Saturday, December 8, 2007

It's All About Meme...Marc's Book Meme

I received an email from Midori Miller informing me that I am now tagged and need to write a post "It's All About MeMe..." I hope you don't mind if I take you on a journey and do this a little differently. Too many things are going through my mind. I know, that's a scary place to be!

While typing the words ‘MeMe,' I had a jolt back to a dear friend that always used the phrase "It's All About Me!" - and for him it was. He used to kid that it wasn't true, but the truth be told... In fact, I found this saying in one of my favorite stores in Ft. Lauderdale, called Seldom Seen on Las Olas and just gave it to him for his birthday. I've never been a ‘Me' person. I don't think others could consider me self-centered. That is just a turn off for me. I generally try to think of the other person.

OK, so now to what I'm supposed to be writing about. I have to change this around a little. I'm supposed to be telling you of my five favorite books of all time. That is extremely hard for me, but I will tell you of the books that I'm currently reading in a little while.

I remember that the first book I read by myself, without having to do it for school, was Rosemary's Baby written by Ira Levin, who was better known for being a playwrite. Holy moly that was 40 years ago. About the same time we were reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding and if I'm not mistaken he wrote a sequel to that, but I can't remember the name of it.

I've read J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (always thought Bilbo Baggins was so cool) & Lord of the Rings twice and hopefully will reread them again in my later years.

Reading has been a very important part of my life. I generally only read fiction and mostly love international intrigue and mysteries. So, what I'd like to do at this juncture is to share with you some of the many authors that I quite enjoy. They are in no particular order and there are many more..

Robert Ludlum - fantastic author of international intrigue. You've probably seen many of the movies. There were only 1 or 2 books of his that I thought were so-so. Have not read any of his works that were published post-humously since they were finished by others.

Tom Clancy - Loved his earlier works, but have not read him since The Sum of All Fears. Maybe it's just me, but I felt that his books were just getting overwrought and boring. And it appeared to be that either he was getting full of himself and just having to push out more books because that is the nature of that business.

John Grisham - I have not read him in many years, but his first books were absolutely awesome. I felt that his books just appeared to be repetitious. He was obviously churning them out quickly.

Herman Wouk - Some absolutely fantastic novels including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War & War and Rememberance.

Philip Roth - I remember the first book of his I read was Portnoy's Complaint. There was a lot of sexual content & eroticism and I was only a teenager at the time, but underneath all that this was a very good novel at the height of the sexual revolution. But he wrote many other excellent books including Goodbye, Columbus.

Leon Uris - What can I say, Exodus, Mila 18, Topaz, QB VII, etc.

Chaim Potok - Most of his books involve Judaism, The Chosen, My Name Is Asher Lev and Davita's Harp.

Ray Bradbury - What can I say about him? I read The Martian Chronicles in school. He wrote books such as Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man & Dandelion Wine.

John LeCarre - I must admit that sometimes his books took a little to get through, but that could have been a ‘me' thing. But just look at some of his writing: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley's People and The Constant Gardner.

Jonathan Kellerman - Love his Dr. Alex Delaware series with his detective friend Milo Sturgis in books such as When the Bough Breaks and Blood Test.

Faye Kellerman - The wife of Jonathan Kellerman and the writer of a series of Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus books. He's a detective with his Hasidic wife. There are 17 in the series and she's written a couple of books with her husband including Double Homicide.

Martha Grimes - She wrote a series of Richard Drury books, whose a Scotland Yard inspector, with his friend Melrose Plant. All the titles of these books are names of pubs.

Mary Higgins Clark - An excellent writer with books such as A Stranger is Watching, The Cradle Will Fall and A Cry in the Night. She has also co-authored a couple of books with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark.

John MacDonald - Loved his Travis McGee series. All of them had a color in the name. Very easy and quick read. The Deep Blue Good-by and Nightmare in Pink.

I could keep on going on and on. There's Elmore Leonard and Sidney Sheldon. Who could forget, The Other Side of Midnight, Master of the Game and The Doomsday Conspiracy.

It's obvious that I love reading and especially my fiction, but I also love what I do - real estate. It doesn't bother me that I'm not reading the way I used to, I'll be able in the future hopefully. I quite enjoy reading about real estate. There are two magazines that I always read and are very informative, but are only local. One is Florida Realtor Magazine and the other Agent News Direct. There is so much to learn and they offer a lot as well. It's important for me to learn because it not only helps me, but it also helps my clients and friends in the business. I have no issue sharing what I learn with others - OK, well maybe sometimes I like to keep things to myself.

So, with all this said, the books that I presently have on my coffee table (yes, it's a mess - strewn with newpapers (read it daily) & books) are:


I think all of these books are quite self explanatory. There is one more book that I would like to include. Now, it may not be considered a book per se, but there are many stories to be read. As with each chapter of a book, some you may like more than others, but it is definitely a collection of sorts. Obviously, I'm referring to that of Active Rain.

Hope you enjoyed! Till next time - Marc It Sold!

For more information on Central Florida & the Greater Orlando area including Seminole, Orange, West Volusia and South Lake Counties contact Marc Grossman @ 407-463-1034.

To learn more about Marc and services he has to offer, visit his profile & website.
Marc Grossman, GRI - http://www.orlandohomes-4u.com/ - 407-463-1034

Marc donates 10% of his net proceeds to Hospice of the Comforter.

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