MEME: The Bookshelf

laura at musings tagged me for the Bookshelf meme, originally created by Eva at A Striped Armchair.

The book that’s been on my shelf the longest:
I've got a lot of books saved from my childhood. This Christmas one of the books I took out of my Christmas boxes was of the nativity story, called When Joy Comes. Inscribed on the inside is "To Elizabeth, Christmas 1971, Love Mommy and Daddy"

It's a very simple story, with old illustrations, but covers the basics. Obviously, the story hasn't changed. My daughter in kindergarten performed the Nativity Story in her Christmas concert this year, she was the sheep with the curly horn, and she was quite fascinated by the Nativity Story.

A book that reminds me of something specific in my life (a person, a place, a time, etc.):

The Stand, by Stephen King. In university, I couldn't allow myself novels as I would stay up all night reading otherwise. During summer vacation of 2nd or 3rd year university, I was reading The Stand. I was a few hundred pages in as I went to bed one night. I kept reading and reading, and turning over to prevent bed sores, and around 6:00 am I heard a parent stirring. I quick turned out my light, embarrassed to have stayed up so late, and lo and behold, the sun had risen enough to keep reading. I finished the book after reading for ten straight hours.



A book I acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used bookstore, prize, etc.):
I think the first book I got through the book blogging world, The Bone People really opened my eyes to the generous nature of so many people around the world. 3M posted at a yahoo group that she had an extra copy if someone wanted. I felt a bit bold, and waited for the more regular posters to offer for it. After a day or so, I figured it would be okay to ask, and Michelle sent it to me right away. Plus, it was an excellent book. thanks Michelle!

A book that’s been with me to the most places:

I haven't been a lot of places, however, on a trip to the Mediterranean, I carried and read The Voice of the Violin. I loved being able to read about Italy as I travelled through it. This book travelled the farthest with me and introduced me to the wonderful writing of Andrea Camilleri and the irascible Inspector Montalbano. It is representative of my love of mystery series. I've tried to introduce other readers to this great series when I can.

The most recent addition to my shelves:

I just picked up Bel Canto from the library today. This is not a book I had planned to read, but the wonderful ladies who are organizing the Orange January project are so enjoying their Orange books this month, I was feeling left out. They are a great group and they focus on Orange Prize reads, winners and short listed, in January and July. I scanned the lists and the books available easily at the library and decided to pick this one up. Plus, it is set in South America so it may count as a Latin America read...




A bonus book that I want to talk about but doesn’t fit into the other questions:
Instead of talking about Anne of Green Gables, like I usually do, I'll pick another book. I'm reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell right now. I read his Black Swan Green last year and loved it as a coming of age story set in the 1980s, a period I could really identify with. I'm almost halfway through Cloud Atlas, which is a huge turning point, more so than in most books. I'm more impressed with what the whole book is than the individual stories. Some I like better than others, but the way he interconnects the stories and characters is rather astounding. Until I understood that each story leads to the next in unexpected ways, I wasn't enjoying the book. I'm still withholding complete judgment, but it is a very amazing book in several respects.

I'll just pick a few people if you haven't already done this. How about

katrina at katrinareads
nan at lettersfromahillfarm
tinylittlelibrarian at tiny little reading room
chris at bookarama

And the rules for your posts:

1. Tag 3-5 people, so the fun keeps going!
   
2. Leave a comment at the original post at A Striped Armchair, so that Eva can collect everyone’s answers.
   
3. If you leave a comment and link back to Eva as the meme’s creator, she will enter you in a book giveaway contest! She has a whole shelf devoted to giveaway books that you’ll be able to choose from, or a bookmooch point if you prefer.
   
4. Remember that this is all about enjoying books as physical objects, so feel free to describe the exact book you’re talking about, down to that warping from being dropped in the bath water…
   
5. Make the meme more fun with visuals! Covers of the specific edition you’re talking about, photos of your bookshelves, etc.