20th Anniversary Countdown: Guest Post #3

In celebration of my 20th Blogiversary, I'm having guest posts in the lead-up to the big day. (No, I don't know what's going to happen on the big day - that seems like something for Future Me to worry about.) 

Today, please welcome Nicole!

Nicole is one of the most cheerful people on the internet. I think it's because of her regular yoga practice, walks with her dog Rex, and her beautiful new home. Nicole recently moved to Kelowna in Canada with her husband and two grown sons. She doesn't cook with onions, has adorable gnomes sprinkled throughout her house, and gives great book recommendations. She blogs at Girl in a Boy House and you really should go over there if you have never visited.  

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When Engie asked me to guest post for her 20th blog anniversary, I immediately thought I should do a post about books; after all, while our tastes in reading don’t often overlap, we share a deep love of reading. How to choose what books to write about, I wondered, because there are so many that I love, many more than twenty.

I am an avid rereader; if I like a book, chances are that I have read it more than once. If I haven’t, it’s because it’s new. This still didn’t narrow things down much though: most books I own I have read at least twice. It occurred to me that I should write about my favourite books that I have read over and over: each of these books has been read at least three times, and most of them five or more times. Some of them I have read so much they are literally falling apart, which is the sign to me of a much loved book. [Note from NGS: Favourite! ou!]

Nicole's shelves!

Favourite Book of All Time: The Blind Assassin. This is a quintessential Nicole book: it has a sweeping epic love story, complicated female relationships, interesting female characters, subtle commentary on political and socioeconomic factors, different points of view, and, last but absolutely not least, glorious descriptions of clothes and high society functions.

Favourite Childhood Book: Little Women. I have two copies of this, both from my grandmas. One was my Grandma B’s when she was young, and the other was one of a set of children’s books that my Grandma Fern had. I was the only one of her grandchildren to obsessively take an interest in Little Women, which was the only book about girls in the entire set of twenty or so books. I still love it to this day.

Favourite Childhood Book That Contains Uncomfortable Colonialism and a Disturbing Theme About Victorian England and its Treatment of Poor Children: A Little Princess. This riches to rags to riches book is deeply satisfying and also an incredibly interesting reread as an adult, due to the themes already mentioned.

Favourite Childhood Book That Contains A Very Unsettling Plotline: Rose In Bloom. I adored this book and the very wealthy, but philanthropic, Rose when I was a child, and I loved the descriptions of the balls and parties and fabulous clothing. The weird part? The entire plot concerns which cousin will she marry, to keep the fortune in the family. Um, what? Still, worth the read.

Favourite Childhood Book That Discusses Mental Health Before Mental Health Was Discussed: Emily’s Quest. I always identified with Emily, the dark haired nature loving writer who is deeply misunderstood by her family, other than the strange storyline about the neighbourhood guy decades older than her who wants to marry her when she’s a teenager. Is there a weird romance thread going through all these books? Maybe. Anyway, Emily decides to burn her manuscript (shades of Little Women!) and, regretting it, tearfully heads to the stairs – where she trips over a mending basket, falls, and gets a pair of scissors jammed into her ankle. I still will never set anything on top of a staircase.

Favourite Childhood Book That Showcases My Love For Horses And Also Kitchen Cupboards: These Happy Golden Years. I love the Laura/ Almanzo romance (Laurmanzo?) and also can really appreciate the woman who boards Laura when she is a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse, who goes insane in the isolated shanty during the winter and threatens to kill her husband if he doesn’t take her back East. I feel like if I were in her shoes, I’d feel the same way.

Favourite Book Of My Tween Years That Is Incredibly Disturbing On The Reread: Elvis and Me. I loved this book so much at age twelve, it seemed to me to be the most romantic story ever told. Adult me, however, is horrified. There are just so many disturbing details about Priscilla’s youth, their mostly secret relationship, and also the fact that she went to live with Elvis at age 16, when he was 26. When I was young I thought the parents were the meanest parents that ever lived, and now I think WAIT WHAT.

Favourite Book Of My Teen Years, Even Though Thirty Years Later I Discovered The Author Is A Literal Monster: The Mists of Avalon. A retelling of King Arthur’s court exclusively from the point of view of the women in his life, this book is really incredible; historical fiction is so difficult to do well, and this book nails it.

Favourite Classic Of All Time: Pride and Prejudice. “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I love and admire you.” Every time I read this book, I allow it to become my entire personality, saying things like “I understand you completely” in a shady kind of way.

Favourite Classic That Shows In A Devastating Way The Plight Of Women: Sense and Sensibility. Imagine not being able to live in your home anymore, because you are a daughter instead of a son. I absolutely love this portrait of the Dashwood sisters.

Favourite Classic Whose Main Character I Identify With: Emma. This book is so hilariously funny and witty, and I would one hundred percent not realize Mr Elton’s intentions either. 

Favourite Classic That Devastates Me Every Time: To Kill A Mockingbird. This book also contains one of my favourite lines ever: “I thought Jem and I would get grown, but there wasn’t much else for us to learn, except possibly algebra.” [Note from NGS: Wait until Scout has to figure out when if it's time to replace a major appliance or if it can squeak through for another year.]

Favourite Big Bouncy Showbiz Autobiography: Shelley, Also Known As Shirley. Shelley Winters had an incredible early life, it’s a story and a half. Just do yourself a favour and do not read the follow-up book, which is twice as long but 0.01 percent as interesting.

Favourite Short Story Collection: Lives of Girls and Women. This was my introduction to the literary genius who is Alice Munro, and these interconnected coming of age short stories are so brilliant and evocative of a very particular time and place. 

Favourite Book That Grows With Me: Cat’s Eye. The more I read this book, the more it speaks to me. As I get older, I appreciate it more and more.

Favourite Not Interconnected Short Story Collection: Too Much Happiness. The variety of short stories is wild, and this book also contains a novella about 19th century Russian mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya – one of the first women to teach complex mathematics at a university (in Sweden, naturally).

Favourite Comfort Read: A Diary of a Provincial Lady. I read this when I need something warm and happy; I think sometimes that EM Delafield and I are kind of the same person, I identify with her so deeply. This is such a witty book.

Favourite Memoir: What Remains. This is an ultimately devastating story about Carole Radziwill and her journey from a working class life to becoming an Emmy-winning journalist, who marries Anthony Radziwill and is best friends with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Spoiler alert: everyone around her dies.

Favourite Essay Collection: Calypso. If ever I need to laugh until my stomach is hurting and tears are running down my face, I pick up Calypso.

Favourite Book That Makes Me Obsessed With The Author’s Life: Moral Disorder. I have been obsessed with Margaret Atwood for years, and this book of short stories feels autobiographical to me. It ISN’T an autobiography, but I can’t help but obsessively compare details.

Happy Anniversary, Engie!

Rex with Deenie and Heidi, two books that didn't quite make the cut. 

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Isn't Rex the cutest dog you've ever seen? Have you read any of these books? I have do admit to a real soft spot for A Little Princess myself.