~A Bitter Swallow~

So, anyone who has ever been to my house knows that I have about elevnty-billion books of Stephen King. Many are duplicates (NO- I am NOT getting rid of my dupes! They are on purpose!). However, many of them are also falling apart, like the one I showed to my co-workers Monday:
Them: "Is that a library book, Thay??!!"
Me: "Oh, gods, no!"

It just goes to show that I love my Stephen King books, and I read the ever living hell out of them. I recently got Dustin into the Gunslinger series, which he's read in it's entirty. I'm trying to convince him of some of the others I think he'd enjoy. My son has also recently picked up a couple, and I'm trying to convice him of others I think he'd enjoy. So, pretty soon, my books are going to be a pile of rags with half-legible words written on them.

Needless to say, this means I need to start keeping track of which ones I need replaced. (Hey, this will also work for those people who can never figure out what to get me!) So- in no particular order:

Paperbacks I need replaced:

* The Talisman
* Rose Madder
* The Stand
* Four Past Midnight

Hardbacks I don't have paperback copies of:

* Desperation (I actually have a PB, but it's in pretty rough shape.)
* Pet Cemetary
* The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
* From a Buick 8
* Duma Key
* The Dark Tower
* Song of Suzannah
* Cell
* Lisey's Story
* Hearts in Atlantis
* DreamCatcher

Books of his I don't even have at all (cry):
Wow... there are way more than I thought. I'm such a slacker. I didn't even realize there were so many on audiobook.

Fiction
* Black House I actually got both paperback and hardback! woot!
* Carrie
* Cycle of the Werewolf
* Dolores Clairbone
* Firestarter
* Insomnia Gotta love $0.50 hardbacks!
* Misery
* Plant: Zenith Rising
* Shining (what??)
* Under the Dome

Non-Fiction
* Faithful
* Mid-Life Confidential
* Nightmares in the Sky

Short Story Collections
* Everything's Eventual
* Skeleton Crew
* Stephen King Goes to the Movies

Limited Editions
* Dolan's Cadillac
* Letters From Hell
* Little Sisters of Eluna
* My Pretty Pony
* New Lieutenant's Rap
* The Secretary of Dreams
* Six Stones

As Richard Bachman
* The Bachman Books
* Blaze
* Long Walk
* Rage
* Roadwork
* Running Man
* Thinner

Audio Books
* Apt Pupil
* Blood & Smoke
* the Body
* the Breathing Method
* Chattery Teeth
* the End of the Whole Mess
* Faithful
* the Gingerbread Girl
* House on Maple Street
* It Grows on You
* the Library Policeman
* LT's Theory of Pets
* Man in the Black Suit
* Riding the Bullet
* Stationary Bike
* Sun Dog
* Sorry, Right Number
* Wavedancer Benefit

I was going through the books being checked in today, looking for loose, forgotten items used as bookmarks, markings in the book, etc.. and came across one that had a dedication in it. It was donated to the library in remembrance of a loved one that had passed on. I looked closer, and realized that the dates given marked this loved one as still a child. It brought upon a deep feeling of mixed sorrow. The wretched kind from losing one's darling baby (I have two myself, but still cannot even imagine), and also the happy kind that comes with having something that helps you remember, and makes you smile at those memories.

The book made me think of my own youth, when my troop of friends and I would wander through the graveyards to hang out in the peaceful quietness. There was something soothing about the place. We always made our way toward where there was a remarkable amount of gravestones with dates that spanned a disquieting few amount of years. Like all teens that age, we were a obstreperous bunch, laughing and playing our way through. However, without warning or prompting, the whole of us would be overcome by a hush as we passed into that area of the young spirits. A sort of reverence for those who did not make it as long as we had, and a deep respect for them. We would tell each other stories of these children- happy stories of perserverance and love, and of those left behind who still mourn the happy memories of their lost child.

