Book Tag

[wolf]

Okay, I've stolen this from another forum I read regularly. It's one of those questionnaire dealies, but no stupid crap like "Have you ever been in love?" "What's on your mousepad?" "Are you wearing lacy underwear?"

This one is about books.

Total number of books I've owned: Thousands. Impossible to count, they tend to move around a lot, and unlike sheep, I can't just count the legs and divide by four. I sometimes joke about being competition for the Library of Congress. At least I hope its a joke. I know I have better stuff than the local library, because if I didn't, I'd go there.

Last book I bought: A quick check of my Amazon.com receipts tells me that it was Two Trains Running, a novel by Andrew Vachss. This book has not yet been published and I'm still waiting for it to be shipped. I'm big on preordering stuff. Amazon knows this and reminds me when my favorite authors come up with new books.

I also recently bought and received the first six volumes of Frank Miller's Sin City Graphic Novels, as well as three books by Chuck Palahniuk, the Author of Fight Club.

Last book I read: According to "The List" (for whatever reason when I graduated college I started keeping a list of every book I had read. I continue to do this. I have been out of college for 22 years) my last completed book was Fit from Within by Victoria Moran and also Stranger than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk.


Five books that mean a lot to me:

This is a much harder question than I thought when I read it ... Every book that I have read has touched me in some way, or at least left it's mark.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - This is a book that my father read to me as I was recuperating from a compound fracture and dislocated shoulder as a first grader (I broke my arm at school on the first day of school. Heck of a way to start an academic career). So, the book has a lot of family memories attached to it to begin with, and it's one heck of a fine story. I think it helped to established my very strong sense of right and wrong.

The Chronicles of Narnia - Okay, so it's a bunch of books. But they taught me about magic as a child. Childhoods need magic.

Black Beauty - Hmmm. These are mostly children's books ... does this mean that everything I really needed to know I learned in kindergarten, or that my literary choices as an adult are really, really shallow.

For me, comfort books are like comfort foods ... a preference established in childhood.

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid - This is one of my desert island books. I've read it a couple of times, and there is usually a point where my mind starts wandering just enough not to entirely get it. It might be time to search it out of it's hiding place in the closet and read it again. I have Hofstader's Metamathmagical Themas also.

The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Another of my desert island selections. I am endlessly fascinated with Arthur Conan Doyle's storytelling. Even though I know whodoneit, seeing Holmes get there is intruiging enough to keep me going back.

Beyond these, there are other books that I've read more than once ... a behavior, I notice, that was more common in childhood ... I've read Arthur Haley's Airport at least a half-dozen times, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury enough that I just might be able to choose it as MY book, same for many of the works of R.A. Heinlein.

All of these answers are subject to change without notice.

And I will admit to having left stuff out, lest you all think I'm some kind of a freak.

[Clodfobble]

Sure, I'll bite.

Total number of books I've owned: Uh, yeah. I have no clue. Currently we have three eight-foot-tall bookcases crammed full of books, maybe 800-1000 in all--and I'm really good about purging, I couldn't tell you how many I've sold or given to Goodwill.

Last Book I Bought: Books 5 and 6 of the Dark Tower series. I'm waiting for 7 to come out in trade paperback so they all match.

Last Book I Read: "Snow Crash," Neal Stephenson. But I'll be finishing "Diamond Age" again tonight.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

1.) "Diamond Age." It was the first book I can distinctly recall informing my opinions about child-rearing. I was blown away that an adult might agree with what I, as a teenager, thought about kids, and utterly fascinated with his methods of implementing certain lessons.

2.) "The Little Gymnast." Easily my favorite book from childhood. I know for a fact I read it more than 20 times because I started counting after awhile. I still have it on the shelf.

3.) "Lamb." I enjoyed this book more than any book I can ever remember.

4.) "Eyes of the Dragon." The introduction to this made special mention of how Stephen King wrote it for his young daughter, who didn't much like his horror novels. I dug the horror stuff too, but this was a great little fantasy tale that for some reason I still find myself recommending to people, so it must have affected me.

