by M Sinclair Stevens. August 08, 2006.
This via Annie in Austin at the Transplantable Rose. I can't resist a meme because I'm procrastinating anyway. I can see that I'm going to have a difficult time choosing...so I won't.
1] One book that changed your life?
On the Trellis of Memory.
2] One book that you have read more than once?
I read them all more than once. I read familiar books to comfort me and I like to read favorite books over and over at different times in my life just to see if I understand them differently as I age and accumulate experience. I do revert to children's books when I seek especial comfort...like when I'm sick. I find it very difficult to commit myself to a relationship with a new book although I do go to the library every Sunday in search of new favorites.
Gone with the Wind.
Jane Eyre.
Daddy-Long-Legs.
The Little House on the Praire books.
I Capture the Castle.
Swallows and Amazons Series.
The Earth's Children Series.
The Aubrey/Maturin Series.
Nancy Drew books (especially the originals from the 1930s).
The Railway Children.
3] One book you would want on a desert island?
Jane Eyre.
Gone with the Wind.
Carrington: Selected Letters.
Lytton Strachey: A Biography. (Because it's so long!)
4] One book that made you laugh?
Dave Barry Does Japan. One of the few books I've ever laughed out loud while reading...and laughed and laughed. I was caught up in personal experience.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.
The Gardener's Year by Karel Capek.
5] One book that made you cry?
Annie mentioned Black Beauty and I have to agree. I could never get past the scene where Ginger dies without crying now matter how many times I read it. I also cry at dog death in the Little House on the Praire books and in the Unbearable Lightness of Being. For some reason, lots of childrens books make me cry. Sometimes I think the criteria I had for buying childrens books was if it moved me to tears. I cry when I read Little Bear "A Friend for Little Bear" and I cry when I read Grandfather's Journey.
6] One book you wish had been written?
Theoretical Landscapes. Oh, wait. I'm working on that.
7] One book you wish had never been written?
Drawing a complete blank on this.
8] One book you are currently reading?
Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language. A fascinating study of linguistics. And very funny.
The Japanese Have a Word For It.
Harry Potter...in Japanese. (Very, very slowly.)
9] One book you have been meaning to read.
Collapse. Jared Diamond. My son told me today that last Saturday he went to see "An Inconvenient Truth" and then went home to read Collapse so he never cleaned his apartment. "Because you were too depressed?" I asked. "No." he answered. "I just didn't have time."
10] Tag 5 people to do the meme.
Sorry. These questions only scratch the surface of my book frenzy...I need a whole blog to talk about books. Wait. I have one.
Okay. Incandragon, KAT, DF, JQS, AJM ...
1] One book that changed your life?
2] One book that you have read more than once?
3] One book you would want on a desert island?
4] One book that made you laugh?
5] One book that made you cry?
6] One book you wish had been written?
7] One book you wish had never been written?
8] One book you are currently reading?
9] One book you have been meaning to read.
10] Tag 5 people to do the meme.
Comments
Although we both began with "Black Beauty" & Mark Twain, we diverged quickly. I had to google "The Sherwood Ring" - at 14 my stacks were authored by Zane Grey, Max Brand and Rafael Sabatini. We do share "I Capture the Castle" as a favorite reread.
Karel Capek's book is now on the wishlist, and seems available. I made it through "Guns Germs and Steel", but don't have the stamina to approach "Collapse" at the moment
Thanks for playing the game, M! This is fun. Pam's answers are up, and RSorrell said she'd do it, too.
1] One book that changed your life?
A long time ago, I picked up two tiny "compilation" comic book in a drug store: the first few books X-Men (I also got a Teen Titans one). It got me hooked on comics in a way that single comics would never have done. Much of the rest of my life was based on things that spun off from that. My best friend, who I followed to Austin, where I studied Japanese, where ....
2] One book that you have read more than once?
Phule's Company by Robert Aspirin. I've read it probably 75 times or more. That's because for six months it was the only book I had in Japan ... and I can't eat if I'm not reading something.
3] One book you would want on a desert island?
Some book that talks about surviving on a desert island.
4] One book that made you laugh?
Janet Evanovich's One for the Money.
5] One book that made you cry?
Les Miserables.
6] One book you wish had been written?
A bible that made sense.
7] One book you wish had never been written?
Well, a friend once said that she couldn't wish a book unwritten, but she'd be happy to wish a book unpublished. But if I had to choose, I'd say ... gosh, I have no idea.
8] One book you are currently reading?
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
9] One book you have been meaning to read.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. (I'm stalled halfway, because I know awful things are going to happen to wonderful characters!)