Danielle of The Peacock's Feather tagged me for this book meme. Hope you all find something new to read from my selections.


1. Total number of books I've owned?

Easily a thousand, but I've gotten to where I can let some books go. I don't have to keep every paperback I've ever read anymore. Moving a few times really helps one learn to let go.

2. Last book I bought?
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, The Other Boelyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory, Salem Falls, Plain Truth and Second Glance all by Jodi Picoult. Yesterday I orderedForeign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China by Rachel DeWoskin and am hoping to pick up French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasu by Mirielle Guiliano.

3. The last book I read?

The Glass Castle : A Memoir by Jeannette Walls and I'm slowly working my way through Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon

4. 5 books that mean a lot to me?

1. Wild Mind : Living the Writer's Life by Natalie Goldberg. I found this book by accident many years ago, it gave me permission to write. Another book that means a lot to me also by Natalie Goldberg isWriting Down the Bones. Short chapters and ideas for writing practice. A writing workshop in a book. I *heart* both of these books.

2. Bird by Bird : Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne LaMott. Another inspiring book. (Check out Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year and also Traveling Mercies : Some Thoughts on Faith)

3. Stranger in a Strange Land Robert Heinlien. This book is so much more than scifi. The main theme of the book is the corruption of a pure soul. The book jacket may say something about an earthling born on Mars but that's just the setting, the story is so much deeper.

4. The Travis McGee novels by John D McDonald. Sure these books are mysteries but they are filled with such a sense of place. He writes so lovingly of Florida and is filled with sadness at her environment being destroyed by developers. These books were written in the 1970s but unless a price is given for a meal or a hotel room they could have been written yesterday. They are timeless.

5. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.

Honorable Mentions:

Anything by Louise Erdrich-especially The Beet Queen and The Birth Year.

Feminine Force: Release the Power Within You to Create the Georgette Mosbacher-after reading this book I thought there was nothing I couldn't do.

The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye(her memoir Summer Afternoon or something to that effect is also good)

The Tokaido Road : A Novel of Feudal Japan Lucia St. Clair Robson. Wonderful book.

The Artist's Way Julia Cameron

Little House on the Prairie series, Laura Ingalls Wilder. These books, what can I say? I have loved them since I was a child. I still read them when I need comfort. They are an old friend, like a warm blanket or a hug.

And finally, Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak. I read this book as a child and have bought it for each of my boys.

I'm sure there are other books that deserve a mention but my mind is blank at the moment and these are the books that first popped up in my mind when I read the question.