A Bitch has tagged me for a book meme. If it were anything but books, a Bitch would be in line for some correction, but she knows full well how much I love books. And of course, I love a Bitch, so it behooves me to comply.
Book that changed your life. All of them. Even if I didn’t particularly enjoy it, reading any book changes something about the way I think—maybe for a moment, maybe for life.
One book you have read more than once. The Great Gatsby. I try to read it every year. Usually, I fail. But I’ve read it about five times, and each time, it amazes me how much is packed into such a slim novel.
One book on a desert island. Like her, a blank notebook, preferably a big one.
One book that made you laugh. Blue Heaven. Joel sent this to me (along with several other books) when I was at a particularly low point, and it was just the ticket. I laughed out loud, and it’s really not often that a book makes me do that. (His book of haiku was another one–especially this one:
“Forty-seven times
You said, ‘Give me that pussy.’
I have no pussy.”)
One book that made you cry. The Wounded Sky, by Diane Duane. Or maybe it was Uhura’s Song. OK, yes, it was a Star Trek novel, but I remember there was a really moving scene (I was a teenager at the time, mind you) and I just suddenly burst into tears. Thank heavens I was reading at home alone in my room, because, you know, that could have been embarrassing.
One book you wish you had written. The Hours. The friend who urged me to read this book said, “You won’t believe it when you get to the end; you’ll just want to throw it down and go ‘Aaaah!’” I think he meant that in a good way.
One book you wish had never been written. The Bible.
One book you are currently reading. Paula, by Isabel Allende. Perhaps one of the best writers in the world today, Allende wrote this while her daughter Paula was in a coma. It’s part autobiography, part history, and part letter to her daughter imploring her to please wake up. Heartbreaking.
One book you have been meaning to read. Anna Karenina. Two years ago I stalled around page 360, and I am determined to get back to it. Poor Anna; Tolstoy really had it in for her.
Now tag five people…
I never could follow directions very well. Do you want to do this? Go ahead then. But be sure to send me a link and let me know what your selections are.
8 Comments
August 22, 2006 at 2:14 pm
The Great Gatsby huh? I think you gave me my keeping busy project while I’m off work.
August 22, 2006 at 5:11 pm
This book costs three hundred dollars. Let’s get it!
August 24, 2006 at 10:39 am
This Must Be the Place
Been reading/writing/cleaning most of the day. Tired of the modern stuff and poppy playlists in my iTunes, I went a little retro. Surprise, the Talking Heads can provide some refreshing background music. Took a shower and decided to take a 15-minute br…
August 24, 2006 at 4:21 pm
I don’t think I’ve read enough to have a list of my own. Or maybe I just don’t retain information very well, as in book titles! egads!
Happy Thursday Jeffrey.
August 25, 2006 at 12:58 am
I think The Great Gatsby is the only book I was assigned in high school that I actually read.
August 25, 2006 at 10:16 am
Patrick/Karen: Perhaps we should start a book club with Gatsby as the first selection.
Huntington: “I think you have too many books.” “Shut Up! Stupid boy.”
Robert: Just do what I do when I can’t remember the title of a book: “You know, the one where what’s his name wrote about that thing? You know what I mean.”
August 27, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Damn, I thought I was the only one that caught the Kelly reference.
September 3, 2006 at 4:05 pm
And here I thought I was the only one in the world who’d read Blue Heaven. It’s brilliant. And I just discovered that there’s finally a third Joe Keenan novel out now, after lo these many years!
Anyway, I took one of your tags. I’m it!