10/4/09

Can't at least ONE of us be honest?



I just crack up every time I read about someone listing their favorite books of all time. I do. I shake my head and shout, “TELL THE TRUTH!”


It’s always the same: “And what is on your beside, Mr. Famousperson? To which they always reply, “Well, right now I am reading War and Peace, The Encyclopedia Britannica, Webster’s Dictionary and The Bible. “

Come on people, can’t someone be HONEST for once?

Can’t someone just say, “I love Reader’s Digest when I’m in the bathroom, Stephen King’s "Duma Key" was pretty great, and right now I’m reading a trashy romance by someone whose name escapes me. I don’t remember the title but it has a hot couple making out on the cover and I THINK it takes place in a remote castle in Scotland.


Yeah, here are a few books from my bedside table.





At least I’m honest.

82 comments:

Angie said...

I never lie about trashy romance novels. I get on jaunts and read them for a few months nonstop before moving on. I just finished a very trashy erotica type vampire novel, the latest Sookie Stackhouse and reread The legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. Jane Austen's collection of novel is now waiting for me yet again. Uncle John's Bathroom reader volume V or VI is in the throne room. We read everywhere. Even in the bathtub. Also I am plowing through the last of some current teen fiction before my daughters have permission to read them. Somethings are just too racey for 11 yr olds and 14 yr olds so I check it out first.

Pop and Ice said...

Sorry, but on my nightstand is "Gemini" by Dorothy Dunnett (last in the House of Niccolo series) and the latest issue of Ploughshares - The non-fiction issue, I believe. And the book I use to cover up the light from the phone at night is "Candide" from Voltaire. So I'm feeling rather pleased with my nightly reading material.

Although I admit to having "Princess Daisy" by Judith Krantz in paperback in the spare bedroom, you know, just in case.

WeaselMomma said...

I must admit that right now there is nothing on reading list. I know it's sad and I love to read, but haven't had anything in my hands lately. Favorite book of all time though, A Man's Search by Dr. Victor Frankel. A 200 page paperback by a Holocaust survivor who was a scientist/Philosopher and the most compelling book I've ever read.

Vodka Mom said...

and I MIGHT be reading the Color of Water by james McBride, but let's just keep that to ourselves.........

Unknown said...

I never got into romance novels, but I happily share with people that I read YA novels for fun. I could justify it as research to recommend titles at the school book fair, but I'd read them even if I didn't do book fair.

Plus, after re-reading Infinite Jest this summer with a notebook and a dictionary, I am happy for reading that doesn't demand a lot of brainpower. Right now I'm reading Bonk by Mary Roach, which is entertaining but not quite as compelling as her first book, Stiff.

Maggie May said...

i am ALWAYS honest about what i read- i am not a lit. snob but really hate romance novels..i went through a stage for two years and read them like crazy and now they just bore me to tears. i post on Goodreads what i am reading and i always put up the crime novels as well as the literary ones :) right now i'm reading Beatrix Potter's life story and The Monkey House which is kind of a weird blend of crime novel mixed with noir mixed with modern politics...for easy and great i LOVE Robert Parker's Spencer novels

Liz Mays said...

You're right! They are totally lying! They read Danielle Steel!

Wendi said...

I'm really reading "Wicked," but I take frequent in US Weekly breaks so I don't get too smart.

Unknown said...

I loved the Color Of Water and could totally relate to "shock toast"...

I finally finished "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" by Janet Evanovich and though it is not heavyweight reading it took me all damn summer to get started...

And here's one to laugh at...

I found Wifey by Judy Blume at a yard sale and I had to read it!
It was a book I was never allowed to read growing up...but now I could!
I hid it in my nightstand, like a little freak.

Saw so much of myself in Sandy...

I don't know how to do the linky thing but this is a great link:

http://www.judyblume.com/reference/essays/wifey.php

Peace - Rene

Ash said...

