A Book Meme

I'm in my annual February Frenzy, and when that happens, one of the first things to go is my blogging. I only have so much mental energy, you know? I really admire people who can keep it going day after day... maybe it's because they're better at small talk than I am. Anyhoo... I thought I could at least redeem myself with a meme. I was tagged by Karen about a million years (or a couple of weeks) ago, and I thought, "How hard can this be??" Here are the rules:

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence
3. Post the text of the following three sentences.
4. Name the author and book title.
5. Tag three other people to do the same

Since I am surrounded by books almost anywhere I go in my house, step 1 should be easy enough... the problem is which book is actually closest? I choose a book and open to page 123, find the fourth sentence... Ten thousand troops broke and ran; within 10 minutes, half that number were dying, writhing in pain. Yikes! It goes on to describe the chemical warfare (chlorine gas in this case) that was used in WWI. (The Complete Idiot's Guide to 20th Century History by Alan Axelrod) Let's find another book...

Next book, page 123, fourth sentence: The Erythraean Sibyl lived in the town of Erythrae in Ionia (in what is now southwest Turkey). There were many others, such as, for instance, the Egyptian Sibyl. (Sister Wendy's Story of Painting by Sister Wendy Beckett) Ugh.

Things are not looking good here... I am passing up Scholastic Children's Dictionary, US History Little Books Famous People, another history text, War, Peace and All That Jazz, and Sew Any Fabric. And a phone book. Cheating slightly, I grab the top book off the book shelf against the opposite wall and read: George enlisted on his eighteenth birthday, June 12, 1942. "I was a scared, nervous kid," he recalled. He was ordered to report for training in North Carolina two months later. Prescott Bush saw his son off at New York's Penn Station.

Not terribly interesting sentences, but I really enjoyed the book: Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley, about the naval aviators who fought in the Pacific during WWII. Very interesting if you like that sort of thing. I admit it... I am a geek :-).

Maybe you'll have better luck with Janice, Sara, or Lisa.
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American Idol tonight and a school matinee performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tomorrow with the kids!