Books Meme

I've been tagged by Stacey and Lord knows I need to talk about something besides the kid, right?

How many books have you owned?

I think it would be impossible to estimate how many books I've owned in the past. I spent a good part of my career teaching reading and had totes full of books when I moved here to Louisiana. I got rid of those plus about two other boxes full when I moved here. There are four-hundred and fifteen in my lovely, Craftsman-style bookcase and it's pretty full. That includes everything from cookbooks to professional books to decorating books to classics to teen novels. I've got it all.

Last book bought?

It's called Mixed Media Collage: An Exploration of Contemporary Artists, Methods, and Materials. I love mixed-media stuff--I don't make a ton of it, but I sure like to read about it.

Last book you read?

Well, I don't' really consider the one above reading--it's more like looking. The last book I finished was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Since then I've cracked open The Lost Estate which is supposed to be the French version of the Catcher in the Rye, but it didn't' really do anything for me. It's hard for any book to follow up ole Harry, though.

Five books that mean something to me.

This one is hard. I think I'll just list five books that I'd recommend to a friend.

The Cider House Rules. This is a book about abortion and I read it cover to cover in a fervor in college. I cared so much about the characters that I didn't' want it to end. It's really controversial, but sometimes good literature is.

Midwives. It's a trial book about a midwife who kills one of her patients. One of my friends said she couldn't read about those terrible women, but I found the story engrossing and once again, I was still thinking about it after it ended.

Feed. This is an adolescent novel, but I think it would be a good read for anyone. What the author does with language--or a lack thereof--is genius. I made my husband read this one just so we could talk about it.

A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Want to know why poor people do what they do? Read this book. It will change the way you view so many things. I read it for a graduate school class and later I worked at a school that was completely devoted to using the author's methods. It made for a compassionate and kind staff. I think anyone who works with the poor on a regular basis should read this and really think about it.

To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm the daughter of a lawyer. I grew up in the south. This was probably the first book I ever read where the ending wasn't tied up in a little bow in the end. It's good stuff.