Saturday, September 21, 2013

Rousing and Your books (This week's Photo Hunt themes)


If you ask people what's more rousing, mega fireworks displays and colorful festive parades or a good book, chances are that people will say the former (and it's also true that they are more interesting photographic subject matter -- as can be seen by the shots at the top of this week's entry for Sandi's and Gattina's Photo Hunts!).  But the fact of the matter is that there really are books whose tales are so rousing (as in stimulating) that they've literally kept me awake turning their pages for hours beyond what should have been my bedtime! 

A look at my collection of books will get one realizing that I'm a big fan of crime and detective novels -- with my favorite authors including many crime novelists such as Linda Fairstein, Kathy Reichs, Tess Gerritsen, Qiu Xiaolong, Sara Paretsky and Alexander McCall Smith.  (I also like the three crime novels that Lisa See wrote and wish she would return to this genre.) But the book that I'd say is the most rousing of the ones that I've read thus far this year actually is actually not strictly a crime novel, though some crimes, including murders, do take place within its pages.   

Pat Conroy's South of Broad did not get an overwhelmingly positive reception when it came out a few years ago -- but, in all honesty, I'm one of those book lovers that don't tend to read book reviews and news and, instead, tend to go my own way and at my own pace when selecting what to read and when.  And for me, every book of Conroy's that I've read thus far -- including The Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini, The Water is Wide and My Losing Season -- I've liked very much.

Funny but true: years ago, a friend of mine and I went on a road trip that took us from Philadelphia down to Beaufort, South Carolina.  Along the way, we stopped at several cities and towns, including Charleston.  While we were in the town that is the setting for South of Broad, we went and attended a parade at The Citadel, a military college whose existence I first learnt about via The Lords of Discipline and was curious to see for myself as a result.

The parade by The Citadel's cadets was very interesting -- and rousing, even.  So positive did we feel about it and the place that afterwards, like pretty much every other person in the crowd that day, we rushed to The Citadel's shop afterwards to get souvenirs associated with that institution.  And to this day, I still have the key chain I got there, and use it too! :b

14 comments:

Trekcapri said...

Hi YTSL, wonderful take on the two themes. Fireworks and parades are cool. And I agree with you that a book can be just as rousing on the inside, as fireworks are in the sky. I've never heard of Pat Conroy. I too enjoy a good crime novel and your post makes me want to check out his books. I'll see if there is a kindle version.

Have a wonderful weekend.

magiceye said...

Lovely takes on the themes!

Aiyah Nonya said...

Love how you put the two themes together. Thumbs up (No ' like' button here )
Have a rousing weekend with your book. :)

Gattina said...

You have the same taste for books then I !

YTSL said...

Hi Trekcapri --

Quickly: Pat Conroy is *not* a crime novelist -- in fact, two of the books of his that I really like are non-fiction works. Definitely would recommend his books all the same though!

Hi magiceye --

Thanks!

Hi Aiyah Nonya --

Thanks for the thumbs up! Ya, I'm still rebelling against "like" buttons. BTW, I don't even have a Facebook account. How reactionary is that? ;b

Hi Gattina --

You like crime novels and Pat Conroy too? Cool! :b

Anonymous said...

yup - few things are as rousing as fireworks and a loud parade! Great pics for this week's theme.

Have a super weekend.

RNSANE said...

Well, I love a good parade and I have read hundreds of forensic novels in my time. You'd think, as a forensic nurse for 21 years, my interest might be in romance or another genre. If you've never read Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series, you must...but do it in the order they were written.

Most of my books, as I wrote in Photo Huntings, are no longer with me, sad to say.

Susan Demeter said...

I can definitely relate to being kept up through the night by a good book!

YTSL said...

Hi JDeQ --

So you agree with me on that! Hope you have a good weekend too. :)

Hi RNSANE --

I've seen Jeffrey Deaver's books in stores but have yet to delve into them. Thanks for the recommendation! :)

Hi Sue --

It's scary how one just feels compelled to keep on reading, isn't it? ;b

eastcoastlife said...

Wahhh.... you have an interesting collection of books which I would love to read!!

Carver said...

I also enjoy detective and crime fiction and some of the ones on your list are also ones I enjoy. Beautiful shots of the fireworks. By the way, you made me laugh with your memories of studying Cantebury Tales. I think the first time I heard the word scatalogical was when I was studying tat book.

YTSL said...

Hi EastCoastLife --

Well... hopefully you'll be able to get them in Singapore to read/try! :b

Hi Carver --

Thanks for reading what I wrote and looking at my pictures. I'm glad to know my comment re "The Canterbury Tales" over on your blog got you laughing. :)

Annie said...

I'm a Conroy fan too! That's cool that you like him too.

Thinking of you and everyone in Hong Kong - I hope this typhoon goes easy on you all.

YTSL said...

Hi Annie --

Pat Conroy's such a wonderful writer, isn't he?

And thanks for the good wishes re Typhoon Usagi going easy on us in Hong Kong. BTW, I just updated my latest blog post re it!