C is for (Books About) Children

For A to Z 2018, my theme is Books About ____. If you’re stopping by from your own A to Z blog, feel free to leave a link. If you need help with how to do that, you can look here.

If you’re someone looking to read a lot of great blogs, here’s the link for the A to Z challenge.

My list only contains books about kids for adults. Younger children as main characters add a whole different dimension to books for adults.

Me & Emma, by Elizabeth Flock (literary): This book was so unexpectedly good! It was one of those that someone gave me, and I had no idea what to expect. The narrator is 8-year-old Carrie, who lives in a bad situation and just wants to protect her younger sister, Emma. They decide to run away from home, which doesn’t go as plan. This book has a huge twist at the end that’s disturbing but makes for wonderful reading. You’ve been warned.

Firestarter, by Stephen King (horror): This has been one of my favorite books forever. The experiments that Charlie’s parents participated in, giving them psychic powers, seem like something that could have happened. Charlie has pyrokinesis, so of course, the government wants her. Stephen King is a master of horror, and in my mind, this is his masterpiece.

Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens (literary): I didn’t know what to expect before reading this, but it’s really good. I learned some things about Victorian London and got to read an entertaining story at the same time. Oliver is a great protagonist, and I enjoyed following him and seeing the events that happened through his eyes.

Lightning, by Dean Koontz (horror? thriller? romance? really, I never know how to classify Koontz books): I read that Koontz had a hard time selling this book, as the first section is the main character, Laura, as a child. The whole book isn’t like that; she grows up and we follow her from there. If you’re someone who likes books that don’t just do one thing, this one may be for you.

What’s your favorite non-children’s book about a child?

K is for Killing

Phoenix, AZ; Photo credit: Doree Weller

“Do all men kill the things they do not love?”
-William Shakespeare

I have a confession that may surprise you… I’m not a killer.

No, really.  When I used to play Legend of Zelda, friends would gleefully cut down the chickens, and I felt guilty about it.  So guilty that I’m still remembering it 20 years (or so) later.  A friend told me that she liked to play the Sims, name them after people she was angry with, then starve them or not let them go to the bathroom until they died.  I thought it sounded like a great idea.  But I couldn’t do it.  Again with the guilt.

I cried when (spoilers) Ruth and Danny died in Lightning by Dean Koontz.  I cried pretty much the whole last book of Harry Potter.

I’ve killed off a few characters of my own, and it’s usually painful.  Depending on how long I’ve spent with that character, I’m in their head.  I know their wants and needs.  I know their secrets.  And then, because the book calls for it, I kill them.

It’s very difficult, even when I remind myself that death is part of the cycle, and that they’re not real.  Though they are to me.  Nevermind.

I used to tell people I wanted to be a serial killer when I grew up.  But maybe I wouldn’t be all that good at it, after all.

“He divines remedies against injuries; he knows how to turn serious accidents to his own advantage; whatever does not kill him makes him stronger.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche

My 10 Favorite Books

It’s no secret that I love to read, and in fact, I’m a re-reader.  I know that not everyone does that, but for me, it’s like visiting an old friend.  I have a shelf of books that I read at least once (or twice) a year.  Some of these books I’ve read upwards of 50 times.

10.  Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen- I read this one the first time because it was a classic, and I was trying to read more of the classics, but I absolutely adored it, and I even have pages post-it noted with my favorite parts, so that if I don’t feel like reading the whole thing, I can read a page here and a page there.

9.  Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte- I really have no idea what possessed me to read this book.  I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t a school thing.  I read it the first time somewhere in my teenage years.  When I re-read it, I usually skip over the parts with young Jane at the school and go straight to her time at Thornfield Hall

8.  Beautiful Disaster, by Jamie McGuire- This is a fairly recent addition to the favorites list. It’s a romance novel with all the turmoil and drama of young love, with two dysfunctional characters who don’t pretend to be anything but who they are. Travis and Abby are friends first, then lovers, then friends again before they get it right.

