not that anyone asked....
Sometimes, when the kids are having a fun game of meme tag—or whatever they call it—you just have to tag yourself. And when it comes to books, I can resist a little self-tagging.1) One book that changed your life.
When I was five, my mom started reading the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder to me. Soon I was narrating my own life in the third person: “Then Cheryl went into the bathroom. It was dark, and she hoped there were no kidnappers hiding behind the toilet.” In kindergarten, when we wrote little stories to explain what was happening in our finger-paintings, I raised my hand and asked, “How do you spell ‘replied’?”
Before a thousand other books brought beauty and darkness and history and social consciousness into my life, a little girl in a bonnet brought words themselves.
2) One book that you’d read more than once.
Would read again: anything funny that I can read out loud to people I like to hear laugh. Have read again: In the Heart of the Valley of Love by Cynthia Kadohata. I was writing a paper—but also, I love it. Should read again: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. I only made it through about 85 years of solitude. I blame post-AP-test bu
3) One book you’d want on a deserted island.
The bible seems to have kept people talking for a couple thousand years. Maybe it could keep me busy until I was done building a raft out of coconut shells.
4) One book that made you laugh.
Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants by Jill Soloway. Because everyone says David Sedaris.
5) One book that made you cry.
Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham. Parents’ most subtle, innocent wishes can kill their children.
6) One book you wish you’d written.
The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers. Parents’ most passionate, fought-for wishes can’t save their children.
7) One book you wish had never been written.
Any book that promises you can make a million dollars or lose a million pounds without any real effort. That’s a lot of books, but isn’t it really all one book?
8) One book you’re currently reading.
You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers. It’s great, but I’m not reading it with much velocity.
9) One book you’ve been meaning to read.
The Rough Guide to
Comments
As a Malaysian I'm amused to note that under 'books you've been meaning to read' you've put down 'Rough Guide to Malaysia' or anything by Dickens. I suggest you read both;¬)
As for Dickens...I hear he wrote some good stuff, but all I've read so far are the Cliff's Notes for A Tale of Two Cities, which I can't say I recommend. :-)
oh, and Dickens - yeah! Let's start a Dicken's reaing book-club.
N: Isn't it amazing? I think you should do a list now.