Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Top Ten Authors I'd Love to Meet


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's list is the Top Ten Author's I'd Die to Meet....I couldn't think of any authors I'd die to meet but I could easily think of a bunch I'd love to meet so I tweaked the assignment a little ;)  What was really interesting about this list to me is all the different reasons I'd want to meet these authors...I feel closer to some than others...some have passed away and some are still with us writing away.  I enjoyed this assignment...it made think a little bit about the authors I read and what characteristics make me like them.  I understand a little more now why I like their work. 




1.  Virginia Woolf


Ahhhh, Virginia....I've longed to know everything there is to know about her for a long, long time.  And, as much as I'd like to meet her, I'd almost be a little intimidated by her as well.  Her story is a sad one to me



2.  Anne Bradstreet



I wish Anne was my relative generations removed.  If I met her, I'd like to go back in time for just a little while to sit with her and quietly watch her go about her business.  I envision her as being a smart quiet woman, who was respected even by the men in her life.  Her home was in order but she wasn't all OCD about it...and she truly loved her husband.  She also took time for herself, writing and creating, practicing her skills, challenging her mind and staying fresh.  I think Anne embodies the kind of woman I'd like to be more like in many ways. 



3.  Jan Karon




I want to go to Jan Karon's farmhouse in North Carolina and eat breakfast with her, sip tea and coffee with little crocheted doilies and take a nap under a ceiling fan.  Then, we'd go to church on Sunday and Sunday lunch afterwards at Grandma's house, pot roast or fried chicken, real mashed potatoes, sweet tea and pecan pie.  I get the idea that Karon is growing weary of talking about Mitford, so I wouldn't purposely bring it up...I have an idea that just being around her and her surroundings would be Mitford enough.




4.  Kate Chopin




One of my favorite books of all time is The Awakening...I've said it before and I'll say it again; I don't see the ending as a tragedy...I don't think Chopin meant it that way either.  I don't think I'd want to interview Chopin; I'd just like to sit down with her in a garden somewhere and visit. 




5.  JK Rowling







 I almost didn't put J.K.Rowling on my list because I figured she'd be on everybody's list...but I'd really like to meet her.  Regular folks who become famous are interesting to me...I wonder how much fame has affected her, how different it was writing The Sorcerer's Stone from Deathly Hallows...not literally but in her head.  Have the movies affected her ideas of who characters are or even the storyline itself?

 


6.   Janet Evanovich




I'd like to meet Evanovich with a group of ladies who are all Stephanie Plum fans....we'd go to a bar, order drinks and cackle all night about whether or not Steph should settle with Morelli or Ranger...and we'd surely discuss all the specific reasons why we think she should pick our choice.  The next day Stephanie and I could walk our big dogs in the park with our sunglasses and baseball caps and just enjoy the morning. 



7.  Elizabeth Kostova


I'd like to take an out of the country trip to a far away historical castle with Kostova and let her be my guide for the weekend, walking me through all the steps of the ancestors and owners of the land.  I wouldn't even mind if she chose the place and left it as a surprise.  This woman's writing challenges my brain, but interests me enough that I keep on truckin'



8.  Edith Wharton



I'd like for Wharton to teach me a class...writing, American history, manners, or whatever she wants to teach would be ok with me :) We'd of course need to go to New York to have this class...and stay in an upstate family home.



9.  Barbara Kingsolver



Kingsolver and I would work in her garden for a weekend...and I'd get to take all the produce home with me :) Kingsolver would introduce me to all her community farmers and I'd get to see all their family farms, crops and how they all work together to live healthy.  We might get around to talking about her other endeavors...if she wants to...I know she's written a few other books (tee hee).



10.  Rita Mae Brown




Brown's 1,000 acre Virgina farm is covered with animals.  As much as I'd like to meet her, I'd also be intrigued to spend a few days with her animals.  Brown has said that she likes animals better than people, and I get that.  In the mornings when my dog and I are out on our own enjoying our surroundings without mindless chatter and game playing, I know that animals are truly our friends.  


I love how I've invited myself to all these authors' homes, don't you??







Monday, July 11, 2011

Manic Monday




Just getting home from a glorious vacation followed up by an annual work weekend that is more fun than work!! :)  School starts for me today though (I'm teaching two summer school classes left on the schedule by a retiree) so I've got to get back in the swing of things and back on schedule!

Reading: 

Over the long 4th of July weekend I read Janet Evanovich's Finger Lickin' Fifteen, Sizzling Sixteen, Smokin' Seventeen and Elisa Lorello's Faking It - I decided not to review Fifteen and Sixteen since I 'literally plowed through them to get to Smokin' Seventeen...I was not disappointed in any of them.. Before getting started, I read some reviews that were not so positive of Finger Lickin' Fifteen, but I really enjoyed it...Lula's character really begins to take more shape (ha) at this point in the series and I've really enjoyed getting to know her even better. 

Reviewing:

I've made notes on Smokin' Seventeen and Faking It for later reviews, and scheduled all of my reviews...I decided to actually put a date on each of them...in the order that they were finished.  I may bump some up depending on time, etc. but it helps me to plan on getting my backlog up in a timely but also quality fashion.  I am behind on Wicked Lovely this week because of time off so I'll bump it in this week somewhere. 

New Books:

Amazon and Barnes and Noble offer free Kindle and Nook reads here and there...some books are free all the time, but at various times, both stores will offer certain ebooks free for a limited amount of time.  I usually find out about these in one of three ways: emails from Frugal Girls, Freebie Blogger, and/or Friday's Free Books on Lena Sledge's Blog.  I've got four freebies ebooks waiting on me...This Fine Life, Solitary, Boys, Bears and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots and In the Belly of Jonah.
Solitary and In the Belly of Jonah are both firsts in a series so I chose This Fine Life and Boys, Bears etc. to read first.
I also found a sequel to Faking It but actually decided NOT to read it...unless somebody can convince me otherwise...I'm actually ok with Faking It ending just as it did...more on that in my review later.

There were tons of giveaways in the last couple of weeks and I entered quite a few.  I wanted to enter others, but the bloggers required a "follow."  Usually to follow someone, all I have to do is click FOLLOW and GFC knows me and asks me if I want to follow.  I said yes, and it's a done deal.  However, I'm now having problems with my Google Friend Connect ...when I click to follow someone's blog, GFC acts like it doesn't know me and won't let me sign in???  Anybody have any idea why that's happening? 

I actually won two books this week!!!
The Bird Sisters from Kathy @ BermudaOnion.
and Jerusalem Maiden from Audra @ Unabridged Chick
NOTHING is more exciting than receiving books for FREE!!! I can't wait to get started on these!!!


Posting Schedule
Tuesday:  Top Ten Authors I Would Die to Meet
Wednesday - Book Review of Wicked Lovely instead of the usual Wordless Wednesday
Thursday - Book Review - Water for Elephants
Furry Friday - Beneigt and Uh-Oh
Saturday - Saturday Snapshot
Sunday - Weekend Cooking - Hungry Girl experiment #1

Menu
I don't have a menu plan yet this week...tonight we'll be having a easy family favorite, Shepherd's Pie and maybe I can figure out the rest between classes today and Show Choir meetings tonight :(