You wouldn't like me anymore if I told you what I was reading, so I'll just stick to "The Lost Symbol" and keep everyone happy :-)

I've got "Duma Key" in my pile - maybe I should move it up!!

Vodka Mom said...

Well, I totally forgot I read WICKED last year and LOVE LOVED LOVED it- and also the book Ten Thousand White Women.


awesome reads.

tamilyn said...

I have read all the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novels, except the current one as I am on the waiting list at the library. I loved "My Sister's Keeper", I read "The Accidental Mother" this summer and I love Jennifer Wiener books. I read for enjoyment, not for learning or to broaden my horizons. It's enough to keep everyone here fed, clothed, in school, at work and play with my hubby-don't have time to tackle Ware and Peace. Oh, and my favorite books of all time? The Betsy-Tacy-Tib books from Maud Hart Lovelace from my homestate of Minnesota. I was finally able to get the whole set a couple years ago and have re-read them all several times.

Anonymous said...

Read? You mean people still find time to read? Lucky them.

Liz Wilkey (a.k.a. A Mom on Spin) said...

I thought for a moment you were reading a political book by Christopher Dodd, then I saw it was just another trashy novel. . .

Phew!

Mrs. E said...

Never read "War and Peace." Herman Melville, of "Moby Dick" fame, is my least favorite author of all time. (He makes my 10 worst list. And all because of some short story of his called "The Piazza.") And this is an English teacher talking.

And what am I reading these days? A lot of teen books trying to find books for "reluctant" readers. (Yeah, I have a theory about that "reluctancy" on their part!)

Lynn said...

Pffft. I never lie about what I'm reading. I read trashy romance novels (specifically, the trashy ones set in the 1820s...) I read Stephen King sometimes (just finished off the Long Walk recently) and I do re-read Jane Austen fairly regularly. Right now, I'm reading a doorstopper of a fantasy novel called Memory Sorrow and Thorn.

Why would I lie about what I'm reading? People who do that also read crap like Million Little Pieces just because Oprah recommended it >.< Well, they got rickrolled on that one ;-)

Stesha said...

The truth is I've never read a Stephen King novel. Never! I must be the only person only on the planet who hasn't.

Currently, I'm reading Chelsea Handlers book. Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea."

Funny stuff in there.

I want to read a Twilight book, so I can make my mother mad. She hates those books.

Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha

Vodka Logic said...

On my bedside, unfinished copies of Gordon Ramsay and Russell Brands bios and a user guide to my blackberry

Rick Daley said...

I'm working on an Aramaic translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The original Hebrew version bored me.

razorbeck said...

I have read War and Peece and it is totaly over rated and is just an exercise in will power to read the whole damn thing

For comedy try reading 'the hitch hikers guide to the universe', the movie didn't even come close to doing the book justice. The answer to the ultimate question of the universe is 42.

Other than that I will read almost anything on vacation, been known to read 2 or 3 books a day

Don't forget your towel

Jeanne Estridge said...

The new Nevada Barr is on my bedside, and Story, by Robert McKee (best book on plotting fiction EVER) is open in front of my computer.

Anonymous said...

how in the hell can you even sleep? :)

Brian Miller said...

i am reading a Jodi Picoult novel right now....yeah Sister's Keeper hooked me...I'm a sucker for a good love story...

Lee Ryan said...

My favorite book of all time is John Updike "Roger's Version". Please don't tell my mother!

SkylersDad said...

For the past couple of weeks I have been working my way through a pop-up book version of Horton Hears a Who.

Mainly a midwife said...

I really loved Ten Thousand White women too. Here is my post on it:
http://mainlyamidwife.blogspot.com/2008/08/back-at-work-today.html

I had a lousy title for the post. I should have named it Choke Puppy or something a little snazzier.

Fragrant Liar said...

Oh, I love all your books except for anything by Coulter. That woman's books are disasters and I can never for the life of me understand what might have happened to her editor?? Somebody edit that girl! Anyway, I read (and write) smut every chance I get. So there.

