Alternative titles for this post include:
- Poor Aviaa, Forced to Write About Books
- I’m Trite!
- A Careful Analysis of the Danger Posed by English Majors
- Aviaa’s Grand Rebellion!
Mr. Apostate over at Bibliography tagged me for this post. So, I reluctantly wrote about books. Poor, poor me. All of those who feel just awful that I was so targeted for such a terrible task can send donations of food, blankets, checks, and quirc... wait, I already tried that a few posts back. Never mind.
So, books!
I’m ignoring the singular implications of “a” and “one” in some answers. Ha!
1. A book that changed your life
All books change my life in one small way or another. Wasn’t that cute and trite? I’m actually not sure quite what to add to that to make it un-trite, however. It’s true. I’m trite. How annoying.
2. A book you’ve read more than once
Many of ‘em, though I “reread” more when I was in school than I do now, likely because I had more time to read back then. I read The True Confessions of Charlette Doyle more than twenty times before I left middle school (this was potentially a bit ridiculous). I’ve also reread all of Austin’s books and several of Montgomery and Wharton’s. I’m currently rereading, Lies my Teacher Told Me… I read it in high school, lost my old copy, and bought a new copy when I went to hear Loewn speak a few months back. I was properly outraged the first time I read it, but I think I’m getting more out of it this time around.
3. One book you’d want on a desert island
The Art of Pastry Making? Wait, desert, not dessert.
(ponders)
Actually, I’m going to forgo the oh-so-popular “survival guide” and say that I’d want a longish, well-written book that I could read over and over without getting terribly sick of it too soon. Anna Karenina, perhaps? It’s the only Tolstoy I’ve read, and I loved the compilation of various overlapping stories and lives. Not to mention that it certainly qualifies as longish.
When one has good literature, one doesn’t need food or shelter or any of that crap! (she types as she eats a burrito in her climate controlled office)
4. One book that made you giddy
Most recently, On Beauty by Zadie Smith. The book was layers of well-crafted metaphor combined with exquisite detail. I found myself wanting to swoon with readerly lust at several points during the book. Good political writing also frequently leaves me giddy. Actually, almost anything well-written makes me giddy. What can I say? I’m just that easy.
This is one of the reasons I can never date an English major... he or she could walk away with my money (not much), books (loads), and other random items (lots of those too) and I’d be left dazed and dazzled with only memories of onomatopoeic witty quips.
5. One book you wish that had been written
I don’t think I’ve ever come across a topic for a book that wasn’t written that I desperately wanted to read. There are so many books out there already! Or, perhaps I’m just being unoriginal again. (sighs despondently)
6. One book that made you sob
I don’t think a book has ever made me cry, though many have left me quite sad.
7. One book you wish had never been written
(shrugs) Whatever I put down here, I’d likely feel bad about writing it later. I'm not sure that the books are the problem. Don’t misuse ‘em, and I won’t feel the urge to wish them out of existence.
8. One book you’re currently reading
Lies My Teacher Told Me (for the second time), Global Ethics 101 (a compilation of interviews from guest lecturers at the Harvard class of that name– I’d highly recommend it!), and Apartment Therapy (bad non-fiction is my bad-TV substitute). I seem to be reading no fiction books currently, which is odd, as I’m usually in the middle of one.
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read
(coughs) Soooo many. I haven’t read about half of my collection (It’s not an insignificant collection, either. My books are lined in book-case fashion around my office where the floor meets the wall- they cover about 3/5 of the total perimeter. As you can tell by my highly creative method of describing my book quantity, I’m feeling a bit too lazy to count them), yet I continue to acquire more. Snoow and a tango-friend also both gave me lists of recommended books I still want to work though. Ah! So many books! Such awful pressure!
My next read is How We Believe by Michael Shermer.
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I’m tagging snoow and Jess, two people with whom I love to discuss books. On the downside, snoow’s blog is written in French, so I can’t actually read it. On the bright side, his English writing skills are better than many native speakers’, so perhaps he’ll tell me what it all means. I’m tagging Ben and mesoforte as part of grand scheme to encourage/force them to update their blogs. I’m also going to tag... hey, where does it say we have to tag five? Everyone is tagging five! I’m going to be terribly unconventional and only tag four. So ha! (sticks out her tongue in a grand, highly-significant act of rebellion)
