Explicit
10) “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons:  Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
Off the list this year, are two books by author Toni Morrison. “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved,” both challenged for sexual content and offensive language.

The most frequently challenged authors of 2007

1) Robert Cormier
2) Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
3) Mark Twain
4) Toni Morrison
5) Philip Pullman
6) Kevin Henkes
7) Lois Lowry
8) Chris Crutcher
9) Lauren Myracle
10) Joann Sfar

The Pulitzer Prize

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I’ve got less than 100 pages left in American Pastoral by Philip Roth, but will not write a review until after class next Wednesday.  American Pastoral won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.  I thought I’d take a look at the Pulitzer list and see if I’d read any others.  I highlighted the ones I’ve read in green.  Sadly, American Pastoral will only be my fifth.  I’ve got several other in my stack of books to be read, so maybe after I’ve finished with Roth I will try another Pulitzer.  How many have you read? 

 The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It replaced the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel.

  1. ^ The fiction jury had unanimously recommended the 1974 award to Thomas Pynchon‘s Gravity’s Rainbow, but the Pulitzer board, which has sole discretion for awarding the prize, made no award.

RITA Award Winners

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Many of you who read this blog regularly know that I like romance novels, good romances.  I think some people look down on romances without having read a good one or maybe none at all.  I usually suggest that the cover can tell you a lot about the book.  Is there one (or more) scantily clad person on the cover?  I might not read it unless it was recommended to me by someone whose opinion I trust or it’s an author I like.  But, here is another way to choose a romance.  Romance Writers of America gives out awards every year to the best of the best.  This is taken from their website…

“Romance Writers of America proudly sponsors the romance-publishing industry’s highest award of distinction — the RITA Award. RITA awards are presented annually to the best published romance novels of the year.  Up to 1,200 romance novels from 12 different categories are entered each year in the RITA competition. Novels can be entered either by their authors or by the books’ publisher.”

Although I haven’t read any of these yet, I will choose one or two to read soon.  If you haven’t tried a romance novel or it has been a while maybe you should try one too.

And the RITA Awards go to…

Best First Book…Dead Girls Are Easy by Terri Garey

Best Contemporary Series Romance…Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson

Best Contemporary Series Romance:Suspense/Adventure…Treasure by Helen Brenna

Best Contemporary Single Title Romance…Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins

Best Historical Romance…Lessons of Desire by Madeline Hunter

Best Inspirational Romance…A Touch of Grace by Linda Goodnight

Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements…Silent in the Graveby Deanna Raybourn

Best Paranormal Romance…Lover Revealed by JR Ward

Best Regency Historical Romance…The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn

Best Romance Novella…”Born in My Heart” by Jennifer Greene in Like Mother, Like Daughter

Best Romantic Suspense…Ice Blue by Anne Stuart

Best Young Adult Romance… Wicked Lovelyby Melissa Marr

 

Entertainment Weekly new classics

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Entertainment Weekly compiled a list of ‘classic’ books written since 1983.  This link is to the top 25.  http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20211702,00.html 

From there you can access the top 100.  I have read 4 of the top 25- On Writing by Stephen King, Into Thin Air by John Krakauer, The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling.   After that I’ve only read 4 of the last 75!

I’m not sure I think many of these will be considered classics in the future, but what do I know I’ve only read 8 of the 100.  What do you think of the list?

2007 Books

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It is my goal every year to read a book a week.  Last year I completed only 40, so I’m hoping this blog will keep me honest. 

 My favorite books last year…

the 5 Prey novels by John Sandford (Broken, Chosen, Mortal, Naked, Hidden)

Natural Born Lover by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling

Sophie Metropolis by Tori Carrington