tagged!

Uh oh! I've been memed by a fire ant I must say, it's nice to be included. To any of you who are new to my blog, welcome. Hope you will find food for your brain and maybe a chuckle or two. If not, then I'll certainly try again.

Here are the questions Eric forwarded and my answers...

1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be? "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco which includes a couple of burnings, though not of books. Incidentally, if you permute the letters of Mr. Eco's first and last name in just the right way you get the anagram "Rectum Oboe." Not sure I'd want to attend that recital.

2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? No, though given my track record at crushes it probably would have worked out better if I had.

3. The last book you bought was...? "Waxwings" by Jonathan Raban. I'm a fan. Check out his "Bad Land" and "Hunting Mr. Heartbreak" and especially "Passage to Juneau."

4. The last book you read was...? Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, which was not as interesting as I had hoped. Yes, pretty much every woman who saw me reading the book asked me why. Read this blog long enough and you'll probably find out.

5. What are you currently reading? The Confusion by Neal Stephenson. Second in his Baroque Cycle, which I blogged on a few days ago. Also The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon. Excellent, and heartbreaking at times.

6. Five books you would take to a desert island...
I have been to Aruba which is like a desert island. Here are the books I would take if I ever go back...
6.1. The Gospel of John, because I love it and you get 65 other really great books with it.
6.2. Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller for the quality of the writing and the message.
6.3. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry because it's long and good and packed with great insights about human beings. If that wasn't available I'd take A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving for the same reasons.
6.4. In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen. The best book on leadership from a Christian perspective, and you can read it cover to cover in about 60 minutes. Of course if my desert island was also deserted I guess there wouldn't be anyone else there to be in community with, which would make it impossible to apply one of Nouwen's main points. Oh well, I'd still want this one.
6.5. Can this count as one? The Lord of The Rings, all three. I guess you can buy it in a single bound volume now so, yes, let's go with this one. The last line of the third book is maybe my favorite ending of any book; so good it's worth reading the entire trilogy to get there. I'm not ashamed to say I wept for 15 minutes the first time I finished.

Who are you passing this stick on to and why? I'm passing this stick to my old friend and current colleague (boss, to be exact) Will at fishdance waves. I think I'll also see if I can scare up Megan at quiethere.com -- though I'll have to find a way to let her know since I don't think she's aware of the existence of my blog yet.

Thank you to Eric for the shout out, for graciously instructing me in meme response, and for introducing me around blogdom.

Peace.