Manic Monday

(Link in meme-roll)

Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes?

I've read SO MANY books in my lifetime...thousands. Many of them have changed the way I look at things. Two that changed the way I look at reading were Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights. I grew up with books I couldn't put down, but they were primarily 'modern' books; the Brontes rocked my world with their 100+ year old 'modernity' when I read them both in college. Another big one was The Book of Ruth.

Name one book you had to read but hated, and explain why you hated it.

My high school English class outright refused, as a group, to read Cry, the Beloved Country after about 3 chapters: too far outside our range of experience. I never finished Moby Dick (after reading over 1000 pages), or Gone With the Wind (same scenario); the former was just dead boring and the latter was stupid. I crapped out of Grapes of Wrath as well because of the chapters between the 'action' bits about the laaaannnnddddd....omg, shoot me! I also never finished The Deerslayer (nottthiiinnnnggggg happpennnnnssss). That's just the Lit-ruh-chuh. I've thrown back innumerable books written more recently; No Patience With Boring. I need plot, or at least decent characterizations.

If you could pick a book you’ve read to make into a movie, which one would you choose?

I would love to see the Jasper Fforde "Thursday Next" series on film because, frankly, I fear it's undoable. Maybe Terry Gilliam...or Tim Burton. But otherwise, yeah, unlikely but fun as hell to try!