Book Meme

Since I never can disappoint Ben when he's expecting me to write something, I'll do the meme thing, too.

1. One book that has changed your life:
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand. My creative writing teacher/soccer coach in high school gave me his copy to read. This is the first book that got me interested in philosophy and politics and stirred my interest in fiction as something other than entertainment. But then it also ended up with me not writing for several years from being overly influenced by Ayn Rand. Always Coming Home (Le Guin) reminded me what kind of stories I like to write.

2. One book you have read more than once:
I read most books I like more than once. My favorite novel is Of Human Bondage (Maugham), which I hated when I finished reading it the first time because I hated the ending. But somehow my hate transmuted into love, so I read it again to see if I really did like the book. I've read it four times in all so far, which isn't much in terms of re-reading for me. I've read Alice in Wonderland over two dozen times, and books I probably don't want to admit to even more often than that.

3. One book you would want on a desert island:
Probably a short story anthology, like a Year's Best Fantasy, so I'd have some variety to choose from. Or maybe the Bible, because I'm never going to read it in-depth any other way.

4. One book that made you laugh:
Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding. Because there's so much truth in it. But generally I don't laugh much while reading.

5. One book that made you cry:
The Hundred Secret Senses, Amy Tan. It's much easier to make me cry than laugh in a book. Most romance novels have a tearjerker scene that will get my eyes watering.

6. One book you wish had been written:
The one with the secret instructions that tell me what I'm supposed to be doing with my life in order to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.

7. One book you wish had never been written:
War and Peace. At some point I got it into my head that I should read this book, but I've tried three times and I never get more than a third of the way through. I hate being defeated by a book.

8. One book you are currently reading:
I'm just finishing Lord of Light (Zelazny) and moving on to The Gospel of Corax (Paul Park).

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, (Susanna Clarke) has been sitting on my shelf for a year and a half now. Well, not actually on my shelf the entire time since I haven't had a bookshelf for most of the past year. But it went in the suitcase to China with me, and then to Santa Maria and San Francisco, and still it has not gotten read. Same with Ilium (Dan Simmons).

10. Tag five people:
I'll tag some people off-stage and see if they respond, lest I embarrass anyone (such as myself) in public.

UPDATE: Because many of the people I most dearly love actually use their time more productively than by blogging (which would explain why their story production rates are much higher than mine), I emailed them to get their responses to the book meme. Ian, David, and Nicole all responded to my pleas (you guys rock!), but because I am lame or possibly because I have been pushing pixels around for 10 hours a day, I hadn't gotten around to posting their responses. (Bad Tina!) I have now added them to the comments below.