lili-g tagged me on this. Being a book lover, this is one I don’t mind doing. lili did classics but I think I’ll just do a random selection (although I have MANY classics in my library).

1. Total number of books I’ve owned: Holy cow. How am I ever to know this? It’s been thousands. I buy and sell books at the used bookstore. I keep the ones I want to read over and over. I currently have a guest room that has 4 8-foot bookcases in it. I have another bookcase in my bedroom and 2 more in my office. I’d say I currently have over 1000 books in my house.

2. Last Book I Bought: Complete Guide to Photography by John Hedgecoe

That sounds kind of boring, doesn’t it? Before that, it was a technical manual for web development. Before that, school books. I have about 10 books that I bought in December that I didn’t have time to read during the semester.

3. Last Book I Read: Hmmm…I usually have a few going at once. These are the last few that I finished:

  • A Poem Traveled Down My Arm – Alice Walker
  • The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers
  • Aureole – Carole Maso
  • Defiance – Carole Maso
  • The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club – Laurie Notaro
  • The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy (Jonathan gave this to me for Christmas and it’s a beautiful, rich story that I recommend to everyone)

I’m currently reading Sexing the Cherry – Jeanette Winterson

4. Five (or so) Books That Mean Something to Me (or that I simply enjoyed) : Another “Holy cow.” Yikes. Well, here are books that I absolutely love and could read again and again:

  • Almost anything by Alice Walker – however, two of her books that literally changed my life are: The Temple of My Familiar (it spoke to me in ways that few books do) and Warrior Marks (I knew about female genital mutilation but I didn’t KNOW about it until I read this book)
  • Almost anything by Margaret Atwood but I’m still partial to The Handmaid’s Tale
  • Love Medicine – Louise Erdrich
  • Peace Like a River – Leif Enger
  • Again, almost anything by Barbara Kingsolver but I really loved The Poisonwood Bible
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston (I read this years ago before it became trendy or a “made for tv” movie. It’s beautiful.
  • The Red Tent – Anita Diamant
  • The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis (If you haven’t read these as an adult, now is the time. They will charm you in an entirely different way)
  • And so many more…I have to force myself to stop here

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Pick 5 people to tag: I don’t actually expect anyone to respond to this but if they do, the people I’d like to see answer it are:

  • ashley – we both love books and words and I know she will enlighten me with her choices.
  • jenni – she has such a beautiful outlook on the world and I’d love to know what touches her in that perfect way that books do.
  • snowpeanut – she writes for a living. I’d like to know what inspires a writer.
  • daisies – her photography and words move me. I’d like to know what moves her.
  • carmen – she bares it all in such a beautiful way. I’d like to know the words that give her pause, comfort, or inspiration.
  • Ack! That’s five…but I’d like to know so many more: Jim, Michael, Molly, Abhi, and, of course, Jonathan…whose readings are usually passed on to me through deep conversation.