May 26, 2005
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I confess! I’m a Book Slut!
I’ll post a real entry sooner or later as this week draws to a close, but in the meantime, one of my favorite bloggers, Bastetmax, tagged me to indulge you all in a book survey. I did not write the questions (I don’t really know who did—it’s just one of those anonymous web thingies I guess, which is cool in its own way), but I’ll try to answer them.
1) # of books I own?
I never used to buy books, because I am a big fan of the library, but Shaun loves to buy books, and since we’ve got so many great used bookstores around us, I’m pretty game for it now. Although, I haven’t forgotten about my beloved library!
Between novels and comic books I’d say we have about 1,500, all stuffed into a 450 square foot apartment with two dinky closets. So it seems like there are more books than there actually are, since they are all crammed together in the same little nest. This number does not include magazines (my precious New Yorker’s, Bust’s, Utne’s, and Art Forum’s), which I horde like a freak because I do a lot of art work with them. Basically, Shaun, Giles (the kitty) and I live in a fire hazard.
2) Last book I bought?
The last book I bought was a gift for my partner. Last payday, I bought him American Voices 2005: The Finest Writing Emerging From The Top Writing Programs and Workshops. It’s important to know who our completion is!
The last book I bought for myself was a book of poetry entitled, Loose Woman by Sandra Cisneros. I also bought a copy for my mom for mother’s day.
Oh wait! I almost forgot! Shaun and I just bought two other books this week for his twin sister’s birthday. I’m not sure if they read this or not, so I can’t say what the titles are—but they are fantastic! ::smile::
3) Last book I read?
The last book I read was Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel by Susanna Clark
4) 5 books that mean a lot to me?
I don’t know if there are only five books that mean a lot to me. But I’ll ignore the five and I’ll just write the first things that pop into my head. These titles are in no particular order.
To Kill a Mockingbird—Harper Lee
Love in the Time of Cholera- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Handmaid’s Tale-by Margaret Atwood
Lolita- Vladimir Nabakov
The Sun Also Rises-Hemmingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls-Hemmingway
A Moveable Feast-Hemmingway
The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger
The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky
Bee Season-Goldberg
The Bean Trees-Kingsolver
Pigs in Heaven-Kingsolver
The Joy Luck Club-Amy Tan
Small Wonders–Kingsolver
The Bonesetter’s Daughter—Amy Tan
Jitterbug Perfume-Tom Robbins
Life of Pi- Yann Martel
Ave Luna-Isabel Allende
The Stories of Ave Luna- Isabel Allende
The House of the Spirits- Isabel Allende
Loose Woman-Sandra Cisneros
Carmella-Sandra Cisneros
The House on Mango Street-Sandra Cisneros
Centaur by JOHN UPDIKE
Couples by Updike
Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman
Fortune’s Daughter by Alice Hoffman
Local Girls by Alice Hoffman
Just So Stories (Books of Wonder) by Rudyard Kipling
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
War of the Worlds—H.G. Wells
Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell
That’s all off the top of my head….I can’t pick and choose…it seems to mean!
I won’t tag anyone else, but I’d LOVE to know your favorite books; I’m always in the market to read a new one!
Comments (10)
You are certainly a voracious reader … as if any of us thought otherwise!
As this exercise germanates, it’s been interesting to see how or if there is crossover. Less than I expected. One of my tagees (if that’s not a word, it is now), fern_forest, listed Jitterbug Perfume as the last book she bought. Animal Farm would have been right near my five, as it’s such a great book.
For my list, I direct you toward the blog. Enjoy!
Wow you have a lot of books. I’ve got over a hundred and I thought that was a lot. When I’m looking for books I go to amazon.com, enter a book I really like, then see the lists people have made that have that book on it and take their suggestions. Last Christmas I only asked my family for books from my amazon wish list. I’m excited…I haven’t read them all, but a bunch of them are on your top “5″ list. I’ve already read To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Life of Pi, Secret Garden and Animal Farm, but I’ve still got One Hundred Years of Solitude and House of Spirits to go (among others).
