A book Meme

A Book Meme

I saw this over at Straight White Guy's, and I figured I'd give it a whirl.

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

Am I one of the books the firemen burn? To be honest, I would really rather not be a book in Fahrenheit 451, then. I'm allergic to fire.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

I was once taunted mercilessly for saying out loud that Psylocke of the X-Men was hot.

The last book you bought is:

I'm trying to refrain from buying anything, lately, using the excuse that I've got a single bookcase at home devoted solely to books I own but have not read. So it's been a little while.

I bought my mother a book for her birthday on how researcher Temple Grandin used her personal experience with and understanding of autism to understand animal communication. I think it's called Animals in Translation.

For myself...let me think....It's probably the book I'm trudging and tromping my way through called Beyond the Shadow of the Senators, and it's about the interplay between the Washington Senators and the Homestead Grays before the integration of baseball.

The last book you read:

Jon Stewart's Naked Pictures of Famous People. I'm thinking "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold" has moved onto my list of favorite short stories. I read that particular story three times. Funny stuff.

What are you currently reading?

The book about the Senators and Grays, which is slow going mostly because the writing is so spotty. It tends to get bogged down little details. And by bogged down, I mean entire chapters are devoted to items that could have been given a couple of paragraphs.

I'm a bullshitter. I smell similar work.

I'm also about to finish Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, his book about hiking the Appalachian Trail. It's one of those books that's been recommended several times. I've not been let down. It's an interesting read, and it's made me smile several times.

As a coincidence, a news story ran in the paper yesterday about 4 hikers needing to be rescued from the snow in the Smokies in the past day or so...they were hiking from Fontana Lake to Clingman's Dome along the AT and got stranded without proper provisions for the weather. Bryson and his hiking companion Stephen Katz spend a bit of time in the Smokies. Just one of those weird coincidences.

Five books you would take to a deserted island.

There is a question here. Do other people know that I am stuck on the island, and they can come get me in a couple of weeks?

In this case, I want:

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Confederacy of Dunces
The Stand
The Essential Harlan Ellison
Jim Bouton's Ball Four

Or am I stuck there until help comes?

Because as much as I like books, if I'm stuck there until help comes, I'm gonna want something that shows me what to eat, how to clean it, how to fix myself when I get hurt. At the very least, I want something large that I can burn for warmth.

How about a nice survival manual, a nice book on edible plants, and, say, three unabridged dictionaries. For fire.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why

We'll pass this one on to:

Sheila, because any time she talks about a book, it tends to end up on my "I might wanna read this" list.

Len, at Dark Bilious Vapors, because anytime I look at his site's title, I have to the urge to call into to work, saying I can't come in because I'm suffering from Dark Bilious Vapors.

Steven, because he locked his wife out of the house last night, and probably needs something to occupy his time.

And also, because I can't count, The Evil Hippy. Because he needs to update his site more.