Deb at Booking Through Thursday recently asked about fifteen books that will always stick with me. I have no idea why, but I immediately thought of Harold.
It took me a bit longer than 15 minutes as I tried to imagine my bookshelf (currently packed away in a storage locker more than 8,000 km away), but here’s my complete list (in no particular order):
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
- The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
- Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Les Jeux Sont Faits by Jean-Paul Sartre
- The Painted Canoe by Anthony C. Winkler
- Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
- Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding
- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
Some are sticky because I loved every chapter, every sentence. Some are sticky for other reasons, like last-minute high school essays or angst-filled, unrequited teenage crushes.
But I have a growing stack of books on my bedside table – the stack beckons me as much as it mocks me. I can’t wait to find out which ones stick.
.
Super duper thanks for the comments and conker debate on Wandering Castaneas from Lo,TG, Daisyfae, DaddyP, Somnambulist, the handsome Penfold, djbeat, and Surftwin!
i did my “sticky 15″ on facebook… and was stunned by the number of books from my youth. Harriet the Spy, Island of the Blue Dolphins from the early years, as well as Autobiography of Malcolm X, Communist Manifesto, Player Piano (Vonnegut) from my anarchist-leaning high school years…
oh, but harold! thanks much for that memory!
Ooh, almost forgot about The Communist Manifesto — hard to believe I was a member of the Marxist-Leninist Society in University … the theory just seemed so good on paper.
oh lovely – when i read the title i immediately thought of our household `sticky books` & those with chewed corners…
it is so nice to have a book history – the words make up part of who we are.
a couple that just came to mind are (wow that NEVER happens):
* the velveteen rabbit
* the martian chronicles (i remember being shocked & amazed & i remember the scent of the book & the feel of the classroom – don`t remember the story though : )
* to kill a mocking bird
* the power of one
* like water for chocolate
* the color purple
* blindness
funny nothing from my recent past or from my english degree…
Oh good, I was worried the title would evoke images of sticky mags (eeeew).
‘Like Water for Chocolate’ – how could I forget that one?? Did you read ‘The Law of Love’? Quite bizarre but I loved the idea of combining it with Puccini on CD.
bb loved the harold & the purple crayon video!
No child should be without a purple crayon xx
children only? rats… i was just tearing through boxes of old arts and crafts supplies, looking for a wayward crayon…
When I am old I shall wear purple … and carry a crayon.
No sticky book jokes allowed? These days it’s all ‘sticky keyboards’…
ahem. Byeee xxx
Ahem.
Just tricky keyboards around here … x
Thank you for Harold, he’s new to me – I love him.
Never too late to discover Harold! x
A fine list of literature there Tango, I might just have to borrow that (end of coffee break, back to data input
…
You have coffee breaks??
Nice list, might have to borrow this… And by the way, I did think “dirty” when I read your title… go figure!
Such dirty bloggers …
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