Friday, February 06, 2009

How Random Do I Have To Be?

Beach Bum tagged me again for that infernal "6, 7, 8, a Billion Random Things About Me" Meme. I have done this meme so many times as well as listing 100 things about me. If I do it again I'm going to have to ask you all for a blood test or something. In the post below the one in which he tagged me Beach Bum had some random pick up a book and flip to some page meme. Well, I am making up my own thing here. You're going to get some random books on my shelf. Deal with it. These books are also going to function as Da Count this week because I love books. For the record, they are all books I'd highly recommend so I guess it's not entirely random...you'll live.


Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. Yep, Charlotte's Web is more famous and probably more beloved. But this is my favorite E.B. White children's title. When I was a kid my dad gave me the set of White's 3 kid classics. I loved them all but poor mute Louis and his struggle to win the affections of Serena captured me. I was rooting for him all the way. I loved how he found ways to adapt for his "handicap." I loved his humor and his work ethic. I loved that he lived and worked in the Philadelphia Zoo, which was one of my favorite places as a kid. I always looked forward to a trip there every summer. I look at that old book from my childhood and I smile.

Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization by W. Hodding Carter. Go ahead, laugh. I know most of you are scratching your heads while thinking, "Lime has really gone off her nut." Well, I like nonfiction. I like trivia. I like knowing "why?" I saw this title and had to pick it up to read the blurb. I read the blurb and had to buy the book. I read the book and learned more than I imagined I would. I also laughed like a loon at parts of it. Carter really makes his case as he chronicles the innovations in public sanitation from the ancient world to present day to innovations in the developing world that industrialized nations ought to be considering so we may all move forward. Not content to be a pie in the sky scholar, Hodding chose to experiment with making lead pipes the way the Romans did. In the process he learns more than he bargained for regarding lead poisoning. Ok, fine. I have weird taste in books but this is good, trust me.

Giraffes? Giraffes! by Dr. and Mr. Doris Haggis-on-Whey. It's the most hilariously disreputable thing I've ever read. In it you will learn such important tidbits as the Libertarian tendencies of giraffes, that conveyor belts are their preferred mode of transportation, and that they invented latex sometime after the period of time when they helped prehistoric man paint on cave walls.

Let Me Go by Helga Schneider. This is an absolutely gut-wrenching read in which the author chronicles her final visit with the mother who abandoned the family to be a guard at a concentration camp. The author struggles to understand what could possibly motivate a person to do such a thing and whether or not her mother feels a shred of remorse. Schneider also wrestles with what it means for her own identity to have such a monster for a mother even if that mother was absent for most of her life. I actually read this after Calypso found it in a bookstore and recommended it to me.

Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish by Sue Bender. This is much lighter reading but will also provoke thought. Bender became obsessed with learning about the Amish after seeing a traditional quilt. It struck a deep note in her with its simplicity and yet its depth. She was given a rare opportunity to live with an Amish family during which time she came to examine many of her own values and creative drives. She came away enriched in unexpected ways and with a greater clarity of thought. She shares insights that shattered some of her misconceptions about the Amish and presents a respectful though not romanticized glimpse into Amish life.

Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein. Pretty much anything by Silverstien is a a book I love. His sideways perspective on things has made me laugh for a long time. This book as published posthumously and even though my own kids were more or less beyond the age group intended I couldn't resist a story told entirely with spoonerisms. The way he plays with language is just too fun to miss.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is random enough for me and now I know what to read this weekend - thanks for the tips and your review made it even more tempting. :-)

Wishing you the loveliest end to your week!

Cooper said...

Try this one...Never Hit a Jellyfish With A Spade by Guy Browning.
You will laugh.

Desmond Jones said...

I have long been fascinated by the Amish. . .

Suldog said...

This sounds like a great bunch of books. The one that intrigues me the most is the plumbing book, but you probably figured that would be the one I'd find most interesting, given my sometimes scatological writings.

I'll check my library for all of them. Thanks!

Craver Vii said...

I like the plumbing book, too.

Modern plumbing is quite significant. It's the main reason that, if I had a choice of when I lived, it would NOT be in the past! The best toilets I have ever seen were in Japan. They had temperature controls, a bidet (hmmm....) and even carpeted seat-covers. Those were called "Western" toilets. The "Japanese" toilets looked like a mini urinal laying flat on the floor. These squatty-potties were little more than a porcelain hole in the floor.

Since we're talking toilets, I must say one other thing. The quality of toilet paper should be federally regulated, and shoddy (I said "shoddy") toilet paper manufacturers prosecuted. There's just no excuse for flimsy or scratchy TP.

