Word

1. One book that changed your life. The Bible...not! That's a pretty high threshold, but I would say "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. Suffering need not be pointless. You can choose to take something good from your worst moments. To a lesser extent, I could add Stephen Lewis' "Race Against Time", but not necessarily because of the content, which, although powerful, isn't as compelling as the passion of Lewis himself.

2. One book that you've read more than once. Well, obviously "Man's Search for Meaning", but also "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams" which made me a voracious reader again after I finished school and recovered from overexposure to words in books. I think I've reread many Mavis Gallant stories. There's probably many more that I can't think of right now.

3. One book that you would want on a deserted island. Geez. Um, well it would have to be something huge or I'd get bored really fast. How about the entire library? I suppose that if I had nothing but time, I might read the Bible. But I'd also want to read the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, etc. Definitely not "Don Quixote". I've been trying to read "The Rights Revolution" by Michael Ignatieff for years, but it's such a snooze...maybe the island would concentrate the mind.

4. One book that made you laugh. I went through an Erma Bombeck phase that brought forth many guffaws. Nowadays when I need a laugh I go for Augusten Burroughs. "Magical Thinking" is pretty good. You can also cheat and get a podcast on iTunes that's hilarious.

5. One book that made you cry. "The Russlander" by Sandra Birdsell.

6. One book that you wish had been written. The autobiographies of all my ancestors.

7. One book that you wish had never been written. Not a one. I think freedom of speech is that important. Although I've never read Mein Kampf I'm sure there's something we can learn from it.

8. One book that you are currently reading. "The Autobiography" by David Suzuki.

9. One book that you are meaning to read. Everything else. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross but I'm not in the right frame of mind yet. "The Custodian of Paradise" by Wayne Johnston - it just came out.