Book MeMe

Here we go - my shameful book collecting problem brought to light (it's worse than the yarn habit).

1. What is the total number of books you own?
Estimate - 500. Probably more. And the number of those that I haven't read yet? 50ish.

2. What is the last book you bought?
Cool Crochet - Melissa Leapman
Not yarn related - My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult. For book club.
Not yarn or book club related - I'm Not the New Me - Wendy McClure

3. What is the last book you read?
Digital Libraries - William Arms. For school
Not school related - 10 Big Ones - Janet Evanovich
Currently reading - a twinkie book so my brain doesn't implode.

4. List 5 books that mean a lot to you.
This ones a toughie. So I've decided to make some of the answers authors / series instead of single titles.

Madeline L'Engle - the Austin books. I like the Wrinkle in Time books, but I always felt a much deeper connection with Vicki Austin. She was intelligent and had a lot of common sense and it was the first time I had run into a character that reminded me of me. And, also , my first literary crush was on Adam Eddington from The Arm of the Starfish.

The Double Helix - James D. Watson. Genetics has always been my first love and here's the most important discovery. And I have one tattooed on my ankle.

Arthur Conan Doyle - all the Sherlock Holmes books. I started reading them in high school. British and old - so I felt very literary. Mysteries - so I could pretend I was smart. And my chemistry teacher was obsessed so I had something to talk to him about. He was in a version of the Baker Street Irregulars (a fan club) and if Conan Doyle mentioned a town in a story, you could use it in your title. He wanted to be Sir something of Chichester (our school district and also an English city) and he keep looking thru the books to find it written down. And every time I reread them, I keep looking for it as well. Sherlock went to a lot of places and met a lot of people who had been to other places. It has to be in there somewhere. I think this was my first "must read the whole set" series.

Anne McCaffery. The Pern books. I don't read much sci/fi or fantasy, but I've read and re-read all of these (and there's a bunch of them). Strong female characters and really good story-telling. And they still make me cry ever time.

And the Band Played on: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic - Randy Shilts. This book sparked my interest in public health, let me act like a know-it-all during new employee safety training at a hospital, and taught me that non-fiction could be just as interesting as fiction.

5. Tag 5 others to do this MeMe.
Who hasn't done this yet? If anyone wants to - tag, you're it.