Me and My Books

I really love books!

From the ages of four to six, I spent much of my time in a really large dogwood tree, reading books. It seemed nice up there. Nobody bothered me, and I could see thing other people couldn't.

At seven I moved to an orchard, where I took up residence in the treehouse my grandfather built. I read anything I could get my hands on.

At college I studied comparative literature and Slavic literature.

In Russia, it was very cold. I spent quite a bit of time either in bed under lots of blankets and on trains... both conducive to reading, and I took advantage.

At graduate school, I was lucky enough to lead this class called Vampire: Blood and Empire. It was my favorite thing ever. We read Slavic folk tales, Dracula, and Ann Rice. We watched Coppola's film, The Hunger, Buffy and Rocky Horror. Then the 140 of us, ages 17-83, discussed colonization, female sexuality, xenophobia, HIV/AIDS, fear and 40% of my student's grades were based on in-class participation. They HAD to talk to do well!

Now that I'm here, I'm craving this kind of in-depth discussion.

At World Pulse, we read all sorts of books that people are kind enough to send to us.

I'm going to be talking about what I'm currently reading.

Maybe you'd like to do the same?

Is there something you think I should read? Do let me know.

Tell me about your relationship with books and language; I'd love to hear your stories too!

Here's a link to our virtual bookshelf: http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/partner?partner_id=31426&html=ppbs/31426.....

P.S. My top-three all-time favorites are:

1. Anna Karenina


2. Master and Margarita


3. Dracula


4. 900 Days


5. Putin's Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy

How 'bout you?