Queries about books
This is a fun thing which I have seen answered by others - most recently on On Nothing, to whom I respond.
1. Total Number of Books I've Owned
A rough estimate is 3,000.
2. Last Book I Bought
A big stack from Dover Publications, which I whole-heartedly recommend and indeed commend! (I have no connection with the company except as a satisfied customer.) A couple of titles: The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear, Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture, and a few others on ancient Egypt.
3. Last Book I Read
I am usually reading several at once... Let's see: Means to Message by S. L. Jaki. The Sleeping Sphinx by John Dickson Carr. Tom Swift and His Jetmarine by Victor Appleton II.
4. Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me
Others have assumed the Bible as transcendent to such a question, so I will too, along with the various books of prayer and ritual of the Roman Catholic Church, which are not "books" as much as "aids to memory"... (Since "memory" is an important term, I should talk about that in another posting.) And I may pick another five next time I think about it, but for today here is the list:
a. The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton
b. Science and Creation by S. L. Jaki
c. The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney
d. The Idea of a University by J. H. Newman
e. The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
Each deserves a lengthy commentary on why I picked them and what role they have played in my life, but perhaps those will follow someday.
(And as I re-read this, other titles and authors shout to be included... Alice in Wonderland! The Phantom Tollbooth! The Never-Ending Story! J R. R. Tolkien! A. C. Doyle! Rex Stout! D. L. Sayers! Donald Knuth! Oh, they said five. I picked five. I am supposed to be able to count, even without a computer! Oh, is that what this thing is in front of me?)
5. Tag five people and have them do this on their blog.
Oof. Just about everyone I read has already done it or given the token to another. (Somewhere I hear a Gorgon saying "Sister, give me the eye!") Maybe the only one I did NOT see mentioned is Nancy over at Flying Stars.
Good luck. If you read this and have not posted a reply, you may consider yourself to have been tagged.
posted by Dr. Thursday @ 5/25/2005 06:02:00 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
O! This is going to be fun!
Kind regards,
On Nothing
Huzzah for Dover, where the wisdom of the ages is available for a very reasonable price!
Robert
Oy vey, I just read it, and so that must mean I was tagged.
However, I generally do not like these things. Sorry. I can't come up with a good reason just now, but whenever I see them, they remind me of chain letters or something.
Sorry.
I untag myself!
It's just for fun - do it only if you are interested. I did it because it is fun to write about books. Though instead of writing this, really I should be writing books...
I saw another one of these tag things (five dull things everyone talks about) but since I am a Chestertonian, "There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject." [Heretics CW1:54] Actually it raises a different question, but that must be dealt with another day.
Also I think these are to help motivate people to write. I need no motivation, though I could use some more time. And here I am writing about this instead of working! (Talk about being motivated...)
Actually it is more like this in The Poet and the Lunatics:
"...He did no work lately; sometimes sat and stared at a blank sheet of paper as if he had no ideas."
"Or as if he had too many," said Gabriel Gale.
I really enjoyed this post. But, just one thing, it was the grey sisters, not the gorgons, who had only one eye. but they have substantial roles in the tale of Perseus killing the gorgon.
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