7.  Watership Down, by Richard Adams- Yes, it’s a book about rabbits. No, I’ve never seen the movie, so I have no idea how it compares. While the main characters are rabbits, it’s not a kids’ book. Fiver has a premonition that their home is about to be destroyed, and with the help of his brother, Hazel, they and a small group of rabbits set off to find a new home. On their way, they encounter deceit, a megalomaniac, superstition, and fear, and must learn to trust themselves and one another.

6.  Where The Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls- I cry every time I read this book, and I’ve been reading it once or twice a year (or more) since I was in elementary school. Twelve year old Billy wants hunting dogs more than anything, so he saves money for two years to buy the dogs. It’s a beautiful story of friendship, family, and enduring love.

5.  Lightning, by Dean Koontz- On the night Laura Shane is born, a stranger shows up at the doctor’s home, preventing him from leaving and forcing another doctor to attend the birth. The stranger continues to show up at critical points in her life as she ages, matures, and lives her life. As with all Dean Koontz books, there’s action, adventure, romance, and paranormal overtones.

4.  Harry Potter series, by JK Rowling- It’s a series, so it counts as one book. This is one of the best series ever, no matter what age. The series is about good and evil, friendship, family, and growing up. I love re-reading them from start to finish.

3.  Pollyanna, by Eleanor M. Porter- Pollyanna is an orphan who goes to live with her cranky Aunt Polly. No matter what, Pollyanna always finds a reason to be glad, and she teaches others to look at the bright side with her sunny disposition and show that of you look for the best in people, they’ll eventually prove you right.

2.  The Circle Trilogy, by Nora Roberts- Six people have been chosen to make a stand against evil. They discover that each one of them is stronger than they imagined, and that together, they’re stronger than any one of them is separately.

1.  Watchers, by Dean Koontz- This has been my favorite book since I read it in 1988.  Einstein is a genetically engineered, super-intelligent dog.  He meets Travis, a good man without any real reason to live.  Travis dedicates himself to keeping Einstein free, and along the way, finds the meaning that was missing, and a family.

While it was difficult to come up with only 10 books for the list, I did it by asking myself what books I’d want if I were stranded on a desert island and could only have these 10 for the rest of my life. Luckily, that’s not the case. 🙂

What’s your favorite book or books?

Storms

I love storms.  They’re the one thing I miss about PA.  We get good storms here in AZ, but they’re pretty rare.

Tonight was brief, but it was pretty great while it lasted.  We had booming thunder, blinding lightning, and pouring rain.  For whatever reason, I decided that I wanted to photograph the lightning.

I have a pretty decent camera.  My photographer-engineer husband picked it out for me, keeping in mind that I come at photography with more enthusiasm than skill.  It has a fireworks setting on it, and because of that setting, I was able to photograph lightning.

I’ve seen better pictures of lightning, but these are cool because they’re mine!  My method was simple.  I aimed at the sky and took 130 pictures.  Six of them have lightning in them, and I’m pretty proud of those.

It occurred to me that my lightning picture taking method is similar to writing.  Sometimes you just need to aim, snap away, and see what takes.  I had to throw away 124 pictures of a dark sky, but because I was willing to just keep snapping away, I got some real gems.  In writing, it can be the same thing.  Just keep putting words on paper until you get what you want.  You may have to edit, but the raw product will be there, and you can’t do anything until you have a place to start.

Lightning

Lightning, other than being a really awesome Dean Koontz book, is a beautiful and interesting force of nature.  I love standing outside on my porch during storms, watching the lightning and rain while listening to the thunder and wind.

Apparently, men get struck my lightning four to six times more often than women.  Four to six times!  Many of the people who were struck by lightning were carrying things like fishing poles or golf clubs.  Apparently, Florida has the highest rate of people getting struck by lightning.  Only 20% of people who were struck by lightning died.

Here’s the original article if you’re interested.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/essd18jun99_1/