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I read Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee

as a companion to To Kill a Mockingbird for the 50th Anniversary. Harper Lee doesn't give interviews anymore so this biography was done entirely from interviews Charles J. Shields did with people who knew Harper Lee and from information he could find from the time period involving her. It was also, basically, done without Harper Lee's permission although the fact that the book is out shows me that she doesn't have a huge problem with it. The biography is made up of ten chapters that begin with Harper Lee's childhood to the point where she quit giving interviews and some more present day stories of her. When I first started the biography I was surprised by how novel-like Shields managed to make it. He did a great job setting up the scene of Harper Lee as a child living in a small town called Monroeville, Alabama. While most of the images were probably created by Shields himself I think there was still some truth in them.

What really amazed me about this book was how much of To Kill a Mockingbird is based on Harper Lee's own life. Her father was a lawyer and the character of Atticus is loosely based on him. Scout is really based on Harper Lee herself, who was a tomboy and had a quick mouth as a child. Dill is based on Harper Lee's childhood friend Truman Capote who was also handed around to relatives like a bowl of mashed potatoes and was a bit eccentric as a child. What I gathered from the book is that the case in the book is based off a couple of cases and experiences Harper Lee had as a child. It was really interesting for me to finish To Kill a Mockingbird and then move on to this book because I saw where so many of the ideas came from. Shields also pulls out quotes from the book and since I'd just finished it I could remember exactly where the quotations came from which gave them a little more context in the biography.

Harper Lee attended University of Alabama where she was a writer and editor on a school publication called the Rammer Jammer. While this section was interesting because I got to see some early writing of Harper Lee's I think it dragged on a bit too long. There is also a section about Harper Lee's involvement in the research of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, which at first is fascinating but turns into a big yawn rather quickly. It's 45 pages! The book is only 280-some pages! I felt like I was reading about Truman Capote and not about Harper Lee for 1/5 of the book. I think that chapter was necessary but really needed to be weeded down. The portrait I came away with was not very different from the portrait I had going into the book, but it was nice to read the story of how To Kill a Mockingbird came to be. There is one point in the biography where Shields makes the suggestion that Harper Lee might be a bit of a one-trick pony. She was asked to submit a short story to a magazine and wrote what sounded like a short story version of To Kill a Mockingbird. He uses this as a possible suggestion for why she has never published a book since To Kill a Mockingbird. I thought this was an interesting idea although I think a lot of authors write similar stories in multiple books.

I give this biography a C.

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I am currently about fifty pages from the end of To Kill a Mockingbird. Yesterday I mentioned that I was planning on watching the movie for the actual fiftieth anniversary, but since I wasn't finished with the book I decided to wait. Today is a rainy day and I have nothing to do, so I think it's the perfect time to actually finish up this book. I've been reading Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields at the same time. I'm not very far into this biography about the extremely private Harper Lee, but I feel like the book is full of information that makes the book even more interesting.

I recently learned that Harper Lee was childhood friends with Truman Capote, but I had no idea that he was that base for the character Dill. I also didn't know that Harper Lee's father was a lawyer and in some ways he is like Atticus in the book. Some of the similarities between her life and the book you could guess, but it's interesting to read an account of them and see how things might have come together. Shields put together this book without interviewing Harper Lee, which made it extremely challenging and I'm amazed by how well he did. He used old interviews and accounts from people who knew or know Harper Lee to create the story. It's a great biography and reads like a novel.

I'm also following the To Kill A Mockingbird Anniversary Facebook Fan Page and found this article by Tom Brokaw about his first experience with To Kill a Mockingbird. It's really interesting to read an account by someone who was there for the release of the book and it made me think about things I hadn't really considered before. Check out this article if you're interested! There are several other posts on the Facebook fan page that are also great for different ideas about the book. Also, be sure to check out Capricious Reader's post about To Kill a Mockingbird as well.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

This is my second time reading To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee, the first time was about five years ago when I was a sophomore in high school. It seems like that was a million years ago, but I remember this being one of the few books I read for class and really got into. I mean, I couldn't put it down. I ended up finishing it in a couple days and had to spend the next five weeks pretending I was still reading it. Coming back to the book, I started out wondering what it was about this book that drew me in so much. There isn't a whole lot of suspense, besides wondering who Boo Radley really is and what he is going to do next. I just don't think that would have been enough to propel me through the novel at fifteen. I have to agree with Capricious Reader's post from today, it was Scout that made me want to read more. Her voice in this novel is perfect, she's tough but not unbelievable, and she is a great storyteller.

