Barbara Bretton
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Top Ten Lists

I don't count very well, do I? My only defense is one of enthusiasm . . . and the fact that Top Ten List sounds much better than Top Seventeen or Top Twenty-Two. Anyway, I love lists, no matter how long or short they are and invite you to share some of your favorites with me.

Send your lists to me and I'll post them right here for everyone to enjoy.

Top Ten Writing Books

  1. Telling Lies for Fun and Profit - Lawrence Block
  2. Writing Past Dark - Bonnie Friedman
  3. Spider, Spin Me A Web - Lawrence Block
  4. Write for Your Life - Lawrence Block (see a pattern developing here?)
  5. Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
  6. Becoming a Writer - Dorothea Brande
  7. If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence, and Spirit - Brenda Ueland
  8. Writing from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual - Rita Mae Brown
  9. The Writer's Journey - Christopher Vogler
  10. Make Every Word Count - Gary Provost
  11. A Writer's Time - Kenneth Atchity
  12. Writing Down the Bones - Natalie Goldberg
  13. Wild Mind - Natalie Goldberg

Top Ten Reference Books

  1. The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue - far and away the best dictionary ever compiled. A word-lovers delight.
  2. What's What
  3. Woe Is I - Patricia T. O'Conner
  4. Words Fail Me - Patricia T. O'Conner

Isn't this a sad little list? I seem to be doing most of my research these days on the web.

Top Ten TV Shows:

  1. Mary Tyler Moore Show
  2. thirtysomething
  3. Barney Miller
  4. Taxi
  5. Mad About You
  6. Seinfeld
  7. McLaughlin Group, Meet the Press, all the Sunday morning news shows
  8. Judge Judy (so sue me)
  9. Anything on Discovery, AMC, History or Food channels
  10. Family

Top Ten Movies:

  1. Gone With The Wind
  2. Miracle on 34th Street
  3. Holiday Inn
  4. Joy Luck Club
  5. My Cousin Vinny
  6. Some Like It Hot
  7. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
  8. The Quiet Man
  9. 1776
  10. Shakespeare in Love
  11. Analyze This
  12. Ghost & Mrs. Muir
  13. Rob Roy
  14. Rocky (all of them)
  15. When Harry Met Sally
  16. Jaws
  17. Wizard of Oz
  18. Pirates of Penzance
  19. Independence Day
  20. The Bishop's Wife

Top Ten Books:

  1. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
  2. Moving On - Larry McMurtry
  3. Ladder of Years - Anne Tyler
  4. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
  5. Light A Penny Candle - Maeve Binchy
  6. September - Rosamunde Pilcher
  7. Family Blessings - Laurie Colwin
  8. Shanna - Kathleen Woodiwiss
  9. A Fine & Private Place - Peter S. Beagle
  10. A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
  11. Almost Paradise - Susan Isaacs
  12. Sophie's Choice - William Styron
  13. Enemies: A Love Story - Isaac Bashevis Singer
  14. The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCulloch
  15. Rebecca - Daphne duMaurier
  16. Skye O'Malley - Bertrice Small

Top Ten Songs:

  1. Nessun Dorma - Luciano Pavarotti ("Turandot")
  2. Apres Moi - Eartha Kitt (just about anything by Eartha, to be honest)
  3. Rumour and Sigh - Richard Thompson (every single song on the CD, especially "Read About Love" and "1952 Vincent Black Lightning")
  4. Groovy Kind of Love - Mindbenders
  5. Witchcraft - Frank Sinatra
  6. Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Temptations
  7. (I Heard It Through The) Grapevine - Gladys Knight & Pips (or by Marvin)
  8. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
  9. When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge
  10. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons - by anyone at all
  11. Beast of Burden - Rolling Stones
  12. Miss You - Rolling Stones
  13. Granada - Placido Domingo
  14. Cheek to Cheek - Fred Astaire
  15. Come Rain or Come Shine - Ray Charles
  16. Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffett (and Volcano and Fins and . . . )



AVAILABLE
OCTOBER 15:

Sentimental Journey
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Stranger in Paradise
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