Fatale Abstraction

tickersoid tagged me on the book meme, so here goes:
1. One book you have read more than once. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. A brilliant writer and conjurer of worlds. Even if some of his sentences do run 3 pages long. Believe it or not, even with my short attention span I manage to get wrapped up in his writing.
2. One book you would want on a desert Island: A tossup between the Florence King Reader and the Roald Dahl Omnibus. Both brilliant, funny, and endlessly entertaining. Then again, I might prefer "how to survive and live well on a desert Island for dummies." Chapters in this book would include manufacturing coconut wine, cultivating a kitchen garden, self-surgery and how to emulate all aspects of fresh beef using common island ingredients.
3. One book that made you laugh. Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady by Florence King. The story of Flo's genteel Southern Granny trying to mold our heroine into a proper Lady is filled with hilarity.
4. One book that made you cry. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Beautifully written. A slow starter that totally snuck up on me.
5. One book I wish I had written. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
6. One book I wish had never been written. The Koran. I don't think I need to 'splain you this one.
7. One book I am currently reading. Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell B.C. is a delight to read. Fun.
8. One book I have meant to read. The Penelopeiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus by Margaret Atwood This is the story of the Iliad but told from Penelope's perspective, the wife who stayed home and remained faithful until the very end after 15 or so years, and all this before the advent of cell phones or telegraph wires, or private investigative agencies.
9. One book that changed your life. um. Do magazines count? If so, then Fiber Arts magazine. Or Vogue. Or Dwell. Or Marie Claire Maison. Or, yeah, a book - Nigella Lawson's How To Be a Domestic Goddess.
10. I tag... LJ, Kim, Kelly, Fathairybastard, and anyone else who'd like to join in the fun.

Husband took me to Texas de Brazil tonight, which is ALWAYS a safe bet for wife-pleasin'. I drank a superb red zin with dinner called Leaping Frog from Napa Valley- and it was a glorious complement to all that delicious meat. Here's to the vegetarians of the world who leave more for us who know what to do with our carnivorous urges. TdB is a Churrascaria - (I THINK that's how it's spelled) which is a Brazilian steak house. All these young Brazilian guys in gauchos come around with big spits of meat and they give you whatever cut you want. Funny thing is that I have concluded that every one of these guys is walking around thinking "yeah, _I_ am the hot Brazilian gaucho here tonight."

Anyway, LOVE this food, had a grand time.

Finished up with a papaya ice cream. Not that I want to sashay over into the territory of huge oversharing, but this dessert has a --shall we say-- expedient effect on the digestive system. My recommendation is either don't linger after the papaya thing, or take it to go and eat it when you are already in your pajamas at home, or nude, or wearing just anything with an expandable waistband. Seriously. We've been home for hours and my stomach is still making sounds you would only expect to hear on the muppet show. Or from Yoda. And I'm not generally fragile in the digestive department... I'm just saying...