Jazz said...

Oh damn. I'm trying to weed books off my shelves and you're forcing me to add to them!

Re the plumber thing. I recently read a book called
The Dirt on Clean. It's fascinating, I'm sure you'd love it.

Bijoux said...

My son read the 3 EB White classics in third grade and also proclaimed Trumpet of the Swan to be the best one.

I'm currently reading The Know-It-All by AJ Jacobs - it's a random account of him reading the encyclopedia. Maybe you'd enjoy it too!

Anonymous said...

Books are always a fine count. On the Carter book... do you suppose the rise and fall of the Roman empire (especially the fall) has anything to do with lead poisoning? (Hmm... did my question just provide some poor soul with a dissertation topic?)

airplanejayne said...

Mood Gorning! I love Runny Babbit too!

lime said...

renny, glad you liked the suggestions. have a good weekend as well:)

cooper, i checked the link and added that to my to read list. it looks like a hoot! thanks:)

desmond, they are a fascinating people and i am glad to have grown up in a part of the country influenced by them.

suldog, lol, whatever your rationale the plumbing book really is worth a look.

craver, i cannot agree with you more on the TP issue.

jazz, thanks for the suggestion, i've added that to my list as well. it really looks very interesting.

cocotte, your son has good taste ;) ooh, i have heard of that book, are you enjoying it?

lecram, ya know, if i recall correctly, carter posed that very question...

apj, it's a billy sook and a bunny sook. i'm lad you glike it too.

Anonymous said...

Ooooh wonderful Da Count!! I love me some books!! :)

I'll have to check out Runny Babbit :)

Logophile said...

Love those choices!!
Giraffes?Giraffes! is also a much loved title of mine (as you know). Doris has a couple new ones out too. I have them on hold at the local bookstore :D

Reverend Michael Kilgore said...

definately a weird taste in books...but thats why we love ya!

By the way-I make your "Belly Button Cake" big hit!!

Lulda Casadaga said...

Well, I think I will have to add "Let Me Go" to my list...I like
depressing! :/

Anonymous said...

Interesting reads...I knew there was a reason I liked giraffes!!

Susan English Mason said...

First off "The Giving Tree" is my favorite book of all time and I recently gave my granddaughter a 30th anniversary copy.

I love the book "Useless Book of Information" where I learned that Louisa May Alcott hated children,

Louisa May Alcott hated children, a rat can go longer without water than a camel, there are 15,000 people in the US over the age of 100, and even with Rudolf in front, there are 40,320 ways to arrange Santa's reindeer. Obviously I really enjoyed this post.

g-man said...

Anyone that has a Shel Silverstein book lumped in with the Amish, is my kind of girl!

Have a quiet Week-End Meesh....G

Mona said...

Must look them up they really sound good. I wonder if you have read any of our Indian authors writing in English...They are really good!

NYD said...

I really shouldn't be surprised by what I read here anymore. As I am reading through your reviews I am more than a little freaked out that I just recently ordered Charlottes Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan for my wife to read. I then looked up at my bookshelves and saw the entire works of Shel there. Have you ever read "Different Dances"

(M)ary said...

oh goodie goodie! i have been looking for a book to read and have not been inspired by anything in weeks. i think i will give Let Me Go a look see

(M)ary said...

ps...isn't Calypso one of your daughters? hmmm. i will try not to read too much into her book recommendation.

Moosekahl said...

What a great list! Books are my only addiction...i figure it's healthier than other options!

Commander Zaius said...

Great post and thanks for playing, and "Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization" is just the type of book I would get into.

barman said...

What a fun/diverse collection you have. I started to think you had a Joe the Plumber book for a second there. Thank goodness you did not.

The Sue Bender book sounds wonderful.

Susan English Mason said...

I nominated you for the coveted Lemonade Award. Visit my blog for details ;)

Anonymous said...

library worker alert...!!! ;) :P
erm...god...so many great books and i've hardly read any of them...!!! hahaha...!!!

if i'm really gonna recommend anything for people AND their kids (over a certain age) then it HAS to be Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy...see recent Hollywood film based on the 1st book 'Northern Lights' (renamed 'The Golden Compass' in the USA), followed by 'The Subtle Knife' and 'The 'Amber Spyglass'...
truly wonderful books...please please please read them ok...??? (^_^)

snowelf said...

Awww! Trumpet of the Swan is my favorite too! I LOVE that book!!! I've never met anyone else who's read it. I was always fascinated by how Louis could write on the chalkboard and the story was SO sweet. Love it, love it, love it!

--snow