Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

Tag, I'm it.

Ted has passed a meme my way, which I appreciate, because I am a little short on ideas myself today. It's a book one:

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
I had to think about this for a bit. I assume it means which book would I want to memorize for posterity, not which book I'd burn? The Great Gatsby.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

I can't say that I have. I'm trying to think of who might have even had crush potential...maybe Meyer, Travis McGee's economist buddy from the John D. MacDonald books. Or Phillip Marlowe. Oh, I know: Nick Charles! But I'd hate to steal him from Nora.

The last book you bought is:

According to my Amazon records, there were three in my last order:

Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are By Robin Robertson (Only tried one so far, but it was gooood.)

Inside the FDA: The Business and Politics Behind the Drugs We Take and the Food We Eat by Fran Hawthorne (I was a bit apprehensive about this, expecting it to be kinda muckraking, but it was actually pretty even-handed. I recommend it.)

The Boys of Winter : The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team by Wayne Coffey (Yeah, yeah, I'm stuck in the past. And it wasn't really the untold story. But it was a great book to use up a few bed-ridden hours last week.)

The last book you read:

Watership Down by Richard Adams. (It was a re-read, but the last time was a good twenty years ago. And I like kids' animal allegories.)

What are you currently reading?

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I didn't get it finished during my sick week. I may never finish it.

Five books you would take to a deserted island.

This is tough. My five favorite books? I'm not even sure what they are. Keeping in mind the cartoon I linked to the other day, I'm inclined to go for practical, like a field survival guide or something. Or maybe I should just take Les Miserables and finally get it done.

Ok, my five:

The Bible. This is probably a funny choice considering that I've pretty much rejected the idea of being Christian, but the Bible has a lot going for it...lots of characters, lots of stories, some poetry. And in case I'm wrong on the whole religion thing, perhaps the Big Guy would look kindly on me because of it.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Another classic I have never read, and it seems situationally appropriate. I like to read books that match the terrain: when I lived down south I started reading Faulkner. I took Studs Terkel on trips to Chicago.

The Norton Anthology of English Literature. I'm going for volume.

If I had to pick one favorite, it would be The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck. (And it's time for my annual re-reading of that, too.)

And um...um...ok, I'll just pick the last one quick: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

I'd also want paper and a pen so I could write my own book.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

Victor and Mama Karen, because I know them in real life and sometimes they do things I ask them to do. And...I don't know a third. I'll thow it out to anyone reading this, like a GMail invitation. Wanna pick up the meme? It's yours!

--

Posted by Nic at March 22, 2005 07:26 PM