Total number of books I own
Sweet merciful Jesus, too many. They're double-stacked in places on the main set of shelves in the kitchen, and they're creeping up the walls all over the house. I did a major purge two years ago and, sadly, my shelves have pretty much reverted to their "before" photo state.
Last book I read
I can't tell you, because I'll be writing about it soon, along with some exciting news. That's right. MORE EXCITING NEWS. Get a load of my life, with the dizzying highs and the terrifying lows and the creamy middles.
Last book I bought
Hmm... well, the last book I bought was a gift for someone who knows someone who sometimes reads this site, so I can't say. But the second-last book I bought was Goodnight, Sam by Marie-Louise Gay. It's to be a Christmas present for Sam, who never reads this site. It hurts, but I live with it.
Five meaningful books
Holy crow. You knew those other questions were too easy, right? Okay, so for my own purposes, I'm going to eliminate all religious texts from consideration, mostly because I'm a heathen ignoramus. And I'm not going to go the "I love these books in a totally deep and personal and meaningful way that you couldn't possibly understand but I will tell you anyway" route, mostly because, well, meh.
Instead, I'm going to go the preachy, prescriptive route and list five books that I think would be meaningful if the entire population were to read them. You know, in case 6.5 billion people start looking to this site for book recommendations. (What? It could happen.)
You know my M.O. I don't tag. But I must warn you: a man in Spokane, Washington, ignored this meme and was stricken with a devastating case of ennui. Plus itching.
- Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Age of Missing Information by Bill Mckibben
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
- Night of the Mary Kay Commandos by Berke Breathed
10 comments:
Do you know of any websites that screen books? Like tell you how much sexual content or language a book has? I know they have that for children's books, but what about novels? I picked up "water for elephants" and had to throw it away because it was so disgusting.
-Lucy
I've been wanting Animal, Vegetable, Miracle ever since you posted about it, but it's being remarkably slow to come out in paperback, dammit. I think mention in this blog should lead to automatic paperback fasttracking.
I don't remember the circumstances, but "The Unbookening" lured me to your site in the first place. My fiance once mentioned a similiar purge here in our Kansas home. We're still together, though.
(Yes, I've been reading a stranger's blog for two years. A Canadian stranger's blog too, so it's probably safe.)
Lucy, that's a good question. I don't know of any off-hand, but maybe I'll poke around and see.
"A Canadian stranger's blog too, so it's probably safe."
It's true. The worst thing that could happen is I find out where you live, sneak into your house, and pour maple syrup between your sheets. But that's just good, clean, sticky, Canadian fun.
Oh, thanks for playing along!
I'm so relieved to hear about your re-bookening. I was worried that Sam was going to grow up in an almost-bookless state.
I love book memes too much, so I couldn't resist:http://kaijsa.blogspot.com/2007/11/another-book-meme.html.
Everybody I know keeps recommending that Didion, but I can't seem to force myself to read it. Maybe I'll add it to my pile now.
Night of the Mary Kay Commandos? You stopped me dead for a full minute, I swear. I love all things Bloom Country (and, to a lesser extent, outland). I have every book and could still read them every day!
Nice to see on another person's list :)
The link from Night of the Mary Kay Commandos goes to the Douglas Adams book.
I didn't know Marie-Louise Gay wrote books! I love her for her awesome illustrations in Lizzy's Lion by Dennis Lee, which has been my favourite kids' book since I was a toddler.
I blogged your meme - thanks!
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