Book Meme

Rivertyde has tagged me for the current book meme. Here are the four questions and my answers:

What is the total number of books I’ve owned? Well now, that’s extremely hard to say. I currently own around 600 books. But my book-buying life has spanned, in addition to the regular across-town moves to a new house or apartment, a move from college in Davis, California, to San Francisco; a move from SF to Philadelphia; and a move from Philly to Boston. The SF-to-Philadelphia and Philadelphia-to-Boston moves were particularly hard on the book collection. I also weed periodically. My guess is that I’ve owned at least 3,000 books.

What was the last book I bought? Literally, the last book I bought was Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton, a picture book for ages 3–7 that I bought for my 18-month-old nephew, Russell. The last book I bought for myself was a three-book splurge: Migration: Species Imperative #2, by Julie E. Czerneda; Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson; and Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper.

What was the last book I read? That would be Elantris.

Five books that mean a lot to me: What a tough question–“that mean a lot” is really different from “that I like a lot.” Here’s today’s attempt at an answer:

A Description of the Qualifications Necessary to a Gospel Minister by Samuel Bownas. Advice from an eighteenth-century Quaker minister and elder. An important factor in my spiritual formation.

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The epitome of epic, stylish fantasy, the struggle between good and evil carried forward by the humble. Oddly enough, The Silmarillion is a real contender to take this spot.

The Bible. What can I say? Although it’s used to justify all manner of evil, it’s also a sourcebook for liberation movements and the foundational (though now often neglected) text for my religious tradition.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin. OK, adolescent self-discovery won out over the psychological insight or gender ambiguities of other titles by this great writer.

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden. Ask me about my past life as a nun sometime.

Tag, you’re it: Beppe, Philocrites (or maybe this would be more up the alley of Pseudophilocrites), Doc Smartypants, Not-so-fresh (feel free to reply here in the comments since this is way off-topic over there at tamponblog; or maybe bitch and snark need to get a jump on things), and Velveteen Rabbi. For good measure, I’ll also toss it over to Brian.