Almost forgot!

I’ve been tagged by Vy for the book meme. Here goes…
1. Total number of books I own?
I own many many many books. I have no idea of the numbers, but I do know that they fill the shelves and spill out everywhere else, that the shelves fill the 3rd bedroom of the house (a boxroom, but big enough to house a desk and a bit more) up to the ceiling, and that some of my books are sitting in a pile in the lounge because I got them for my birthday and I haven’t found space for them yet. The knitting/sewing books live in the lounge too, but they have shelf space 🙂 This is the problem with all libraries (space), therefore it isn’t surprising that librarians have that problem too…
2. The last book I bought?
That would actually be 3 books – Loop-d-loop and Ann Budd’s basic pattern books. Yum 😀
3. The last book I read?
Right now I’m reading The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman (His Dark Materials no. 2), and The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan (a non fiction one with some of her memoires and meanderings, borrowed from a colleage at work, while she’s borrowed The Bonesetter’s Daughter from me). I also have A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, but I can’t bring myself to finish it – I loved the first half, but it really has lost direction and I just can’t be arse anymore! Life is so much more than books that bore you. If you want the last book I finished, then that would be Northern Lights, the first Pullman book that I borrowed from a friend, and made me obsessive. I plan on reading the last book of the trilogy next, and The Time Traveller’s Wife (can’t remember the writer right now), which I borrowed from the same friend as the Pullman. After that, I haven’t a clue, but I need to read the book version of Totoro and the Miyazaki book DB bought me, plus I’m itching to read The Master and Margarita by Mikhai Bulgakov, which my brother got me. And the millions of others waiting on my shelves 🙂
4. Five books that mean a lot to me?
I hate questions like these! 😉 This is more like essential reading by Bry. Errmmm, in no particular order:
-Any Jane Austen – well duuuh! Her writing is something I can turn to when I need saving. Remember when you were a kid, and nightmares woke you up? If you were like me, you read something till you calmed down, something that would sooth you and chase the nasties away. Austen not only entertains and stimulates me, she also manages to do that.
-A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. This book is just gorgeous. I can’t recommend it enough. Don’t be daunted by the number of pages (mine copy has 1000 ish, but I think there are some thinner printings). I could drown in this book. A soap opera for the intelligent (I don’t mean that soaps are for thickies or anything like that – I still rather like a bit of Neighbours when I can catch it :D, but it is a very high class, very intelligent and educated soap essentially). And you won’t guess the ending either…
-Halliwells Film Guide. Can’t live without it. I love films, and Halliwells is the best way to hunt something out, get a review without finding out the twist/conclusion (as the Virgin guide tends to do), or just prove that someone was in something crap (particularly when the web connection goes down and I can’t get to IMDB).
-The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. The first Carter book I read, which made me fall in love with her writing, and inspired me to an A on the creative writing bit of my English degree. Carter can be difficult, and almost abuse the reader, but at her heart are fun and a wry poke in the ribs to get your brain and arse in gear. Sadly missed.
Finally, after much musing, here is the fifth…
-The Passion, by Jeanette Winterson. Another magic realist, but this really is a gorgeous tale of passion, love, webbed feet and chicken in Napoleonic times 🙂 The first Winterson I read, and I still feel like it is the best. Another inspirational writer.
I think these choices, when I think about it too much, largely scream feminist in huge pink letters… I’m glad I sneaked in a bloke 🙂
5. Tag five people and have them fill this out in their blogs.
Ok, but I’m still young in blog terms, so I hope the people I pick don’t mind me scaring them – they might not remember me (I’m such a wee bairn), and I doubt I’ll reach 5 either. They’ll find out who they are soon enough, heheheheheheh!
Cheers Vy!