by syaffolee

A Book Meme

(Via Belicove.com who, yes, tagged me.)

1. Estimate the total number of books you’ve owned in your life.

Probably way too many. A couple hundred at least.

2. What’s the last book you bought?

Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy. This is fiction. Not some new age voodoo. I think technically, this book should be coming out tomorrow, but I got my hands on it early. What did I get out of it? Well, there’s this terrific description of this policeman captain that the heroine describes as “a superhero gone to seed.” I think he ate too many donuts.

3. What’s the last book you read?

See answer to question #2.

4. List 5 books that mean a lot to you.

This one is a hard one. It’s like that question in that other book meme which asks you which five books you’d like to take on a deserted island. There are a lot of books that “mean” a lot to me (whichever way you take that) and to be fair, I think a lot of the books I’ve read have influenced me in some way or other. I could include a bunch of non-fiction books (like the first book on genetics I read or the classic college calculus text nicknamed “Tommy” or the molecular biology protocols by Maniatis), but let me just limit down to fantasy novels even though anyone regularly reading this probably can already guess what they are. Why? Because I feel like it.

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley – The ultimate “Heroine Who Kicks Butt” novel as well as my favorite.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – My first real introduction into the fantasy genre.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – There’s something very laid back about this prequel to LOTR. And I loved the riddles which in some ways was the best part.

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay – The first fantasy book I read that was truly meant for adults. I was probably around 11 or 12 at the time.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman – After a long drought of speculative fiction, made me realize that yes, good fantasy is still being written.

5. Tag 5 people!

I’d rather not. But if anyone reading this wants to do this meme, they’re welcome to.