It’s been a while since I’ve done a book tag post (you can find all my previous book tag posts under the BOOKISH POSTS heading), and I’ve been feeling a bit creatively burnt out recently, so this tag, originally created by Purely Olivia came along at just the right time. Now, I must confess, being an old codger who doesn’t listen to pop music, that I know next to nothing about Taylor Swift, for whose songs the categories are named. We’ll just skip over that part.

To quote the original tag creator,

• Link back to the creator
• Answer as many or as few of the questions as you’d like.
• Feel free to use any of the graphics in the original post.
• Tag however many people you’d like at the end!

And here we go!

Michael Rosen’s Sad Book

This book. Oh, this beautiful, terrible book. Written by Rosen following the death of his teenage son Eddie due to illness, Michael Rosen’s Sad Book is one of the most heartbreaking books I’ve ever read, largely because of the deeply honest, painfully raw way the author confronts the everyday banality of grief.  Sometimes grief is about histrionics, about sobbing and tearing at hair, but most of the time it’s about muddling through as best you can, living your every day life while trying to make sense of a world that’s been shattered. I discovered this book after losing my father quite suddenly, and it resonated with me in such a powerful way. A true example of the far-reaching appeal of picture books – though ostensibly written for children, this is a book that all ages of readers can connect with.

The Pledge: Requiem for the Detective Novel

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER 

I doubt that this 1958 crime novella by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt is on your TBR list, but just in case it is (and you haven’t seen the terrible American film adaptation The Pledge with Jack Nicholson), feel free to skip this section, because in explaining why this book stuck in my brain, I do need to reveal the twist ending.  

Dürrenmatt wrote The Pledge after feeling disappointed by the cookie-cutter, stereotypical detective story ending he’d felt he’d had to write for a previous screenplay. Fictional detectives always catch their suspects, and murderers always get their just desserts. But Dürrenmatt knew that real life doesn’t always work this way. Sometimes the bad guys get away, and sometimes crimes never get solved. In The Pledge, a retired police inspector makes a vow to a murdered child’s parents that he will not rest until the murderer is caught. The inspector becomes obsessed with the case, even when no one else in the police force believes his theories. As in every murder mystery, he painstakingly researches and searches and analyzes the case, until he finally comes within moments of catching his man, only to SPOILER be denied his final satisfaction when the killer is suddenly killed in a car accident en route to where the inspector was waiting for him. Boom. That’s it! The inspector never learns this, and being unable to catch his man, descends into a black depression and destructive alcoholism. Only years later is it revealed that the inspector’s theories were actually correct. 

UGH. This book! This book frustrated me so intensely that I still think about it from time to time. I’ve read a lot of murder mysteries, and one of the reasons I enjoy them so much is that the inspector or detective or sleuth always catches the guilty party. There’s such catharsis and reassurance in stories in which bad people are punished, and good triumphs. I am fully aware of the fact that this isn’t how life always works, but if I wanted reality, I wouldn’t read fiction! Still, I really respect Dürrenmatt and his willingness to turn tropes on their head and challenge accepted literary norms. It’s definitely not a pleasant read, but if you want to read something arresting (pun intended!), you can find English translations. 

Anything by Erik Larson

I’ve heard that Larson’s novel The Devil in the White City is being made into a film, and I would suggest that all of his gripping historical narrative nonfiction titles would make incredible films, with their fascinating characters, multiple interweaving story lines and blistering pacing. One of my favourites is Thunderstruck, which weaves the story of a famous English murder case with the invention of early modern telecommunications. It’s fascinating, it’s brilliant, and it would absolutely keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

Anne series – Illustrated by Elly MacKay

I absolutely adore these stunning editions of L. M. Montgomery’s Anne series, with papercut illustrations by Elly MacKay. Stunning, stunning, stunning, each one more beautiful and elegant than the last. Not only are they beautiful, they also seem to perfectly capture the spirit of Anne and of the world of Green Gables.

Don’t Push the Button – Bill Cotter

I wouldn’t say this book gets hate, but I have received some push back from disappointed caregivers who strongly disliked the way the book “encourages bad behaviour” by showing how much fun the main character has when they break the book’s one rule and push the button. To which I say bah, humbug. I love, love, love this book, I love how theatrical it allows me to be while reading it aloud, I love the way kids hang off of every word, and I will continue to bring it with me to preschool visits until it is pried from my cold dead hands.

The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

I’m sure I must have read this gentle country classic, with its familiar characters and charming setting, more times than I could count. Every time I reread The Wind in the Willows it feels likes being wrapped in a warm, cozy blanket, surrounded by well-loved friends. This book is happiness in print form, and never fails to bring back all sorts of warm and happy memories.

The Black Company – Glen Cook

This is most definitely not a children’s book, but it is a novelthat took me quite by surprise – a dark, gritty, meandering high fantasy novel in which our heroes are as flawed and complicated as any villains. The Black Company isn’t an action-packed epic, but rather a slow-moving meditation on what a fantasy realm might actually be like if it were to exist – not a world with clear distinctions between good and evil or right and wrong, but a complicated, complex, often unjust world in which salvation and destruction walk hand in hand, and can easily be mistaken for each other. A dark, strange, often slow but always fascinating book.

Where the Sidewalk Ends – Shel Silverstein

This collection of poems wowed me as a child, and continues to thrill and delight me decades later. Silverstein really seemed to understand how children think and feel, and captured those thoughts and feelings in a perfectly strange and wonderful way. I hope children continue to explore and experience these poems for decades to come.

Anne of the Island – L. M. Montgomery

While Anne and Gilbert’s relationship really starts in Anne of Green Gables, where they move from enemies to fast friends, it’s only in Anne of the Island that the two finally come together. After all these years (and many re-reads), this wonderful couple still makes me swoon.

Goosebumps – R. L. Stine

Please tell me I’m not the only one who developed an insatiable obsession with this spooky series of children’s books. As a kid I just could not get enough of the Goosebumps, and thankfully my parents never really worried about what I read, so long as I was reading. Whenever parents express their concern to me that their children only want to read a certain series or about a certain subject, I like to bring up my own childhood reading obsessions, both as reassurance and as validation. As long as children are reading, as long as they are developing a love of reading and are finding joy in books, it really doesn’t matter what they’re reading. Series can be a fantastic resource for young readers in that they provide a consistent reading experience – children know what to expect in each book, which can be incredibly comforting and reassuring! And eventually the obsession will change, and last year’s favourite series will be replaced with a new one. Trust me – I went through a phase where all I would read were Saddle Club, Sweet Valley Twins and Goosebumps books, and heck, I grew up to be a librarian!

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes – Eric Litwin

As far as I am concerned there are two Pete the Cat books – I Love My White Shoes and Four Groovy Buttons (I am willing to accept Rocking in My School Shoes as canon, but only reluctantly). Anything that was written without original writer Eric Litwin simply does not exist in my universe. Not Pete the Kitty and the Groovy Playdate, not Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, and you can bet your fanny not Pete the Cat and the First Thanksgiving *shudder*. Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way!

And there you have it – I peek into my reading life! I’m not going to tag anyone, since I’m not much for tagging, but if you decide to try your hand at answering these questions, please let me know, so I can read your answers!