A Reading Meme

darklight90

Nov. 20th, 2011 06:49 pm (UTC)

1. One book that changed your life?
Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block

2. One book you have read more than once?
Nine Minutes by Jodi Picoult

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

4. One book that made you laugh?
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Graveyard by Carl Muller

5. One book that made you cry?
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

6. One book you wish had been written?
A Harry Potter prequel

7. One book you wish had never had been written?
Twilight, naturally

8. One book you are currently reading?
Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

lunarkissed

Nov. 20th, 2011 11:44 pm (UTC)

Couldn't agree with you more on #7.

darklight90

Nov. 21st, 2011 08:35 am (UTC)

Who wouldn't? XD

swansong1315

Nov. 21st, 2011 10:18 am (UTC)

I agree twilight should have never been written lol

darklight90

Nov. 21st, 2011 11:59 am (UTC)

It would have saved us a lot of wank from vapid Cullen fan-girls if it hadn't XD

raven_moon

Nov. 21st, 2011 12:20 am (UTC)

1. One book that changed your life? - Many, but I'll go with A Handmaid's Tale.
2. One book you have read more than once? Nineteen Eighty-Four
3. One book you would want on a desert island? I contend that only allowing one is inhumane but I'll go for The Divine Comedy (No, that's not cheating!)
4. One book that made you laugh? A Year in Provence
5. One book that made you cry? The Family (Jeff Sharlett)
6. One book you wish had been written? The Complete Autobiography of Dante Alighieri
7. One book you wish had never had been written? The Bible
8. One book you are currently reading? Who Wrote the Gospels?
9. One book you have been meaning to read? Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages

swansong1315

Nov. 21st, 2011 10:17 am (UTC)

1. One book that changed your life?
"A Poet in Exile" by Ray Manzarek

2. One book you have read more than once?
"CASH" by Johnny Cash

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
"Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" by Fannie Flagg

4. One book that made you laugh?
"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
5. One book that made you cry?
"If I Stay" by Gayle Forman

6. One book you wish had been written?

7. One book you wish had never had been written? Twilight Saga lol sorry I'm so not a fan.

8. One book you are currently reading?
"Eyes of the Emperor " by Graham Salisbury

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
"The Pillars of the Earth" Ken Follett

Nov. 21st, 2011 02:43 pm (UTC)

1. The Women's Room by Marilyn French shaped a change in the lives & expectations of numberless women. (IMV books don't change lives - they cause us to do that for ourselves)
2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
3. No idea - impossible to choose
4. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
5. Sophie's Choice by William Styron
6. Pass
7. The Twilight series is utter dross, but not sure I wish any book 'never' written
8. Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

shaz_bananas

Nov. 23rd, 2011 06:59 pm (UTC)

What did you think of 'Sophie's Choice' if you don't mind my asking? I intend to read it next but keep getting put off by the length of it, is it a good read?

Nov. 24th, 2011 04:54 pm (UTC)

Hi - sorry for the delay & no, I don't mind at all :)

I thought about the book for a long time. It's one that stays with you long after it's over. And even the magnificent Meryl Streep, who played her in the film version, couldn't totally capture the complexity & tragedy of Sophie.

Sophie's Choice is in my view a work of staggering genius. It's beautiful & passionate & terribly sad. Wonderful writing & perfectly drawn characters. You will want it to be longer.

And I think I've talked myself into reading it again ;)

catyah

Nov. 21st, 2011 05:52 pm (UTC)

1. One book that changed your life?
"Carrie" by Stephen King. It turned me into a lifelong SK/horror fan.

2. One book you have read more than once?
Stephen King's "The Stand".

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
"Under the Dome" by Stephen King, maybe then I'd finally get around to reading it!

4. One book that made you laugh?
"The Complete Calvin & Hobbes Collection" by Bill Watterson.

5. One book that made you cry?
"Welcome to the Great Mysterious" by Lorna Landvik. It's totally my emotional release book. If I need to have a good hard cry, that one will do it, no matter how many times I've read it.

6. One book you wish had been written?
A book about what Anne Frank did with the rest of her life after surviving the concentration camps.

