These are a few of my favorite things.

After Jody Lamb's awesome post on reading, I decided to come back and do a little post on some of my favorite books, lines, poems, etc. It's all about reading this month, so let's savor it. And I would love, love, LOVE, if you'd share some of your favorites.

 

Ready?

Here we go!

     One of my absolute favorite phrases in literature goes to Marisa de los Santos for a line she put in her excellent novel Love Walked In. The phrase is as follows: "I walked up the stairs to my apartment, carrying the moment carefully as though it were a glass globe full of butterflies." 
Is that not a beautiful image? In the context of her novel, this moment refers to her first kiss with her new dream boyfriend. I've held that glass globe of butterflies a few times in my life, how about you? Exquisite phrase. I'll never forget it. 

     Now, April is poetry month and we'll get into that more later, but I also wanted to share my favorite poem. You Were Wearing by Kenneth Koch.  For me, the clincher is the line with "George Washington, father of his country, shoes." I love to pull out this poem from time to time and just try to imagine what exactly all these great images might mean. The possible interpretations are endless and that makes me happy. This poem actually brings a smile to my face every time I read it. Guess what, I'm smiling right now. No joke.  

I've said it before and I'll say it many more times, I'm sure, but Michael Lawrence's The Aldous Lexicon trilogy is one of my all-time faves. Now, it doesn't hurt that Michael and I started corresponding while he was writing the third book and he subconsciously paid a teeny weeny homage to me but I love the books without that little tidbit. They're all about alternate reality, which is creeping up all over the place right now. PBS ran a special about the science of alternate realities in November of last year. NBC is currently airing a new series based on the subject. But Michael's books will remain the most interesting and inspiring for me. He has recently re-written all three books and produced them as a single volume e-book called The Realities of Aldous U. He also made an incredible book trailer for it. It's worth watching, if for nothing else than the gorgeous English accent coupled with some dramatic music that actually gives me chills. (I'm not the only one who's admitted to this! Check it for yourself and tell me what you think).

NOT lecherous. 

 And I'll end this post, before it gets too long, with a little literary confession. Although I don't like them in real life, in fiction, I'm intrigued by lecherous old men. Gross, right? I don't mean too lecherous. I'm talking just the level of Francine Prose's Blue Angel.
I also, sort of, consider The Phantom of the Opera, to fall under the lecherous category.  Maybe more so in the musical than the original novel. It doesn't matter though, I cry every time Christine leaves the Phantom. He's so passionate. Terribly flawed. Even violent, but damn it all, he loves that girl. 


What are some pieces of writing that really stir you up?