I'm It!

I got book tagged by Atheist Jew. (Damn you, Atheist Jew!!!) Truth be told, I don't mind. It's fun -- and it made me remember how many books have meant so much to me over the years. I'm sure, as soon as I post this, I'll remember other answers I could have given, but these are what came to mind:
A book that changed my life - In grade nine, we read On the Beach, by Nevil Shute. I found it devastating. I couldn't sleep for days. I finally talked to my father about it. I must have been visibly upset, because my father -- who did not have a fatherly bone in his body and who was positively, absolutely emotionally retarded and obtuse -- actually spent three minutes telling me not to worry and that there wouldn't be a nuclear war. (One of my mean brothers told me there probably would be a nuclear war and the best I could hope for was that a bomb would land right on our house so I'd die instantly.) Around the same time I read Andersonville, by McKinlay Kantor. It was about a million pages long (okay, 800), and extremely upsetting. But between it and Shute's book, I became aware of, and passionately interested in the world outside little Canada. I realized there were "good" and "bad" guys -- not black and white versions of good and bad, but realistic versions. I understood that there were things worth fighting for, and the good guys, however flawed, represented those things and would fight for them.
A book I've read more than once - Oh, so many. But As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, Gore Vidal's Kalki, Dubliners, by James Joyce and James Agee's A Death in the Family. (Christina Spencer, my old editor at the Citizen, told me once, in a snippy email, "You write too much about death! Readers don't like that!" I emailed back that I was Norwegian, what did she expect?)
A book I would take with me if I were stuck on a desert island - If I could find one called, How to Make a Boat from Banana Peels and Seashells, that would be my choice. Failing that, the Collected Poetry of Wallace Stevens, and/or the Complete William Shakespeare. (Then I could read the plays I've never read...and that I am fairly certain no one has ever read, like Troilus and Cressida, or Coriolanus.)
A book that made me laugh - Both Bridget Jones books.
A book that made me cry - George and Joy Adamson's (no relation, sadly) Born Free books, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure (which didn't just make me cry, it made me stay after English class and talk/cry to Mrs. Christensen, my grade eleven lit teacher, for hours), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers, and My Cat Saved my Life, by Phillip Schreibman. The latter is so lovely and amazing I am going to publicize where you can buy it. (Schreibman once read at an ACR benefit for us. He was a huge hit with the crowd.)
A book I wish had been written - The 100% Scientifically Proven Way to Successfully Navigate a Healthy Relationship with a Member of the Male Species, by the Rare Woman who has Done so.
A book I wish had never been written - I'm tempted to say the New Testament, but then there would be no 1 Corinthians 13, and what would I roll my eyes over, at weddings? Also, Jesus said a lot of great stuff. (Too bad none of us follow his words.) So I'll stick with the obvious -- Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, Mein Kampf, et cetera.
A book I'm currently reading - On Hitler's Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood, by Irmgard A. Hunt, Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing, by Lee Server and Through Animals' Eyes: True Stories from a Wildlife Sanctuary, by Lynn Marie Cuny.
A book I've been meaning to read - Joyce's Ulysses. I've been meaning to read it forever. I know a lot about it. I get most of the references. I celebrate Bloomsday. But I've never read it. I'm convinced Joyce never even read it. I think the only person who ever read Ulysses is my brother.
What turned me onto fiction - Being brought up by readers. Growing up in a house full of books, all kinds -- lowbrow, highbrow and everything in between.
Who do I tag - I will only bother to tag people who will do the tag! That means I'm limited...to my brother, Mr. Eclectic and Ray. These three guys are all really clever and highbrow, so will have better answers than me. (Plus, Ray writes books.)