Book Blog Game

Lisa at the London Fog tagged me for this book blog game that is making the rounds and so, good sport that I am on occassion, I bit.

Number of Books I own: I haven’t the foggiest clue. I collect first editions and have a number of books for their investment value and then there are others for pleasure or knowledge. I have seven 6 foot bookshelves, five – 5 foot bookshelves and four – 3 foot book shelves that are all stacked double rowed and double deep in addition to four huge plastic containers full of books. My friends threatened to riot and burn my books if I moved anymore after we moved 4 times in 1 year, and so here, is where we have stayed for the last ten years.

Last Book I bought: The Virtues of War by Steven Pressfield – no, this is not a work of non-fiction and if you have never read Steven Pressfield start with Gates of Fire - one of my all-time favourite books.

Last Book I Read: The Guide for the Perplexed by Rabbi Moses ben Maimondes aka The Rambam, though I am now more perplexed than I was to begin. The depth and breathe of this book had so completely captured my full attention that I discovered that I was unable to finish reading Chainfire by Terry Goodkind, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Intelligence in War by John Keegan, The Virtures of War by Steven Pressfield until I was finished reading the guide.

Books that mean a lot to me:

The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky - I first read this book at 18 and fell in love with it. I re-read it every few years or whenever I feel the need to fall in love all over again.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand – What is there else to say?

The Dune Series by Frank Herbert (and I am not including the Dune books written by son & friend) even if he did cheat me by dying before he finished the series and I will never know who will triumph in the intergalactic war between the Reverend Mothers and the Honoured Matres. Twenty years later and I find that I am just as bitter over his death now as when it first happened.

Dante’s Inferno. I believe that future Canadian historians may describe my geographic location as the last level of Dante’s hell and for those who aren’t in the know - read the book to discover for yourself what sin would consign your soul to the lowest level of Dante’s hell. Reading Dante always makes me regret that I never learned to read in Italian.

The Exodus. I know it sounds it sounds cheesy and trite, but I think that everything one needs to know about the human heart & soul and the nature of freedom lies contained in this small volume but to fully appreciate the nuance and its’ meaning in full, DO NOT read the Christian version.

The final part of this game is to tag a few other bloggers. Here's who I want to know (that have not been tagged already that I know of) of my fellow Red Ensign Bloggers:

The Tipper at Tipperography. Any woman who can get down and dirty with catapulting pigs has earned inclusion in my list.

Alan at Gen X at 40 because Alan maybe a leftie but he's a good sport and an example of what a good leftie should be. Besides, I would love to see what influenced his thinking even if its only a cautionary tale for myself.

Rue at Abraca- Pocus. I picked Rue because I feel an odd sense of familarity with her. I had one Grandmother that made curse candles and hexed people, and another who claimed to have ability to talk to the dead. Both were fantastic cooks and would probably have enjoyed spending time in Rue's Kitchen.

I pick Glenda at Just for Girls because I am extremely curious to see if there is a reading parallel universe between the two of us.

Temujin at West Coast Chaos because he blogs on a variety of things, owns up to to not being a heavy drinker, and I love idea of sending an email to his chosen email moniker.