Adrienne's Corner

Catch Up Friday

Today I will break my rule and actually say something personal. I have been rather slow with my posts while getting myself "back on track." As an adult with ADD (attention deficit disorder) my coping skills must be maintained. Sometimes, when I'm derailed, time must be spent reviewing and updating my skills. For the past few weeks the organization books have been getting quite a workout.

I know there are lots of folks out there with ADD, and often the co-existing conditions of alcoholism, bi-polar disorder, and fibromyalgia. Please consider yourselves as I do - the lucky ones. We know the problems and have a plan or a program. And, we always have a God who loves us!

In the past few weeks so many of my blogger buddies have given me awards and meme's. Today I will do my best to get caught up and I thank you all for the wisdom and humor you share.

Karen over at Gem of the Ocean gave me a nice award except blogger won't let me post a picture so you'll all have to wait to actually see what award it is. Oooops - working again. She also blessed me with this fun meme. This just in as I try to catch up - PaulaB52 at As We Wait in Joyful Hope has awarded me the Excellent Award, too! Wow, thanks Paula. And.......Maryellen at Grandma's Musings gave me one. My blog runneth over!! If you haven't been to visit Maryellen do yourself a favor and stop by. Not only is she one gorgeous woman, but she's actually older than I am. Now, that doesn't happen too often.

1) Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

That would have to be The DaVinci Code. I’ve even heard some priests claim it was a fun read but there’s too many really good books out there to waste my time on this one.

2) If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Victor “Pug” Henry from Winds of War, by Herman Wouk. Emma from Jane Austin’s book of the same name, and Scarlett O’Hara. And, no event would be complete without Tony Soprano.

3) (Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for a while, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

Am I the only person who had to look up who Jasper Fforde is?? It looks like I may never die ‘cause if a book doesn’t grab me the first 20 – 40 pages, it’s history. Therefore, it would be impossible to actually find the most boring book since the boring ones never get finished. Ergo – I’ll live forever.

4) Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?

I’ve never lied about reading a book. I even have a touch of “reverse snobbism” and take great delight in telling people that some books are waaaaaay beyond me ie: Lord of the Rings

5) You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalise the VIP).

I would have to recommend the best available book on reading comprehension and how to read faster. People don't read 'cause they don't do it well.

6) A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

Russian or French if I was trying to impress everyone. However, I hate Russian novels and I lost my taste for French nonsense a long time ago. So, that leaves Italian in order that my BFF Tony Soprano, my cousin Vinnie, and I could sit around big plates of baked ziti and discuss all things Italian.

7) A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

Absolutely impossible to just choose one and I read very, very fast so I will choose more than one. In This House of Brede by Rumer Goddin, And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer, Gone With the Wind by Magaret Mitchell, Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk, anything by Jane Austin, Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and The Thorn Birds. I’m sure there is a gazillion more but I must leave time for new books.

8) I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

I think finding some of the writing and book blogs have opened up a whole new and exciting world for me. Writers tend to be a bit nuts so I'm very comfortable lurking about their blogs.

9) That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leather bound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

My library would be like what we called a “sun porch” when I was growing up (as in St. Paul, Minnesota.) Window on three sides and only the fourth side for bookshelves. There would be a wood stove for winter and a big ceiling fan for summer. I would need one cozy chair and a table for writing and study. Naturally, there would be plants. I have no need to actually own books other than the reference books I use over and over again.