A Book Baton

This post has been archived. It's probably out of date or shameful in some other way.

I think these "batons" are a pointless waste of time, but still can't resist joining in when invited. I'm late too. Not that any of that actually matters. Many thanks, Ben.

Number of books on the shelf

Around 600, at a guess (about a quarter of those belong to the missus). I tend not to keep books on a shelf - once I've read them, I don't see the point in keeping them to gather dust. I only keep books that either I'm likely to re-read or that friends of mine will probably want to borrow. The rest end up at charity shops (or soon released into the wild through BookCrossing).

Last book purchased

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (actually the first book I've bought in a while - since stopping commuting I've been spending much less time reading).

Book I'm reading right now

I'm halfway through Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, Michal Palin's Himalaya and Donna Tartt's Secret History. I have this annoying habit of reading several books at once, some more slowly than others.

Last 5 books read

Incompetence - Rob Grant
Want to Play? - P.J. Tracy
The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued Above - Mil Millington (for about the 90th time)

Books that mean a lot to me

The books that mean a lot to me now might not mean as much were I trapped on a desert island (where, much like Ardal O'Hanlon, I would make sure I had a giant inflatable book, and one entitled 'How to Make Oars Out of Sand'). Good books convey emotion, so the books that mean something to me are usually those I've read at a particularly emotional point in my life, and whose names I can rarely remember, but when (or if) I re-read them I come over all emotional.

Passing this along to

Diane Vigil
Kim Krause
Brian Warren
Adrian Lee
... and anyone else who wants to tell the World what books they've read (without an opportunity to list the books they actually like) as a thinly veiled excuse for reinforcing the ludicrous hierarchy of the blogosphere (I'm in a slightly cyincal mood today).

27 July 2005 | books