That book meme again

Pronoia tagged me for a book meme! It's the second time around for this one, I did it in September 2005, but that was two years ago. Let's see what has changed if anything (I'm trying not to read or remember what I wrote then.)

Total number of books owned

I have about eight hundred books here in Stuttgart, plus a hundred or so in Toronto, plus some four hundred still in an attic in East London.

(This is up about fifty in the last two years, which is not very much at all: barely two books a month, after years when I'd buy two per week. I re-discovered the joy of lending libraries since then, and have so been saving money. These days I only buy books that I expect to re-read several times.)

Last book bought

Früheste deutsche Lieddichtung Literally "earliest German song-poetry," a collection of medieval song texts from the 12th century, in Mittelhochdeutsch and modern German on opposite pages. Our buses and subway carry short poems interspersed among the ads; one that caught my eye recently is quoted in this book. I was so taken with the poem, and pleased with myself for being able to read it, that I noted the book's title and tracked down a copy.

Last book read

The last book I finished was Beowulf; I'm currently reading "Inspektor Jury sucht den Kennington Smaragd" by Martha Grimes, and Paul Cartledge's "Thermopylae, the battle that changed the world" which I wrote about in November. So far, it's living up to the reviews: a fascinating tale well told. It would be worth a post, one of these days, to examine why Thermopylae is so important to me (actually, that post makes a pretty good start at it).

Five books that mean a lot to you

Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Philip Larkin, Collected Poems

J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

George Orwell, the four volumes of his Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters. What? <sings>It's my blog and I'll cheat if I want to.</sings>


And now, the best part: where I get to annoy some of you immensely. I tag Jean, Pacian, Rob, Antonia and Philip. [Updated] well, since Antonia is away for a while, let's add the Lioness to the party.