5.) Okay this is a series not a book, but I couldn't possibly pick just one. "The Pleiocene Exile" and its prequel series, "The Galactic Milieu." This uber-series taught me that I didn't hate sci-fi after all, and that in fact I liked some of it quite a lot.

[BigV]

Total number of books I've owned: Cannot count. Sorry. Many, many, many books. I have bought books for my own consumption, for gifts, for reference, by the pound, on a mission and on a whim. What's that aphorism about being broke but in the company of good books?? That's me. I was taught that you learn to read and then read to learn and I have never stopped either.

(wolf, thank you for an interesting and entertaining thread starter. I love this subject. But this question seems like a throwaway to me. I mean, who could care enough to respond that can actually count their books? I wonder who could count their books that would bother to respond... I just don't see much overlap NOT that I'm criticizing. I love to talk about books almost as much as I enjoy reading them.)

Last Book I Bought: How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth, an excellent tool for the interested reader. In it's pages I have learned the difference and the importance if exegesis and hermenutics. I guess that makes my Serendipity Bible, New International Version, the companion volume. :grin:

Last Book I Read: Grendel, by John Gardner. This slim paperback was on the summertime reading list for the high schoolers in the HouseofV. When MrsV found a copy at the local library's book sale for a buck, she bought it. I like to read what the kids are reading too, and I ate this one up.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

1. World Book Encyclopedia. We had a set of these treasures when I was in elementary school. I can remember pestering my Dad with questions about what's this and why is that, etc. He sent me to the encyclopedia many times. "Look it up" he said, and I did. But I was not a very good researcher. I was much more a traveller, a tourist. I can remember the excitement and anticipation of having to look up something starting with "S" because that was the fattest volume, and the reading was bound to be good. I knew how the topics were arranged alphabetically, but I never made it straight to my "goal" without reading some other entries along the way. God, what a big world out there, with all those coooool things in it. *sigh* (btw, I'm still that way, whether it's the dictionary or the internet.)
   
2. Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein. I found this book as a teenager. I picked it up because I'd been happy with the other science fiction books I'd been reading, and had never been disappointed by Heinlein, plus it had a couple of babes on the cover . But this story stands head and shoulders above the rest of that crowd, based on the human story. I was positively captivated by Lazarus Long, the 2,300 year old man. My FAVORITE parts of the work were the two intermissions where it was nothing but the pure distilled essence of wisdom of our hero. The "Notebooks of Lazarus Long" have molded my worldview more than any other book. I have given away more copies of this book than any other, out of pure proslyetizing joy.
   
3. The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I had read The Raven and The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart first, in school, and in a quest to slake my insatiable thirst for more, I spent my paper-route money on a single volume of his collected works. Hog heaven.
   
4. Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss. This childhood treat remains alive for me even today. Our youngest has grown past it, but not so long ago we read it at bedtime. Sometimes I'd read or he'd read or we'd read. I regard this book like a favorite song. I love it and I never mind reading/hearing it again. One of the funniest ways we found to play with this book was to read each page backwards. Of course, we did all the voices and dance steps, they were fun too. This book crystallizes the best family reading memories. It is unequalled.
   
5. The Bible Just as I have not completed my journey in my faith, my journey through this book is incomplete. I have found it to be a source of comfort, wisdom, and guidance. It has been a central pillar of my Dad's life. He died in 2001, and though he's gone, my veneration for him is not. Reading (his) Bible helps sustain that connection. I continue to learn from him through it.

I have an honorable mention list longer than this whole thread, too, but I don't think its publication would strip me of my freak status in the eyes of any who already think of me that way. Nevertheless, here are a few titles that could easily be on the short list: Dune, Frank Herbert; See You At The Top, Zig Ziglar; The Dark Tower series, Stephen King; Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis; Neuromancer, William Gibson; A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking. These are merely representative samples--I read a lot.

[kerosene]

Total number of books I've owned: I really just don't know...they have gotten lost, stolen, borrowed and recently we just got "access" to an immense library of various novels and information books most of which are Readers Digest condensed volumes. I couldn't give an even semi-accurate count.