And she loves to read. When her teacher in first grade gets upset that she already knows how she becomes so upset she doesn't want to go back to school. I underlined the same quote as Capricious Reader did. I underlined it when I was fifteen, and it still meant as much to me at twenty; "Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." I think every booklover can connect with that quote, and maybe that was the base of my early love for this novel. It's like Scout is asking us to keep going, to love this book now.

I also love the lazy way Harper Lee describes the town."People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer." How opposite is that from how most people feel today? There aren't enough hours in the day, I don't amble anywhere. I sprint. Everywhere. And I'm always connected with my Blackberry or my laptop or my iPod or whatever. But when I crack the spine on this book I don't look at the time. I just sprawl out in my living room and take it all in. I think I might be reading this book a little slowly, but I honestly don't really know.

If you've never read To Kill a Mockingbird, please do so! And if you have, read it again! This month is the 50th Anniversary of the classic and I'm going to talk about it every Monday along with Capricious Reader. If you do a post on the book visit her site and share the link with everyone.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

July was a good month for reading! I read ten books, which is a little less than June but I think I enjoyed the books I read a lot more. Here are the books I read:

1. No One Belongs Here More Than You, Stories by Miranda July (B)
2. Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman (C)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (A)
4. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (A)
5. Views From the Loft edited by Daniel Slager (C)
6. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields (C)
7. Envy by Anna Godbersen (A)
8. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson [audiobook] (A)
9. Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt by Nick Hornby (A)
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (A)

Hands down my favorite book I read in July was Middlesex. I've mentioned to a few people that I think it might be one of my favorite books of all time. Since I've finished it nothing else seems to compare and it's kind of thrown me in a reading slump. I'm okay with it though, sometimes it's good to just bask in the amazingness of a good book. July was also full of To Kill a Mockingbird goodness and I think in August I'm going to continue for a little while and read Scout, Atticus, and Boo. I also listened to my first audiobook ever in July and I'm moving to a new one now. I'll post a review later, but I really enjoyed the Bill Bryson audiobook because it was read by him and not an actor.

On a personal note, I'm moving today! It seems like the whole summer has been working up to this day and I'm so excited!

Happy reading!

July 11th marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, and arguably one of the most influential cultural books of its kind in the U.S.

Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird? When did you first read it? Did it affect the way you think about race and class in the U.S.? Do you agree that it's an influential and/or important book?

If you read the book but don't live in the U.S., how did the novel influence your opinions about race in the U.S.?

Here's a link to one of the many stories about the novel's anniversary. Have you come across any other interesting stories about the book or the author, Harper Lee?

What other novels have you read that have affected the way you view culture, either your own or others?

Sign Mr. Linky below with a link to your blog post, and be sure to visit other Weekly Geekers to see what they have to say about To Kill a Mockingbird.

This past week Terri has us consider the 50th anniversary of the great book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book although set in a small Alabama town has global appeal and deals with serious themes such as cruelty and kindness.

Happy 50th anniversary To Kill a Mockingbird!

Here's what some participants had to say.

*Between the Covers makes a confession.

*Small World Reads writes a review and highlights some important lessons in the book.

*Gautami looks at To Kill a Mockingbird from an Indian perspective.

*Nicki reviews the book and then compares in to the film.

Thanks for joining in this week.

First off, Happy 4th of July to all of my American friends! I watched some fireworks in my hometown last night so I kind of feel like the holiday is over for me already. This is actually the first 4th of July I haven't had to work in six years! And I'm not doing a very good job of celebrating, but I do plan on doing a lot of reading today. I had an awesome reading month in June, check out all these books I read:

Books Read in June
1. The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell (C)
2. Talking Up: Young Women's Take on Feminism edited by Rosamund Else-Mitchell (C)
3. Ariel by Sylvia Plath (A)
4. Shadowland (Mediator Series 1) by Meg Cabot (C)
5. Admit One: My Life in Film by Emmett James (C)
6. The Best American Essays 2009 edited by Mary Oliver (B)
7. What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss (C)
8. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (C)
9. Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper by Diablo Cody (B)
10. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (A)
11. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (A)
12. Orlando by Virginia Woolf (B)
13. The Passage by Justin Cronin (B)

13 books! That's more than twice of what I read in May. Being home for the summer has really increased my reading pace and I've enjoyed watching my list of books read this year grow. I'm at 57 now, in case you were wondering. The month of July is going to be a little bit different for me. I'm participating in several read alongs and the one I'm most excited about is Capricious Reader's To Kill a Mockingbird Challenge. I'm going to join her in posting my thoughts on a section of book every Monday, starting tomorrow. You might be wondering why we're doing a To Kill a Mockingbird challenge right now. This month is the fiftieth anniversary of the book. I remember reading the book five years ago and absolutely falling in love with it so I'm really looking forward to finishing it for the second time around. I'm about a third of the way through it right now and it's just as good as I remember it being.

