Stolen from Rebecca at Clumsy Kisses:
1. One book that changed your life:
Generation X. It made me take a very critical look at my life and who I was and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It was an awakening that gave me the strength I needed shortly thereafter to leave a less than ideal marriage at the tender age of 24.
2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
Contact, by Carl Sagan. Each time I read it, I get something new from it.
3. One book you would want on a desert island:
Any of Alice Munro’s short story collections. I’d spend all my time trying to figure out how she works her magic.
4. One book that made you laugh:
I read some of the autobiographical bits of Stephen King’s On Writing out loud to Beloved and had tears running down my cheeks from laughing so hard.
5. One book that made you cry:
I can’t read the newspaper these days without crying. The first time I read S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders when I was thirteen, I couldn’t see the page for sobbing when Johnny died.
6. One book that you wish had been written:
The owner’s manual for my kids.
7. One book that you wish had never been written:
Should any book not have been written? Some time around the 400th reading, I was beginning to feel that way about Where’s Spot?
8. The book that you are currently reading:
The Continuity Girl by Leah McLaren. (Thanks, Nancy!)
9. One book that you have been meaning to read:
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
10. Books you don’t enjoy:
Formulaic chick lit; serial-killer/FBI crime fiction (although I do like a good legal thriller).
11. Book you remember as a real page-turner:
The Time-Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I also got some serious late fines recently on Zadie Smith’s On Beauty because I ran out of time but couldn’t stop reading it.
12. Non-fiction books you have enjoyed:
I love books on astronomy and cosmology, and reading about things like superstring theory and chaos theory. A Brief History of Time, The Elegant Universe, The Left Hand of Creation.
13. Children’s books your family has loved:
Tristan really enjoyed books in the Matthew’s Midnight Adventure series. Funny, a little bit silly, great illustrations and Canadian, too! When they were little (as opposed to now, being all grown up and all) they both absolutely adored the book If You See A Kitten, by John Butler. Possibly one of the most beautifully illustrated children’s books I have ever seen.
I’m not going to tag anyone, but if you want it please feel free to steal it and let me know so I can check out your answers – or you can answer in the comment box.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooooh, I like this meme a lot, people’s book choices are always so interesting to me
I have On Beauty waiting on the bookshelf and I’m determined to give it a chance even though I hate White Teeth so much. Himself bought me it because he thought I enjoyed White Teeth….
xxx
Ooooh, I like this meme a lot, people’s book choices are always so interesting to me
I have On Beauty waiting on the bookshelf and I’m determined to give it a chance even though I hate White Teeth so much. Himself bought me it because he thought I enjoyed White Teeth….
xxx
We just finished the Magic Tree House series with our middlest. I love it but I would be happy to read something different. I can going to try Matthew’s Midnight Adventure Series. It seems really cute.
We just finished the Magic Tree House series with our middlest. I love it but I would be happy to read something different. I can going to try Matthew’s Midnight Adventure Series. It seems really cute.
Have you ever read Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea. by Charles Seife. It would probably fit in with your choices for #12.
Have you ever read Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea. by Charles Seife. It would probably fit in with your choices for #12.
Have you read the nanny Diaries… its good for a serious cry!
Have you read the nanny Diaries… its good for a serious cry!
Any of the Roald Dahl stories. My daughter fell in love with books and reading at a very early age, and cherishes HAVING good books (as well as reading and rereading). She asked for the Roald Dahl collection (very $$, hard cover) but it was worth every penny – she still has it on her bookshelf (along with things like War and Peace), 10 years later, and probably will forever.
Any of the Roald Dahl stories. My daughter fell in love with books and reading at a very early age, and cherishes HAVING good books (as well as reading and rereading). She asked for the Roald Dahl collection (very $$, hard cover) but it was worth every penny – she still has it on her bookshelf (along with things like War and Peace), 10 years later, and probably will forever.
Ah The Outsiders. LOVED IT as a teen. Who am I kidding? I just read it again last year and it still gets me every time. Also loved “Rumble Fish” by Hinton. Much darker than The Oustsiders.
And seriously what high school did you go to that they didn’t make you read Brave New World? My 11th grade paper on it was absolutely stunning. Works of art. I am sure they still talk about it.
Ah The Outsiders. LOVED IT as a teen. Who am I kidding? I just read it again last year and it still gets me every time. Also loved “Rumble Fish” by Hinton. Much darker than The Oustsiders.
And seriously what high school did you go to that they didn’t make you read Brave New World? My 11th grade paper on it was absolutely stunning. Works of art. I am sure they still talk about it.