OK, I've been away for a bit. My grandfather's on his deathbed (again... he keeps surprising us, but I doubt it will be long now), so I had to fly out west to be with the family. But I'm back now, surfing a new machine, and ready to go. So let's start with the stick.

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
OK, I still don't get this question, but I'm going to say Homer's Iliad the way it was meant to be--memorized (OK, maybe as an audiobook).

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Big time. Hardy's heroines Bathsheba and Tess. At least Bathsheba ended up with someone worthy (Gabriel Oak had the patience of a saint, though), but poor Tess.

The last book you bought is:
Running: Start to Finish, by John Stanton

The last book you read:
Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge. Not one of Hardy’s best, IMO.

What are you currently reading?
Running: Start to Finish (not the book I hoped it would be)
Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond (excellent read, really well written)
North in the World: Selected Poems of Rolf Jacobsen (thanks, Aisha, for introducing me to this awsome poet)

Five books you would take to a deserted island:*
1- Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays (Library of America edition)
2- The Aubrey-Maturin series, by Patrick O'Brian (OK, this is 20 books. So sue me.)
3- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
4- Watership Down, by Richard Adams
5- Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy

*Not necessarily in this order; I reserve the right to edit this list at any time.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why? --

I'm going to toss the sticks in the air and let them fall where they may. If you haven't had the stick passed to you, consider it done.