I also wanted to mention that in the month of July I will be participating in the Iowa City Book Festival as a speaker on July 17 at 1:00 pm. If you're in the Iowa City area or just in Iowa and are looking for something fun to do that weekend please come out and see me! I'm going to be sharing five books that I love. For those of you who can't join us I will post my list on my blog and will also do a post about the awesome things I see at the festival.

I do like a nice book cover, but I don't give them nearly as much thought as Jana at the Broke and Bookish so my list won't be as in-depth or interesting as hers. Mine aren't in any order either because I'm just putting them in as I think of them basically.

There were times when I was reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova where I just couldn't help but stop reading and look at the cover. This is truly one of the most beautiful covers I've ever seen. I love the darkness of the background and how the image changes for you as you read the book and find out more about the story. The text is great as well, kind of a mix between old and new, which is something the book plays with a lot. Also, I know this isn't part of the cover and I don't know what the books that have been released look like, but on my ARC the binding is gold and looks quite nice on my shelf.

One of the most effective ways to sell books is probably to have them cover out instead of binding out. If it wasn't for that, I never would have seen The Impostor's Daughter by Laurie Sandell this weekend. I was attracted to this cover because of the bright colors, fun font style, and the mystery about why she's covering her face with a picture of her dad. I picked up the book and read the back cover, thought it looked interesting so I opened it up to find it was a graphic novel! I was really excited to find a graphic novel in memoir form because I loved Persepolis so I bought it right away.

This cover is really simple and white, with a great brightly covered image that totally sums up the message of this book. It looks comicy, but still empowering. This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson is probably one of my favorite covers from books I've read this summer. Every time I see the librarian with her cape I smile and I realized something a little different about the picture every time I look at it. For instance, it took me awhile to realize that those were books she was flying out of.

I think part of the reason I read Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick was that every time I looked at it I said "Pretty!" I love Sunflowers and Vincent Van Gogh's art and I think it was really effective to do a close up of one painting rather than try to fill the cover with an entire painting. The white text allows the image to speak for itself, and those who know Van Gogh will be immediately attracted just by recognition. Plus I just love green and yellow.

I buy children's books all the time even though I have no children and I'm not a teacher nor do I want to be one. Part of it started when I was a reading tutor and it's just kind of carried on since then. One day I'll have kids to share some of these beautiful children's books with and one I can't wait to share is The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. This was a staff pick at a store once and the artwork is just beautiful. I was attracted by the little red haired boy who sticks out amongst the green and blue of the natural scene behind him.

I still haven't read Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman but every time I walk by the cover I get the urge to start it. It is so simple, most of his covers are, but it just looks interesting. The image reminds of a children's reference book about dinosaurs with all of the labels on it. I love dinosaurs so I'm attracted to that. And I like how the author's name and the title are the same size and sandwich the image.

I just had to add one more children's book to this list. Boris and Bella, authored by Carolyn Crimi and illustrated but Gris Grimly is just a great cover. It's Tim Burton-esque and creepy. Normally when you see a male and female name on a book you assume they are in love, but this is not the case with Boris and Bella. We can tell from the image that these ghouls obviously do not like each other. I also like the purple and black for a creepier story like this one, plus the text fits perfectly.

I haven't read Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart yet, but I intend to soon because the book sounds great to me. I love this cover because it combines and simple colorless photograph with a tiffany blue colored box for text, and then the box is topped with a bow like one from Tiffany would be. I just think that was a really cute idea and I love the simple color scheme of this book.

I read this book a week ago and I think it has a pretty neat cover. This cover of Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman really embodies Rita's personality. The orange and green are bright and fun, which is just like her attitude. I also like the map at the top of the cover that shows all the different places she goes to and how she's constantly traveling back and forth. Plus I like that they used a photograph for a travel narrative because it let's you feel like you're in on their trip a little bit.

My last cover is the 50th Anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It's beautiful. The color scheme is really unique, you don't see that deep, wine red on books very often, and it let's the green of the tree really pop. I have the older lavender version right now and I have been lusting after this book ever since I saw it. I also love the text they use on this cover, a slanted print that looks almost like a child's handwriting.

I actually learned a lot about myself by doing this, I appears that I'm really attracted to colors or white covers with a single image on them. Who knew! What are you attracted to in covers?

This week's top ten list at The Broke and Bookish is favorite book characters. I think this is incredibly challenging to think about. It's easy to think of books I love but to remember specific characters is a little harder for me.

