Meme Me

My wife (who, truth be told, is the writer in the family; I am a hack) maintains several blogs. In this one, she participated in something called a "book meme". I liked the idea of spending some time reflecting on the questions it posed, so my wife very kindly set up this blog for me and sent me the questionnaire.

Total number of books I've owned

Many, many thousands, most of which are boxed up in the basement for want of shelf space.

The last book I bought

My wife buys most of the books around here. I'm personally responsible, most recently, for Canada: A People's History.

The last book I read

You mean finished reading? I'm not sure. I think I finished re-reading Imajica last month. I usually have one fantasy or science fiction novel on the go, most of which are completely forgettable. So, I forget them. Then, years later, I'll re-read them. It's sort of like recycling. I read them when my brain needs some down time and I don't feel like sleeping.

As for books I have on the go: there are a dozen or more. They include several histories (I'm focusing on Liddell Hart's History of the Second World War at the moment, but I think I'll soon return to The Penguin History of Medieval Europe), Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival, Karen Armstrong's A History of God, a biography of Vannevar Bush, some stuff by Einstein, Hawking, and Brian Greene, and a bunch of others I can't remember at the moment.

Five books that mean a lot to me

• The How And Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs: This is the first book I remember reading on my own.
  
• J.H. Willison's Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party: A Political History: I have never read this book, but I love both Canadiana and old books and I happen to own number one of one hundred of the limited edition of this two-volume set, written in 1903. On the frontispiece is written, "Mrs. Josephine E. Willard, from a friend. Wilfrid Laurier. Ottawa. Jan. 20, 1905."
  
• Crime and Punishment: Until I read this book, I had not truly understood that a novel could be a work of art.
  
• A Wizard of Earthsea: Understandably, most people consider fantasy to be a genre unworthy of their attention; sadly, they'll never experience Ursula LeGuin's little masterpiece. LeGuin is a student of Tao, and it may be that that makes this novel flow so beautifully and seemingly effortlessly.
  
• The Selfish Gene: This book contains the meaning of life, but you probably won't like it.
  

Tag 5 people

How lame must a meme be to need such life support?