7. One book you wish had never had been written?
I've never read "Twilight", I just can't. But I don't know that there's any book... wait. "Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler.

8. One book you are currently reading?
"Nightwoods" by Charles Frazier

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Entirely too many to list. But one is "Pump Six and Other Stories" by Paolo Bacigalupi.

Nov. 24th, 2011 05:02 pm (UTC)

6. One book you wish had been written?
A book about what Anne Frank did with the rest of her life after surviving the concentration camps.

Is this a joke?

Anne Frank died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. She was sixteen.

catyah

Nov. 24th, 2011 05:11 pm (UTC)

No, that is not a joke, and yes, I do know about Anne Frank and the horrible way that she died. What I meant by my answer to question #6 was that I wished that she had survived the concentration camps and gone on to live a full life and write the book of how she survived and what she did with the rest of her life.

Nov. 24th, 2011 05:15 pm (UTC)

Oh right! I thought it was a bit odd! My mistake.
And yes, that would have been a good book to read.
If you are ever in Amsterdam (unless you've already been there) the Anne Frank House is worth visiting. Very moving experience.

catyah

Nov. 24th, 2011 05:29 pm (UTC)

Thanks for understanding, and thanks for asking. I've had experiences where people questioned something I've sad that seemed odd, and other times where they didn't question it and assumed the worst about me. I'd much rather have people ask and clear it up.

I would *love* to go to Amsterdam someday. A friend and her sister visited there last year, and she said the Anne Frank house was the most meaningful part of the trip.

Nov. 24th, 2011 05:35 pm (UTC)

You are very welcome. I like clarity - & being nice. It's even cheaper than cake ;)

Funny you brought this up - only yesterday I was misrepresented by someone on LJ because they made an assumption about me. The trouble with cyber space is so much gets lost in translation.

catyah

Nov. 24th, 2011 05:58 pm (UTC)

Absolutely right on the point about cyberspace -- so much is lost when you can't see the person's face or hear their tone of voice. More people need to keep that in mind before they go making assumptions (you know what they say about 'making an ASS of U and ME').

Short and to the point, more people need to remember to be nice. :-)

imagine_peace

Nov. 22nd, 2011 06:59 am (UTC)

1. One book that changed your life?
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

2. One book you have read more than once?
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

4. One book that made you laugh?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

5. One book that made you cry?
Marley and Me by John Groban

6. One book you wish had been written?
Not sure.... Persuasion by Jane Austen, maybe.

7. One book you wish had never had been written?
Can't think of one... Never really read a bad book. Twilight I suppose, though I haven't read it.

8. One book you are currently reading?
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
anything by Dickens. :)

shaz_bananas

Nov. 23rd, 2011 06:57 pm (UTC)

1. One book that changed your life?
Oranges are not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson.

2. One book you have read more than once?
The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegar.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
How to Escape a Desert Island. Haha, only kidding. One Day by David Nicholls.

4. One book that made you laugh?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Hilarious.

5. One book that made you cry?
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

6. One book you wish had been written?
A Harry Potter prequel, set during the First Wizarding War. I'd love to see what the Marauders and the Order of the Phoenix got up to.

7. One book you wish had never had been written?
Oh any of that vampire romance rubbish. I mean, what's the point in it?

8. One book you are currently reading?
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Sophie's Choice by William Styron

wcs53.wordpress.com

Nov. 25th, 2011 12:47 pm (UTC)

1. One book that changed your life?
'Pagan Christianity?' - Frank Viola/George Barna

2. One book you have read more than once?
'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
If I can't take my e-reader (with a solar charger), then it would be 'The Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'

4. One book that made you laugh?
'Stenwick Tales' - R.T. Johnston

5. One book that made you cry?
'An Unexpected Joy' - Mary Sharp

6. One book you wish had been written?
'101 Ways to Prevent Peter Jackson from Filming Any More Tolkien Books'

7. One book you wish had never had been written?
It's a tie between 'The Prayer of Jabez' and 'The Purpose-Driven Life'

8. One book you are currently reading?
'The Two Towers' - J.R.R. Tolkien

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
'In the First Circle' - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn