"The label you give yourself cannot impact external forces that are not motivated by your own psychology or influenced by a third party's pre-existing consciousness of you. We are all presented with reasons to struggle which come from completely external forces; to pretend that one is not struggling is either arrogance or an admission of defeat. To admit that one is struggling is a sign and a source of strength." - Evan A. Baker

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Deja Lu

Funny thing about my name: It's misspelled.

My Dad has two versions of the Why I Named You Something You'll Have to Repeat and Spell for Everyone story.

Version 1) He loves astronomy. Lyra is a constellation. Lyra, (pronounced LEER-rah, no matter what movies with Nicole Kidman tell you otherwise) has a very feminine and pretty ring to it. He names me that, swearing it was spelled with an i.

Version 2) He has a little sister named Lori. My mom has a little sister named Sira. He combines the two out of love and respect to create Lira. He names me that.

Why two versions? Who cares. I'm sure 2 helped inspire 1 or vice versa. Either way, it's incredibly lovely and I know my father, who takes FIFTEEN minutes to find the PERFECT BIRTHDAY CARD at Hallmark, probably took the entire nine months I was gestating in the womb to settle on my name, thus insuring naming perfection.

Oh, you cruel, ironic world.

The Love of My Life is first generation American. His parents came from Italy. I am taking his last name when we marry so that my name will literally translate in Italian to:
Twelve Former Monetary Units of Italy.

And that's not all!

Lira, in French means "going to read," in the third person. As in, Claudette lira le livre. Or, if I were Claudette, "Lira lira le livre."

Fantastique!

Which brings me to the point of this entire post:

I am now reading a book I borrowed from the library an accidental second time. For the second time! That's right, This is the second time I am reading a book I've already read! Deja Lu!

So I am asking for your book recommendations. I need them. I want them. I have to have them!

What have been your favorite books this year?

5 comments:

  1. I'll chime in here. And will not give a whole list but here is what stuck out in my 2010.

    I'm a Shakespeare fan through and through. And a proud Stratfordian. Being classically trained It comes with the territory. Anyway..Contested Will by James Shapiro. It reads at times as an essay because there is just a lot of information out there, but It's very funny at times concerning people's plots through history to either bolster up a claim, or discredit it. (I could see a Cohen Brothers movie version of the main details) So if you're at all interested about the authorship debate and a nerd like me:

    http://www.amazon.com/Contested-Will-Who-Wrote-Shakespeare/dp/1416541624

    And as a second. My "go-to" books when I'm between novels or scripts or just bored. Michael Jordan's Wheel of time series. It's fantasy I know, but if you're into it, it's a fantastic series. 13? 14? books I think? Great female characters in this. (If you read the first book, give them time, they grow into their own)

    here is book 1:

    http://www.amazon.com/Eye-World-Book-Wheel-Time/dp/B0046LUQTE/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293808952&sr=1-2

    Happy New year

    ReplyDelete
  2. To free myself from literary commitment issues, I'm trying something new this year. It's called "Book of the Week." The first ones on the list will be Mose Feldenkrais' "Awareness Through Movement," David Bach's "The Automatic Millionaire," and Howard Brenton's new play "Anne Boleyn."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, I have to say that I loved The Help this year. I am currently deciding whether or not to purchase Lies My Teacher Told Me (I practice this every day in my profession, "Santa is REAL, kids!") I'm also rereading The Tipping Point because it's awesome. Miss you, you shining star.

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of my all time favourites, Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

    Happy New Year, Lira!
    X

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. The play Leaves by Lucy Caldwell. The play Time Stands Still by Donald Marguilies. Fahrenheit 451.

    :) Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete

Play nice.