Chris Hardie's Blog

There's a book meme going around, and Eric has tagged me. As he says, "a meme is an idea that spreads...Meme ideas spread by imitation, by exact copying and inexact copying. Memes can be melodies, catch-phrases, stories, clothing fashions, and ways of making pots. Many memes spread unintentionally in the course of casual conversation and story-telling. Bloggers deliberately spread some memes as ways to inspire new posts."

So, here I am, answering the questions from this book meme:

1. One book that changed your life?

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Though I have since come to reject most of Rand's philosophy and writings, at the time it was an incredible eye-opening experience that taught me how to look at the world in new ways I hadn't even dreamt of as possible. That experience probably laid the groundwork for being able to digest and internalize other works that were life-changing AND that have stayed with me in terms of usefulness, like...(see next question).

2. One book you have read more than once?

Daniel Quinn's Ishmael.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, to help me keep my perspective.

4. One book that made you laugh?

Naked by David Sedaris.

5. One book that made you cry?

Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus.

6. One book you wish had been written?

How to Be a Reasonably Educated and Well Rounded Person Without Going Through High School

7. One book you wish had never had been written?

That one bestselling tome that so many people read and base so many life decisions on without really fully understanding what it's saying or why they should take it so seriously anyway.

8. One book you are currently reading?

Endgame by Derrick Jensen

9. One book you have been meaning to read?

The Woman and the Ape by Peter Hoeg

10. Now tag some other people.

Okay:

• Derric Watson
• E. Thomas Kemp
• Evan Agee
• Damon Hearne
• Justin Simoni