I’ve been tagged by Adrienne. This is going to be kind of embarrassing.

1. One book that changed your life?

I had a really hard time thinking of an answer to this question. Several books have contributed to my belief system, and some have been very important to me, but most of the time I seek out books that have to do with something I’m already interested in; they rarely blindside me.

But there is one that I could honestly say changed my life, and it’s not at all in the way it was supposed to. Sometime when I was a teenager, I read one of those execrable Chicken Soup for the Soul books that featured people’s encounters with angels. All of the people felt very touched by their experiences and strongly believed that they had met angels. But they were from various religious (and nonreligious) backgrounds, many of their beliefs conflicted, and a lot of the stories didn’t make much sense. It was like reading ghost stories. Clearly not all of these people could actually have encountered angels, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought all of the experiences were probably unreflective of objective reality. It sounds strange, but I think that was the first time I realized that people can strongly believe they have experiences that aren’t actually real. It was the start of a fine life as a skeptic.

2. One book you have read more than once?

I have four shelves of fiction in my living room, and I’ve read about half those books more than once. I’m a comfort reader. To pick one: Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card. I thought about trying to pick a longer or more substantive one, but I already know that this book makes a good companion. I first read it when I was spending a month in Munich, staying with a host family and studying with a class including hardly anyone I knew. I was lonely and homesick, and reading it took me away and kept me sane.

4. One book that made you cry?

Oh man, there are so many. I’ll say Watership Down. Animals get me every time.

5. One book that made you laugh?

Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. It’s really not at all similar to the stupid Steve Martin movie by the same name; it’s a memoir and it’s hilarious. I highly recommend looking for it.

6. One book you wish had been written?

How about a well-edited medical review book, free of typos and mistakes? Any subject, I’m not picky. I’m currently trying to study from the most popular pharmacology review (which I won’t name) and I am not impressed.

7. One book you wish had never been written?

Hm… Robin Cook should have stopped writing books a decade or so ago (or hired a better editor). Though the last one I read did provide fodder for mocking.

8. One book you are currently reading?

I’m partway through Neuromancer, by William Gibson. Not loving it, but what kind of geek would I be without reading it? Also Queen’s Ransom, by Fiona Buckley, third in a series of mysteries set in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Good cozy historical mystery; not demanding in any way, but well-written and with interesting period details.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?

Pride and Prejudice. And I really am going to finally read it now - I got a copy for my birthday (thanks sisters)! I’ll start it once I finish my mystery. And, uh, Robbins’s Pathology. We’ll see how that one goes.

I know I’m supposed to tag people but I don’t know who to pick. Sisters, you interested?

Posted by Amanda in Culture |