We read and sh*t: Book-Love

This week we shall talk about books... about the books we love, the books we hate, and all things in between.  Today's post is also up at my personal blog: Black Woman Lost & Found...  Enjoy!



I find television to be very educating.  Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book.  ~Groucho Marx

I have been reading a lot lately.  When I say a lot I mean I have read a new book every couple days, sometimes more on the weekends.  My appetite has been voracious.    It is amazing what no television can do for your life....you should really try it by getting rid of your TV or detoxing for an extended period of time, real talk...)

A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end.  You live several lives while reading it.  ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

I have become so emotionally invested in the books I have been reading lately.  Even dreamed about some of them, and act like a crack fiend needing to get back to them. (i.e. the 1000+ page book I read in 2 nights).  I get sad when I am get to the last 100 pages of a book.  I am not being figurative, I really do get to feeling some kinda way.  4 of the books I read this month made me actually cry.

If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.  ~Toni Morrison

 A few of the books I read have disappointed me with their endings.  Either the endings were far fetched, or the author left no sort of conclusion that satisfied me.  This realization has kick started me to wanting to improve my writing, and be the author that writes books the way that I want to read them.  

A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul.  ~Franz Kafka

Reading so many books has also made me want to write more.  I have been pumping out poems left and right, usually inspired from a  line or a scene in what I am reading.  I haven't posted a lot of stuff because for the first time in my poetry career I have been writing performance pieces (that don't necessarily translate well to the page) with ease.  My new focus on literature and art has made me a better performer, a better listener,just better...



A house without books is like a room without windows.  ~Heinrich Mann
 
Here are some of the books I have read over the last month or so... if you are my friend on facebook, check out my Visual Bookshelf:

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Azar Nafisi (a must-read for book and history lovers!)
The Hour I First Believed: A Novel, Wally Lamb(read this thick monster of a book in 2 days, such a page turner... this is one of the books that made me cry...)
Eyes to My Soul: The Rise or Decline of a Black FBI Agent, Tyrone Powers (this book made me want to fight the power!)
The Book of Sarahs: A Family in Parts,Catherine E. McKinley
The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green : A Novel, Joshua Braff
Trading Dreams at Midnight: A Novel, Diane McKinney-Whetstone
Nina: Adolescence, Amy Hassinger
Currently Reading: Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z.: A Novel, Debra Weinstein
Currently Re-reading: Racism 101, Nikki Giovanni


I am also open to any suggestions you might have of some good reads, leave them in the comments if you do!

Peace y'all....

Quick Tip: Thrift Stores are my best friend, you can't beat $0.25-0.50 for books (I don't like library books, I like to own my books, because I am also a re-reader)

4 comment(s) thus far...:

jeanette nicole* said...

I was reading 100 Books in 100 Days, but life got in the way, so I had to stop. I got through about 65 books on the way there though, so I'm tryna get to that 100 by year's end. There's nothing like a good book, I tell ya. I love my TV shows, but I'll read a novel over watching the book tube any day.

I had an interview @ a bookstore this wknd and the manager told me that she has a customer who came in that told her that he has not read the like 40-50 pages of his favorite book yet. He loved the book so much that he doesn't want it to end. That is equal parts amazing and ridiculous at the same.

Naturally Alise said...

Ha ha! That customer sounds like me, lol... it is just crazy, I REALLY get sad when I get to the end of a great book, lol... i need help!

suga said...

I love that Toni Morrison quote. It is what made me start writing again.

I keep falling off everywhere. First with my writing and then with reading. But thanks to a new local bookclub (created by moi and a friend) and randomly meeting book lovers through the innanets, the passion is back.

TV is a huge problem for me though. I am addicted to both reading and watching tv. lol Tv usually wins because its easier to pick up the remote. One thing that I've done to amp up my reading, is to limit the tv to the living room. This makes it easier for me to read until I fall asleep, instead of opting for "Chelsea Lately".

I have that Wally Lamb book at home. It was a gift from my bookstore (we were allowed to pick 3 books last christmas) and I snatched it up but after much contemplation, I figured it would bore me to death. Thanks for the mini review though. I'll make sure to check it out.

Mizz P said...

I love the Marx quote, but when you said "you should really try it by getting rid of your TV or detoxing for an extended period of time"
That is an idea but then I'd just go and jump on the computer, lol.


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