the book meme
I need to clear my brain and stop working on
my BlogHer posts for a little bit. Since both
trillwing and
New Kid tagged me for the book meme, I can't escape its grasp...
1. One book that changed your life?
Dr. Willis E. McNelly's The Dune Encyclopedia, ca. 1984. Seriously. I was eleven years old when I read this, having already read all of Frank Herbert's Dune novels up to that point. With a stack of books and a crazy large "reference" book, I learned to do research.
It was all downhill from there...
2. One book you have read more than once?
I read a lot of books more than once. For purposes of answering this question, I'll say that when walking past my bookshelf looking for something to read, it's likely I'll grab a Hardy novel or a Zola novel. I've read many of them, many times over.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
The Riverside Chaucer, because it's the lengthiest book I own besides my Nortons. Plus, you can re-read Chaucer so many times and still not get everything (at least I can!), so it'll give me something to do on that island.
4. One book that made you laugh?
Geez, I don't know. Lately I've been reading nothing but stuff for my comprehensive exams and none of it has been terribly funny (for instance, we just worked through the Greek tragedies). Pass.
5. One book that made you cry?
I cry all the damn time. I'm such a sap that I can find things to cry about in sitcoms. So I'll answer this with the last book that made me cry, and that was...[thinking]...Snow Mountain Passage.
6. One book you wish had been written?
This involves creativity, so...pass.
7. One book you wish had never been written?
My first book, back in 1999/2000. While I am thankful for the money and happy that my books have helped people learn cool stuff, the steady stream of people who saw fit to bombard me with emails and phone calls (at my home and at my office) to tell me how much I suck because a) girls shouldn't write tech books and/or b) the book doesn't cover what [caller/emailer] wanted it to cover and/or c) they have a problem with code on page 6 and wouldn't I just walk them through following the step-by-step directions personally because they bought my book ... well, it really made me a bitter, grudge-holding person against the entire high-tech industry and people in general. The misplaced sense of self-importance, the expectation that the dollar I get from their purchase of my book somehow gives them unfettered access to my personal time or the time of my co-workers, it just doesn't sit well with me. Not terribly rational, I know, but there it is. Trust me, I could go on...and on...and on. But I'll just leave it at that. I wish I had never written my first book, because if I hadn't written the first one I wouldn't have written the other ones, and I would have moved on from this place a loooong time ago.
8. One book you are currently reading?
Emerson: The Mind on Fire
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Heh. This is easy. Moby Dick. Seriously. I am the Worst. Americanist. Ever.
10. Now tag five people:
I tag...YOU, times five!
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