I Love Books

So, I totally stole this from someone that reads Collier's blog, and he tagged her, so now I'm doing it, even though no one tagged me. I'm not going to tag anyone either, because there are too many people I know who have blogs, so I think everyone who reads this, who also has their own, should do it.

Book that:

Changed my life?
The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, MD. My grandma bought it for me when I was 17. Or 18. Little did she know that it would kick-start my interest in psychology and (inadvertently) lead me to where I am today. Also, I learned a lot.


I've read more than once?
There are lots, but my favorite books are:
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (3 times)
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (2 times)
The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck (all the way through at least twice, and skimmed countless other times)
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (2 times)
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis (2 times)
The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis (3 times)
and some random others:
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (2 times, abridged and unabridged)
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (countless times in junior high!)


I'd want on a desert island?
Something about survival, but past that, probably Selected Stories by Andre Dubus.


Made me laugh?
Eighty-Sixed by David Feinberg. It's about AIDS. And hilarious. I know; but it's true.

Made me cry?
Honestly, I don't know that a book has ever made me cry, but some of them have made me incredibly sad and just look up from the page and stare at the wall for ages, comprehending their brevity of wisdom and pain. Three of those top ones are:
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (This, really, is my favorite book of all time.)
Another Country by James Baldwin (He, really, is my favorite author of all time.)
We the Living by Ayn Rand.


I wish had been written?
Well, a couple of weeks ago I finally found the book I've been searching for for years. It wasn't written until 2005. Hmph. If I hadn't found it, I would have written it eventually, but it's called The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the pain of growing up gay in a straight man's world by Alan Downs, PH.D.
Yeah, it's got a hokey title, but it's amazing, and incredibly smart. And I can think of a few people who should probably read it. Come to think of it, I cried reading this book. So I amend my answer to the last question, but I'm not going to actually change it.


I wish had never been written?
I think everything has its place, and it would be incredibly snobby of me to say something along the lines of anything by John Grisham or whatnot, so I'll go with one book that I know has been the scapegoat for horrific suffering in the world and that is The Elders of Zion, by whatever asshole that wrote it.

I'm currently reading?
I'm really schizophrenic when it comes to books, and I'll often pick something up, read part of it, then go to something else, read that, then come back to the first book, and so on and so on. I'll often also have several books going at once, so right now, what's lying next to my bed:
My Dark Places by James Ellroy, which I'm devouring at the moment.
In September the Light Changes, the Stories of Andrew Holleran, by, duh, Andrew Holleran.
One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate by Tom Segev.
The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.
Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin
The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway.


I've been meaning to read?
Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I've started this book, like, 3 times.