Anonymous said...

LOL @ Rick Daley!!!!

I am still immersed in Eclipse (Twilight#3), but faves include most of Philippa Gregory's stuff (especially about the Tudors), Jen Lancaster, and whatever else is recommended by a trusted friend.

Anne said...

I'm with you. I accidentally ordered Time Magazine last year for a fundraiser. I thought maybe it was meant to be and I would turn 'worldly' - nope - nada - haven't opened a single issue. To the back cupboard for collages they go.

I'm a huge Twilight freak. Read all four... and will be in line with all the 16 year-olds on opening night at the movies.

Kate Coveny Hood said...

Totally. I dropped everything to read the new Diana Gabaldon book when I saw it on the shelves.

Mike said...

Favorite books: The Stand, Dreamcatcher, The Davinci Code, and anything with pictures of naked women! :)

sitting on the mood swing at the playground said...

If I ever tried to tell someone I was reading War and Peace, I couldn't even get through the sentence without laughing. That will never make it to my nightstand.

Everyday Goddess said...

Read? Read books?
I'm too busy reading blogs!

Jennifer Juniper said...

I have to stagger my reads, but I'm on an easy read kick. James Patterson, Candace Bushnell...You never see a famous person admitting to that. Maybe because all they really read is Star magazine?

Joanie said...

Right now I'm reading The Vendetta Defense by Lisa Scottoline, and The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov (I sear I'm telling the truth! I promised John I'd read the trilogy and I'm FINALLY on the last book... thank god!)

I'm not a romance novel fan. I love espionage, and murder mysteries (if my ex every die mysteriously and the police saw my book shelves, I'd be a major suspect). I like historical novels (Nicholas and Alexandra), novels with a biblical background (The Red Tent). James Patterson's Women's Murder Club is a big fave and I'm waiting for #8 to come out in paperback.

Love love love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series... absolutely hysterical!

Actually I have all the books I've read this year on my sidebar!

Sultan said...

The flaw in what you are saying is that some of those famous books are actually very good. Tolstoy may well have been the best novelist of any era. War and Peace is wonderful.

That being said people are often exposed to some of these difficult books when they are young and perhaps not ready yet to appreciate them.

Jen said...

I'm always completely honest about my love of trashy romance novels :) Nora Roberts is at the top of my list.

Boozy Tooth said...

I read Tess Gerritsen "Vanish" and it was pretty good. Anything by her or Patricia Cornwell (the bloodier and more grotesque the better!) is okay in my book.

Get it? in my book.

I just crack myself up sometimes.

staskym said...

it is trashy novels for me, i am honest and tell everyone that i get my sex that way since DH is never home i have to read about it so i can remember how it is done LOL
i do read a bit of everything though i actually like history books and my favorite author is Chris Moore, my god that man is sick but you got to love him. he is in France right now and i am following his trip on FB, its kind of like you vodka mom i check every day to see whats up. and with that neither of you disappoint me.

Vaquerogirl said...

I used to read the trashy romance novels, but I have forgone them in favor of trashy Young Adult novels. Beside Identical by Ellen Hopkins, I have the true Story of the Pinkerton Detective agency written by Alan Pinkerton, and Apache Women, a non fiction book that chronicles the lives of real and contemporary Apache women. Also a WIP by a friend of mine.
Also I have lots of Western Non fiction reference books-that helps with my very own writing...

Anonymous :) said...

If I could figure out what you all do for a living that leaves you with time to read interesting books, I'd rush back to college and change my major.

Meandering Mel said...

I can't read "the classics." They put me to sleep! I freaking LOVED Duma Key, I adored the Sookie Stackhouse novels (a must!) and I'm currently reading "Devil's Bones" bt Jefferson Bass. My FAV book of all time (or series...) is by Jasper Fforde. A Welsh author that if I ever met, I would probably kiss him on the mouth because I love his books (The Eyre Affair -btw, NOT boring. Totally awesome)

And... of course I have my hidden stash of trashy romance novels. Who doesn't?

