Tuesday, February 13, 2007

What is YOUR Favorite Book?

What is your favorite book? Want others to read it? - Please tell us the title of your favorite book! Share your reasons why or give a summary.

Get the word out!

8 comments:

Tarleton Libraries said...

Here's one response the library received:

My favorite book would probably be Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling. While classified as a children's book it is one that I have really been able to relate to.

I love to go to the library because it is the one place I can go and really focus on my studies in a quiet non-distractive environment.

Alicia
Student/Jr.

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Tarleton Libraries said...

This response is from Dwayne Snider, Professor of Mathematics and Associate Vice President for Academic Administration:

Favorite book: The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister.

So many good parts and so much that has become a part of the Western literary tradition from this one hit wonder of a novel. One part comes to mind when I think of the conversations on campus lately about how different nominal language is received when we are named by someone we view as a friend rather than when similarly named by someone we view as a foe.

The two contrasting events are both in chapter 2. In the first, the narrator is surprised when Steve calls the Virginian "a son-of-a------." He says, "I had marveled to hear it come so unheralded from Steve's friendly lips. And now I marveled still more. Evidently he had meant no harm by it, and evidently no offence had been taken. Used thus, this language was plainly complimentary".

In the second incident we find both the opposite reaction and the first literary use of one of the ultimate Western phrases. Trampas and the Virginian are in a poker game and upon it being the Virginian's turn to bet says, "Your bet, you son-of-a------." A gun is drawn and the Virginian issues his orders to Trampas, "When you call me that, smile!' The narrator/author concludes the chapter with the following. "The same words, identical to the letter. But this time they had produced a pistol. 'When you call me that, smile!' So I perceived a new example of the old truth, that the letter means nothing until the spirit gives it life."

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Amanda said...

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

With Library Lovers month just ended, how about a romance with a librarian as the lead male character? Not into romance? Do you like science fiction or fantasy? You’ll get them all with The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. The back cover of the library’s copy describes it as follows:

“A most untraditional love story, this is the celebrated tale of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time [emphasis mine], and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate affair endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love.”

I loved this book! Call me a romantic, but I’m definitely one who believes love can last over time and distance (Last year I married the man I first fell in love with over 27 years ago, after a separation of 22 years and over 2000 miles!). Pay close attention to the dates and times and ages of the characters when events occur, and the story will be easier to follow.

Currently the Dick Smith Library has an audiobook and a print copy of this title. The call number for both starts with PS3564 .I362 T56, with the CD audiobook (2005) being located with the audiovisual (AV) collection on the lower level, and the print version (2004) in the stacks on the upper level. More information and discussion are available in Amazon and LibraryThing.

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Tarleton Libraries said...

Here’s what we heard from Dr. T. Lindsay Baker, Associate Professor and W. K. Gordon Endowed Chair in History:

Can you believe that my favorite book, or at least the one that helps me more often than any other, is The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition? This manual of scholarly book publishing contains more answers to more of my questions than any other single volume. I believe that I use it more than even the dictionary. Want to learn how to alphabetize names in Hungarian, it’s there. Want to learn how to format the index to a book, it’s there. Want to cite an individually titled book in a multi-volume series, it’s there. Enough said?

This item is available at the main floor reference desk in the Dick Smith Library, for in-library use only.

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Tarleton Libraries said...

Another response:

My favorite book just happens to be The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. It’s such a wonderfully written love story that seems to resonate in the hearts of everyone that reads it. The story of Allie and Noah transcends gender, race, and age and leaves you with the feeling that there is nothing more powerful than love.

I love the library!
Rachel Rucker
Graduate Student

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Tarleton Libraries said...

When asked about her favorite book, this student replied:

"I could no sooner choose a star among the heavens." One book that's definitely way up there on my list, however, is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I love the library because it's like a storage closet for knowledge, ideas, and imagination. When you have that many books in your reach, the possibilities are endless.

Rebecca Hoeffner
Junior

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Tarleton Libraries said...

Dr. Lori J. Anderson, Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of Social Work, Sociology, and Criminal Justice sent us this reply:

My favorite book is: Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. I love this book for a number of reasons:

1) Griffin uses participant observation to boldly study black-white relations in the heart of the South in the late 50s and early 60s by literally changing his skin color and posing as a black man. This book recounts his experiences, filled with the bigotry and hatred that existed back in that day and time.
2) Griffin died later from skin cancer due to the series of skin injections required to change his color from white to black; he really died for the study of sociology, albeit not necessarily intentionally.
3) Having grown up in the South during the time period covered in this book, this book changed my life by uncovering prejudice difficult to see when such a culture surrounds you. I always recommend this book to my students.

Because the library stores, maintains, and provides books—which I see as potentially life changing resources—and because our library is exceptional, I love our library.

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Anonymous said...

My newest favorite book is WALDEN by Michael T. Dolan. It is a short read, but has an ending that makes you read it a second time right away. I took more from it on the second read as there was so much I missed. Basically, it's about a college student's search for identity.