What are your all time favourite books?
24 June 2007 Labels: Personal News 18 comments
This is a a photo of my bookcase. Most of the books feature art and dance. One of my dance books is signed by Dame Margot Fonteyn , another signed by Rudolf Nureyev and another is written in Russian.
I have the Bible, a few cookbooks and some general interest books.
There are many more books in the basement....luckily we moved them before the recent storms.....I have autobiographies, biographies, short stories, poems, inspirational books, motivational books and more books on art, dance, music and theatre...
My most favourite three books are:
1. The Bible
2. My Life in Art (Stanislavsky)
3. The Road Less Travelled (Scott Peck)
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I am not sure if the road less traveled by Scott Peck is my fav but I do open it up many times..:) I like Dr. Wayne Dyer's as well as Deepak Chopra's books.. one of Dr. Dyer's books i really like is "I'll see it when I believe it" .. oh I should put together a list..
ah yes Pearl
Dr Wayne Dyer couldn't have said it any better than when he said
"My belief is that the truth is a truth until you organize it, and then becomes a lie. I don't think that Jesus was teaching Christianity, Jesus was teaching kindness, love, concern, and peace. What I tell people is don't be Christian, be Christ like. Don't be Buddhist, be Buddha like. "
I am a fan of Deepak Chopra as well. I love his quote “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”
I would be interested to see your list Pearl.......
I have to do a top 5:
1. 1984(George Orwell)- One of the first books I really read, you know what I mean? I've read it countless times since.
2.The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy(Douglas Adams) - Probably the funniest book I've ever read.
3.Don Quixote(Cervantes) - The style of writing is just fantastic.
4. Walden(Henry David Thoreau) - Removed himself from society in order to find the important things in life. I always wished I could do the same.
5.Slaughterhouse-Five(Kurt Vonnegut) - Amazingly funny and tragic book.
Sorry for the lengthy comment.
Great list Morriconei
I loved Animal Farm too...how prophetic were Orwell's books eh?
HHGTTG...I'll never forget the "towel" joke.......
I haven't read Don Quixote but I have seen many ballets based on the story...wonderful!!!
Thoreau...was a visionary.....I loved reading his poems....and another writer at the time Walt Whitman...I haven't read Waldon...sounds fascinating....will put it on my list....
I haven't read Slaughterhouse-Five....sounds good....
I've heard of the movie though.....will look for it at the video shop........
For myself it keeps changing. Books I read when I was younger no longer captivate me. And I have different moods and interests that dictate my favourites. Currently, it would have to be Bernard Moitessier's "Sailing to the Reefs." It is like Walden on the water. Interestingly, I was just about to begin reading Walden. It is sitting beside me at this moment! And I just finished "As a Man Thinketh" by James Allen. It is a beautifully written little book.
Everyone of you have read some wonderfully written books. I have them in my personal library, too. I'd like to suggest Leo Buscaglia and Richard Bach's works, as well. They aren't funny like Kurt Vonnegut's style but they're captivating insomuch that it is very hard to set one of their books down once started, or it is for me, anyway.
It's so nice seeing ya'll here!
*Hugs*
ps- thanks for the time update, Kim. I didn't even think about different time zones. What a foolio, 'eh? I started laughing out loud when I first glanced at your comment. Moreover, I was on the phone when it came through. M
y friend in Israel couldn't understand what I was laughing so loudly and abruptly about so I had to fully explain what was going on with and who you are to me after I caught my breath from laughing so hard.
I showed him your picture and now he thinks he is in love. Btw, if I may say. You are a real pizzazzy looking woman, Kim. He has great taste in women, then again, I'm biased. Can ya tell?
Hi Kim, Oh nice to take a peek into your beautiful blog and book shelf. I like the bible too and my mom loved the road less travelled, I will have to get it from her when I am visiting Canada next time. I dont read so much, but the last book I read was the Kite Runner and I loved it! Have a great day mate! PS..Love yoru slide show over the coach with all your beautiful works. And the viral tags - oh they seem hard to do...you are becoming a wizard! xoxox
PS...Oh had some friends over for dinner on Saturday night..and they were FLIPPING over your paintings - our portraits. They were in complete awe! xoxoxo
Isn't that the beauty? I guess we all know these things intuitively but somehow forget over time.. good reminders.. I'm glad you started this discussion Kim, I have a lot of the books that I need to get around to!
