« Too many books! | Main | I hate my fucking landlord. »
March 16, 2000
Spring fever!!
It's way too nice outside for me to be sitting here in a dark, stuffy library. There aren't even any windows we can open. It's close to seventy degrees outside, with a nice warm wind. Of course, tomorrow it will be in the thirties, with bitter cold wind chills and snow...
I got an email from Nancy, asking a fun question -- What five books would you bring with you to a desert island? I don't think I could pick just five -- I'd want to haul my entire bookcase with me. But if I had to choose, I think I would pick:
At least one Douglas Coupland book. Microserfs is my current favorite, but Miss Wyoming is very good so far.
Even though I just finished it, I expect to read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius a few more times. It's a fantastic book, and I'm sure there is plenty that I missed during my first reading of it.
Travelling Mercies by Anne Lamott. It's hard to pick just one of her books, but this one is my favorite, so far.
A guilty pleasure -- The Stand by Stephen King. He's good for pure escapist reading -- I reread this one whenever I just want to be entertained. But then, The Haunting by Shirley Jackson still scared the socks off me, even though I've read it about a dozen times. So maybe I'd take it, instead.
And the fifth... hmm... I'd have to pick A Prayer for Owen Meany. I like John Irving a lot. And the ending of this book made me cry -- on the subway, even. I got some funny looks on that commute.
I'm really a creature of habit -- I find books that I really like, and I read them over and over again. The true test of a book, for me, is whether I can read it half a dozen times without its losing its impact on me. The books that I cave in and buy are usually the ones that I have read a few times without getting bored. I'm not the kind of girl who can walk into a bookstore and buy a book I haven't read before, unless I know I like the author. I'm not very adventurous that way.
So what books would you take to a desert island? email me and tell me.
Posted by Mary Ellen at March 16, 2000 11:51 AM