Prairie Grlz Writes Book List, Part 2

Sadly, Prairie Friends, you will find no Kurt Vonnegut on my list.  I wish he was on my list so I could appear edgy and intellectual.  Not surprisingly, Kurt and I are on the same wave-length concerning  book burnings and librarians.  

“And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.

So the America I love still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country 


And now, Part 2 of a very special, "Top 10 Books That Touched My Life At Some Point in Time."

Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

If only Ashley had been honest with Scarlett, Melanie, and himself.  (Stupid, stupid, stupid Ashley.)   If only  Bonnie Blue hadn't fallen off that damn pony.  Just because a child wants a pony doesn't mean they should get one.  If only Margaret Mitchell had written a sequel, or at least another book.

One of my favorite lines:

“Dear Scarlett! You aren't helpless. Anyone as selfish and determined as you are is never helpless. God help the Yankees if they should get you." -Rhett Butler”  

Little House in the Big Woods series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I went through four sets of the Little House books.  I read them in a constant rotation.  I related to Laura.  Her brown hair that wouldn't stay curled.  Her feelings of inferiority.  Her love of adventure.    It was refreshing how Laura wanted to run around instead of calmly stitching a sampler with Goodie Two Shoes Mary.  I was horrified after seeing photos of the actual Ingalls family.  I was used to the pleasant, sanitized Garth Williams illustrations.

A BIG plus is that Prairie Sherry and I bonded over Little House books.  We have been known to drive our co-workers crazy by taking Laura Ingalls trivia tests over lunch breaks.  (Sorry Bobbi Jo!)

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

I read this book in less than 18 hours and was horribly creeped out.  This book made the list because I am still creeped out.  It is understandable why Truman Capote never wrote another book after this one. 

 

Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys

No! No! No!  Not 50 Shades of Gray, BETWEEN Shades of Gray!

This is the newest addition to my list.  I read this book in September and am still thinking of Lina and her family, forced into farming beets in Siberia.   Oprah and I love books where the human spirit triumphs.  Throughout the book I asked myself, "Could I have lived through that?  Could I have survived?  Why?"

“Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy—love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.”   Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys

The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton

I raptly listened to Mrs. Koutre read The Outsiders out loud in 7th grade English.  Then I read every book S.E. Hinton ever wrote, at least 7 times each.  I was particularly fond of That Was Then, This Is Now.  Many, many years later I found myself reading The Outsiders to my 7th graders. 

Why does this poorly written, 45 plus year old book capture tweens' hearts everywhere?  Not sure, but I still cry when Dallas Winston gets shot in the open field.  I always tear up when Johnny tells Ponyboy to "Stay Gold."  I love it when Ponyboy realizes everyone, including the delicious Cherry Vallence, looks at the same sunset.

“It seemed funny that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.”

You are probably wondering what my favorite scene from the movie is.  It is when Matt Dillon (in a hospital bed, wearing tidy whities) insists, through gloriously gritted teeth, that they must "Do it for, Johnny!"

Now.  I am off to create another list.

Prairie Eydie