Saturday, June 11, 2005

Book Meme Tag

I've been tagged by John at Locusts and Honey on a book meme that's going around. I love books and it's short, so I'll play.

1. Number of books I own.

Well over a thousand. Nearly every room in the house has several bookcases.

2. The last book I bought.

Just a few minutes ago on amazon after reading a review in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that identified the author as a Presbyterian-- Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity by Dave Shiflett.

3. The last book that I read.

Being Dead is No Excuse by Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays. A hysterical look at southern funeral traditions, it includes a lot of good down home recipes. Loved the Methodist Ladies vs. Episcopal Ladies chapter. It reminded me of all my East Texas relatives, now departed.

4. Books that mean a lot to me.

The Bible. I'm exploring Eugene Peterson's The Message for a fresh look at scripture.

The Four Witnesses by Robin-Griffith Jones. Anglican priest discusses the distinctive portraits of Jesus in each of the four Gospels.

Biographies of Queen Elizabeth the first. I have an abiding interest in the Tudor English period and have read lots of them. Two are in my current book collection:
The First Elizabeth by Carrolly Erickson and Gloriana The Years of Elizabeth by Mary M. Luke.

I wouldn't be here answering this meme if it weren't for Blog by Hugh Hewitt and Leonard Sweet's The Aqua Church.

5. Tag 5 other bloggers.

Spooky Rach , Will Spotts, Songbird, St. Cassarole, and rev-ed. Hope you haven't already been tagged, and remember you don't have to play!

7 comments:

John said...

Of the thousand books, how many are law books?

Lawyers tend to attract books like a dog attracts fleas.

Jody Harrington said...

Almost none are law books. El Jefe keeps his law books at the office. These days most legal reference sources are online through different services that firms subscribe to. I keep a couple of references on wills and estates because I get lots of questions about these subjects from members of the congregation. (Note to Texas Bar Association: but I don't practice law!! If people need a lawyer I refer them to someone in active practice).

We're all book-a-holics in the family. We'd have more if we didn't sell off books we don't plan to re-read to Half Price books a couple of times a year. Major subjects are Civil War History (El Jefe's passion), religious topics (all), European history (me and Babs), ancient history (Portia) and modern and popular novels (me and the girls).

Unknown said...

I'm almost afraid to count my books, but I will give it a try since you asked!

St. Casserole said...

What do I do? Whats a magazine meme?

Jody Harrington said...

To st.cassarole--
To participate in the meme you post the same questions together with your answers on your blog. I'm not sure what a "magazine meme" is either. I'm still a relative newbie here.

To songbird--thanks!

John said...

A magazine meme? That's not a bad idea.

Anonymous said...

Thanks. Since it's not solely my blog, I can't really particpate. It is an interesting topic, though, so I'll answer these here.

Number of books I own: hard to say -- I loan out most books I find interesting, so I'll probably never see them again. Here, I have several hundred.

The last book I bought: The Making of Robert E. Lee. (Not worth the money -- the author had some great insights, but his psychological / sociological perspective really interfered with his subject matter.)

The last book I read: Too embarassing to mention. Actually it was the last in the Harry Potter series . . . never mind.

Books that mean a lot to me: The Lord of the Rings. To Kill a Mockingbird. Count of Monte Cristo. Les Miserables.

I am interested in Civil War books -- The Killer Angels (which was made into the movie Gettysburg) and its sequels. Play for a Kingdom. Cold Mountain. The Centennial History (Bruce Catton).