Book Tag

Clodfobble · 05-31-2005, 12:10 AM

Sure, I'll bite.

Total number of books I've owned: Uh, yeah. I have no clue. Currently we have three eight-foot-tall bookcases crammed full of books, maybe 800-1000 in all--and I'm really good about purging, I couldn't tell you how many I've sold or given to Goodwill.

Last Book I Bought: Books 5 and 6 of the Dark Tower series. I'm waiting for 7 to come out in trade paperback so they all match.

Last Book I Read: "Snow Crash," Neal Stephenson. But I'll be finishing "Diamond Age" again tonight.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

1.) "Diamond Age." It was the first book I can distinctly recall informing my opinions about child-rearing. I was blown away that an adult might agree with what I, as a teenager, thought about kids, and utterly fascinated with his methods of implementing certain lessons.

2.) "The Little Gymnast." Easily my favorite book from childhood. I know for a fact I read it more than 20 times because I started counting after awhile. I still have it on the shelf.

3.) "Lamb." I enjoyed this book more than any book I can ever remember.

4.) "Eyes of the Dragon." The introduction to this made special mention of how Stephen King wrote it for his young daughter, who didn't much like his horror novels. I dug the horror stuff too, but this was a great little fantasy tale that for some reason I still find myself recommending to people, so it must have affected me.

5.) Okay this is a series not a book, but I couldn't possibly pick just one. "The Pleiocene Exile" and its prequel series, "The Galactic Milieu." This uber-series taught me that I didn't hate sci-fi after all, and that in fact I liked some of it quite a lot.

BigV · 05-31-2005, 01:36 PM

Total number of books I've owned: Cannot count. Sorry. Many, many, many books. I have bought books for my own consumption, for gifts, for reference, by the pound, on a mission and on a whim. What's that aphorism about being broke but in the company of good books?? That's me. I was taught that you learn to read and then read to learn and I have never stopped either.

(wolf, thank you for an interesting and entertaining thread starter. I love this subject. But this question seems like a throwaway to me. I mean, who could care enough to respond that can actually count their books? I wonder who could count their books that would bother to respond... I just don't see much overlap NOT that I'm criticizing. I love to talk about books almost as much as I enjoy reading them.)

Last Book I Bought: How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth, an excellent tool for the interested reader. In it's pages I have learned the difference and the importance if exegesis and hermenutics. I guess that makes my Serendipity Bible, New International Version, the companion volume. :grin:

Last Book I Read: Grendel, by John Gardner. This slim paperback was on the summertime reading list for the high schoolers in the HouseofV. When MrsV found a copy at the local library's book sale for a buck, she bought it. I like to read what the kids are reading too, and I ate this one up.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

World Book Encyclopedia. We had a set of these treasures when I was in elementary school. I can remember pestering my Dad with questions about what's this and why is that, etc. He sent me to the encyclopedia many times. "Look it up" he said, and I did. But I was not a very good researcher. I was much more a traveller, a tourist. I can remember the excitement and anticipation of having to look up something starting with "S" because that was the fattest volume, and the reading was bound to be good. I knew how the topics were arranged alphabetically, but I never made it straight to my "goal" without reading some other entries along the way. God, what a big world out there, with all those coooool things in it. *sigh* (btw, I'm still that way, whether it's the dictionary or the internet.)
Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein. I found this book as a teenager. I picked it up because I'd been happy with the other science fiction books I'd been reading, and had never been disappointed by Heinlein, plus it had a couple of babes on the cover . But this story stands head and shoulders above the rest of that crowd, based on the human story. I was positively captivated by Lazarus Long, the 2,300 year old man. My FAVORITE parts of the work were the two intermissions where it was nothing but the pure distilled essence of wisdom of our hero. The "Notebooks of Lazarus Long" have molded my worldview more than any other book. I have given away more copies of this book than any other, out of pure proslyetizing joy.
The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I had read The Raven and The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart first, in school, and in a quest to slake my insatiable thirst for more, I spent my paper-route money on a single volume of his collected works. Hog heaven.
Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss. This childhood treat remains alive for me even today. Our youngest has grown past it, but not so long ago we read it at bedtime. Sometimes I'd read or he'd read or we'd read. I regard this book like a favorite song. I love it and I never mind reading/hearing it again. One of the funniest ways we found to play with this book was to read each page backwards. Of course, we did all the voices and dance steps, they were fun too. This book crystallizes the best family reading memories. It is unequalled.
The Bible Just as I have not completed my journey in my faith, my journey through this book is incomplete. I have found it to be a source of comfort, wisdom, and guidance. It has been a central pillar of my Dad's life. He died in 2001, and though he's gone, my veneration for him is not. Reading (his) Bible helps sustain that connection. I continue to learn from him through it.

