07/18/2005 Posted @ 07:46 PM PD/ST: "Best Books Literary Meme"

I was tagged by Wandering Willow in email, and just 'cause she's curious and was nice enough to send email inviting me to play, here it is:

1. TOTAL NUMBER OF BOOKS I’VE OWNED: Current library - 1,187+ Over the years? Let's just say that I once offered up my library as seed for a used book store a friend and I once thought about starting.

I thin the herd every once in a while and tried to put myself on a "diet." You know, for every new book I want to buy I have to get rid of at least two (and by get rid of I meant get them permanently out of the house). Yeah, that lasted about 30 seconds.

My tastes run the gamut. History (duh, I'm a history major), women, mystery, science fiction/fantasy, religion, mind candy ...

2. LAST BOOK I BOUGHT: Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn & Run, Bambi, Run by Kris Radish (I also bought a copy of The Elegant Gathering of White Snows for SisterN because it's such a wonderful book and I want her to have a copy.)

Buddha, Islam a Short History & Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet by Karen Armstrong

3. LAST BOOK I COMPLETED: Leap of Faith by Queen Noor & The Elegant Gathering of White Snows

4. FIVE BOOKS THAT MEAN A LOT TO ME:

Geez .... that's a tough one

Book 1. Hitler's Death Camps - The Sanity of Madness by Dr. Konnilyn Feig. Dr. Feig teaches at the Community College I just left and was my Western Civ professor for three quarters. This book is amazing and really opened my eyes to a lot of what was going on in the Death Camps during World War II. This was her life's work for almost 20 years, now she is onto an even bigger project, that of global abuse.

Book 2. Leap of Faith by Queen Noor. This book goes a long way toward explaining one part of the Middle Eastern puzzle. A lot of lightbulbs went off when I read it. Plus Queen Noor is just an amazing woman.

Book 3. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley. I read this just this past January for a class and was deeply moved by Malcolm's story and found myself repeating, "It's too bad he was killed just as he was beginning to accept everyone as brothers and sisters and had accepted the true roots of Islam."

Book 4. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. Scarey but important. This one broke my fast food habit immediately.

Book 5. Raising Blaze - Bringing Up an Extraordinary Son in an Ordinary World by Debra Ginsberg. I adore children and often wonder what goes on in their little minds. Being Auntie SEA to 6 neices and 1 nephew is a job I love but I'm always looking for ways to better understand kids and be a better grownup for them. Having read Waiting, the True Confessions of a Waitress, I knew I had to read this one. I'm glad I did because I was then able to recommend it recently to the GIR's SO who has two sons that are autistic. Being able to touch someone's life like that is incredible.

5.WHAT I AM CURRENTLY READING: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling. Hey, at least I waited until this afternoon to start it!