It's 6pm and I've got two more hours of work
So here's one of those list things:
1. A book that changed your life.
Sarah Vowell's The Partly Cloudy Patriot. I guess it didn't change my life, but it was comforting to read something written by a person so much like me. It made me feel like less of an oddball, or perhaps helped me to embrace my idiosyncrasies and become a bit more confident/less embarrassed by the offbeat things that make me happy (most recently? fun facts about the giant squid! I'm not kidding).
Another one, maybe, is Studs Terkel's Working. It convinced me that there is no such thing as a dream job - everyone hates something about what they do, so it's best to pick a job that allows enough free time to engage in those extracurricular pursuits that make you truly fulfilled.
2. A book you’ve read more than once.
Lord, I've read a TON of books more than once. If I like it, I'll probably read it again.
3. A book you’d want on a desert island.
We just played this game at work, but we got to pick 5. I chose The Merck Manual of the Materia Medica, The Guide to Edible Plants and Animals, The Arts of the Sailor by Hervey Garrett Smith, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, and Complete and Utter Failure by Neil Steinberg. The last two because I enjoy and re-read them a lot, the first three both because they'd be useful and because I enjoy reading them. I liked K's ideas of the Bible and the dictionary, but Mary's choices of a book about genocide and an econ textbook left me cold. :)
4. A book that made you giddy.
Giddy? I dunno. Maybe Assassination Vacation or Lamb.
5. A book you wish had been written.
The Secret to Getting a Museum Job in a Town Where You Have No Contacts, or maybe How to Kick the Illegal Squatter Out of Your Apartment Quickly So You Can Move In Already
6. A book that wracked you with sobs.
A picture book called Whoever You Are. Mom and I read it in Target and both started crying in the middle of the store. We bought it for Maddy. :) Ox-Cart Man also makes me cry a bit when the man sells his ox and kisses her on the nose to say goodbye.
7. A book you wish had never been written.
I'd say Crime and Punishment, since I hated reading it so much in high school, but I have a feeling I'd enjoy it if I reread it now. I guess I'd pick something exploitative, or a book that convinced a lot of people to believe in an idea that was harmful to others. Like "The Joy of Eugenics" or something.
8. A book you are currently reading.
Studs Terkel's Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession
9. A book you’ve been meaning to read.
I've got Freak Show and Muriel Spark's Girls of Slender Means out of the library right now. I've been meaning to read Life of Pi for awhile now, too.
1. A book that changed your life.
Sarah Vowell's The Partly Cloudy Patriot. I guess it didn't change my life, but it was comforting to read something written by a person so much like me. It made me feel like less of an oddball, or perhaps helped me to embrace my idiosyncrasies and become a bit more confident/less embarrassed by the offbeat things that make me happy (most recently? fun facts about the giant squid! I'm not kidding).
Another one, maybe, is Studs Terkel's Working. It convinced me that there is no such thing as a dream job - everyone hates something about what they do, so it's best to pick a job that allows enough free time to engage in those extracurricular pursuits that make you truly fulfilled.
2. A book you’ve read more than once.
Lord, I've read a TON of books more than once. If I like it, I'll probably read it again.
3. A book you’d want on a desert island.
We just played this game at work, but we got to pick 5. I chose The Merck Manual of the Materia Medica, The Guide to Edible Plants and Animals, The Arts of the Sailor by Hervey Garrett Smith, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, and Complete and Utter Failure by Neil Steinberg. The last two because I enjoy and re-read them a lot, the first three both because they'd be useful and because I enjoy reading them. I liked K's ideas of the Bible and the dictionary, but Mary's choices of a book about genocide and an econ textbook left me cold. :)
4. A book that made you giddy.
Giddy? I dunno. Maybe Assassination Vacation or Lamb.
5. A book you wish had been written.
The Secret to Getting a Museum Job in a Town Where You Have No Contacts, or maybe How to Kick the Illegal Squatter Out of Your Apartment Quickly So You Can Move In Already
6. A book that wracked you with sobs.
A picture book called Whoever You Are. Mom and I read it in Target and both started crying in the middle of the store. We bought it for Maddy. :) Ox-Cart Man also makes me cry a bit when the man sells his ox and kisses her on the nose to say goodbye.
7. A book you wish had never been written.
I'd say Crime and Punishment, since I hated reading it so much in high school, but I have a feeling I'd enjoy it if I reread it now. I guess I'd pick something exploitative, or a book that convinced a lot of people to believe in an idea that was harmful to others. Like "The Joy of Eugenics" or something.
8. A book you are currently reading.
Studs Terkel's Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession
9. A book you’ve been meaning to read.
I've got Freak Show and Muriel Spark's Girls of Slender Means out of the library right now. I've been meaning to read Life of Pi for awhile now, too.
posted by ekrobi at 6:07 PM
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