Last books I bought were Imaginary Homelands by Salman Rushdie and Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose by Flannery O’Connor. I’m trying to read more essays, but I still haven’t read these all the way through. I have a habit of buying books when I still have piles that I need to read.
Last book I read I just finished last night. It’s Bailey’s Cafe by Gloria Naylor. Brilliant. Amazing. I can’t describe it. Everyone should read it.
Books that mean a lot to me. This is kind of like the impossible “What’s your favorite book?” question. But I’ve never thought about it in terms of what books have affected me the most. I’ll devour and enjoy Davinci Codes and Jurassic Parks just as much as the next guy, but they skip like stones on my brain. If that metaphor makes sense. Which I don’t think it does. :whatever:
Right now I’m still reeling from Bailey’s Cafe so that’s on the top of my list.
I’ve read 1984 by George Orwell half a dozen times and it still creeps me out. So that’s on the list.
I loved The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy.
I’ll list Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, though I’ll admit they weren’t the most enjoyable books I’ve read. But boy oh boy.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath for sure.
I’m not a huge children’s book fan but my ten-year-old sister got Love That Dog by Sharon creech from her book order on accident and while it’s as cheesy as they come, I absolutely loved it.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
There are so many more, but that’s close to five, so I’ll leave it at that.
Great post!
Jitterbuy Perfume rocks!
I loved reading animal farm by George Orwell, and I even got to watch the movie…I liked the book better though. You sure have a lot of books,
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Peace Out and Take Care.
Autumn
No fair! You got to list all the wonderful books that you love and I limited myself to the darn survey question and stayed at just five. Well, we have very similar tastes. Very similar. I’m frankly amazed, because I don’t know too many people who read the books that I do. Haven’t tried “The Life of Pi” yet, but there are only 100s of books lying around waiting for me to get to them. Sigh. I’ll never catch up. I also like trashy mysteries, but I didn’t put that on the list. I read a lot of what some might consider junk, too. I don’t care what people think. If it feeds the mind, it’s good.
And there should have been the question: What is the most overhyped book you’ve ever read? And I’d answer “The Da Vinci Code” to that. What a pile of drivel. He had some decent ideas, but the execution was terrible. It read like a screenplay and, my gosh, it’s soon to be a movie. Imagine my surprise!
Anyway, thanks for saying I’m one of your favorite bloggers. You are one of mine. And Chicagoans stick together!
Lynnm
A completely unrelated comment…I thought for a second that the tag line of your blog said “Truth is a hideous spider”
I disagree with your choice of Catcher, in grammar it was brilliant, but I reread it fairly recently and hated it. I do though love the Saligner trilogy, now those were good reads. Also, Jitterbug is good, but Fierce Invalids imo is Robbins best book hehe
. Best book I ever read, hands down, was Of Human Bondage. Love Perks also, that’s an amazing book 
.
Jay “Rawr”
ryc: I do indulge in some self-censorship in the blog. My mom doesn’t read it, but other relatives do … so when my brother was in the hospital having some tests run last year and didn’t want to worry our mother, I didn’t ID this fact because I knew it could get back to her. Then there are sensitive work and/or personal issues I won’t share because friends, co-workers and even students at the college read my blog. I don’t care how many details of my life my far-flung Xanga pals know, for whatever reason.
ryc: I must say that I LOVED Twin Peaks! And I don’t think I knew that that was what they were saying. (The owl quote) You’ve got admit that many things in that show were unintelligible! Thanks for stopping by!
Great list … I got tagged and haven’t made my list but now I’m afraid that between you and everyone else all the good books have already been taken!
In an effort to be original I’ll have to list One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish as my most influential book.
I read the comment you made over on TimsHead. I loved the story about your grandparents and their wedding. I didn’t get to learn much about my grandparents – on either side – before they all died and I wish I’d had a chance to learn more. My parents probably know some things – I’ll have to ask them.