Sharon Rose said...

Great job here, VODKA MOM! You got me thinking. . . . Now I gotta go make sure my collection isn't too narrow.

Cause in real life. . . it's all over the board! Anything from Jackie Collins. . . (yes I typed it outloud) to the King James Version.

Hey, the way I see it. . . my education has to go deep and wide in order to keep up with the times.

Captain Dumbass said...

I never BS about what I'm reading. Stephen King is a genius and I have read War and Peace and dear GOD Russian writers think too much.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

I am not a Stephen King fan. I've read a few, but he can't seem to get to the freakin point. Pisses me off.

For some good, easy reading, I love me some Nora Roberts, Maeve Binchy, or Jean Auel. I also am a big Isaac Asimov short story gal. Over and over again.

Magpie said...

Oy. Honestly? I took a picture of my bedside table almost two years ago, and some of those books are still there and still unread.

http://www.magpiemusing.com/2008/01/25-books-part-one.html

Mary Anne said...

Right now on my bedside table, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan. It belongs to my 10 year old daughter, second in the series, and I'm quite enjoying it! Also, "Bend the Rules With Fabric" by Amy Karol. Because I love to read about craft project that I never have time to do. I've also got "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" that I was going to re-read, but started Percy Jackson instead (which should really only take me a day to read, but I'm just so tired, I'm going to close my eyes for a minute . . .)
I used to read a lot of Stephen King, but got burned out on them, I think, although I have been thinking about re-reading The Gunslinger series, I just can't seem to find the first one in the house. It is in one pile of books or another.

Anonymous said...

Hey how did u get that pic of my bedside table books?? lol

I love romance(smut) and mysteries, oh yea and anything vampire...lol

*Lissa* said...

I am a total book whore.

And I enjoy reading smut. Not ashamed to admit it.

Maureen@IslandRoar said...

Oh, you shock me!
MY bedside reading is Proust. Or Moliere. (Really Vodkamom; way to blow our cover...)

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I'm thinking you need to read the "Outlander" series. Scotland - great guy. So would like to have sex with him. Did I say, great guy? Diana Gabaldon. Six books worth. Just bought the new one, but I always read the others again before a new one. My true claim to smut. Love it.

SweetPeaSurry said...

I actually read both, trashy romance and some classic literature. I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some Nora Roberts/JD Robb and never have a missed a ONE of them.

Equally I love myself some Dickens or Tolstoy or Hemingway.

I swear I'm telling the truth!!!!

Unknown said...

I've told you once and I'll tell you again ;), I firmly believe there is no point in reading unless there is raunchy steamy sex involved. I'll settle for hurried and chaste though if there's a good historical setting...or if they're in high school and at least one character is a vampire.

Anonymous said...

I'm just in awe that you can be reading that many books at the same time!!

Bernie said...

I have been trying to geet through this
book I mentioned before: Thomas Hardy's
Far From the Madding Crowd but I'm not progressing well. Class meets again this week and I am supposed to have finished the next novel by him. I don't think so. I have yet to find out what made this one a classic.

Otherwise, I have read a lot of books that my daughter sends to me but I read them and cannot remember their names altho I recognized some in some of your comments. My niece left me a Nora Roberts from her visit this summer and I pick that up when Hardy becomes too much. Right now. But my favorite are Elizabeth Ogilvie's books about the lobster fishermen who live on this island in Nova Scotia. The characters continue from one book to the next and I love to read about the fishing and their simple lifestyles.

Janice said...

Marvin Martian and Stephen King's Dead Zone?!?! I think you are the secret twin I always knew I had!

♥ Braja said...

You forgot Marinka's Ulysses....

Formerly known as Frau said...

So true! I like easy quick reads like People Magazine or any dummies 101 book.

mo.stoneskin said...