I have an honorable mention list longer than this whole thread, too, but I don't think its publication would strip me of my freak status in the eyes of any who already think of me that way. Nevertheless, here are a few titles that could easily be on the short list: Dune, Frank Herbert; See You At The Top, Zig Ziglar; The Dark Tower series, Stephen King; Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis; Neuromancer, William Gibson; A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking. These are merely representative samples--I read a lot.

kerosene · 05-31-2005, 03:15 PM

Total number of books I've owned: I really just don't know...they have gotten lost, stolen, borrowed and recently we just got "access" to an immense library of various novels and information books most of which are Readers Digest condensed volumes. I couldn't give an even semi-accurate count.

Last Book I Bought: Some vintage (1940s?) school textbooks at an estate auction..most were about the history of the western United States

Last Book I Read: I needed to read a romance novel...as I had never read one. This one was called "Star" by Danielle Steel.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (I think that is the right spelling.) I read this book in the 4th grade at the suggestion of my "boyfriend" at the time. He was a big time nerd and I think this book taught me that I could enjoy nerdy things, like reading and not feel like a dork. I think it set the tone for the rest of my childhood, if you call it that. I really started enjoying books about this time in my life. I credit Brandon for that.

The Stand by Stephen King. I read the unedited version which was about 1200 or so pages. I read this entire book on a road trip with my family through about 25 states. I was about 14 and angsty. It was an escape from hours of musicless driving in the car whilst listening to my father rant and my brother annoy everyone. The book itself was really amazing to me at the time and was somewhat of a metaphor to the way I felt.
After The Stand, I started on the Dark Tower series, which I still haven't finished. I have The Wizard and the Glass, but I need to get all the others and reread the predecessors so I can get back into them again.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. I had never read anything like this. Vonnegut's style is so raw and almost like a diary. I was hooked. I have read several others of his books since, but Breakfast of Champions is really my favorite if his.

1984 by George Orwell. Wow. This book was painful for me. I read it a couple of years ago on an airplane to the Czech Republic. It definitely made a huge contribution to the cynicism that pervades my thoughts these days.

I cannot think of any others like that that really belong on this list. I have such strong emotions attached to these 4, that any other book on that list might look too much like filler.

Wolf, thanks for starting this thread!

lookout123 · 05-31-2005, 04:27 PM

Total # of books owned: it sounds cliche now, but i seriously couldn't count them. i only keep my favorites and give the rest away. after one four month deployment years ago, i had to buy a new suitcase to get the books that i liked enough to keep, back to the states.

Last Book I bought: 1984 - read it (sort of) in school. decided to read it again a few weeks ago. the book is pissing me off.

Last book i read: ? currently reading 1984, Song of Susannah, A Generous Orthodoxy, See You At The Top, The Screwtape Letters, Storyselling for Financial Advisors. i have each book in a different location, i.e. gym bag, stationary bike, office, bedroom, home office.

Five books that mean a lot to me:

in no particular order...

1. THE STAND - just one of my all time favorite books.
2. The TAlisman/The Black House
3. The Gunslinger series
4. The Last of the Mohicans (and the rest of Natty books)
5. The Chronicles of Narnia

sorry there isn't deep there. the books that are most meaningful for me are the ones that entertain me. the ones that teach me go into a completely different category.

