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05/30/2005 Archived Entry: "I've been tagged"

Well, I've been tagged by the Knappster of Rational Review fame to be part of the book discussion chain letter...so here goes.

1. Total number of books I've owned. Whoa! Given that I co-owned a libertarian bookstore named Lysander's in Los Angeles for a few years, that number is into the stratisphere. When my husband and I moved to Canada, about 1/2 of the moving van consisted of the books in our combined libraries. At its peak, I would say my personal library contained about 10,000 books but, with the advent of the Internet, I don't have the same need to ensure access to information...so I've methodically culled it down to about 1,500.

2. The Last Book I Bought. "Your Adopted Dog"...a how-to manual about introducing a new adult dog into an existing "pack" -- (2 humans, 1 other dog and five cats). We've just adopted a 3-year-old from the local animal shelter.

3. The Last Book I Read. James Valliant's "The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics" which I was/am in the process of reviewing. Breaking some bones in my hand has delayed that prospect, alas, but I will be pouring over the book again this week in order to complete the second part of the review. (I've broken the review into two secitons: a commentary on the other reviews the books has received; and, my own reaction.

4. Five Books that mean a lot to me. I am going to avoid the obvious by rephrasing the topic to read "Five Fiction Books not written by Rand that mean a lot to me. 1) Collectively-speaking, the Harry Potter series is a source of continuing escapism, to which I turn with real regularity. It is just fun. 2) Again collectively-speaking, the works of Stephen King; again, because of the escapism. 3) LeGuin's EarthSea trilogy, which I think is far better written than Lord of the Rings, even tho' the latter transferred into one dynamic movie trilogy. 4) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. 5) Blott on the Landscape as quite simply the funniest book I have read.

And, exercising my anarchistic ways, I'm going to ignore category #5 which asks me to tag several other bloggers to list their favorites. Instead I invite other bloggers to do so and let me know.