I hated War and Peace. Well, the 100 pages I read anyway. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think you are Stephen King. Hear that everybody, Stephen King is actually VM.

Buckeroomama said...

I did a little shout-out for you over at my blog. Please do drop by and pick up your 'award.'

http://buckeroomama.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-want-to-take-moment-1.html

Kate Lord Brown said...

Heh - very true. I have books stashed all over the house like an alcoholic - quick reads propped behind the phone in the kitchen, course books in handbag, and a teetering pile of 'to be read's on the bedside table. In the UK, at least, all the best books end up in the loo (only place you can lock yourself in and get any peace with kids in the house :)

Unknown said...

I whore around my library regularly..new born baby requires a novel to be stashed conveniently anywhere I will be trapped with a boob or a pram rocking session.

I will give any book a 15 page suck me in session...if it doesn't...NEXT! I have tried to stop my vampire book obsession but that hasn't worked. Chick lit..ugh tried to like it again but neh. I'm 32 with 4 kids and I really don't give a damn about shoes anymore or wondering if he's the one.

Would love to read something GOOD. I appreciate a 'homework novel' as much as the next writing major. Any suggestions?

Oh and by the way, Jilly Cooper is my favourite. Always and forever.

mommakin said...

Currently on the nightstand is "Reading Like a Writer" - which I was really enjoying at first - but I'm half way through and she is starting to use some pretty high-falutin' examples and my thought has become "but I don't WANT to write like this! This is BORING! I want to write like David Sedaris! Teach me to read so I can write like THAT!" I may not finish it. "The Help" is sitting on deck and I've heard very good things...

Cora said...

Ha ha! Too true. Right now on my nightstand I have "Swine Not?" by Jimmy Buffett and "B Is For Beer" by Tom Robbins (both loaned to me by Scope)

See, now THAT is honest. Do I win a prize?!

Sara said...

Good for you! If I have one more person tell me how much they love The Great Gatsby or Catcher in the Rye, I will cack.

I mean, it's not that they can't like those books, but they don't just read both those books over and over again without letting a little Dan Brown or maybe John Grisham get in there.

P.S. Nora Roberts is my guilty pleasure.

Mama Dawg said...

Hey, which Stephen King is that on the bottom? I don't recognize it.

Mama Dawg said...

Hey, which Stephen King is that on the bottom? I don't recognize it.

Tara said...

Have you gotten through the Lisey's Story by Stephen King on the bottom there? I've picked it up several times to start, but I just can't get into it. Duma Key, however, was awesome. All my friends know the crap I ready, Koontz, King & any crime book I can get my hands on. Great Gatsby, hmmm, yeah, I've read it, only because it was required reading in high school!!

Rita Templeton said...

I have not one, but TWO "bathroom books" - one for each bathroom. One is Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall On Your Knees and the other is Terry McMillan's How Stella Got Her Groove Back.

And my favorite book of all time? The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - written for adolescents. I'm not even joking.

Yo said...

eff war and peace. i LOVVVVVE tess gerritson! i fell in love with her with "gravity" and then read a bunch of her other books. which i started to get confused because they were so similar. but seriously, for reals... gravity is awesome.

and i have a bunch of mushy women friendship books i'm reading, but i don't put them all on my goodreads list. shhhh..

Charles said...

Sometimes authors use a novel or screenplay to support political or social beliefs; or to cry out for morality and ethical principles. This is no more clearly evident than with Holocaust books and films. If you enjoyed Victor Frankel's book, then you'll love "Jacob's Courage," which has been compared favorably with "A Man's Search."

Whenever we stand up to those who deny or minimize the Holocaust, or to those who support genocide we send a critical message to the world. We know from captured German war records that millions of innocent Jews were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany - most in gas chambers. Despite this knowledge, Holocaust deniers ply their mendacious poison everywhere, especially with young people on the Internet. Holocaust books and films help to tell the true story of the Shoah, combating anti-Semitic historical revision. And, they protect vulnerable future generations from making the same mistakes.

