the book meme

Thinking about what to write next, I couldn’t decide and so I consider myself tagged by Julie Meloni of no fancy name.

1. One book that changed your life?
“The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. When somebody at a singer’s workshop told me about it, I thought, “Oh, another crappy, new age book. Why would anybody read this, let alone do those exercises?”. Immediately I went to the next bookshop and bought it. (Had to go to two bookshops, even.) I only read it, when I ran out of books to read on vacation, then I started doing the program. Now, seven years later, I’m still doing “morning pages” every day.

2. One book you have read more than once?
Very funny this one. The books on my shelves that I haven’t read more than once are mostly scientific ones. Since I’m currently housing about 900 books, everything not considered essential, classical or re-readable gets ferried to the library for its book sale. Books that I have read over and over include:

• all Lord Peter novels by Dorothy L. Sayers (started at the age of twelve with very bad translations, bought all of them in good German translations in the 80s, and consider buying them all again in English)
• all of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. Every time a new one comes out (that’s twice a year), I read that and then all of the old ones in chronological order.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Only one? I don’t know, the bible maybe, something lengthy with lots of stories.

4. One book that made you laugh?
I’ll pick one of the not so recent Terry Pratchett books with Maskerade. A book about opera, witches, and cats. Among others.

5. One book that made you cry?
The first book ever to make me cry was probably “Der Schut” by Karl May. (I just spent twenty minutes with goggle trying to determine the title of the hook, since it’s part of a series and I don’t own it.) There’s a scene, where the protagonist’s horse dies, that left me weeping when I was ten years old.

6. One book you wish had been written?
I wish the last Harry Potter book had already come out, but I’ll have to wait.

7. One book you wish had never been written?
You know, it’s easy to avoid books you don’t like.

8. One book you are currently reading?
Um,

• “With a daughter’s eye. A memoir of Margaret Mead & Gregory Bateson” by Mary Catherine Bateson,
• “The Architecture of All Abundance: Seven Foundations to Prosperity” by Lenedra J. Carroll,
• “the history of early witchcraft” by Susan Greenwood, “the unmistakable touch of grace” by Cheryl Richardson,
• “Melody in Songwriting” by Jack Perricone,
• and the next novel waiting to be read is “Until I find you” by John Irving

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
“Thinking in jazz” by Paul F. Berliner (thick as a brick, with a lot of references).

10. Now tag five people:
Like Julie before me I tag…YOU, times five!

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