Book Challenge

I got tagged for this by my buddy Bo.

(1) Number of books you own:

I don't keep a precise inventory, but I did an eyeball count (i.e. a scientific wild assed guess) recently, and I would say I have around 200 books in the house. This includes some professional texts and a very old leather bound set of The Encyclopedia Britannica.

I used to have a lot more, but I got rid of most of them. Every so often I get it in my mind to cut the clutter around here, and I usually dispose of books along with everything else. I give them away, donate them to the Friends of the Library or the International Book Project, or sell them at a used book store.

I'm not one to read a book more than once, so a book on the shelf becomes no more than a dust catcher once read. Reference works are the exception. I usually keep those until they become outdated. Then I replace them.

(2) Last book bought:

The last purchase I made was two books. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling, and Love and Honor, by Randall Wallace. The second one is signed by the author. He's a really cool guy.

(3) Last book I read:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

(4) Five books that mean a lot to me:

I have been thinking a lot about this one for the past 10 days. And sad to say, I can't think of 5 books that mean a lot to me. And I have read a lot of books over the years. None of them specifically inspired me, or changed my life.

But all the books I've read have entertained me and provided an escape for the few hours I've spent  reading each of them.

So I guess that means something.

Ahem. Okay. I've been staring at this post for a half hour now, and something just occurred to me. I can think of 5 books that mean a lot to me. Those are the first 5 Harry Potter books. Why? Because besides entertaining me and providing that escape I so love from a good book, while reading them I feel like a kid again. And that's a good thing.

Now it is my turn to pass this on. I'll be tagging Alison, Mike, newwavegurly, Sarah and Leslie.

Comments

[madame l.]

ok, i'm going to get to this sometime today...
but there's no way i'm counting them: Madame Levy's Book Porn

[Michelle]

I have books everywhere.

And I won't even think about the boxes of books in my basement!

[J. Star]

I'm going to go ahead and assume you've reserved your copy of Half-Blood Prince? :)

[Laurie]

Allan, I'm surprised you didn't mention even one cookbook! Or maybe that's not considered "reading."

[Allan]

:) True.

Well, I do have I'm Just Here For The Food by Alton Brown.

[bothenook]

the harry potter books have done several positives, i think. first, they've captured the imagination of kids and adults alike. more kids are reading bigger words and bigger books because of the harry potter series. that is always a good thing. the publisher, scholastic, is two heartbeats and a gulp away from having to declare bankruptcy and pulling the plug, even with the H.P. books. think about that. remember the scholastic book sales when you were a pup in school? i do. my folks basically set aside a bag of money so that i and my sibs could buy "our very own books". and that company is now almost defunct because the pups of today don't read. shame. damned shame. the other reason i think the H.P. books are important is that they pissed off the wacko religious zealots, what with the stories of witchcraft and all. and pissing them off? nothing but gravy. always a good thing.