Wednesday, April 06, 2005

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.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw this meme (okay, I had never heard that term before either) over at Rosina/Sara's blog; I'm always curious about what people read, so I'm glad you decided to play! Maybe your nonblogger friends can answer in the comments section?

Anonymous said...

I'm honored that you've asked me to play. I'll be back soon with my answers.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I'm reading, Kate, now that I've actually figured out where you're at. (I had it bookmarked, but for some reason it always took me to the posting that was up the date that I bookmarked it, so I thought, hmm, Kate's not blogging much these days. Geez.) Anyway, I'm honored by the invitation. I'll consider the questions -- though is it OK that I've never read Fahrenheit 451?

Anonymous said...

Ok, Kate, thanks for the tag! I will think and get back to you as well.

Anonymous said...

OK, here are my answers:

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
OLD SCHOOL by Tobias Wolff (I would gladly endure the prep school environment to inhabit this narrator's [aka TW's] consciousness


The last book you bought is:
THE COLLECTED STORIES OF RICHARD BAUSCH (a steal for $8.25 at Afterwords--and that's a hardcover price)

The last book you read:
BLINDESS (since then, I've been jumping from short story collection to short story collection--Bausch, Jim Shepard, William Trevor and Alice Munro have been on my list).

What are you currently reading:
HELLO TO THE CANNIBALS by Richard Bausch (I just can't get enough of Bausch these days, though I'm not enjoying his novel as much as his stories)

Five books you would take to a deserted island:
1) The Collected Stories of William Trevor
2) Andrea Barrett's SHIP FEVER
3) Tobias Wolff's THE NIGHT IN QUESTION
4) The Collected Stories of Anton Chekhov (I don't always fall in love with his stories but I always find new meanings in them, so they'd be endlessly entertaining)
5) OED

Kate said...

Based on Ami's enthusiasm (and excellent taste in fiction) I clearly need to give Richard Bausch another try. The only book of his that I tried to read was Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea. I couldn't get into it. Maybe I need to try his short stories since you like them so much, Ami. I'm also intrigued by the description of Hello to the Cannibals.

Anonymous said...

I'll pick out my favorite collection for you (we could do a swap--Gourmet for Bausch).