I've been tagged

(thanks for the challenge, Randa!)

1. One book that changed my life:

I can't honestly remember which book it was, but among the books that got me hooked on the joy of reading, were the Babar the Elephant series. I remember discovering that I could read on my own, when during our last summer in Finland, my best friend took me to the children's section of the library near our home in Helsinki. Being much too shy to get a card or even talk to anybody, I must have been a bit amusing to the librarians! I'd creep in, and head straight to the shelves of books in the children's section. I would take 10-12 books at a time off the shelves, put them on a table and start to read voraciously. One at a time, I read through all 10 or 12 books, then, bleary eyed, I'd put them back on the shelves and leave. Outside, I always spent several moments blinking to adjust my eyes to the brightness of the sunshine. I must have been reading a Finnish translation of L'Histoire de Babar and the other books in the series by Jean de Brunhoff . Recently, reading one of the Babar books to my Granddaughter, to my surprise, I couldn't find in it the sense of excitement and adventure I remembered from my childhood, but the joy of reading has remained.

2. One book I have read more than once:

I have re-read and re-read Ramona the Pest, by Beverly Cleary. The first time I read it to my children, I fell in love with Ramona! I guess I identified with Ramona, even as an adult, hahaha. She's so funny, but she isn't trying to be. Life just is surprising sometimes, even to someone earnestly expecting something exciting to happen!

3. One book I'd want to have on a desert island:

Oh, that's a hard one. I'll have to answer the other questions and come back to this one....
Well, let's see.... I most often re-read books for comfort when I'm feeling discouraged. How about Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, a book for artistic recovery. It was given to me on my 40th birthday, at a very difficult time in my life, by my best friend Fiona (bless you!).

4. One book that made me laugh:

For a while there, I couldn't get enough of English mystery writers of a certain era, and therefore stumbled upon Evelyn Waugh's Put Out More Flags.

5. One book that made me cry:

The Diary of Anne Frank, is just one. I'm of the opinion that the best books make you cry, and of those, there are many.

6. One book I wish had been written:

A big book with excellent photos and detailed schematic drawings of all kinds of beautiful garden designs, one that is so BIG it's always fresh and new and contains new ideas...an endlessly renewing book of new designs...

7. One book I wish had never been written:

Honestly? As much as I dislike some books, I can't bring myself to censorship. My daughters and I have a difference of opinion, for example, on Iyanla Vanzant...

8. One book I am currently reading:

The Road From Coorain, by Jill Ker Conway.

9. One book I have been meaning to read:

War and Peace ( embarrassed giggle) by Leo Tolstoy.

10. Now I am tagging 5 people to give us their answers to these bookish questions:
the other Kati , Pamela , Claire , Sigrun , and Jennifer & Ian (is it cheating to ask for two lists for the price of one?)