Challenge Wednesday #19

It's Challenge Wednesday again folks!  And when I challenge Tracey...well, she doesn't take it lightly.  You'll see what I mean in a second.  


I am excited it was her Wednesday for a challenge, because today is J#4's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!  


So, I am going to spend the day celebrating her, and will report back tomorrow. 


But for now, read on!


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Hi. I'm Tracey. I write at Control the Chaos. Jen is my friend, and on Wednesdays we take turns challenging each other in a variety of ways.


Last week, Jen posed this challenge:
"Tell me what your favorite fictional book of all time is and why.  Because that will be my next read."  


This question was much harder than I thought it would be, and still, I haven't settled on just one. I tried, I really did. But the best I can do is give you some top choices in different genres. 


I tend to read older works of fiction, but a newer series I recently read and loved is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I could not put them down and read all three within a couple weeks, which is unusual for me, Mrs. Slow Poke Reader. Husband put it best when he said these books got him reading modern fiction again, which is something both of us had gotten away from in recent months. In the spirit of full disclosure, there are some rather adult themes in this book, and yes, it is relevant to the story because it helps define the main character.

A couple other modern fiction works that are rather entertaining:

• A Prayer for Owen Meany: lighthearted but not completely predictable
• A Confederacy of Dunces: laugh out loud, other people in the room will think you are crazy, funny
• The Unconsoled, Never Let Me Go, and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro: fantastic. I think The Remains of the Day might be the most famous, but I loved them all.
• I am currently reading The Help, and it is turning out to be quite the page turner.

As far as more classic literature is concerned (read: before GenX), here are a couple of my top picks:

• All of John Steinbeck's books, although Of Mice and Men continues to be my favorite
• To Kill A Mockingbird: Harper Lee (psst, the movie is good too)

Fantasy books - I know you aren't a fan, but these books conjure warm memories of my childhood, watching my dad read and re-read his tattered copies:

• The Hobbit: JRR Tolkien
• Chronicles of Narnia: CS Lewis

And even though you asked for fiction, I'm going to throw in my two absolute all time favorite non-fiction books as well:

• Gift From The Sea: Anne Morrow Lindbergh was Charles' Lindbergh's wife, and her collection of essays is, in a word, breathtaking
• Traveling Mercies: Anne Lamott is a crazy California hippie who has been down all sorts of roads. She is without a doubt my favorite author, and I've read every one of her books to date. Her nonfiction ramblings are the best, though, and I find myself eating up every. single. word.

And that, my friend, is my list of fantastic books. And I am 100% sure I will wake up at 2AM realizing I forgot a biggie. Oh well, there's always next week.

Speaking of...for next week I want you to share what kinds of fruits and veggies you've been incorporating into your diet recently, because I happen to know you are trying to eat at least five servings a day. Sooo, what are your favorites? Got a recipe you can share? Or at least how you like to eat them? Raw? Steamed? Drizzled in butter? Dunked in dressing? Smoothie? Hmmm?


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Well, friends, if you can't find a good book to try in that list...well, you're just hopeless.

Kidding!  Kidding, of course.

And the fun part?  I've only read one of those {The Help...loved it!}.  So I have some reading to do!