Cheryl Truman on books

… in the print edition. You’ve already clipped these and affixed them to your refrigerator via magnet, I’m sure, but just in case:

 What’s summer reading without our reader submissions for their Top Ten favorite books?
    Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto makes its first appearance of the season, and I have to say: I’m Bel Canto-dyslexic. Some readers got it, and a few of us didn’t. So if you’re a Bel Canto fan, speak on up: Send your Top Ten favorite books.
    This week also brought the first reader reference to Wallace Stegner, the first guilty confession of being a Stephen King fan, the first call-out to Kentucky writing demigod Wendell Berry.
    We’ll take reader favorites through the end of July, so there’s still time to submit the books that keep you spellbound: E-mail a list to Cheryl Truman at ctruman@herald-leader.com or mail your list to Cheryl Truman, Lexington Herald-Leader, 100 Midland Ave., Lexington, KY 40508.
    We’ll also put up the lists on the Bluegrass Books blog at Kentucky.com.
   
    Cassie Moses, 31, at-home mom, Cynthiana
    1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
    2. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
    3. Saints at the River by Ron Rash
    4. and 5. The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini
    6. Smokejumper by Nicholas Evans
    7. Clay’s Quilt by Silas House
    8. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (”I can still remember my mom reading this to me when I was young.”)
    9. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (”This book makes me want to cry each time I read it to my girls.”)
    10. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
   
    Mary Sue Mitchell, 53, instructional assistant, Northside Elementary School, Midway
    “I read Pillars of the Earth and loved it. I too could not wait until William got his come-uppance. It felt like a long wait, though. (Editor’s note: If you read one 973-page epic in your life, make it Pillars of the Earth. There’s medieval cathedral-building, political scheming, sex, war, hissable villains and, in the end, the good guys, most of them, triumph, and the bad guys, all of them, wind up in the bits and pieces they deserve. A triumph for the Almighty, or karma, or the demigod who takes care of faithful readers.) I also found The Shell Seekers (by Rosamunde Pilcher) at a used-book store and I liked it so much I shared it with the people I work with. The Dollmaker is another book that was on the list of several others. … I received it for a Christmas gift and have also shared it with others.”
    “Here is my list, in no particular order.”
    *  Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
    *  Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series
    *  Francine River’s Mark of the Lion series, about first-century Christians in ancient Rome
    *  Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
    *  Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg (”I laughed so hard when reading this I had to read it in a room by myself.”)
    *  Centennial by James Michener
    *  The Frontiersman by Allan Eckert
    *  Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks
    *  The American Bicentennial series by John Jakes (”This series got me reading again after a break.”)
    *  The Bible. (”Another book that continues to surprise me. The more I read, the more I learn.”)
   
    Eric Iversen, Lexington
    “Most of these are titles spouse Libby and I have read to each other over the years.”
    1. Boy Life on the Prairie by Hamlin Garland (”a life in nature in the 1870s”)
    2. Maude Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks (”emerging consciousness of a child of the great migration”)
    3. The Circle of Quiet from the Crosswick Trilogy by Madeleine L’Engle (”finding respite in, and from, family”)
    4. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner (”Friendship of couples over a lifetime”)
    5. Big Two-Hearted River from the Nick Adams stories by Ernest Hemingway
    6. Dancing on the Edge of the Roof by Sheila Williams
    7. Andy Catlett by Wendell Berry (”An 8-year-old visits both sets of his grandparents”)
    8. The Bishop of Stinking Creek by Joe Powlas (”Eastern Kentucky’s answer to the Mitford series”)
    9. A Winter Room by Gary Paulsen
    10. The Maytrees by Annie Dillard (”Grit and whimsy among the Cape Cod dunes”)
   
    Megan Coffman, Lexington
    Coffman is a particular fan of books on tape/CD.
    Coffman’s comments:
    “While I am a voracious reader, I have found that if you expand your ‘reading’ to audio books, you can get even more books in! I’m typically listening to three books at once - one in the car (and believe me, even without a regular commute you are probably in the car more than you think), one in the kitchen for when I am cooking and cleaning up, and one in the laundry room.
    “There is something about audio books that will let you get through authors and subject material you would never get to in the precious time for actually sitting down and reading.
    “Because I’ve picked them up cheap at yard sales or Goodwill, I’ve ‘read’ everything from war-themed books (not tops on my list) to Kitty Kelley with The Royals (actually pretty enjoyable).
    “When it comes to picking a ‘top 10 list,’ there’s a lot of pressure, especially if you’re a known reader, because, by golly, every book had better be top quality, intellectually reflective, entertaining, etc, or your reputation is injured (or at least you feel it will be), so that being said, here is a list of audio books I enjoyed. Most of them are strictly for entertainment, and you soon find that the reader makes the book, becomes the voice of the book, and the book would never be the same without that reader, which sometimes is astonishing, when credit to the reader is not even found on the front cover!
    “Another bonus with this list - all but one are available for checkout from the Lexington Public Library!”
    1. Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, read by Gerald Doyle. “This is junior fiction, but is completely engaging for adults as well. A complex story involving everything from Beowulf to family relationships, it was totally mesmerizing. After listening to hundreds of books of all stripes, this is the first time I contacted a company by e-mail to praise the reader.”
    2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, read by Bernadette Dunn (unabridged): “Every obstacle the heroine faced had me sitting on the edge of my seat.”
    3. Louise Erdrich reading her own works: “The Master Butcher’s Singing Club and The Antelope Wife were memorable. Because Erdrich wrote the books, I guess she knows more than anyone exactly how they should sound, where to pause for the best effect.”
    4. Janet Evanovich series, beginning with One for the Money: “These are obviously wildly popular in print, but are rollicking fun for a long car trip, even if I did have to cover my 9-year-old’s ears more than a few times, especially on later books in the series.”
    5. Moving Mars by Greg Bear (not at the library): “Written in 1993, this was one of the earlier books I ever listened to. I tracked down my very own copy on eBay - and upon relistening was still amazed at all of the futuristic insights Bear plugged into this work.”
    6. Cell by Stephen King, read by Campbell Scott. “So scary, I had to turn it off on the first disc. … Super creepy, and had me staring at my cell phone in the car for weeks.”
    7. Prey by Michael Crichton, read by George Wilson. “Again, super creepy - a friend lent me their copy, and I went and bought my own for future relistening enjoyment.”
    8. “Guilty pleasure of listening to the entire Confessions of a Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. The British-accented reader gives them just the right touch, and that kitchen is cleaned in no time!”
    9. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, read by Anne Fields: “This is the first audiobook that actually made me cry. Beautifully written and read.”
    10. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, read by the author - both entertaining and educational - great for family listening on that long car trip.
    And a bonus:
    11. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (unabridged, please): “If you never got around to reading this classic as a child, this is a perfect way to make the time. Delightful, after you get into it.”
    Reach Cheryl Truman at (859) 231-3202 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3202; e-mail her at ctruman@herald-leader.com.