1. Mr. Slinger from Lily's Purple Plastic Purse. This is probably my favorite children's book and I just love Lily, the little mouse the book is about. Even though Lily is adorable and cute no one is better than her teacher Mr. Slinger. Mr. Slinger is kind of a hippie, he makes yummy cheesy snacks, and he loves to teach. When Lily has some problems in class Mr. Slinger tucks a note in her purse that says, "Today was hard. Tomorrow will be better" (I'm paraphrasing because my books are all packed right now). Every time I read that page I get a little choked up, at 20 it's still one of my favorite books to read on a bad day.
2. Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I really identified with Charlie when I read this book. He was a freshman in high school, kind of weird, loved to read, and was just trying to figure life out. I was a about a year younger than him when I read this book but I felt like I was having all the same experiences, which made the book extra special for me. Charlie was also so honest about his thoughts and since he was a "wallflower" he noticed really specific things about the world. When I finished this book I felt like I took a little bit of Charlie with me.
3. Hagrid from Harry Potter. I immediately took to Hagrid when I read Harry Potter. I loved how he was so big and frightening, but was such a nice guy. He's so idealistic and I'm always amazed by the things he does know and the the things he doesn't know. And Hagrid always had Harry, Ron, and Hermoine's best interests at heart.
4. Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. She is tough and super smart. When Scout stands up to the members of the Klu Klux Klan my heart swoons because she has no idea what she really did. And she loves her dad unconditionally and worries about him like a parent does about a child. Scout is a great role model for young girls.
5. Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre. These two go together for me, you can't have one without the other. I feel like they both change every time I read the book and their relationship becomes increasingly more complicated. From an initial viewing I love how simple their love appears and how sweet it is, but Mr. Rochester is abrasive and Jane is needy, which makes the relationship more difficult than I thought when I first read the book.
6. Marcus from About a Boy. I love Marcus! He is definitely one of my favorite book characters and movie characters. He is so young but has such a realistic view of the world, probably because he's mom is a little messed up. I feel for him because I was a little weirdo too, but I admire him because he works so hard to make his mom feel better even though he really has no control over her.
7. Katniss from The Hunger Games. Katniss is kind of like Scout for me. She is so tough and badass. She never complains about the horrible situation she is put in, she just goes with it and thinks about ways to make everything work for her and those she cares about.
8. Dumbledore from Harry Potter. When Dumbledore died I cried for hours. I wore a RIP Dumbledore bracelet for months. It was a horrible experience, but that just shows what a huge effect he had on me. I grieved over him like I would any person I know in real life.
9. Henry De Tamble for The Time Traveler's Wife. When I read The Time Traveler's Wife I was at a place in my life where I felt like nothing was in my control so I really identified with Henry. He works in a library, listens to punk rock, and wears sweaters, which makes him more like me. Similar to Katniss, Henry makes the situation work for him even though it's horrible and he loves Clare so much he does everything he can to protect her. I find him to be very admirable.
10. Diana from The Luxe Series. Oh, Diana. I just love her more as the series goes on. She is so unafraid of being outside of the norm, outside of society. She lives her life for herself and no one else. Sure, she's a bit annoying sometimes over her boy problems but I don't think she reacts any differently than I would. I just love her.

What are some of your favorite book characters?

Today's Memory Monday guest is Kate, who recently had her 1 year Blogversary over on her blog, Literary Explorations. We were initially going to swap guest posts and have them go live on the same day, but life gets crazy sometimes.:) So, here is a link to the guest post I wrote for her, about the amazingness that is Contemporary Fiction, and here is Kate, talking about one of her favorite books from childhood. And what do you know, it just so happens that this, is a book that's been banned/challenged numerous times over the years. Let's hear it for celebrating Banned Books Week!:)

Bio:

I'm Kate and I am currently working on my Master's degree in Middle Childhood Education. My favorite genres are historical and realistic fiction. Philippa Gregory, Sandra Gulland and Lauren Willig are just a few of my favorite authors. When I'm not reading or studying for class, I love watching classic films, discovering new wines, and swing-dancing.

Post:

I’ve always been an avid reader, but wasn’t often drawn to the classics. I felt forced to read them in school and even now I’m more likely to pick up the latest YA publication instead of a Jane Austen novel. Now I know there are some good classics out there and I have read my fair share of them, despite my initial hesitations. However most of the time I enjoyed the classics I stumbled on outside of class, the
only exception being To Kill A Mockingbird in 10th grade since I loved Gregory Peck’s role in the movie. Unfortunately this post is not about that novel, although it would have been very appropriate for Banned Books Week. Instead I’ll discuss the book that counted towards all my personal reading requirements in 8th grade English class, Gone With the Wind.

