Book Meme

Many thanks to Anjali for being kind enough to tag me with a book meme during NaBloPoMo!

Total number of books I own:

Wow, couldn't even tell you. I grew up in a house with built in bookshelves in almost every room in the house. My room had an entire wall of them. The living room had an entire wall of them. Same with the family room and three other rooms. So while I purged the vast majority when I sold my parents' house, I would guess I have roughly ten boxes of books here, ten more in storage, and all the books scattered through the house. Both boys have at least a hundred. My husband has a stack by his bed. Mine is as many magazines but a good 40 books there too I bet.

Last book I read:

I just put my youngest to sleep with Freight Train by Donald Crewes. Last book I read before sleep last night: You, Staying Young. Last book I finished: The Three Martini Playdate.


Last book I bought:

The Overachievers. I meant to put it back on the shelf and ask for it for my birthday but I got home and there it was in my bag. I think I at least had a coupon. I hope.


5 Meaningful Books

Only five?!

The Other Side of the Sun by Madeleine L'Engle. I own almost everything she's written, including the out of print and hard to find. Other Side is one of her lesser known novels, but it spoke to me as it centered on a young woman surrounded by old aunts, which was more or less how I spent my childhood, with five elderly aunts (though significantly less drama) bickering and doting and cooking in the background.

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Van Auken. I read this in a religious studies class and the story of the love of the author and his wife, their conversion to Christianity, and their developing friendship with C. S. Lewis made a profound impact on me and helped me respect my faith just a little bit more.

Paws to Consider by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson. One of the two best resources we used in adopting our beloved American Sofa Hound from the SPCA. (The other was Adopt the Perfect Dog.) She was a great choice and we knew how to pick her based on these books.

Microserfs by Douglas Coupland. Best known for Generation X, one of Coupland's follow-ups perfectly captured the early 1990s dot-com boom, with vivid portrayals of techies in search of flat food to push under the doors of their too-busy-coding-to-eat friends. I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time working in Northern California in 1992-1994 and this book still takes me back to being 23 and on the loose in a red Mustang convertible and an expense account in the Bay Area.

Questions and Admissions: Reflections on 100,000 Admissions Decisions at Stanford by Jean Fetter. Hands down the most influential professional book I've read. She is so honest and so thoughtful, this book never made a splash that some of its sensationalized, mean and short-sighted followers did.


So, do I know five bloggers who haven't been tagged on this?

Jennifer Niesselein
Shelley at But Wait, There's More!
Philly Expatriate
Lemonade and Kidneys
Mama(e) in Translation

And YOU! If you are one of my lurkers reading this, no need to de-lurk. But if you are searching for blog fodder, consider yourself tagged!