My first meme

Clare of Semi-Evil Squirrel fame sent me a meme, so I guess I am supposed to respond here? (I've never done one of these before and am not even entirely sure I know exactly what a meme *is*.)

Well, here goes:

1. How many books do I own?
I have *no* idea. Science Boy helped me get rid of a massive amount of books when I finally finished moving, but I still have 5-1/2 bookcases full. One entire case is children's books, and we all know that a shelf of skinny picture books is equal to the same number of three shelves of adult books! I guess the answer is lots and lots.

2. Last Book(s) I Bought:
Our Bodies, Ourselves: a New Edition for a New Era (2005) and In Search of Grace : A Journey Across America's Landscape of Faith by Kristin Hahn.

3. Last Book I Read:
I just finished Bait and Switch the (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich. Yesterday, I read The Old African by Julius Lester and this morning I began Bang! by Sharon Flake.

4. Five Books That Mean A Lot To Me:
* The Portable Thoreau -- Thoreau is one of my favorite people ever and this nifty book collects his best work in one place. I actually love eveything about this edition, even the size, the paper it's printed on, the green of the cover...

* The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery -- I will not link to this book, since only a newer translation (with a blue cover) is available. The old translation (by atharine Woods, with the white cover) is one of my favorite books. EVAH. I have given countless copies of that book as gifts. The new translation, in my opinion, does not have the same poetry and seems rather ugly and soulless next to the original. Pity.

* THREE-WAY TIE: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice ound There, and The Hunting of the Snark : an Agony in Eight Fits all by the fantabulous Lewis Carroll -- I don't even have words. The Boy calls me "Snark" and I call him "Boojum," so maybe that's some clue to how much I adore these books.

* What Shall We Do Without Us? by Kenneth Patchen -- He seems a glorious mixture of Paul Klee and maybe e.e. cummings to me. I love, love, *love* his poem-paintings and this is my favorite collection.

* Hmm... Hard to chose a fifth book; it feels too much like I am leaving something important off the list... I'll leave it blank so it can encompass all the books dear to me!


5. Tag Five More:
I'm not so good at passing stuff like this on, so I'm gonna play spoiled sport and not. :-P