@ Lisa: oh I have to say I bought Kite Runner but haven't got around to it and I will finish it some day this summer :)
hi Piggly Wiggly
I have both of these !!!!
Bernard Moitessier...another spiritual adventurer for sure, great writer...and great affinity with the sea....love his quote
"You do not ask a tame seagull why it needs to disappear from time to time toward the open sea. It goes, that's all."
and I agree "As a Man Thinketh" is beautifully written..
"The soul attracts that which is secretly harbors,; that which it loves, and also that which it fears."
hi Saboma
I have put Leo Buscaglia on my list...and I loved Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Bach...I read it when I was at art school.....can be appreciated on so many levels.....
haha you are too kind....and I have a new word ...pizzazzy.....to look up...........ykykyky
hiya Lisa
I have heard that there is a film of the book coming out later this year.....so I will put it on my list to read....My Road Less Travelled Book is still on loan to a friend.....I think I will have to buy another...just to read his interpretation of "love" again.....
thank you for your lovely compliments...your portraits sound as if they have settled in beautifully !!!!!!
hi Pearl
I just wish I had the time that I used to have ....to read ...I usually have to choose between painting and reading....and painting has the stronger pull....
it has been nice to revisit familiar books...referred to in this post ....and also to put new ones on my list and it's funny how one book leads to another.....
kim,
I didn't even know there was a movie. Thanks for the heads up.
You might have to hold off on Don Quixote, the unabridged version anyway, it's over 1000 pages. You'd have to stop painting, and we don't want that.
saboma,
I will definitely check those authors out.
lisa,
Thanks for the kite runner recommendation.
Why am I hording your comments, kim?
hi Morriconei.....thanks for the tip on Quixote....watching the movie is not like reading the book...sometimes the movie is not quite as good as letting your imagination take over....eg Silence of the Lambs and Lord of the Rings.......were both disappointing movies (for me) after reading the books....you could say that they let my imagination down...
haha......if I wasn't an artist....I would definitely be a reader....but then the two go hand in hand....sort of a catch 22 situation.. great books have given me wonderful inspiration and motivation for my art.....
haha...I could go on for ever (being a fully trained reading recovery teacher)...and wax lyrical for hours about the importance of reading....just as well I didn't do a top 50 books or we would be here until christmas......
My favourite books:-
Catch 22 for the irony and the tears of laughter, its echoes of sadness and bitter sweet reflections of life.
Feel the fear and do it anyway - which has now become my mantra!
Oh the Places You Will Go - Dr Seuss - a friend bought me this, it lifted me at a time when I was really down. I read it to inspire me!
hi Anita
I use the saying 'catch 22' all the time!!! especially when things just seem too absurd.......I thought it was a great book too.....
I haven't read Feel the fear....I wonder if it would help me with my fear of flying...haha...Fear of Flying by Erica Jong didn't help me...I actually bought the book...thinking that it was about flying !!!
Dr. Seuss is one of my favourite authors....I will have to put that one on my list.....
ps I love your new avatar......
Hi Kim. Love the book case. I have a mini library in my room and like you, I stacked there my favorite books like Tuesdays with morrie, the bible and of course the Nursing and Franciscan books.
it's such a wonderful self-treat to read books as a favorite past time.
BTW, I love your portrait of "deborah". your're such a talented person.
I included you in my blog roll.
God Bless!
hi Bluepanjeet
I heard Mitchell Albom on the Dr Phil show......a great writer and humanitarian...I have put him on my list..
thank you for your visit and kind comments...I will add you to my blogroll too....
wow books. i just simply get enough of them
for me its Sally Morgan's My place - moving autobiography, but with a surprising literary-ness underpinning it. I do also read Paradise Lost once a year, but its a different sort of love that I have for Milton.