Last Book I Bought: Some vintage (1940s?) school textbooks at an estate auction..most were about the history of the western United States

Last Book I Read: I needed to read a romance novel...as I had never read one. This one was called "Star" by Danielle Steel.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (I think that is the right spelling.) I read this book in the 4th grade at the suggestion of my "boyfriend" at the time. He was a big time nerd and I think this book taught me that I could enjoy nerdy things, like reading and not feel like a dork. I think it set the tone for the rest of my childhood, if you call it that. I really started enjoying books about this time in my life. I credit Brandon for that.

The Stand by Stephen King. I read the unedited version which was about 1200 or so pages. I read this entire book on a road trip with my family through about 25 states. I was about 14 and angsty. It was an escape from hours of musicless driving in the car whilst listening to my father rant and my brother annoy everyone. The book itself was really amazing to me at the time and was somewhat of a metaphor to the way I felt.
After The Stand, I started on the Dark Tower series, which I still haven't finished. I have The Wizard and the Glass, but I need to get all the others and reread the predecessors so I can get back into them again.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. I had never read anything like this. Vonnegut's style is so raw and almost like a diary. I was hooked. I have read several others of his books since, but Breakfast of Champions is really my favorite if his.

1984 by George Orwell. Wow. This book was painful for me. I read it a couple of years ago on an airplane to the Czech Republic. It definitely made a huge contribution to the cynicism that pervades my thoughts these days.

I cannot think of any others like that that really belong on this list. I have such strong emotions attached to these 4, that any other book on that list might look too much like filler.

Wolf, thanks for starting this thread!

[lookout123]

Total # of books owned: it sounds cliche now, but i seriously couldn't count them. i only keep my favorites and give the rest away. after one four month deployment years ago, i had to buy a new suitcase to get the books that i liked enough to keep, back to the states.

Last Book I bought: 1984 - read it (sort of) in school. decided to read it again a few weeks ago. the book is pissing me off.

Last book i read: ? currently reading 1984, Song of Susannah, A Generous Orthodoxy, See You At The Top, The Screwtape Letters, Storyselling for Financial Advisors. i have each book in a different location, i.e. gym bag, stationary bike, office, bedroom, home office.

Five books that mean a lot to me:

in no particular order...

1. THE STAND - just one of my all time favorite books.
2. The TAlisman/The Black House
3. The Gunslinger series
4. The Last of the Mohicans (and the rest of Natty books)
5. The Chronicles of Narnia

sorry there isn't deep there. the books that are most meaningful for me are the ones that entertain me. the ones that teach me go into a completely different category.

[warch]

I want to be more of a reader than I am. I dont keep books, I use the library if possible, or in circulation with friends. We have a book shelf here at work that people stock up. I own maybe 150 books.

Last book I bought and read " Under the Banner of Heaven" Jon Krakauer, about murderin' Mormon Fundies.

5 that mean a lot:

My romantic side will show....

1. The Red Balloon- favorite kid book of all time. I still have it, the print pages have a unique smell that immediately takes me back to 1967.

2. Pride and Prejudice- most favorite of the Jane Austen books, but love them all. Love the language and the wit.

3. Middlemarch- George Elliot. read aloud over a week, by flashlight, as evening entertainment with friend in rustic cabin in woods. A great time! What a nerd.

3. Accidental Tourist- Anne Tyler. I like her subtle and strange but very believable characters. Tie with The Shipping News.....similar to me...

4. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius- Dave Eggers. I found it surprising, entertaining and moving.

[lookout123]

i read "under the banner of heaven" a couple of months ago. good book. when my LDS colleagues saw it in my briefcase they cringed. visibly.

[warch]

It lets a bit of those vicious, lying cats out of the bag. Beware of convienient revelations.

[Trilby]

Total number of books I've owned: Thousands. I couldn't even begin to count.

Last book I bought: PLAN B by Anne Lamott. Strength for living, esp. if you share her affliction.

