Book Tag

Tonya tagged me with this meme and because I love books and her, I decided to actually do this one. You will notice that in most cases, I don't have a single answer. That's because I rarely have a single answer to anything. (OK, I'm a Gemini) Anyhow, here's the book meme:


A book that changed my life
Letters from the Earth
by Mark Twain

I finally got it about religion. If Mark Twain thought it was stupid, it was OK for me to think it, too. I think it was from this book that I got the phrase that finally stopped my mother from bugging me about going to church: "I really don't think I have anything in common with a religous doctrine centered around ritualistic cannabilism."


A book I've read more than once
1) The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran

I just like reading these poems; no apologies.

2) Hardwired
by Walter Jon Williams

A hard-core cyberpunk SF thriller with sex, drugs, computers and rock and roll that plays out as a movie in my head every time I read it.


A book I would take with me if I were stuck on a desert island
1) (see above)

2) U.S. Army Field Manual 3-05.70
by United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School

This is the U.S. Army's Survival guide. 'Nuff said.

3) All the cyberpunk novels
by William Gibson


A book that made me laugh
1) Semi-Tough
by Dan Jenkins

I don't remember much specifically about this book other than that I laughed my ass off the whole time I was reading it.

2) When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
by George Carlin

Actually, anything by George Carlin makes me laugh.


A book that made me cry
1) Lovely Bones
by Alice Sebold

2) Desirelines: A unusual family memoir
by Richard Wherrett and Peter Wherrett

I will confess that Peter is a very good friend of mine and that I once read the really sad part of the book aloud to a small crowd in our hotel room in Atlanta because Peter couldn't.


A book that I wish had been written
My Autobiography
by Jack the Ripper


A book that I wish had never been written
Any book serving as the basis of a religion: the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, etc. Religion should be based strictly on oral storytelling and tradition. That way there's room for immediate adaptation and flexibility; there's no way someone can point to a page and say, "See! THIS is what it unchangingly says you are supposed to do."


A book I've been meaning to read
A Life Less Convenient: Letters to my Ex
by Jennifer Clare Burke

As soon as it comes out (on September 18) and I scrape up 20 bucks, I'll be reading this one.


A book I'm currently reading
War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars
edited by Andrew Carrol



I'm not sure how many folks I'm supposed to tag with this but I'm tagging Jen, Denise and konagod.