Book Meme
Saw this on the Urban Pedestrian's Blog, so thought I'd give it a whirl...
Total number of books owned:
Difficult to answer.
I've twice purged my book collection. In 1991 for my move from Halifax to Montréal: estimated 300
Then again in 1999 for an anticipated move from Montréal to Dallas (Don't ask): estimated 600*
Currently it is at: 291
(* before both of these book purges I had worked at bookstores which led to the quick increase)
Last book bought:
Sex and the Queen. ~ Elanor Herman
Currently Reading:
Sex and the Queen. ~ Elanor Herman
Last book read:
The Family of Max Desire. ~ Robert Ferro
Five Books that Mean a Lot to You:
In no particular order...
Orlando. ~Virginia Woolf
There just ain't nothing like sexual lines and boundaries being blurred.
The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. ~ Julian Barnes.
I'm still not sure how I first found this book, but I recall just how equally amused and impressed I was when I read it.
I'm still not sure how I first found this book, but I recall just how equally amused and impressed I was when I read it.
Tales of the City. (series) ~ Armistead Maupin.
I devoured the original 6 volumes in a matter of weeks. Based around a group of characters in San Francisco in the 1970. And now... there is a 7th book, a mere 18 years after the 6th book. I cannot wait to read it!
The Griffin & Sabine Series ~ Nick Bantock.
A more original set of exquisitely designed, and illustrated fiction you'll never find! The 5 books follow the corespondance of the two main characters. You literally read their post cards and letters. (Going so far as having to open envalopes, remove the letters and hold them as you read.
Love you Forever. ~Robert N. Munsch
Because my Mom gave it to me.
Because my Mom gave it to me.
Best Five Books You've Read in the Last Year:
The Camino. ~Shirley MacLaine
Always been a fan of her movies and even bigger fasn of her auto-biographical writing. This one about her experiences when she decided to do the Pilgrim's walk of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.
The Camino. ~Shirley MacLaine
Always been a fan of her movies and even bigger fasn of her auto-biographical writing. This one about her experiences when she decided to do the Pilgrim's walk of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.
Wittgenstein's Mistress. ~David Marksen
One of THE most difficult reads of my life. I challenge you to read this. It's a total Mindfuck!
Not Wanted on the Voyage. Timothy Findley
My favourite Canadian author... and this is my favourite. I hate to say it but I'd love to see this one made into a movie.
Sons of Darkness. (Tales of Men, Blood and Immortality.) and Brothers of the Night.
(re-reads) These are two anthologies of gay vamperic short fiction. I cant help myself, I do like me some erotic gay vampy trash now and again.
The Rituals of Dinner. ~ Margaret Visser
I really love reading non-fiction, on customs, traditions, rules of etiquette and the reasons behind them all. And this was a book I'd been long wanting to read. (I'm now looking for her other book, Much depends on Dinner)
I really love reading non-fiction, on customs, traditions, rules of etiquette and the reasons behind them all. And this was a book I'd been long wanting to read. (I'm now looking for her other book, Much depends on Dinner)
9 comments:
the only thing I want to know is why you were planning on moving to Dallas?
Yeah, how come you almost moved to Dallas? Did you hear that Bobby Ewing woke up in the shower and said "Where the hell is Kitty?".
C'mon, spill. I told you all about The Platform Shoe Incident, so it's your turn.
The ONLY thing you wanna know is WHY I almost moved to the Dallas. after I said, "Don't Ask"
THANKS GUYS! lol
Back in 1997 I wet a guy online. We chatted and chatted for months. Talked for hours and hours on the phone. Then in September of that year he came up to visit Canada. Well things developed and I went to visit him over Canadian Thanksgiving, and then again for American Thanksgiving. and by then I was hooked. On him and Dallas. it's a surprisingly cosmopolitan city. Great art museums, great indie music and amazing restaurants and and and. By the summer of 1998 I started looking for work in Dallas.... which ain't easy when you're in Montréal. I would go down for 10 days or so every 6 weeks. I'd have interviews en masse. By the late spring of 1999 I found a company that not only wanted to hire me, but were willing to sponsor me for a work Visa. So we submitted all the paperwork to the INS and waited and waited and waited. The visa was denied because as they claimed the job should be able to be filled by an American. The company having looked for over 6 months before finding me and then after another 2 months of waiting on the INS decided that was bull and decided to counter the decision with all the required paper work showing that indeed they COULDN'T find an American for the job (Dallas unemployment at the time was about 2 %!!!) They had interviewed countless people and I was not only the first person qualified to do the job I was also, as they put it, THE person for the job. Had they tried to create a position for me, the fit could not have been better! Another 6 weeks before the INS came back with "keep looking".
During the waiting period, to ensure I could move down at a moments notice I gave up my apt, sold and or gave away a LOT of my belongings, furniture and so on. By the time the 2nd "No" came back from the INS I was sleeping on a sofa in a friends living room and living out of a dozen boxes.
In the end the INS didn't like me and because of his medical history (Cancer treatment in the previous 5 years) he was not allowed entry to move to Canada. And so I ended up not moving to Dallas and he ended up not moving to Montréal.
The story's nice, (especially the Freudian slip in the 1st sentence) but I want to comment on your book meme -- I wish I'd thought to put "Love You Forever" on my book list. I read it to my daughter a million times when she was young and got choked up each and every time.
OOPSIE! You're no longer Urbain, but rather Urban. Mea Culpa. ...still you might want to reconsider your blog name.
"Love you forever" is just such a wonderful book. And I cannot read it without a tear welling up in the corner of my eyes... I cannot imagine reading it aloud to my child (if I had a child) I don't imagine I'd ever get through it without breaking down...
I also considered adding the "Paperbag Princess" and "Where the Wild Things Are." by Maurice Sendak, and" Jacob Two-Two and the Hooded Fang." by Mordecai Richler and "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl. So many great books for kids really...
HA! I thought you were referring to my calling you the "URBAIN Pedestrian", not when I "WET a guy". That's an entirely different story! ;-) God I hate Spell Check some times... Doesn't it know I meant MET not WET.
Funny story about me and spell check... A few years ago I worked from home and did on line support for a company here in Montréal. I eventually had to remove the word ARSE from mine system's spell check. By accident, I often typed ARSE instead of ARE. When writing a client once I said "You arse now eligible for..." The spell check of course did not flag this as incorrect because, as we all know, ARSE is word. Fortunately the client was not offended... but my cheeks were red! (all four of them! heh!)
I knew it had something to do with you having met someone down there. Thats the only reason we ever consider uprooting ourselves.
Lucky for me hubby and I lived in the same province. However, before hubby I had met a dude in Greece (surprise, surprise, since I would spend my summers in Greece) and although he was convinced I would leave Canada for him I was just not willing to do so. Wonder what I would be doing now had I accepted that marriage proposal??
DO you still keep in touch with the dude from Dallas?
I didn't even notice the Urbain -- just the guy you wet in Dallas.
As for Robert Munsch -- I took the child to see him a long time ago and he read that book to his audience and I think every adult there was weeping openly. (even Munsch was teary) The kids just thought it was hilarious.
That's cute!
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