Tag, you're it

Along the same lines as the interview blogging phenomenon, I have discovered from my friend and terrific blogger, Lynne, that there is a book "Tag" game going on. She tagged me as one of her required three book junkies, so here is my response to the questions:

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
I haven’t read Fahrenheit 451 since high school so I had to look this up to find out the rules. Apparently, “the main character joins an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.” I’ll choose a book that I’d love to have the opportunity to re-tell over and over to people: Charles Baxter’s First Light.

The last book you bought is:
I, too, am a library junkie. I usually buy books as gifts and I gave 3 people Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated this past year for Christmas. The year before I gave copies of Rosina Lippi’s Homestead. Those two were probably my favorite books of 2004 and 2003 respectively.

The last book you read:
I keep a running list with comments as a subset of this blog.

What are you currently reading:
The same link as above applies to in-progress books. I rarely have just one going because I need a selection of books that will suit whatever mood I’m in and the circumstances in which I’ll be reading.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:
I’m going to be uncharacteristically cheerful here and assume I would be rescued after a nice period of relaxation. So rather than stock up on the classics, I’d bring some books I’d like to re-read:

1. Michael Cunningham, The Hours
2. Esther Freud, Summer at Gaglow
3. Ron Hansen, Mariette in Ecstasy
4. Jane Mendelsohn, I Was Amelia Earhart
5. All of these are writers I admire and I want to learn from their craft, so I'm going to stretch the rules and make my fifth book my novel-in-progress Strange Animal. I'd also like a pen, if that's not too much to ask...

What three people will you pass the stick to, and why?
Well, that assumes that anyone is reading this blog…but what the heck. If any of them are reading this, I’d like to ask these questions of three of my writer friends Ami, Mary Jean and Sarah. They are all so perceptive about good writing and I’m hoping they’ll continue to share their insights with me.
As far as I know none of these folks have decided to occupy their spare moments by blogging, so they’ll just have to e-mail me with their answers. Sorry if this breaks the blogging trail of connectivity.