"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Top Ten books that caused STRONG emotions in me

Hosted by the gals over at The Broke and Bookish
This week's topic: Books that have caused STRONG emotions in me:

1. Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver---I wanted to hurl the book across the room several times as I read it.  The "colonialism" attitude toward Africans made me so angry at the father in the story.
2. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams---Not sure when I have laughed harder or longer over a book.
3. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov---The subject matter made me want to cringe but the story was so exquisitely written.
4. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury---Burn books? A world without books!? Wait, isn't that happening now?
5. Nothing by Janne Teller---What happens to the children, when they try to prove that life has meaning, is DISGUSTING!
6. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery---I don't know what to call the emotion that this book evoked but it seemed to transport me to another plane, one where ART is safe and beautiful and life-changing.
7.  Stolen by Lucy Christopher---This book really played with my emotions.  Was I a victim of Stockholm Syndrome when I started identifying with the abductor?
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett---This book was eye-opening and it caused my emotions to be all over the board.
9.  A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess---I was so disturbed by this book and all of the senseless violence that I couldn't finish it.
10. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach---I read this book with near morbid curiosity.  My poor husband, who did not feel that same sense of curiosity, had to suffer through my reading many sections aloud to him.




9 comments:

  1. I didn't do this list, but I like ones that you have included. I will go right now and add Elegaance of the Hedgehog, Stolen and Nothing to my list

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  2. Nice list! I snorted whatever drink I had while reading Hitchhiker's. There ought to be a cautionary warning on the book :D

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  3. I need to read some of these! I hate that overwhelming-there's-so-many-books-I-need-to-read-right-now feeling.

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  4. I love your #6, especially the description. I think I felt a similar sense of ambivalence with Lolita as well.

    Come visit me at The Scarlet Letter.

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  5. Your comment about The Poisonwood Bible is exactly why I can't bring myself to read it. Please tell me it's not pro-missionaries...?

    I've had The Elegance f the Hedgehog on my shelf for a few years now - your description makes me want to pick it up like NOW!

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  6. While I didn't really enjoy Fahrenheit 451 all that much, I do agree that it's a great book just because of the social issues it tackles.

    I have so many of the books you have on your list on my TBR. Someday, I'll get to them ... hopefully.

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  7. I loved The Poisonwood Bible. It made me angry, but it was so well written. I need to go back and re-read it.

    The Help was a difficult read at several points. It was also occasionally hilarious. I still need to see the movie.

    I love, love, love Mary Roach. You can't help but read her stuff out loud. I also love looking like a crazy person by giggling out loud while reading her books in public places. I recommend her books to everyone who has a macabre sense of humor.

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  8. Ooh, lots of good emotion evoking books! A Clockwork Orange was a very disturbing book and I really struggled to get through Lolita.

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  9. I have never been able to bring myself to read A Clockwork Orange. Couldn't handle Lolita either, though people keep telling me to go back. :)

    Great list!

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