The Book Meme

Oh dear. David at Quakeragitator has tagged me with the book meme. He must think I like to read or something.

1: One book that changed your life:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. When I first read it in 1990, this book truly shook me up and forced me to consider the possibility that a world in which a theocracy controls everything, women are merely vessels for producing babies, and dissenters are imprisoned or worse, was a logical extension of certain attitudes and trends that were starting to take hold at the time. And since then, well...hmmmm.

2: One book you have read more than once:

London Fields by Martin Amis. Eerie, disturbing, funny, and brilliant. This was my first exposure to Amis and his acrobatic syntax; I quickly became a fan.

3: One book you would want on a desert island:

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. I know, I know, that's cheating, and I suck.

4: One book that made you laugh:

Money by Martin Amis. A delicious, spot-on slice of American culture as observed by a razor-tongued Brit.

5: One book you wish had been written:

The one that's on pause right now, waiting for the boys to go back to school so its frustrated author can get back to work.

6: One book you wish had never had been written:

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding. All those poor trees!

7: One book that made you cry:

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. I love Amy's writing; this, her first published novel, is both uplifting and heartbreaking. Amy truly captures the essence of the mother-daughter bond, a universally contentious love; she explores its attendant disappointments as well as its profound joys.

8: One book you are currently reading:

There's a whole stack; currently I'm reading Gary Hart's upcoming The Courage of Our Convictions in order to review it here at The Last Duchess.

9: One book you have been meaning to read:

Atonement by Ian McEwan. He was born in my hometown--Aldershot, England--although that's not the reason I want to read this book; rather, it's been recommended to me by a conservative estimate of a hundred people (well, almost). An aside: it's my greatest and most dearly-cherished pie-in-the-sky dream to one day be referred to as The other well-known writer from Aldershot. (That crashing sound you hear is me coming back to Earth.)

10. One book you wish everyone would read, and why:

(Shameless plug alert) Virtual Vintage: The Insider's Guide to Buying and Selling Fashion Online. Why? Because Linda and I can each think of at least a dozen good uses for the royalties.

11: Now tag five people:

Let's see...I tag Thesaurus Rex, The Minstrel Boy, Paul the Spud, Tart, and Blogenfreude.

Books are wonderful. That is all.