I'm only a week late on this, but I answer the questions:

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to save?

Yeah, um. Right. Uh, Okay, yeah, I didn't read that. But, if I were to save any book it would probably be Harriet The Spy. It was the only modern kids book that truly got what childhood isolation feels like. Plus, it was a little bit bitchy in a good way.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

I had a bit of a crush on Henry from The Time Traveler's Wife...until I found out that Ethan Stupid Hawke or Brad Pitt might play Henry in the movie version. I don't think so. If I had to chose between the two, I think Pitt does edgy better, but really, neither are quite the Henry I had in mind. Maybe Wes Bentley? Anyway, why does there always have to be a movie version?

The last book you bought is?

I don't buy many books - I'm a library kinda gal. However, I did buy a cool book about the Tour de France for Kenny for his birthday.

What are you currently reading and do you like it so far?

I just last night finished The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll which is a case study on what happens when people who shouldn't have kids do it anyway. Very sad and completely fascinating, especially since I remember really digging The Lonely Doll when I was a kid.

I'm also reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell which is excellent. It's like Harry Potter all grown up and it has these massive footnotes that are a story-within-a-story. Also, it's really long, so I can get totally sucked in. I like it a lot, even if it does weigh 20 pounds.

Five books you would take to a deserted island.

1. A survival manual (duh). My stepmother had some of these and I used to love to read them when I was a kid. Helpful stuff.

2. A giant atlas. I like maps.

3. The Life of Pi, because it's beautiful

4. A novel that's really long and involved and would take a lot of reading to figure out all the symbolism, but it also has to be really interesting and not too depressing

5. American Album - it's a book (maybe a Time-Life dealy?) that's full of old photographs. I loved it when I was young and have been stalking it on eBay. It's out of print.

Ha, you know what cracks me up? The reader reviews on Amazon.com. Those people either take themselves way too seriously or they're practically illiterate and really didn't understand what they read. I like to click on "this review was NOT helpful" when someone gives a negative review to a great book. Example:

Reviewer: L.L. (Austin,TX.) - Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
I should have known something was up when my daughter-in-law said, "hear, read this book!". He tone was uncharacteristically challenging. I struggled to finish this tedious tome. It simply wasn't fun, and I didn't like the characters. DRY!

Hear, read this book! Ha. But what do I know? I thought The DaVinci Code was poorly-written trash. Have a BLESSED* WEEKEND, monkeys!

*I jest. But not about The DaVinci Code. And, lo! As a parting gift, I give you what might be the best Janet review, like, EVER:

Trouble at the Pizza Place

4 chatty monkeys