I wrote Jacob’s Courage to promote Holocaust education. This coming of age love story presents accurate scenes and situations of Jews in ghettos and concentration camps, with particular attention to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. It examines a constellation of emotions during a time of incomprehensible brutality. A world that continues to allow genocide requires such ethical reminders and remediation.

Many authors feel compelled to use their talent to promote moral causes. Holocaust books and movies carry that message globally, in an age when the world needs to learn that genocide is unacceptable. Such authors attempt to show the world that religious, racial, ethnic and gender persecution is wrong; and that tolerance is our progeny's only hope.

Viewing the Holocaust through the eyes of young lovers represents a unique and emotionally penetrating analysis of Jewish life during the Shoah. Called, "Gut wrenching and heart rending" Jacob’s Courage allows the reader to comprehend the terror experienced by Holocaust victims on a personal level. Yet, it also reveals the triumphant spirit of humankind and demonstrates how ordinary people can perform extraordinary acts of courage when the lives of loved ones are in danger.

Charles Weinblatt
Author, "Jacob's Courage"
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/

Lucia said...

I love Nora Roberts Books (because of the sex) or should I say chemistry between characters! I also love Charlaine Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse series) because I like supernatural sex...just kidding, I love the True Blood series which came from the novels...is that honest enough? Or too honest...lol

Janie Woods said...

Right now, no kidding, on my bedside table: John Steinbeck's "The Wayward Bus" and my Western Civ textbook...Guess which one I read more...

That Janie Girl said...

Steve gets on me all the time because I read so much, and so fast.

He says I can't retain if I do it like that.

What did I just write?

Live.Love.Eat said...

Hah, that's funny. I have never even read War & Peace.

Right now, I am trying to finish The Shack and Lovely Bones.

Anonymous said...

I wrote a meme recently and had to list the fifteen books which have had the most importance for me. Apart from the first five, in my early childhood they are all, with the exception of Forever Amber, what you might term worthy, literary. But that is not to say that in between these books I have not succumbed to thrillers, chic lit, romance, and even for a while when money was tight Mills and Boon, how's that for a confession?
I will read, or at least give the benifit of the doubt to any book provided it entertains or amuses...I just won't tolerate bad writing.

Deidre said...

I have not read war and peace - but I did read Anna Karinananananana....

My favourite book is Anne of Green Gables.

I have not read a single Steven King book...

right now I am reading netherland - I am not sure, does this make me snob?

Heather of the EO said...

I really am reading War and Peace right now.

Kidding.

Of course I'm not.

I'm hardly reading anything besides blogs.

I love your hilarity.

(came by from the Saturday SITS sharing thingy...but yes, I've totally been here before because you rock)

Encore Bride said...

There a bunch of magazines on my nightstand and a book by Jillian Michaels "Master Your Metabolism" but to be honest, I've been carrying it around for months! I do rad my blogs everyday though, Happy SITS day!

Anonymous said...

Real honesty: I just read Tucker Max's I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell so I can go see the movie. Now I'm rereading the second Twilight book (New Moon) so that I can compare it when I go see that movie next month. And, ironically, I just ordered Chelsea Handler's Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea.

Am I flush red with shame? Nope.

Alexandra said...

This is fantastic. I've always thought this very same thing.

Right, Lindsey, you're reading Anne Tyler. Uh huh.

Audrey said...

I love love love that stephen King book on the bottom--LISEY'S STORY (Luv, Baby Luv) GREAT read! Love King, Cromwell, Who's forgetting Laura K Hamilton (fantastic smut reading), Dan Brown, Koontz, Patterson...etc...Love to read, can't stop, often I'll tell my daughter to go get a book out of my room--doesn't matter which one, because I've read them all a 100 times. King is currently my fav, my honey got me a new one of his short stories the other day---those were awesome too, but the name escapes me at the moment.