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I am shielded in my armor
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frey_at_last posted that book meme to anybody who wanted it about a week ago, and since I *finally* got 1) Total number of books owned?
This is not any easy question, since our house is *full* of books, and there has not yet been any pressing need to sort out whose is whose. However, I'll take a stab at it:
- My private collection, all of which are in my (fairly small) room, and all of which are organized and catalogued on spreadsheet,* totals 635 volumes. This is divided into collections as follows:
- General non-fiction, shelved by LOC card catalogue number: 423.
- Language, which includes books about language, writing, and literature; and fiction in foreign languages and in translation: 143
- Folklore, religion and the occult: 79
- Poetry and anthologies: 52
- Comics, including individual issues, trades, graphic novels, strip collections, &etc: 149
- With as many as another hundred uncatalogued in various places, including 24 Bobbsey Twins books and an entire shelf of my own writing dating back to first grade.
- General non-fiction, shelved by LOC card catalogue number: 423.
- The fiction collection which is officially shared by stellar_dust and I, stacked three deep, half in my room and half in hers, roughly alphabetical by author:
- Paperbacks: 975, of which:
- 132 are trade or juvenile sized, and
- 838 are speculative fiction of some sort.
- The hardcovers are not yet catalogued, but there's at *least* another 250;
- And the media-tie ins, also not counted, but over 50 Star Wars books (Edit: I went and counted. Make that over 150); and
- The Star Trek collection is at least as much Mom's these days, but there's three boxes full, so, conservatively, 200.
- Paperbacks: 975, of which:
- And various others scattered around the house, which I wouldn't dare try to count, much less ascribe ownership to, including:
- Two bookshelves full of vintage hardcover novels, most at least seventy years old, including an Edgar Rice Burroughs collection; mostly Mom's;
- Dad's collection of books on religion, philosophy, and science, many of which have extensive marginalia, and including over two dozen different bibles, which I have dibs on should anybody dare try to get rid of them;
- An overstuffed bookshelf in the attic which runs along the *entire* ridgeline of the roof, containing volumes many of which have not been read since Dad put the roof on twenty-eight years ago, except by me when I am feeling especially reclusive;
- And there are at least four full bookshelves in various places which I haven't even *mentioned* yet, plus a box we got for Christmas which is still not unpacked.
- Two bookshelves full of vintage hardcover novels, most at least seventy years old, including an Edgar Rice Burroughs collection; mostly Mom's;
So, probably somewhere between 650 and 3000, depending on how you count. Just in my room, at *least* 1,000.
And Lord knows how many
stellar_dust will be bringing home with her.2) The last book I bought?
Last books *acquired* were birthday presents, the happy-makingest one being Wee Free Men.
If that doesn't count, then does buying the comic book trade paperback "New Frontiers Vol. 2" on Amazon.com wwith a Christmas gift certificate count?
If not, then probably the last time I went to five-for-a-dollar day at Goodwill. Um, I don't recall everything I bought, but two of them were "Always Coming Home" by Le Guin, and "Cyteen: The Rebirth" by Cherryh.
3) The last book I read? Currently working through Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, from Dad's collection, and under the influence of
frey_at_last. Have to admit that so far I mostly share Dad's opinion of it: not terribly impressive.Oh, and Mom's big Ancient Egypt coffee-table book, for research on the aforementioned boys in eyeliner, for the purpose of SG1-in-Ancient Egypt fic. (Sam would *totally* insist for timeline purposes that Jack and Daniel wear historically appropriate costume: nothing but loincloths and eyeliner. Mmmmm.)
and finished? The Thurb Revolution, Alexei Panshin.
3a) What do you want to read next? Well, so far my plans for the road trip starting Sunday are the Narnia Chronicles, Time Enough for Love, and those Star Wars novels
stellar_dust insisted I bring her. (And I think there were a couple other books she asked for too? Can't recall offhand.)4) 5 books that mean a lot to me?
- Heidi, by Johanna Spyri, and the sequels/futurefic by Charles whatsisname, for which I learned to read;
- The Secret Garden, by Frances Burnett, because it *always* makes me smile;
- Alan Mendelssohn, the Boy from Mars, by Daniel Pinkwater, for confirming my belief that there's *nothing* better than being a geek, at a time when I needed that reassurance, and also wombat comics;
- The Holy Bible, both the RSV that Dad got when he graduated Sunday School and the New Living Translation that I got. Because it's shaped who I am in so many ways. And because it's an entire library in itself: anything I want, from erotica to philosophy to rollicking fantasy adventure to really depressing emo poetry, I can flip it open and find it there. Also it contains the first slash pairing I ever 'shipped (not David/Jonathan, btw, they were always too fluffy for me. Saul and Samuel, however, were *so* doing it.)
- And... lord, I have to pick just one more? Umm, The Wounded Sky, by Diane Duane. Because I think it may have been my first introduction to the vein of pure sweet fanfic crack which is most of what I read these days.
5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their ljs:
Anyone who feels like it. q-:
*I maintain that this is neither anal retentive nor obsessive compulsive, but merely the behavior of a dragon gloating over her hoard. *gloats*
And I ought to be helping Mom mow the lawn right now, so toodles.
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all of which are organized and catalogued on spreadsheet
*loves you*
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And I'm not sure it's *possible* to ever get everything in that story. I still think and upside-down sign saying "This Side Up" is a much better Final Message from God that "Sorry for the Inconvenience," though.
*loves her books*
Now I just want a program that will let me conveniently add a huge 'comments' field to every entry with the story of where the book came from, why I have it, and how it makes me feel. q-:
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You are so .. so .. gloat-y. (; Most of mine are in boxes, but I probably don't have more than 100 or so, maybe 150, including a bunch of textbooks, and counting the whole xf comics binder as 1.
In the JAT? I keep reading "Daala" as "Darla." *stabs fanfic*
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Sure you don't. q-:
Daala probably is prounounced like 'Darla'. Daala was the whiniest most useless Imperial menace *ever*.
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Yes. Yes she was. Tell that to the Eol Shaa refugees though. d-:
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Yay for reading CSL, but I'm not surprised you aren't that crazy about MC; it was meant to be a popular radio series and is a better example of some Lewisian aspects than others. If you don't warm to his apologetics at all, I recommend his literary criticism, or The Abolition of Man, or "The Weight of Glory" (his best-known sermon). You may not agree with a lot of it, but the tone is much different than in MC. :)
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I'm going to have to dig through and see what other Lewis Dad had. (I am quite fond of The Screwtape Letters already, so I know some of his theological stuff appeals to me.) And even though I didn't agree with a lot of it, some of it made me think-- my reaction to Part 1 was 'anybody who wants to write about Buffyverse vampires *needs* to read this!'
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.... Not that I, y'know, want to write about Buffyverse vampires, or anything. d-:
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