On a whim, I checked out this ginormous book from the library and had all 1,024 pages of it read within a few weeks. I can’t remember if I read the book first or saw the movie, but all I know is that it forever shaped my impression of what a historical novel should be. Rhett and Scarlett are still one of my favorite literary couples and I liked how the novel ended. I was horrified when the sequel Scarlett was published
because it just ruined a perfectly good story for me. The book has to end when Rhett says he doesn’t give a damn because that makes sense. Scarlett realized too late that she was in love with Rhett instead of Ashley and shouldn’t get a second chance to be with him in a sequel. I’m surprised that Margaret Mitchell’s estate
signed off on another book but I guess they just wanted the money from the book sales. Whenever I see Scarlett in stores I can’t help but point it out to whoever is with me just because it’s that horrible of a novel.

Even though the movie is 4 hours long, it still is a very condensed version of the novel. Rhett and Scarlett are the main focus and although it takes place during the Civil War, it’s more of a romantic drama than a war movie. If you’re looking for an accurate portrayal of the war, you won’t find it in Gone with the Wind. I signed up for a Civil War History class this quarter and so far neither Rhett nor Scarlett have shown up. In fact we have yet to study the actual war and it’s been three weeks, but that’s another story.

Gone with the Wind taught me a limited history of the Civil War, but most importantly I learned not to disregard certain books just because they were older and contained a ridiculous number of pages. The classics can be ok reads, but I still can’t help being picky about which ones I’ll give a chance. Since blogging I haven’t picked up any classic novels to read but I did buy a 1936 edition of Gone With the Wind at a used bookstore that I plan on re-reading and reviewing. I might even do a book to film comparison since I haven’t posted one in awhile and need to re-watch my Collectors Edition for my research paper about how the Civil War is portrayed through film.

Thank you so much Kate. I admit that I've never read Gone with the Wind, or seen all of the movie (although I have seen most of it). I started the book when I was around 12, and was shocked to read that Scarlet wasn't actually pretty, because I thought the actress in the movie was gorgeous! It's definitely a book that I've been meaning to actually read for a long time! Hopefully I'll be able to sneak it in soon!

In the most recent issue of Real Simple magazine there is a great article about things you shouldn't say to a college graduate. I mostly bought the magazine because of the one page article and I think it was worth it. So inspired by them I've come up with five things you shouldn't say to an English major.

1. Have you ever considered minoring in business? Yes, I have. No, I don't want to. If I wanted to minor in business I would and could but I've found a different path and it doesn't involve killing myself with a microeconomics textbook. Also, the business department is not the be all end all college.
2. So you want to be a teacher? Thousands of people get English degrees every year and obviously not all of of them end up being teachers. Some people like the idea of standing up in front of thirty pimple faced brats and attempting to explain why To Kill a Mockingbird is so great. I, for one, do not.
3. Recite some Shakespeare! I'm not sure where people get the idea that English majors sit in rooms and memorize lines from Shakespeare but someone asked me to do this once. I've never even taken a class on Shakespeare. I mean I've read Shakespeare for class, but only for a couple of weeks. I think this is just the first author most people think of.
4. So what do you want to do? Most college students don't know what they want to do but everyone seems particularly concerned about what English majors want to do. I don't really understand this. I usually want to ask them if they're offering me a job. There are a lot of majors out there that seem less applicable to the real world than English. Ones that immediately come to mind are American Studies, Leisure Studies, and Italian-- and I'm sure all of those people find jobs eventually. With all the typos I see on restaurant signs I think we could use a few more English majors in the world.
5. Why don't you write a book? A lot of English majors want to write books. A lot of English majors will write books or are currently working on books. But writing a book is not the solution to the "problem" of being an English major and truthfully there are a lot of English majors who I hope never, ever write books. Some English majors just like to read. Some of them are great technical writers. Some of them have no interest in writing at all. You're shocked I know.

So what do you say instead? Ask them what kind of classes they are taking, what they like about their major, what they don't like about it. English majors are great at talking and I'm sure you'll find a great conversation with them somehow.

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This week's Booking Through Thursday is all of these questions!

1. Favorite childhood book?
Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes was my favorite picture book. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery was my favorite chapter bok.

2. What are you reading right now?
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, The Best American Essays 2008, and The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion.

4. Bad book habit?
Putting them down on the table with the spine up.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
The Catcher in the Rye, About a Mountain by John D'Agata, Sleeping Naked is Green by Vanessa Farguharson, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

6. Do you have an e-reader?
Yes, I have a nook.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Several, although lately I've been focusing more on one at a time.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Oh yeah, I read a lot more and I'm more conscious about what I think while I'm reading.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not very often.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Genres I know I can count on like literary nonfiction, graphic novels, young adult series, and classics.

