Books!

I've been tagged by the lovely Liz, and it's a topic dear to my heart so I will happily play along.

One book that changed your life: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I started reading this knowing that it was considered a Great and Important Book. It was the first such book that made me realize that Great and Important Books don't have to be stiff, inaccessible, overly cerebral, or depressing. "But," you will say, "Catcher in the Rye IS depressing!" And I will say, no. It is fundamentally sad, but not depressing. It is beautifully sad. It doesn't wrench my heart now the same way it did when I was seventeen (and I've heard it theorized that if you don't read it when you're seventeen, it never packs the same punch), but it reminds me that at its best, fiction writing reflects the rawness of being alive in a way that non-fiction, somewhat ironically, just can't.


One book you have read more than once: Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum. I first read this as part of a fabulous sociology course in college, and it was the most honest and striking discussion of race issues that I had ever encountered. (If you're reading this and you've ever used the phrase "reverse racism" or remarked, wide-eyed, that "white people are going to be the new minority before we know it!" please read the book. Pretty please.) I read it again recently after a conversation with a friend reminded me that when you're a parent it's not enough to be "not racist"; the really important example is to be actively anti-racist.


One book you would want on a desert island: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Oh Bill Bryson, how I love thee (more on that later). Bryson does what I want to do: he writes about science, sometimes highly complex science, in a journalistic, fun, but still very brainy style. This book covers everything from the Big Bang to animal and plant diversity to the dawn of human society. It is delicious, but I've never read it from cover to cover in order; I just keep it by my bed and read snippets whenever I feel like it, and no matter where I start, it grabs me and makes me marvel at the beautiful intricacies of the universe.



One book that made you laugh: The Truth (with Jokes) by Al Franken. Franken actually makes me laugh out loud. Very very loud. I want to memorize snippets of his books and recite them to every person I meet.



One book that made you cry: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. When you read this book, you have to know what's coming, but it doesn't matter. I cried like a baby, and I didn't mind. I think I read it all again right away just to have such a pure and unabashed cry-fest.


One book you wish you had written: A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson. Seriously, every single time I read one sentence of this book, the first thing I think is, "Man, I so wish I had written this book!" First of all, the process began by going to Georgia to start hiking the Appalachian trail. I could stop there and still have a jealous fire in my soul for Bryson. But then, he got to spend months researching the history of the trail and the region (hello, my most favorite place on earth!). And finally, he got to write it all up fueled by the genius and wit that is Bill Bryson's brain. Which is where the real jealousy comes in.


One book you are currently reading: Babycatcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent. I haven't gotten to the part where she becomes a midwife just yet (she's still an L&D nurse and Lamaze instructor at a huge hospital), but so far, so good. Vincent has a medical background and a decidedly non-crunchy perspective on birthing, which is really refreshing and intriguing, as much of the midwifery literature I've come across is pretty unscientific (on purpose, and that's fine, but I know from my experience at the Birth Center that there is another side to the midwifery coin, and I think this book will come pretty close to that perspective).



One book you are meaning to read: The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. Eric got me this for Christmas a year ago, and I know it will be good, and I want to read it, and as soon as I get over the fact that it's long, I will.



Because I know she will enjoy this homework assignment, and because she needs to blog more, I tag my dear mother. (Anyone else is free to answer, but I'm only going to pester my mom.)