Last book I read: GREAT EXPECTATIONS

FIVE BOOKS THAT MEAN A LOT TO ME:

THE WOMEN'S ROOM--Marilyn French. Opened my eyes.

JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN--I forget who wrote it. Ditto the above.

LITTLE WOMEN--Louisa May Alcott. My mother read this to me when I was small and it was pure magic.

RUNAWAY BUNNY--forget who. A metaphor for the soul.

CANDIDE-Voltaire. Hilarious good fun.

[SteveDallas]

Total number of books I've owned: That was a funny one. Next question. (If it's all-time, it's multiple thousands. If it's currently on hand at my house it might be less than 1,000 because I've been doing some cleaning out.

Last book I bought: I am attempting (again, this time with the help of an online study group) to learn to read hieroglyphics. As a result, I just purchased Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian by Raymond O. Faulkner and The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Hieroglyphic Edition).


Last book I read: The Machine Crusade by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson.


Five books that mean a lot to me:
Wow, five. Hmm. Well "a lot" is easier to answer than "The most" or "more than any others."

Have Space Suit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein. One of my all-time favorites as a kid, I still re-read it occasionally.

Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham. It explains so many important things much better than I ever could.

The Miles Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold. No deep meaning, just a whole lot of fun. (This is cheating perhaps because there are about a dozen books in the series.)

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I read this when I was about 10 in the aftermath of the TV miniseries that was based on it. I was quite disappointed at the lack of ray guns and space battles. ("They flew to Mars to visit Hicktown, USA? Hell, I live there already!") Rereading it a couple years later, I came around to a different understanding of the stories.

The Mind of Egypt by Jan Assmann. A fascinating (but difficult and dry) read about ancient Egypt.

[smoothmoniker]

Total Books Owned: Ok, we get it. Everyone here reads. Alot.
We had a new 8' x 6' shelf built just to hold the book I bought for my master's degree. I'd start adding it up, but then I'd cry. I bet we've spent more on books than we have on both of our cars combined.

Last Book I Bought: "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren. A very interesting book about being a Christ-follower in a post-modern, post-dogmatic world.

Last Book I Read "Writings on an Ethical Life" by Peter Singer. I think Peter Singer's writing might be the best argument against utilitarian ethics that I've ever read. He takes it to it's logical terminus, and the result is repugnant.

5 Important Books

1) The Lord of the Rings. I've sunk back into Tolkein's world maybe 30 times, and each time it is new and vibrant. I still remember my first time reading the book. It lit something in me that carried me into thousands of other lands, new worlds, different ideas. Tolkein opened the door for me.

2) Habakkuk. Written about 600 BCE, just as the Babylonians were about to overrun the tiny sliver of land between Egypt and Turkey, a small voice cries out against the cruelty and injustice of the world. The title means "To Wrestle", and it's a challenge thrown toward heaven, for God to justify his handling of the world's affairs.

3) "Beneath The Underdog" by Charles Mingus. This is Mingus' semi-fictional, grossly exagerated, wildly fascinating auto-biography. If you want to know the history of Jazz from someone who lived it, this is the book.

4) The Collected Poetry of Robert W. Service. I used to go backpacking alot in High School, and would read some of epic poems around the campfire.

5) I'm going to echo BigV on the World Book. We owned a complete set, and I used to kill hours flipping through it.

-sm

[wolf]

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

5) I'm going to echo BigV on the World Book. We owned a complete set, and I used to kill hours flipping through it.

I was from a Funk & Wagnall's family. I loved that thing. My parents had bought it sometime toward the late 1950s ... in addition to the Encyclopedia bits there were also several volumes of philosophy that were on the end of the set. I remember Plato's Republic, and I think Marcus Aurelius.

[dar512]

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

I bet we've spent more on books than we have on both of our cars combined.

Entirely appropriate.

[wolf]

I have probably surpassed the "cost of all cars I have ever owned, along with their maintenance" level.

[Clodfobble]

99.9% of my books are paperback, so I very well might not have.