Hmm, I’ve been tagged by the Well Dressed Librarian.

1. How many books do I own?

I actually tried to figure this out. I’m estimating that I have around 30 books on each shelf in my many bookcases (I tend to buy a lot of paperbacks which don’t take up as much room as hardcovers). I have the equivalent of 31 shelves, when I count shelves which have 2 rows of books, and the piles of books on my floor. So that would mean that I own around 930 books. I’m not even counting the two bags of books I haven’t taken in for the public library’s book sale. Yowza! I think I need to weed my collection even more.

2. Last Book I Bought:

I bought Teva Durham’s Loop-d-loop, which features a bunch of great knitting patterns beyond my current skill level.

3. Last Book I Read:

Alice Munro’s Runaway - I love her short stories. Runaway featured three stories about a character named Juliet moving through different stages of her life. I also got a kick out of a story that was set at the Shakespeare festival in Stratford Ontario because I’ve been there! It feels a little strange to me sometimes when I’m reading fiction set in a location I’ve visited in real life.

4. Five Books That Mean A Lot To Me:

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley- Sometimes I just fall in love with a book. I think I read this first during my awkward pre-teen years, so I really identified with Aerin.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith- This is a book I reread when I’m feeling blah. It is so funny, and I enjoy the storyline about a quirky family that has fallen on hard times. Cassandra Mortmain is such an appealing narrator, I root for her every time I read this novel.

Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson - I read this book when I was taking creative writing in college, and I thought it was so inspiring. Denis Johnson is great, I love reading books by poets.

Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter - Great short stories influenced by fairy tales.

Everything by Jane Austen - I couldn’t pick one novel, so I’ll pick all of them.

5. Tag Five More:

Hmm, I think this meme has been around for awhile, so I’m not sure if the people I’m tagging will have done this already or not. But I’ll tag:

Elythia
Love the Liberry
Doom City
The Cornjob Memorial Library
Nat