09.13.07
Booking Through Thursday
This week, Booking Through Thursday has asked the following question:
Okay . . . picture this (really) worst-case scenario: It’s cold and raining, your boyfriend/girlfriend has just dumped you, you’ve just been fired, the pile of unpaid bills is sky-high, your beloved pet has recently died, and you think you’re coming down with a cold. All you want to do (other than hiding under the covers) is to curl up with a good book, something warm and comforting that will make you feel better.
What do you read?
(Any bets on how quickly somebody says the Bible or some other religious text? A good choice, to be sure, but to be honest, I was thinking more along the lines of fiction…. Unless I laid it on a little strong in the string of catastrophes? Maybe I should have just stuck to catching a cold on a rainy day….)
I’ve never been down this low, thank goodness. But when I have been feeling down, or think I’m just about to catch a cold on a rainy day, I’d be more likely to make a big bowl of popcorn, a latte-sized cup of extra-chocolate hot chocolate, and watch the DVD of Love Actually. I’m less likely to read to find comfort than I am to cook something that tastes yummy and is fattening. But if I were to read a book, it would have to be How To Be Good by Nick Hornby, just to remind me that there are people, albeit fictional, who are worse off than me, but that life is likely to get better, despite the odds. And Nick Hornby tells a very funny story. I know I’d be feeling much better by the end of that book.
Natasha said,
September 13, 2007 at 1:34 pm
‘Love Actually’ is my ultimate rainy day film as well - it makes me cry every time, but mostly they’re happy tears. And you make a good point about the comfort value of yummy and fattening food…
Chris@bookarama said,
September 14, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Someone else mentioned Love Actually. I love that movie.
islandeditions said,
September 14, 2007 at 6:31 pm
And what’s not to love about it? Great story line that all comes together so well, a terrific ensemble of actors, London at Christmas, Colin Firth, and a fabulous soundtrack… It was first released when I was going through an “interesting” time in my life so I ended up going to the theatre to watch it 3 times (twice at the Fox with a membership though so it was a lot cheaper than full price). Then I bought the video when it was first released, almost wore that out, and replaced it recently with the DVD (which has some extra material that had to be deleted only because the movie would have then run over 3 hours - too long, the producers thought - sort of like this comment, come to think of it…). It’s definitely become my favourite Christmas movie, as well as a very good rainy-day picker-upper.
paigemason said,
September 16, 2007 at 4:56 pm
well, I’d read a healthy dose of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. I might even start at the beginning… and by the the end of Voyager (Book 3) I’d be much better. Or I might choose a lighter read: a laugh-out-loud, Stephanie Plum mystery by Janet Evanovich - I’d start at One for the Money and by High Five I’d be so out of the dumps I’d keep reading until the 13th one just because I could.