To this day I do not view graveyards as a place of spooky scariness, but rather a place to rest and relax in the quiet. They have always brought upon a feeling of peace and stillness in an otherwise crazy world. I still find myself wandering, looking through the names and the dates, and finding those of the children. Those souls whose journey ended sooner than we would like to think possible. And I always find myself stopping at them, wondering about them and their lives, and what possibly could have brought them to this place in the dirt. How were their lives, their personalities, their deaths?

Oh, and that book with the dedication? It was "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. A proper and fitting title, don't you think?

According to a site I have previously linked all you folks- http://www.brownielocks.com/april.html the week of April 13th through April 19th is National Library Week. I thought we should celebrate this, seeing as how I work in a library, and I love to read. I thought I could start by listing some of my favorite books for you. You can also go to http://www.thaydra.com/ and read some of my book reviews of my recently devoured tales.



1. Right now, I am currently just over halfway through my most favorite book of all time, entitled "Swan Song" by Robert McCammon. It is a tale that tells about some special folks after WW3 wipes out the majority of America (and, it is implied, the rest of the world). It follows Swan, Josh, Sister, and a handful of others as they try and figure out where to go and how to continue on in a world that has been decimated by nuclear war. It conjures up versions of how good and bad people react to a world so instantly and drastically different, and how their personalities differ so dramatically in how they live. Mr. McCammon comes up with an ingenious way for Nature (or God, if you will) to be able to show peoples' true faces.



2. On the same line of "Swan Song", I also absolutely love "The Stand" by Stephen King. This is another book about how people struggle to survive and rebuild after the world as they know it, along with most of the people in it, is(are) wiped out. In this case, it is a fast-spreading super flu. It follows how the people are drawn together, good to good, and evil to evil, and how they battle it out to regain, or keep control of their lives and what they have left.

3. "Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean Auel enraptured me in my late teen years. A tale (and subsequent series) of a young Cro-magnon girl, who is separated from her tribe as a very little girl when an earthquake strikes. She wanders aimlessly and is attacked by a cougar. She survives, and is eventually found by the medicine woman of a clan of Neanderthal people. The woman gets permission to keep the little girl, and it follows how the little girl, called Ayla, grows up in a clan so very different from herself, and how her "people" are enemies of the Clan. It follows Ayla as she grows and develops physically and mentally in ways the Clan do not, and how she struggles to fit in.

4. "Tales of the Brothers Grimm" retold by various different people, are in and of themselves priceless. I prefer the original, unedited stories, in all of their raw crudity and violence. They portray such a different picture than the remade "Disney" versions..

5. "The Hobbit" by J.R. R.Tolkien. The fantasy tale of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, and his quest to obtain the Dragon Smaug's treasure. He discovers a unique ring along the way, which grants him the ability to become invisible. It is also the story that spawns the Lord of the Ring trilogy, which follows the ring.

6. "Mr. and Mrs. God in the Creation Kitchen" by Nancy Wood is a children's tale of how Mr. and Mrs. God create the world and all of it's inhabitants. A beautifully illustrated book, with a whimsical view on creation.


Please visit my website for regular reviews on books I've entertained, and visit http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Thaydra to peruse books I've read, rated, and ones I plan to read in the future. LibraryThing is a wonderful place to keep track of books read, books you want to read, view other opinion on books, and get reviews and recommendations!

And of course, if nothing else, take a trip down to your local library and show some support!!

We were having this conversation here at work the other day. Why is it that we readers feel the necessity to finish a book that we hate?? It doesn't seem to matter whether we are at the beginning, middle, or near the end of the book. We hate it. We can't stand it. Yet we HAVE to see it through until the end.

Perhaps we could use this on our resumes? A clear example of how obsessively we see tasks through? Of course, if only I could transfer that crazy obsession to other areas, such as housework. I must see the cleaning out of my garage through to the end! It's an unfinished book! I wonder if that approach would work at all.

I have grand plans to clean out my kids' rooms this coming weekend (not today end of the weekend, but next weekend. My procrastination hasn't yet started. Or maybe it has but I'm procrastinating in acknowledging it). I will view this project as an Unfinished Book. The Book of Does My Daughter REALLY Have A Floor??

I'll let you know how that turns out....