Friday Memes: Stocking the Bomb Shelter & Other Fun Stuff

This week I am participating in "TGIF at GReads!" for the first time.  Whoohoo for new Friday Memes.  To participate, click here.
TGIF at GReads Question of the Week:
Stand Alone vs. Series: what's your stance?

I'm probably in the minority, but I choose Stand Alone book. I love series almost as much as the next person, but I find that I often read them out of loyalty rather than because of a love of the series (except for a few exceptions).  I have a short attention span.  I want to be introduced to new characters and new storylines.  Finally, if I am to read a series, I often prefer for most of the books to be already written.  I want to read them one after the other and finish the series (that's what I did with Twilight).  I don't like waiting year after year for a new book because I forget what happened in the previous books.

Follow Friday Question of the Week:
Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?

1.  The Rawhide Man by Diana Palmer - I don't have a very intellectual reason except that I love this book so much.  It's the romance and it makes me smile.  What can I say?  I don't want to talk about this anymore (hanging head).

2.  Gone with the Wind by - I love Scarlet and I love Rhett.  They are two imperfect characters that make great historical fiction and great romance.  Plus, the movie was fabulous.

3.  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - I love the emphasis on family and who doesn't like reading about five girls?

4.  Anything in the Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich - Umm... peanut butter and olive sanwiches, Grandma Mazur, Batman, and Morelli what else do you need?  Oh yeah... funeral viewings.  I can do that.

5.  The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff - Oh the setting, characters, emotion, and that last twist.  LOVES it!

6.    Suspicion of Malice and the whole Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana series - I love this series or whatever you call it.  I love the romance and the mystery.  I know it is silly but I love that there were Spanish/Cuban word sprinkled throughout the books.  It just added a touch of something.

7.    Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare - I love this play/book and I think much of it is because of my ninth graders (who are graduating this year...like wow!).  There are so many great discussions to be had and this story truly transcends time.

8.    Water for Elephants by Sara Guen - I read this book recently and loved it so much it is still on my mind.  

9.     Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach- Yes folks.  I'm morbid.  You wouldn't know this about me, but it is so true.  

10.    How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It by James Wesley Rawles - considering the circumstances, this just seems smart.

Blogger Hop Question of the Week:

"Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"


Why Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich of course.  Here's the blurb from GoodReads:  

Where there's smoke there's fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. The bail bonds office has burned to the ground, and bodies are turning up in the empty construction lot.  To make matters worse, Stephanie is working out of a motor home she shares with a dancing bear, and Joe Morelli's old world grandmother has declared a vendetta against her.  And just when Stephanie decides it might be time to choose between the two men in her life, Morelli and Ranger, a third man from Stephanie's past moves back to Trenton...

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