GLBT challenge – Bookish Butch

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Love- in a world where carpenters get resurected,—-Anything is possible–Eleanor of Aquitaine.

I posted this quote before,

it can stand repeating.

I am reading The Price Of Salt,

it is fabulous,

so far,

I am about one hundred pages in.

The first twenty pages or so,

are work,

but,

on page twenty eight,

you get this:

Their eyes met at the same instant. Therese glancing up from a box she was opening, and the woman just turning her head so she looked directly at Therese. She was tall and fair, her long figure graceful in the fur coat that she held open with a hand on her waist. Her eyes were grey, colourless, yet dominant as light or fire, and caught by them, Therese could not look away.

In the words of,

the immortal Jackie Gleason,

…and a way we go!!

Highsmith had me,

I needed to know,

what would happen.

I’m not finished,

probably tomorrow,

if I decide,

I want to sleep tonight:-)

The reason I mention it is,

I want to ask you all,

a question,

Do you believe in love at first sight?

In the true spirit of sisterhood,

I’ll tell you what I think.

I believe,

I sure do,

absolutely,

not a doubt in my mind.

This perhaps strikes you as,

being in contradiction with,

that stuff I wrote,

months ago,

about kindness,

being more important than looks.

I’ll tell you girls,

I stand behind both,

statements.

Kindness is more important than looks,

ultimately,

and in the long run.

But, Love at first sight,

isn’t about looks,

it’s about,

chemistry.

Of course,

you should be weary of me,

discussing chemistry,

I never took high school chemistry,

and,

my love life is hapless,

but,

my credentials as a hopeless romantic?

Impecable!!

I believe in a stranger across a crowded room,

some enchanted evening:-)

who in fact isn’t a stranger,

but,

the ONE.

It’s never happened to me,

it may never happen to me,

but,

I believe it can.

Later girls,

Wrap up for 2010

I have been going over what I read for 2010.

I was under the impression,

that I had read much less than 2009.

Not really.

2009: 58 books

2010: 54 books

Not much of a difference.

If you consider that 2010 had the following factors going against it,

1-Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics,

two weeks spent in front of the television.

2-My mom’s heart attack,

non stop worrying and no concentration.

3-The summer of hell,

‘nough said.

4-The Habs making it to the Stanley Cup semi-finals,

first time in 15 years.

That makes for several weeks of no reading,

well not much reading,

I always read.

I started my reading year with,

Last Night In Twisted River,

John Irving, my man.

I will be ending it with,

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.

Rich and full.

I am shocked to see,

I have read 1 French Language book,

only one.

It was a decent one but,

by no means a masterpiece,

L’Élégance Du Hérrison by Muriel Barbery.

I must do better in 2011!

I read 12 mysteries in 2010,

I used to read 30-40 a year,

now,

quality more than quantity.

As far as Male/Female author ratio is concerned,

22 were by male authors,

that leaves 32 for the women.

The author I read most this year,

Somerset Maugham, 4 books.

The author I discovered this year and will be reading more of,

Andrea Levy.

Non-fiction reading not much,

7 books,

mostly literary memoirs and collections of letters.

I like fiction.

I didn’t count rereads but,

there must be 4-5.

I also didn’t count the 4 novels I read in manuscript form,

they are by a good friend of mine,

I’ll tell you about them when they come out,

if she wants me to.

So for 2011,

I will be participating in The GLBT Q Reading Challenge,

( I also added the Q, following the example of Amy, it is as it should be)

here is the list of books I will be reading:

The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Maurice by E.M Forster

Normal by Amy Bloom

The Gilda Stories by Jewel Gomez

The sixth is to be determined.

Any suggestions?

Also I would like to read Thomas Wolfe’s,

Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time And The River,

Big, thick, Southern fiction.

Since I was a child,

I have been attracted to the tragic destiny of Wolfe.

This year I try,

hard.

I’m hoping Cass doesn’t make us read our Bunker List,

I may never be heard from again:-)

I will let her reveal the said Bunker list when she sees fit but,

let me tell you it’s a doozy.

More French language books, GLBTQ, and some dense Southern Literature,

so goes the objective for 2011.

Let’s see how well I do.

I wish you all a Healthy and Happy New Year celebration.

Grab your girl/guy or whoever and tell them you love them.

Because the world needs more love and more readers:-)

Later girls

A challenge for the new year

Hey everyone,

I was in the mood for a change.

So, I changed the look of the blog.

This is how I sometimes feel.

So many books, so little time.

Ah, the never ending quest for bookishness.

This is a time of year,

where I start to think about the new one,

year,

that is.

As far as the blog is concerned I am going to be joining in

I love this picture of Colette.

Such style, such flair.

Btw, if you haven’t read any Colette you should, she’s great.

She also happens to be my mom’s favourite writer.

How cool is that!!

Back to the GLBT Challenge,

I got the idea to participate from Cass at http://bonjourcass.com/.

I don’t think I can manage a book every month.

So my goal is six, for the year.

This is the list:

The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith-Because I have always wanted to read it.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin-Because in spite of having read tons of James Baldwin, I have never read this novel, a glaring oversight.

Maurice by E.M Forster-Never read any Forster

Normal by Amy Bloom-Just because I really like the title.

The Gilda Stories by Jewel Gomez- Never read any Jewel Gomez

The sixth is to be determined.

Any suggestions?

I like the idea of a little bit of structured as well,

as whimsy reading.

I will read The Mere Future by Sarah Schulman,

for the 1 st of December as promised,

and then I will join this challenge for the new year.

I haven’t decided about any other challenges,

but, this,

I am commited to and excited about.

Well, that’s about it.

Later girls