05-31-2005, 12:10 AM	#1
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	Sure, I'll bite. Total number of books I've owned: Uh, yeah. I have no clue. Currently we have three eight-foot-tall bookcases crammed full of books, maybe 800-1000 in all--and I'm really good about purging, I couldn't tell you how many I've sold or given to Goodwill. Last Book I Bought: Books 5 and 6 of the Dark Tower series. I'm waiting for 7 to come out in trade paperback so they all match. Last Book I Read: "Snow Crash," Neal Stephenson. But I'll be finishing "Diamond Age" again tonight. Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me: 1.) "Diamond Age." It was the first book I can distinctly recall informing my opinions about child-rearing. I was blown away that an adult might agree with what I, as a teenager, thought about kids, and utterly fascinated with his methods of implementing certain lessons. 2.) "The Little Gymnast." Easily my favorite book from childhood. I know for a fact I read it more than 20 times because I started counting after awhile. I still have it on the shelf. 3.) "Lamb." I enjoyed this book more than any book I can ever remember. 4.) "Eyes of the Dragon." The introduction to this made special mention of how Stephen King wrote it for his young daughter, who didn't much like his horror novels. I dug the horror stuff too, but this was a great little fantasy tale that for some reason I still find myself recommending to people, so it must have affected me. 5.) Okay this is a series not a book, but I couldn't possibly pick just one. "The Pleiocene Exile" and its prequel series, "The Galactic Milieu." This uber-series taught me that I didn't hate sci-fi after all, and that in fact I liked some of it quite a lot. __________________ My book My other book My spirit animal

05-31-2005, 01:36 PM	#2
BigV Goon Squad Leader Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 27,063	Total number of books I've owned: Cannot count. Sorry. Many, many, many books. I have bought books for my own consumption, for gifts, for reference, by the pound, on a mission and on a whim. What's that aphorism about being broke but in the company of good books?? That's me. I was taught that you learn to read and then read to learn and I have never stopped either. (wolf, thank you for an interesting and entertaining thread starter. I love this subject. But this question seems like a throwaway to me. I mean, who could care enough to respond that can actually count their books? I wonder who could count their books that would bother to respond... I just don't see much overlap NOT that I'm criticizing. I love to talk about books almost as much as I enjoy reading them.) Last Book I Bought: How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth, an excellent tool for the interested reader. In it's pages I have learned the difference and the importance if exegesis and hermenutics. I guess that makes my Serendipity Bible, New International Version, the companion volume. :grin: Last Book I Read: Grendel, by John Gardner. This slim paperback was on the summertime reading list for the high schoolers in the HouseofV. When MrsV found a copy at the local library's book sale for a buck, she bought it. I like to read what the kids are reading too, and I ate this one up. Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me: World Book Encyclopedia. We had a set of these treasures when I was in elementary school. I can remember pestering my Dad with questions about what's this and why is that, etc. He sent me to the encyclopedia many times. "Look it up" he said, and I did. But I was not a very good researcher. I was much more a traveller, a tourist. I can remember the excitement and anticipation of having to look up something starting with "S" because that was the fattest volume, and the reading was bound to be good. I knew how the topics were arranged alphabetically, but I never made it straight to my "goal" without reading some other entries along the way. God, what a big world out there, with all those coooool things in it. sigh (btw, I'm still that way, whether it's the dictionary or the internet.) Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein. I found this book as a teenager. I picked it up because I'd been happy with the other science fiction books I'd been reading, and had never been disappointed by Heinlein, plus it had a couple of babes on the cover . But this story stands head and shoulders above the rest of that crowd, based on the human story. I was positively captivated by Lazarus Long, the 2,300 year old man. My FAVORITE parts of the work were the two intermissions where it was nothing but the pure distilled essence of wisdom of our hero. The "Notebooks of Lazarus Long" have molded my worldview more than any other book. I have given away more copies of this book than any other, out of pure proslyetizing joy. The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I had read The Raven and The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart first, in school, and in a quest to slake my insatiable thirst for more, I spent my paper-route money on a single volume of his collected works. Hog heaven. Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss. This childhood treat remains alive for me even today. Our youngest has grown past it, but not so long ago we read it at bedtime. Sometimes I'd read or he'd read or we'd read. I regard this book like a favorite song. I love it and I never mind reading/hearing it again. One of the funniest ways we found to play with this book was to read each page backwards. Of course, we did all the voices and dance steps, they were fun too. This book crystallizes the best family reading memories. It is unequalled. The Bible Just as I have not completed my journey in my faith, my journey through this book is incomplete. I have found it to be a source of comfort, wisdom, and guidance. It has been a central pillar of my Dad's life. He died in 2001, and though he's gone, my veneration for him is not. Reading (his) Bible helps sustain that connection. I continue to learn from him through it. I have an honorable mention list longer than this whole thread, too, but I don't think its publication would strip me of my freak status in the eyes of any who already think of me that way. Nevertheless, here are a few titles that could easily be on the short list: Dune, Frank Herbert; See You At The Top, Zig Ziglar; The Dark Tower series, Stephen King; Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis; Neuromancer, William Gibson; A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking. These are merely representative samples--I read a lot. __________________ Be Just and Fear Not. Last edited by BigV; 05-31-2005 at 05:52 PM.

