Tagged by ka_crow

[raven]

1) Total number of books owned?

Books that belong to me personally? Three full bookcases' worth. But Pedar and I have never owned books separately, as we read each other's indiscriminately, so between us, eight floor-to-ceiling bookcases' worth (there used to be five bedrooms in this house, but now there are four and a library), all the ones lying round the house (maybe a hundred more?) and a few boxes still in storage from when we moved (six years ago!).

2) The last book I bought?

Embarrassingly, it was The Adventures of K-9 and other Mechanical Creatures. It's a Blue Peter-esque book published for the edification of young children in 1979, and has the Fourth Doctor and Romana in it as well as K-9 and the Daleks and it was basically so entirely adorable I couldn't resist. Even more embarrassingly, I've since left it in Ron.

3) The last book I read?

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg. I borrowed it from Hannah weeks ago and have only just got around to finishing it. It was lovely, through and through; I have quibbles at the way it deals with a lesbian relationship but I may give it its own entry later.

I'm currently reading Permanent Rose, by Hilary McKay. It's part of a series (the other two are Saffy's Angel and Indigo's Star) that deals with a family of four children (all named after colours) and their artist mother who live in a house called The Banana House. They are kids' books but I do not care - they're also funny and emotional and the narrative is just brilliantly surreal.

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me?

1. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I read it at the very beginning of my fannish adventure, and spotting references to it in ordinary conversation has been winning me friends ever since.

2. All Creatures Great And Small, by James Herriot. I've probably read this more times than any other book. We used to have old family friends, Jean and Dave, when I was little and we were still living in Heswall, and once we were going somewhere on a long drive and I'd forgotten my book and I was quite distraught about it (I was that sort of child). Dave hunted around desperately for a book a seven-year-old would like, and finally handed me this one. I adored it, and years later, Jean and Dave are long dead but I still have the book, dated Madras, 1963.

3. Saffy's Angel, by Hilary McKay. See above.

4. Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett. My absolute favourite of the Discworld novels, because it's so deep and dark and tortured and just straighforwardly good. It now always reminds me of last year, the Discworld Quest and the hundreds of people who helped me on it.

5. Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome. Simultaneously the funniest book I have ever read and the only "classic" I really like. Still comfort reading.

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their ljs:

Whoever wants to, I guess.

Comments

[the-acrobat.livejournal.com]

Mmm... I read Saffy's Angel a few weeks ago and enjoyed it! It came in brand spanking new to the library and something told me that it was significant and that I should bring it home to read before shelving it. Had you mentioned it before? Perhaps that is why it lingered in my brain. It made me feel good when I was stressing out over exams.
Have you seen the movie of Fried Green Tomatoes?
The Hitchhiker's Guide and James Herriot (any and all) were both central to my childhood. When Farah came to share my office this winter, she said "Basset Hounds" and I said, "James Herriot" and she said, "Yes." and we were instant friends. (that's not really how it went, but there was a conversation about Bassets that involved James Herriot that did serve to strengthen bonds). I think I read them when I was about seven as well. I've been naming things Siegfried ever since.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I have mentioned it before in similar memes. It's such a lovely book, I plug it to everybody. I saw the Fried Green Tomatoes movie absolute years ago and can barely remember it; all I remember is the scene where Evelyn drives into someone else's car six times on purpose. Not something you forget.

*g* When I found out they were all pseudonyms, and he wasn't actually called Siegfried, I was scarred for life, I swear.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

I think there needs to be a club for people who grew up on James Herriot. I think it was mainly on the strength of my love for him that I spent about fourteen years of my life believing I wanted to be a veterinarian.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

Pretend I did not just commit the embarrassing verbal gaffe of starting both sentences in a two-sentence comment with the same phrase.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

We should so start that club. I've probably read everything he's ever written.