Tori tagged me with this book meme recently; can't turn down a fellow New Englandah, now can I!

Here goes:

My reading: It has tapered off drastically these last few years. There was a time I would go through 3 books in a weekend, reading at the beach, in the backyard, wherever I found myself. Not so anymore. I'm not sure why! Let's blame the internet...in fact, I'd be reading The Ghost At The Table by Suzanne Berne right now if I wasn't doing this meme! Ahhhh, distractions ;-)

Total number of books owned: I have two boxes of books in storage, and after doing a quick check of the bookshelves here, 238...so probably close to 300, maybe 350.

Last book bought: Eclipse (the third of the Twilight series) by Stephanie Meyer.

Last book read: Eclipse. I was so glad I read about this series on Carl's blog; they're for young adults (as is the Harry Potter series). The main characters are Bella, a human teen; her new boyfriend, Edward, a gorgeous vampire (his equally gorgeous "family" also plays a prominent role in the books) and Jacob Black, Bella's friend from childhood, who happens to become a werewolf. I have to say the stories totally sucked me in and made me care about the characters! Even when you want to roll your eyes and say, get a GRIP, Bella, you still can't stop reading!

Five meaningful books:

- In HIs Own Write, by John Lennon. I got this when I was a kid, under 12...and loved it! DIdn't understand half of it, and looking at it now...um...OMG LOL!

- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: Oh, I fell in love with this story when I was 14. My friend Pat and I had hitchhiked to a bookstore in the next town over, and I was just browsing the titles. I already had a Richard Brautigan in hand when I noticed The Hobbit. PIcked it up, read a few pages...and I was HOOKED I remember seeing the date it was first published (9/21/37) and asking my mother if she'd ever read it when she was young; she said it wasn't her cup of tea.

- The Stand, by Stephen King: I sat on the porch and read it cover to cover when it first came out in 1978. I loved the story, good against evil (maybe this was why I never wanted to go to Vegas LOL) . What a disappointment the movie was!

- Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson: I read this a couple years after coming back from Japan, and can remember nodding my head and smiling at so many different points in the story. The premise? Simple; he was going to hitchhike from one end of Japan to the other, following the cherry blossoms :-)

- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling: My favorite of the Harry Potter books, mainly because it was all about Snape. What an amazing character he was!

Thanks, Tori, that was fun!

I loveLoveLOVE reading about people's books and reading habits!!

I've heard several people recommend that Twilight series...I really must check it out at some point.

I saw something on TV about the Twilight series. I wasn't sure if it was something my son would like as the show made it seem as if it was geared towards girls. What do you think?

LOL about In His Own Write. I can think of several books that were over my head the first time I read them.

I loved the Stand- read it when I was about 12 or so. The movie was crappy, but that was so often the case.

I miss reading for pleasure....I guess Go Dog Go is about as high speed as i get these days!

I know what you mean about the Will Ferguson book. I read it in August but under the Canadian title, 'Hitching Rides with Buddha'. So many things to relate to! How long were you in Japan, btw?

I used to carry Yoko Ono's book Grapefruit around like a bible. I wonder what I would think of it now.

Good to see some Tolkien on that list! ;)

3 books in a weekend, eh? I think the only time I did that was during last year's R.I.P. Challenge when I managed to tear through three small books in a weekend.

Oooh! Another book meme! I may have to 'borrow' this one! That would make 3 or 4 I've done- of course you can never say too much about your favorite thing can you?
I read The Hobbit (& the rest of the series) when I was 8.
Same here about the Stand- I too was disappointed in the movie.

I read The Stand for my English class............OMG....what a freaky book. I LOVE Stephen King

ugh....that was HIGH School english! YIKES!

What a great meme! Can you believe I've never read the Hobbit, as much as I loved LOTR?? Gotta get to that one someday

Neat meme!

Love, love, love The Stand! What a fun meme!