Don't Be Fooled By The Bouncy Curls And Boobs

My niece Bethany posted the following on Facebook a few days ago. I am re-posting it here because even in a dumb Facebook note her writing style is smart, funny, confidently cynical and irregularly romantic, a tad bit like someone else you all know and have come to love.....?? (Also because numbers 12 and 13 made me laugh out loud.)


The formalities of the Meme: Don't take too long to think about it. Name fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag 15 friends, INCLUDING ME because I'm interested in seeing what books you choose (and I'll probably want to add them to my reading list!).


1. Anna Karenina...I just love me some melancholy Russians

2. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

3. Oh, The Places You'll Go

4. Portnoy's Complaint, my favorite Roth

5. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

6. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri...or the Namesake...tough call.

7. Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry...I love me some persecuted Jew stories even more than I love melancholy Russians, and my grandpa got me an autographed copy when I was young. I think I had an entire shelf of Holocaust fiction.

8. The Year of Magical Thinking...a love story completely devoid of cheese, mush, or cliche.

9. Samantha, An American Girl...my favorite of the American girls.

10. I'll Love You Forever...I choke up when I see this on a table in Barnes and Noble

11. A Midsummer's Nights Dream...shut up, I know it's a play, not a book.

12. The Fountainhead...I think my Dad gave me this when I was 12. No concept of age-appropriate reading materials.

13. Are You There God? It's Me Margaret...My mom made me return this to the library, because she thought it was too trashy. I was 12, and had just finished The Fountainhead.

14. The Good Earth

15. Invisible Man


And her funniest response to a comment regarding one of her choices:

"Agreed....though I would never judge a book by its cover, I will absolutely judge a book by what the author wears on his book tour. Pulitzer winners do not wear Versace. They should revoke the award."