Days of Love...and Lack Thereof, Day 9

Gianna:

No list of romance is quite complete without a little Joni Mitchell. I was going to offer a short clip of myself doing a Joni medley…nothing too jazzy, just the hits...when it was pointed out to me that Random House had actually published her complete poems and lyrics and singing wouldn’t be necessary.  My first thought was, well actually when you have pipes like mine, singing is necessary. I can’t not sing. Those of you who are also blessed with the gift know what I mean.

Joni Mitchell is the greatest songwriter of her generation. What? Are you kidding me? What about Dylan, what about Lennon/McCartney? What about Randy “Short People” Newman? Well to that I say; second, third and fourth.

You want a little romance, a little sex, and a little sadness? "Blue." It’s all in there. Its Mitchell’s most personal, most accessible, and most heartbreaking. You want more, pick up Joni Mitchell: The Complete Poems and Lyrics. Call me; we can sit on the phone and cry.

Link to a great interview with Morrissey and Joni

http://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=678&from=search

(I have a signed print of her self portrait hanging in my living room by the way.)

Liz:

Oh Precious.  It's so hard to be you.  

What's an (anti) Valentine's Day list of books without Push by Sapphire, the basis for the award-winning movie Precious?  Precious is morbidly obese.  Precious is illiterate.  Precious is pregnant with her second child and the father of both children happens to be Precious's father too.  Precious's mother is pretty much the embodiment of evil.  Precious's first child was born with Down Syndrome.  Still, amid the misery, there remains a glimmer of hope for this down-and-out inner city girl who's never had a break in her life.  After being thrown out of her school for being pregnant, she's enrolled in a special school and discovers a world of friends, books, and a teacher who cares about her.  She learns to read and she learns to write her story.  And then she finds out that her rapist father gave her AIDS too.

What I'm neglecting to mention here, though, is that Push is beautifully written, and though the story is bleak, it is ultimately a story of survival and hope.  Of love.  Of strength.  I liked the movie too.

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 4

Grab your hankies, it's time for...

Day 4: A Book That Makes You Cry

Gianna weeps at the drop of a hat.  I, on the other hand, subscribe to the Hank Hill method of emotional bottling--swallow it down until there's an ache in your stomach.  This makes me a better person; I'm sure of it.

Gianna

Let's Take the Long Way Home (Gail Caldwell)

I think even if I hadn't had a close friend who was dying when this book came to me, it still would have meant the world to me. I don't know, maybe not. What is important, I guess, is that we found each other and it's a bible of sorts. It is a comfort now that my friend is gone. Anyway - I think of the book often and am grateful for it.

Liz

Push by Sapphire

There are two books that I can think of that made me cry, and this is one of them.  Maybe I just had gas that day.  Anyway, this novel upon which the movie Precious is based is a harrowing read, one in which you wonder what more can happen to a girl who's been disappointed and hurt at every turn in her life...only to be smacked with something else.  Nonetheless, the story of Precious is still one that offers glimpses of hope and courage in the face of the harshest adversity, and it's one that champions the power of literature and writing to make bearable the horrors of life.  It's a book that's hard to recommend as a pleasurable reading experience, but at the same time remains a necessary and valued part of the literary landscape.