My friend Lee is on a journey that many of us will take. This June she turned 50! (This author turns 50 next year) To celebrate she asked that her Facebook "friends" send her a copy of her favorite book to read before she turns 51!
How do you get started with this.. Well here is the e-mail that was sent to me with the very brilliant story...!
Hi,
Two Saturdays ago, I was sitting at a Restaurant in Our Town, CA with dear Lily, book-crazy-recently-turned-12-year-old daughter, over waffles and eggs benedict. This wasn't just any breakfast out, mind you. For her 6th grade Knighting Deed (a rite of passage in Waldorf circles), she had committed to eating only local and fair trade. She did this for FOUR weeks. She is so proud of herself, and so are we.
So this breakfast was a celebration of her completed deed, and a chance to eat white flour from God knows where and Maple syrup tapped in the far reaches of Vermont.
While we waited for our food to arrive, I asked Lily, "If you were turning 50, how would you celebrate?"
Her idea was ABSOLUTELY spot on. "You should ask 50 of your best friends to send you their favorite book."
A perfect plan, and fortunately I do have 50 best friends, or at least 50 (there are many more, in fact) wonderful people in my life.
And you see, I'm not much of a party girl (that card was punched to shreds long, long ago). Otherwise, my husband would be scrambling to plan a surprise party for (and no, that is NOT a hint)
But what I do love are books and people.
So since you are reading this, my dear friend, If you're so inclined to help me mark my 50th year on the planet snail mail me your favorite book, or you multiple faves a book that you just really love. Inscribe it and tell me why. (Note: this is not possible with ebooks, so printed matter only!)
USED copies welcome!
My address is included. And you can send me your book anytime during the month of June!
If you're local, please don't hand-deliver the book. Half the fun will be getting this gift in the mail.
Thank you for being a part of my increasingly wonderful and ever-challenging life.
Much love,
Lee
Lee posted on her Facebook page that "I must confess, I have not read Bradbury but think I might, now.." and then I knew that Lee and I were "greater" friends that time has allowed us to be. We both are avid book lovers and she needed to know about "Fahrenheit 451", "The sound of thunder" and "the Martian chronicles", not forgetting "Something Wicked This Way Comes".
Since her request for the gift of books, used is just fine, (thank you very much!) as sharing is double a gift when a gift of story or deed, the posts on Facebook have come pouring in and the collection is growing by leaps and bounds... Here are a couple of posts.
Latest arrivals:
1. The Princess Bride, William Goldman
2. Saving the Marin-Sonoma Coast, L. Martin Griffin
3. The Plague of Doves, Louise Erdrich (Who sent this???)
4. The Master Butcher's Singing Club, Louise Erdrich
5. The Hair With the Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance, Edmund DeWaal
I'm forming the most amazing, eclectic personal library in history!
This afternoon's arrivals!!!
1. The Shack, Wm. Paul Young
2. On the Rez, Ian Frazier
3. The Quiet American, Graham Greene,
4. Elegance of a Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery
Who sent Gone with the Wind? Come on, fess up.
The party continues...Yesterday's books from Jeanette and Nathaniel: Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger, and The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Beautifully inscribed, too!
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
Shogun, James Clavell
Ringworld, James Niven
A Careless Widow, V.S. Pritchett
Penny Vincenzi's triology (No Angel, Something Dangerous, and Into Temptation
The Love We All Wait For (thank you, dear Ellen!)
This is so freakin' fun!
1. March, Geraldine Brooks. 2. The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje. 3. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas. 4. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving 5. Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand. And from my mom: The Secret Garden, Frances Hodges Burnett
Lee's last post was on Tuesday, "I'd better get reading...!"
I so agree, she has so much to experience as reading a book can open a whole new world or a old adventure worth living over and over again.
So, if you are a parent, think about some serious introduction to a favorite book of your childhood. Get the cable TV turned off for a few months and have your kid read to you while you do those dishes or read to them while they are in the bathtub! (Hey, gotta get them while they are a captive audience!)
If you are an empty nester or a singleton, then, what is your summer reading book? Want to share? I still have to send Lee my two choices. And I think she is going to be very surprised. Since it is summer, a little heat on the situation is perfect for her gift. "Fahrenheit 451" is a great read about the future and the fear that the government of the future had that having the population knowledgeable and "well read" was going to topple them as the leaders. So, like dictators in the past...they did the unthinkable, hint, (what is the temperature that paper burns?)
My next choice is "50 shades of gray". This is a hot book for its genre. But, since Lee has asked for a hardcopy, well, this one might not be in her mailbox till Fall!!! LOL
Happy Birthday Lee! (Get to reading!)
"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it!" - Oscar Wilde
Disclaimer: This Blog post is done in several Fonts to show the excerpts from Facebook and differentiate from my own original ideas and comments. I know that many don't care for that style, but, it is done here with purpose and Hey! it is my blog. :0)
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