Selva got me back.
Total Number Of Books I've Owned
Good question. I'd guess wildy somewhere between five hundred and one thousand, but really, no idea. I do know that I left lots of them in Adelaide, and have gathered about 100 since i've been O/S. I've been reading much, much more fiction since being away than I had in the last 10 years, which is lovely.
The Last Book I Bought
The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake by Breece D'J Pancake. I bought this last time I was down in San Francisco. I was in Glen Park heading over to Cassidy's for brunch. I was a bit early (always am when i'm somewhere new), so I stopped in at a bookstore. There was someone playing the piano in the store, and that was all I needed. So I browsed to such hits as Endless Love, and other lurve standards. (That's actually quite a nice song if you can overhaul the Lionel Richie memories.) I was in the fiction section, when Mr. Pancake's name jumped out at me. The cover was nice, and it was short stories, my favourite genre, so I grabbed it. Breece D'J Pancake was a young writer from West Virginia who suicided in the 70s. These stories are wonderful.
Last Book I Read
Kings of Infinite Space by James Hynes. Actually, it's in progress, and has gotten me reading on the bus again after a brief pause. Cal and I are actually our own mini-bookclub, and this is one he lent me. It's a funny rant about a no-hoper named Paul in Texas.
Five books that mean a lot to me
Crikey. Since I don't like saving posts as drafts, i'll just rush this through.
Total Number Of Books I've Owned
Good question. I'd guess wildy somewhere between five hundred and one thousand, but really, no idea. I do know that I left lots of them in Adelaide, and have gathered about 100 since i've been O/S. I've been reading much, much more fiction since being away than I had in the last 10 years, which is lovely.
The Last Book I Bought
The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake by Breece D'J Pancake. I bought this last time I was down in San Francisco. I was in Glen Park heading over to Cassidy's for brunch. I was a bit early (always am when i'm somewhere new), so I stopped in at a bookstore. There was someone playing the piano in the store, and that was all I needed. So I browsed to such hits as Endless Love, and other lurve standards. (That's actually quite a nice song if you can overhaul the Lionel Richie memories.) I was in the fiction section, when Mr. Pancake's name jumped out at me. The cover was nice, and it was short stories, my favourite genre, so I grabbed it. Breece D'J Pancake was a young writer from West Virginia who suicided in the 70s. These stories are wonderful.
Last Book I Read
Kings of Infinite Space by James Hynes. Actually, it's in progress, and has gotten me reading on the bus again after a brief pause. Cal and I are actually our own mini-bookclub, and this is one he lent me. It's a funny rant about a no-hoper named Paul in Texas.
Five books that mean a lot to me
Crikey. Since I don't like saving posts as drafts, i'll just rush this through.
- The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. By far and away the best book ever. Buy for children you know. I loved it and read it millions of times.
- The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. Murdoch's prose is so rich and her stories so intimate. I love all that i've read by her, but this one stands out because it was the first.
- The Girl In The Flammable Skirt: Stories by Aimee Bender. Fantastic bunch of stories about people who are either slightly fucked up or think everyone else is. Recommended to me by a chap named Don (who happens to be from Texas).
- Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Apart from being a fantastic story, I like this because I worked out that it was an allegory about the bourgeois and the Bolshies without anyone having to tell me. I think that was around the time I was learning all there was to know about Russian history via Dr. Zhivago. :)
- Theoretical Perspectives On Sexual Difference edited by Deborah L. Rhode. An oldie but a goodie. When I was at uni, my brother gave me this... Bless 'im! It's one of the first books that really made clear for me just how many feminist perspectives there are and will probably ever be. One of the best things about this book was the variety of disciplines from which the writers came. Many perspectives at a time when I was struggling to discount the biological argument in favour of a sociological explanation. I had many questions at that time about ladies and gentlemen and why can't we all just get along? (Still do.) None of them were particularly answered by this book, but people sure have lots of theories. You certainly have to warm up before you read academic texts as well.
- I wish my mother kept a blog. She is the most voracious reader I have ever met, and our homes have always been filled with books. One of the first things I unpack are my books. Which reminds me, i'm going to need a bookshelf soon.
- I'm
- dropping
- the
- ball.