13. Can you read on the bus?
Yeah I do it all the time.

14. Favorite place to read?
Outside as long as I don't have the sun to my back.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I'll lend to anyone I'm friends with.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
I used to but now I use bookmarks and sticky notes.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Often.

18. Not even with text books?
Still do it here.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English though I can read some French.

20. What makes you love a book?
Strong female characters, strong characters of any kind, detailed description but not flowery language.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If I come away from a book thinking it either changed the way I look at something or helped me learn a lot about a subject or life.

22. Favorite genre?
Literary nonfiction.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Current literary fiction.

24. Favorite biography?
Wild Child: Life with Jim Morrison by Linda Ashcroft.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
I've read fitness walking books and study books.

26. Favorite cookbook?
Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

28. Favorite reading snack?
Popcorn or oranges.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I think I expected too much from it.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Depends on the critic. I usually agree with book reviews from the Believer. Bookmarks is more touch and go.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I feel that I always give reasons for why I don't like a book so I don't mind giving negative reviews. I try to find something good even in books I dont like.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Dutch.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Middlemarch by George Eliot.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

35. Favorite Poet?
Emily Dickinson.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
I didn't have a library card until last week (I know, I know!) but including the university library I would say about 3 or 4.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Frequently when I was younger, which is why I didn't get a library card again until last week.

38. Favorite fictional character?
I have way too many! One I always remember fondly is Marcus in About a Boy by Nick Hornby.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Lydia Gwilt from Armadale by Wilkie Collins.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Some literary nonfiction and historical fiction.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Three or four months probably.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Most recently I have been very challenged by Surviving Paradise. Not sure if I'll finish it or not.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Noise, other conversations, my own nagging thoughts.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Jane Eyre! The PBS version.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
I wasn't too fond of The Lightning Thief.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Oh boy, no clue. Definitely upwards $150 dollars.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Not that often, surprisingly.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Boring plot.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
I like to keep them on shelves, but in no particular order.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I prefer to keep them.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Gone With the Wind, even though I said I'd read it by the end of the summer.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
I can name an essay that made me angry. Ticket to the Fair by David Foster Wallace.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
I wasn't sure if I'd like Candy Girl by Diablo Cody and really enjoyed it.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
The Luxe series.

Did any of my answers surprise you?

Last year I had to read a section of In Cold Blood

for my nonfiction writing class and was astounded by how well Capote made this horrible nonfiction story sound like a novel. I wanted to read the book, but put it off until the College Students group on Goodreads read it for the month of August. The book is the true story of a murdered family, the Clutters, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. Mr. Clutter, his invalid wife, teenage son, and teenage daughter were brutally murdered by two men who appeared to have no motivation for killing them. I knew a little bit about this story before going in, but the book reads almost like a mystery novel so I found myself wanting to find out what would happen next- something that doesn't often happen for me in nonfiction books.

Capote is a great writer. He manages to make you feel just the slightest twinge of sympathy for the murderers, and he goes to great lengths to explain why something like this might happen. I don't think anyone can ever explain it, but the psychological reasons were really interesting to me and scarier than the actual murders. Basically, you can be crazy and not even know it, and to me that is really terrifying. The trial moved rather quickly, which is something I always like in a book because sometimes I think trials go on forever and you really aren't learning that much about what is happening.

I did have just one teeny, tiny problem with this book that totally wouldn't have bothered me if it wasn't for To Kill a Mockingbird's 50th Anniversary in July. When I read Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee I learned how much she contributed to this book and all Truman Capote gave her was a lousy dedication. No one in Holcomb liked Truman Capote, but they did like Harper Lee and so they gave her a great deal of the information. Basically, without Harper Lee this book probably wouldn't exist. And I know I shouldn't let that dictate how I feel about this book and I do think this book a great read, truly reads like a mystery novel and is the perfect blend of fact and storytelling, but it still just bothered me. I'm sure things like that happen all the time, authors not giving credit, but the fact that I knew made this experience different for me.

I give In Cold Blood a B.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Today's guest is Kelly, an author who I recently started chatting with some on Twitter. She's got a fun story to share about reading books that are way too old for your reading level!

Okay, this is so not Little House on the Prairie.

When I was bored as a kid, I read anything. The ingredients on the Count Chocula cereal box. (Sugar, corn syrup, chocolate.) Star magazine at the grocery store. (Fave: Stars Without Makeup.) I just read whatever was near.

I know you are smart ---because you are Ashley’s friends – so you know this is headed for a huge parental fail. (And no, Miss Nasty, it is not porn.)

