Weekly Geeks: Nature & Connection

This week's Weekly Geek is about connection.

Firstly, have you come across a phrase recently that has made an impact on you? And secondly, who do you read with?

In answer to the first question, I'm always coming across phrases, lines, quotes that leap out at me and touch a part of my heart. I keep a running list of them in the book I call my quote-book and recently I've started posting a few of them on Goodreads also. One of the latest ones I've found came in re-reading FAHRENHEIT 451 for my lit class.

This was all he wanted now. Some signs that the immense world would accept him and give him the time he needed to think all the things that must be thought.

This line comes at a point in the book where Guy Montag (spoiler alert! for anyone unfortunate enough to have not read this book yet) is on the run and essentially out in the wilderness, in the middle of nature. And he's never really been around nature before.

It reminded me, almost instantly, of the woods I grew up across a dirt road from and of the fact that the sky is so big and when I was younger, before I lived so close to a city, it seemed even bigger. There was more nature. More outside. I'm not a very athletic person (to say the least) and I do tend to prefer the indoors to the out, but honestly this has a lot to do with the type of outdoors I have around here. Everything is managed and civilized and I don't like that type of outside. I like the type that looks as if you're the first person on earth to reach that particular spot, the type that always reminds you of how big it is an how small you are and give you all the space and all the time you need to think the things that must be thought. And it's not that I never find that feeling anymore, but the further away you get from a place in nature where you feel completely at peace, the less often you feel that kind of wide open spaces peace. At least, I do.

As for the second part of the question, who do you read with?, the answer is... nobody. I have blogger friends, but for the most part reading is a solitary activity for me. Books anchor me; they're a part of me, and although I love talking about them, blogging about them, recommending them, and sharing them with others, the actual reading experience is mine and mine alone.

So, what about you guys? If you've answered the Weekly Geek question on your own blog, leave me a link so I can visit you!

Weekly Geeks: The Baby-Sitters Club

This week's Weekly Geek is on books through the decades.

Tell us about a book that came out in the decade you were born which you either loved or hated. Is is relevant to today? Is it a classic, or could it be? Give us a mini-review, or start a discussion about the book or books.

I love this question and of course the books I'm going to talk about are the Baby-Sitters Club series, which was published from 1986 - 2000. And I was one of those girls who grew up on the books. My library at the time had an entire shelf of the series and I went through them like wildfire. I was positively obsessed. At the time, of course, I didn't realize that every other girl my age was also obsessed. The books, about seven girls between the ages of 11 and 13 who have a baby-sitting club, are about friendship, family, babysitting, and middle school trials. To give you more of an idea, here are the titles of the few copies I have of them (seriously you guys, I used to own the whole series, and I still hope they're boxed up somewhere in my grandma's garage) on my shelves right now...

KRISTY'S GREAT IDEA

CLAUDIA AND THE PHANTOM PHONE CALLS

MARY ANNE SAVES THE DAY

DAWN AND THE IMPOSSIBLE THREE

BOY-CRAZY STACY

THE GHOST AT DAWN'S HOUSE

LOGAN LIKES MARY ANNE!

KRISTY AND THE SNOBS

CLAUDIA AND THE NEW GIRL

HELLO, MALLORY

JESSI'S SECRET LANGUAGE

DAWN ON THE COAST

JESSI AND THE SUPERBRAT

CLAUDIA AND THE GREAT SEARCH

MARY ANNE + 2 MANY BABIES

MARY ANNE'S MAKEOVER

KRISTY AND THE COPYCAT

KRISTY AND THE DIRTY DIAPERS

BSC SUPER SPECIAL: BABY-SITTERS ON BOARD!

Honestly, these books are classics in their own right. There are plenty of blogs right now by adults my age and a bit older looking back at their old BSC books. Some blogs (like the incredible What Claudia Wore) focus on the girls' fashion, while others snarkily dissect the writing and plots with a fondness that could only come from nostalgia (e.g. BSC Revisited). These books set forth the "perfect" group of friends long before books like GOSSIP GIRL came on the scene. Instead of being popular, rich snobs, the girls in these books are hardworking, patient, and kind. And despite this they are just as clique-ish as characters from more materialistic novels and series. These books will never be taught in English classes (OMG, I hope not) and won't ever be looked at as the great literature of our generation or of the 90's. BUT for a certain age bracket of girls, these are the books we look back on as being most loved in our childhood. (And, with the re-release of them, I genuinely hope that today's pre-teens will love them just as much.)

Some questions for my readers:

Did you read the BSC books when you were younger? (If you're female, in my age bracket, live in the US, and liked to read when you were younger, you probably did.)

Who was your favorite sitter? Mine were Mary Anne and Mallory, though I don't think I could choose between them. :)