05-31-2005, 04:27 PM	#4
lookout123 changed his status to single Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Right behind you. No, the other side. Posts: 10,308	Total # of books owned: it sounds cliche now, but i seriously couldn't count them. i only keep my favorites and give the rest away. after one four month deployment years ago, i had to buy a new suitcase to get the books that i liked enough to keep, back to the states. Last Book I bought: 1984 - read it (sort of) in school. decided to read it again a few weeks ago. the book is pissing me off. Last book i read: ? currently reading 1984, Song of Susannah, A Generous Orthodoxy, See You At The Top, The Screwtape Letters, Storyselling for Financial Advisors. i have each book in a different location, i.e. gym bag, stationary bike, office, bedroom, home office. Five books that mean a lot to me: in no particular order... 1. THE STAND - just one of my all time favorite books. 2. The TAlisman/The Black House 3. The Gunslinger series 4. The Last of the Mohicans (and the rest of Natty books) 5. The Chronicles of Narnia sorry there isn't deep there. the books that are most meaningful for me are the ones that entertain me. the ones that teach me go into a completely different category. __________________ Getting knocked down is no sin, it's not getting back up that's the sin

05-31-2005, 03:15 PM	#3
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	Total number of books I've owned: I really just don't know...they have gotten lost, stolen, borrowed and recently we just got "access" to an immense library of various novels and information books most of which are Readers Digest condensed volumes. I couldn't give an even semi-accurate count. Last Book I Bought: Some vintage (1940s?) school textbooks at an estate auction..most were about the history of the western United States Last Book I Read: I needed to read a romance novel...as I had never read one. This one was called "Star" by Danielle Steel. Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (I think that is the right spelling.) I read this book in the 4th grade at the suggestion of my "boyfriend" at the time. He was a big time nerd and I think this book taught me that I could enjoy nerdy things, like reading and not feel like a dork. I think it set the tone for the rest of my childhood, if you call it that. I really started enjoying books about this time in my life. I credit Brandon for that. The Stand by Stephen King. I read the unedited version which was about 1200 or so pages. I read this entire book on a road trip with my family through about 25 states. I was about 14 and angsty. It was an escape from hours of musicless driving in the car whilst listening to my father rant and my brother annoy everyone. The book itself was really amazing to me at the time and was somewhat of a metaphor to the way I felt. After The Stand, I started on the Dark Tower series, which I still haven't finished. I have The Wizard and the Glass, but I need to get all the others and reread the predecessors so I can get back into them again. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. I had never read anything like this. Vonnegut's style is so raw and almost like a diary. I was hooked. I have read several others of his books since, but Breakfast of Champions is really my favorite if his. 1984 by George Orwell. Wow. This book was painful for me. I read it a couple of years ago on an airplane to the Czech Republic. It definitely made a huge contribution to the cynicism that pervades my thoughts these days. I cannot think of any others like that that really belong on this list. I have such strong emotions attached to these 4, that any other book on that list might look too much like filler. Wolf, thanks for starting this thread!

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