So this woman moved in across the street from my family. She was young and had a baby and thought I might be a good babysitter until she realized I was only nine and just tall. But I couldn’t help noticing the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in her living room. She caught me staring at it and told me I could borrow any book I wanted, anytime.

Any book. Any time. Yeah. This woman really needed a babysitter: She was issuing bribes to nine-year-olds.

So what made me choose what had to be the oldest, dustiest, least girly book on the shelf- — Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood? Sure it was a genius non-fiction account of a murder in a small town on a Kansas prairie, and I had just finished Little House on the Prairie. Coincidence? Capote wrote it with research help from Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird. Some people even whispered that she wrote it for him, that’s how good reviewers thought it was.

But I learned that in college. That torn old cover didn’t have blurbs and stuff all over it like books do now. I remember choosing In Cold Blood because it was the thickest book on her shelf. I thought it would last the longest.

Oh please. I inhaled it. It was the most compelling book I had ever read. It scared the crap out of me, and I let it. I liked it.

So yeah, it was totally inappropriate and completely over my head and what was wrong with that neighbor– post-partum depression? Where was my freaking mother? Did she not vacuum under my bed?

But you don’t have to be an adult to know when you are in the grip of a good story. Your body will tell you. As you stay up late. As you keep running to the dictionary to look up words like “motivation” and “Death
Row.” As you fall asleep in your Count Chocola the next morning and dream not of counts or vampires, but of ropes and knives.

Why do we love books that scare us so much? Why do we love movies that make us cry? Why do we eat cereal full of chocolate and sugar?

I don’t know. But I think my neighbor did.

Kelly Simmons is the author of two novels from Simon & Schuster that are only a little scary: Standing Still and The Bird House. Her website & blog are at www.bykellysimmons.com. And she is grateful to have
cool twitter friends like Ashley.

Haha! That's ME!:) I'm a cool Twitter friend!:) If you want to experience some of the fun that is Kelly on Twitter, you can in my blog!

Today I have author Jill Alexander to share with all of you! She is the author of Paradise which I reviewed yesterday, (click to read) as well as The Sweetheart of Prosper County (stay tuned for after the post for the giveaway!)

Jill is here today answering sharing what she does when she's not reading and she's amazing folks. So give her some love and welcome, and see what she has to say to us.

“When I’m Not Writing”

There’s a passage in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, a description of Dill, to which I’ve always identified: “Beautiful things floated around in his dreamy head. He could read two books to my one, but he preferred the magic of his own inventions. He could add and subtract faster than lightening, but he preferred his own twilight world, a world where babies slept, waiting to be gathered like morning lilies.”

I think Dill’s “babies” were the stories swirling in his mind. Like Dill, I drift off in stories. I’m writing – with pen or without. I cannot remember a time in my life when I was not creating. In all facets of my life – teaching English, road-tripping with my husband and son, driving backcountry roads with Kings of Leon blaring, stories find me.

In my novel, Paradise, the narrator Paisley cannot separate herself from her passion for drumming. She says, “Sometimes when I played, I got the urge to tear it up, just pound away like I was running across the pasture racing for home. But at the moment, like a kid swinging on a summer afternoon, I closed my eyes and rode the rhythm.” The beat of the drums is ever present in her daily life, her activities. It is her heartbeat. She’s always drumming.
Truth is, I’m always writing.

Thank you so much for sharing that Jill! I, for one, am glad that you are always writing!

Jill has been generous enough to offer one signed copy of The Sweetheart of Prosper County to one of my readers! To enter:


You MUST leave a meaningful comment on this post. If I don't think you actually read the post, I won't enter you.
Also, be sure to include you email address so I have a way to contact you if you win.


That's it! Spreading the word is appreciated but it won't earn you an extra entry today.:)


*Edit: Sorry! Forgot to mention — Giveaway will close at the end of July 15th. Winner will be emailed and given 48 hours to respond.

So far this month has felt like a fairly slow reading month. I'm reading about five books right now and I'm almost finished with a couple of them, but I don't feel like I'm getting anything done. Part of the problem is that I'm reading a little bit of Gone With the Wind every day, rather than reading big chunks of it at a time. I like reading it this way better because I'm making my way through it but I'm still free to read several other books. At the same time, sometimes I get frustrated that I'm reading the same thing every day.

Part of the reason I haven't gotten very much reading done is that I've been so busy packing and preparing for my move in three weeks. It's hard to believe, but these are the last three weeks I'm actually going to live at home with my parents. Forever. I've been spending a lot of time just relaxing before next month. Even though I'm still going to be out of school for most of August I will be working and organizing my townhouse so I'm not going to have much time for just relaxing.

