Contest: Favourite Books (Winner) and Some Great Reads
Posted on 13. Dec, 2008 by Laura-Jane - Whimfield in House
Just wanted to congratulate Kim, who won a copy of the book “Roughing it in the Bush” by Susanna Moodie in last Saturday’s contest!
Kim’s favourite book:
City of Joy
by Dominique LaPierreThis novel tells the true life story of a priest who ministers to the inhabitants of a slum in India’s Kolkatta (now known as Calcutta.) An incredible read, and one that never fails to uplift my spirit and make me appreciate everything that I have in my life.
From Kim’s description, the book sounds good to me. I’ll be adding it to my list of books that I should read… Somehow my to-be-read list keeps growing and I never actually read anything… But I foresee some stage in the future where I’ll make more time for reading books.
There were many good books mentioned by all of you. A few that I had read (some of the Foxfire books, Dickens’ Great Expectations, Orwell’s 1984, lots of Agatha Christies, Anne of Green Gables books, Little House Books, some Plato, Kerouac’s On the Road, ) and many more that will be going on my list.
Thanks to Nic for mentioning Woodswoman: Living Alone in the Adirondack Wilderness
I also really liked what Phil wrote about his favourite book:
Hmm. Many great books on peoples’ lists here. As for myself, my favorite book I have is a little pocket atlas that my sister purchased for my from the J. Peterman catalog (which means, every time I look through it, I do the “Seinfeld†voice: “Elaine…â€).
I take this little book traveling with me, and use it as a communication-barrier breaker: I’ll turn to the Washington state picture and show my little town, then turn to the page of the country I’m visiting (say, the Philippines) and find their little town. Then, I might turn to some other maps of other countries I’ve visited, and share some stories. Great way to connect with people.
Other times, I’ll be traveling with a group for service trips, and we’ll often have lots of down-time (waiting for flights, rental vans, etc.). So, I’ll break out the Pocket Atlas, pass it around, and ask people to share stories of places they’ve visited. People really open up when they get to share stories about themselves, and I get to hear some great stories in the meantime.
A number of you mentioned the book Into the Wild
In book or movie form, Into the Wild
From the Wikipedia article (spoiler alert!):
Christopher McCandless was an American wanderer who hiked into the Alaskan wilderness with little food and equipment, hoping to live a period of solitude. Nearly four months later, he died of starvation near Denali National Park and Preserve. In 1996, Jon Krakauer wrote a book about his life, Into the Wild, which inspired a 2007 film of the same name.
I love reading. I really should read more! Thanks for all your creative recommendations.
Phil
Dec 13th, 2008
An excellent selection; I proudly concede to a great story.
Though I haven’t read the book yet, the movie “City of Joy” contains perhaps the most true-to-life depiction of daily life in developing-nation urban poverty that I’ve ever seen in a film. Highly recommended (you know, after you’ve read the book).
mom Marjorie
Dec 13th, 2008
Congratulations to you, Kim, the winner!
Now, I’m thinking about the wanderer, Chris McCandless, whose “splendid folly” I can relate to (having tried my own little splendid follies in my own way). Chris McCandless’ biography leads me to suggest you read Pierre Bertons’s book, Klondike. This blockbuster of a book tells of the drama, misery and excitement of the thousands of seekers of fortune and adventure in the Yukon, in the Last Great Gold Rush (1896-1899).
Actually, all of Pierre Burtons books are worthwhile reads – but Klondike relates closely to the topic of ‘unpreparedness’ in raw nature, while questing for self-gain (spiritual or financial).
Andy Collier
Dec 13th, 2008
The movie was very well done, I thought it was very close to the book.
Gary Gray
Dec 13th, 2008
Congrats Kim on being this weeks winner.
Just hold on one Kindle minute here…. Actually we are all winners with all of the great information having been shared on the comments to Laura-Jane’s weekly contest blog post.
Herein lies the secret to internet 2.0 success.
When everyone shares we all benefit. A real win, win, win deal. First Laura-Jane wins in building blog readership. Kim wins a great book to add to her personal library and everyone wins a nice list of books to add to our to-be-read lists.
What a concept, win,win,win! Thank you Laura-Jane and all who have contributed comments with your favorite books.
What’s next movies?
Smiles :o)
Gary
By the way I am just now reading the book “Tribes” by bestselling author seth Godin and published in 2008 by the Penguin Group. I bought mine at Indigo books in Charlottetown but it is available from Amazon (hard copy) and Audible.com (in audio format) I also got the audio version as I like to listen as I read. (go ahead call me crazy but I do)
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.ca/Tribes-Seth-Godin/dp/1591842336/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229204646&sr=8-1
Audible link: http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?productID=BK_ADBL_000302&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes
GG
Jeff Martin
Dec 14th, 2008
This post reminded me of a great PBS program about Dick Proenneke, who built a log cabin by hand in Alaska and lived there by himself for 30+ years.
You can watch some of it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfB6oJ55wM
read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Proenneke
or buy his DVDs here:
http://dickproenneke.com
Kim
Dec 14th, 2008
Yay, I’m so excited! Not only do I win a book but I’ve got more books to suss out and enjoy.
I’ve always wondered about the movie so it’s nice to hear positive comments about it. Must add to list of movies to watch!
Thanks for making my day, Laura-Jane!
Laura-Jane - Whimfield
Dec 14th, 2008
@Kim – You’re very welcome! I hope you like the book. :)
Natalie
Dec 20th, 2008
I loved both the movie AND the book, but then I read Krakauer’s
Into Thin Air three times! :)
Happy holidays!
Natalie
Dec 20th, 2008
Oh, and if you like animals (well, I LOVE animals), read The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood, by Sy Montgomery. I made the mistake of lending out my copy and need to buy another one.
Laura-Jane - Whimfield
Dec 20th, 2008
@Natalie – Never heard of Into Thin Air. Will have to look that one up! Yes, and I try to be a very nice person, but I almost never lend anything out because things have a funny way of never coming back and it drives me nuts! Then I never know whether to follow up, etc., and it drives me nuts. Oh look, I wrote drives me nuts twice. That’s a testament to how much it drives me nuts! :)