book meme

[jenk]

1. Number of books I own: Enough to fill roughly 167 ft of shelving. That does also include jw1776's books.
   
   
2. Last book bought: Silent Bob Speaks by Kevin Smith.
   
   
3. Last book read: Hm. 'Twas a re-read: Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers. Before that was a new one: The Woman Behind The Collar, by Joy Carroll Wallis. While reading both of those I've also read the portions of Silent Bob Speaks that I hadn't already read online & portions of The Ordering Of Love, a collection of poems by Madeleine L'Engle.
   
   
4. 5 Books that mean a lot: I couldn't always narrow it down to one, so...
   A Wrinkle In Time, A Severed Wasp, The Young Unicorns, A Ring Of Endless Light, and others by Madeleine L'Engle. Madeleine L'Engle taught me about girls who save their families. That girls can be good at math, not fit in, and be OK anyway. About professional women - not women who have a job, or women who whine about having to work, but women who work because it's their avocation as well as their vocation. That scientists can believe in God, and Christians can use science. That metaphysics isn't just for flakes. That faith and trust are what you do. And about responsibility and discipline and love.
   
   Looking for Rachel Wallace, Early Autumn, A Catskill Eagle, Crimson Joy, all by Robert B Parker. There's love here too, but through a harsher lens. Less metaphysical. But clear thinking and willingness to deal with hard decisions. And, again, strong women who make their own decisions and create their own lives.
   
   Starting From Scratch: A Different Kind Of Writer's Manual, by Rita Mae Brown. I ordered this from a book club in college. Didn't know anything about Miz Brown's prior work but this was a wakeup call in multiple ways. I don't agree with everything in this but I learned a lot.
   
   Close Relations, by Susan Isaacs. Maybe all families are different, but this one reminds me of mine. No, my family isn't Jewish and we don't view Italians and Irish as different races. I'm a pale mongrel from Seattle, remember. At my school "other races" were Black and Korean and Japanese and Quileute and Makah. But the expectations, the decisions about how to build your life...that's the same.
   
   The Bible and The Book Of Common Prayer, by many. The first is usually NIV or NRSV these days, but I do still have certain passages memorized in KJV.
   
   
5. Tag:
   If wildcardgal, sar_anon, dianthus, ts_umbra &/or simplypatrick wanted to answer I'd be very interested in reading it. But I can understand if you're too busy.