This week I posted my initial thoughts on To Kill a Mockingbird, which I will do again tomorrow. Today is the actual anniversary of the novel and I think I might watch the movie with Gregory Peck this evening to celebrate. I'm also currently reading Mockingbird, a biography about Harper Lee. So far I've been really surprised by how many things from the book were actually part of Harper Lee's life. I did a top ten list of hilarious book titles, a review of Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper by Diablo Cody, my thoughts on talking about books, an update on my summer internship, and an awesome essays post on The Pain Scale by Eula Biss.

And for all of you soccer fans GO NETHERLANDS!

I love books with really strong female characters, so I'm excited that Top Ten Tuesday is all about that this week. Check out other answers at The Broke and Bookish.

1. Jane Eyre of Jane Eyre One of my favorite books of all time. Jane isn't particularly outstanding, but she does stick up for herself and does what she believes is right, so I must respect her for that.
2. Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games series Another girl who does what she thinks is right, even in the face of danger.
3. Diana of The Luxe Series This is another girl (am I seeing a pattern?) who isn't afraid to say what she thinks or live her life the way she pleases, even if it's unpopular.
4. Marian Halcombe of The Woman in White Oh Marian. She is ugly, but incredibly smart and you just have to love her. The best character in the whole book.
5. Bridget of Bridget Jones's Diary She is hilarious, honest, and messed up just like the rest of us. A girl to love.
6. Margaret of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret A young heroine, but like Bridget she is totally honest with what she thinks, even if its bizarre or rude.
7. Joan Didion of The Year of Magical Thinking This is a nonfiction book, but I think I love her character in the book for a lot of the same reasons as I love Bridget and Margaret, although she is less funny. She doesn't lie though, and it would be easy to lie in the situation she is in.
8. Hermoine Granger of The Harry Potter series Smart, outspoken, and not afraid to run with the boys. Gotta love Hermoine!
9. Edna Pontellier of The Awakening This is just a beautiful, sad book and I really admired her character when I first read it.
10. Scout of To Kill a Mockingbird Another young heroine but one of my favorites. Not afraid to ask questions or say things how they are.

So apparently I love women who aren't afraid to tell it like it is! Wonder what that says about me in real life?

While I was avoiding homework this morning I ran across an article on Twitter called 20 Books Every Teen and Tween Should Read Before They Hit 16. It's a pretty good list, although I haven't heard of some of the books before and I have read less than half of them and most of the books I definitely did not read by the time I was 16. Some of these I've actually read during the course of writing on my blog! Books from the list I have read are:

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Harry Potter Series
Animal Farm
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Macbeth
Go Ask Alice
The Outsiders
Are You There God? It's Me Margaret

Books on the list I haven't read are:

The Catcher in the Rye (Although I've read pretty much everything else by Salinger)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Maus
The Lord of the Flies
The Golden Compass
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Flowers for Algernon
A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Treasure Island
Slake's Limbo

Some of these I'm not that interested in reading, but some of them I feel like I really need to read. And since I didn't quite make it by sixteen, I think I'm going to try to get some of them in before 21. I have about eight months until my 21st birthday and there are 12 books I haven't read. I think I'd like to read at least six. Does anyone have any ideas on what books would be the best to read from this list? Have you read the books on this list? What do you think is missing? Personally, I think On the Road should be on there.

Wendy from Caribousmom celebrated her 50th birthday last week and that got her wondering about books published in our birth decades. She asked Weekly Geeks to discuss a book that came out the decade we were born, one that we either loved or hated.

This week our Weekly Geek participants spanned several different decades, which makes the responses all the more interesting. This is what some of you had to say:

Meaghan from Book Geek talks about a book published the year she was born that had a significant impact on her life: The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963, published in 1995.

Jordyn of Ten Cent Notes covers the 1980's (up through 2000) with mention of the popular Baby-Sitters Club series.

Annabel from Gaskella, born in 1960, points out several books that were published the decade of her birth, including The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Ballad of Peckham Rye.

Kerrie's (of Mysteries of Paradise) love for reading got much encouragement from the books of Enid Blyton, published in the 1940's. Also among her favorites include Daphne du Maurier and Agatha Christie.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Weekly Geeks this week, and remember to check back tomorrow for our new topic!

After serious consideration I have decided to go ahead and join another challenge, the Summer Break Reading Challenge. The thing about this question is that I pretty much cannot fail since I ahve wanted to read this books anyway (so in theory I shouldn't be able to fail). Here is the list of books I want to read before the end of August:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. The Catcher in the Rye
3. Her Fearful Symmetry
4. Gone With the Wind
5. Middlesex
6. A Walk in the Woods
7. The Maze Runner
8 Envy (Luxe Series)

I'm hoping to read a lot more books than just these, but these are the books I really want to read this summer.