Sev *is* talking to me again, in case any of you were wondering, but he's not waiting in the wings as my secreta---ahem, I mean, as my *personal* *assistant* today. Nope. He took the notes as I pondered this meme, but he wanted a dip in the pool right now, so I'm on my own. 90 degrees today, you see, and ever-so-delightful. Sigh....

Yes, I know I'm a nutter.

Books! Books! Books!

1) Total number of books I own:
Sev wanted to actually count them all, but most are in storage until Vati builds me my beautiful bookcase, and I have absolutely no desire to go digging through boxes just to have an accurate tally. Suffice it to say that I have many, many, many books. All the "textbooks" from college that struck my fancy (including classic literature, philosophical treatises, history, art and music, and fiction) as well as all the fun books I purchased Just Because (including Writer's Guides to whatevers, fantasy, a dictionary and thesaurus, and various bits of nonfiction that interested me). That's lots of books.

2) Last book bought:
Knives, Swords, & Daggers, a Complete Handbook put out by Barnes & Noble's publishing house. Lots of pithy detail and beautiful pictures. Wonderful. :D

3) Last book I read:
I keep running aground this question in places, and it's been a while since I've actually read a book. In fact, I can't rightly recall what that book was: either Loretta Chase's Mr. Impossible or Jean-Christophe Rufin's The Abyssinian, both of which are quite good, in very different ways.

4) Five books that mean a lot to me:
1. The Bible - such a surprise, I know; for obvious reasons
2. Sunshine by Robin McKinley - there are just some books where the characters click with me; this is one of them
3. Illusion by Paula Volsky - the first book I really, truly fell in love with (though by no means the last)
4. An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott - again, probably for obvious reasons; Polly was another character who clicked
5. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien - technically, it was one book ;)...I don't idolize Tolkien like many readers/writers of fantasy, but he is amazing, and LoTR is like a neverending tutorial in the genre: every time I read it, I learn something new about my craft

5) Five authors that mean a lot to me:
1. Paul (as in, the Apostle Paul, St. Paul, the former Saul of Tarsas) - I believe all the books of the Bible were divinely inspired, that is that their authors wrote God's message in their own words, so I guess the Pauline Epistles were written just as much by God as Paul, but since they're written to Christians in our time period---as the rest of the Bible is *not*---they're *especially* "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16). So I'm awfully fond of Paul. ;)

2. Robin Hobb - everything she writes amazes me---both the writer and the reader halves of me; I *love* her work!

3. Robin McKinley - I love everything she writes: it's a joy to wander through her fairy tales.

4. Patricia C. Wrede - an author I discovered when I was twelve; I know I'll still be rereading her work when I'm old and blue-haired (er...older than I am now, that is... :D)

5. Carla Kelly - it took me several years to break into historical romance, but it took me absolutely no time at all to come to the conclusion that she's one of the very best in the genre; she writes unusual stories and never fails to make me feel the characters and their pains and joys.

Ah. I feel much better now. :)

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