Thursday, June 23, 2005

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by the diva with a book meme.

I will not, however, be held to this count. It's only an estimate.

1) Number of books I own.

About 500. I counted up to 478, and then realized that I didn't really want to count all my sketchbooks, so that's what you get.

2) Last book I bought.

Annotated Grimm's Fairy Tales, edited by Maria Tatar. It's got footnotes that tell some alternate story points and tells some fascinating things about these generally gruesome stories.

3) Last book I read.

I went to the library and got two drawing books, and a copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel, Vols. I and II. I heard the movie sucked, so I didn't go see that.
I rather liked the comic. I thought that I would, because I've never not liked something by Alan Moore.

4) Books that mean a lot to me.

Mainstream

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Sure, I know what you're thinking, "like buttah", but that's not why. This book contains really beautiful language, and not a hint of Streisand anywhere.

Fantasy

A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony
The first in The Magic of Xanth series, and still the best.

God Stalk by PC Hodgell
The first quest story I read that contained an adventurer GIRL who kicks ass, and it's a really good book. My original paperback copy has been read about fifty times, and looks it. Atheneum published God Stalk in 1982, and the third of the trilogy came out in 2001. Long time to wait for the conclusion to a story.

Sci-Fi

The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein
The first sci-fi book that I ever read, borrowed from my math teacher. I don't like most of Heinlein's other books. And, I really liked this movie too. B-movies with a sense of humor can be better than A-movies, if you're in the right mood.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Funny in that wonderful dry, British way. If you haven't read Adams' non-Hitchhiker's stuff, you should. I really enjoyed both The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.


Graphic Novels
Any of The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman.
Wonderful storytelling, with a framework of myth, legend, gods, magic, life and death. I particularly liked the story arc A Game of You. Neil made me remember that I wanted to tell stories, and that good stories still exist to tell.

Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman
The original four comics tell the story of a young English boy, approached by four men in trenchcoats who wish to show him the ways of magic. Some call him Tim. No, it's not THAT kind of book.

The X-Men by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
I grew up reading the X-Men, and still do when I get a chance.


5) Tag (at least) five more.

Um, not sure I have five more to tag as I seem to remember one or two of these people did it in the past, but here goes.

Janet

Trillian

Carmi

Howard

Christopher

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kate, just wanted you to know, that, kicking and screaming, I posted my reponse to the book "meme". It is very long, so consider that your punishment. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Inspired choices!

(And thanks for the tag! My own are here)

My own favorite Heinlein:
Starship Troopers
Citizen of the Galaxy
Job: A Comedy of Justice
Have Spaceship Will Travel

And if you haven't tried him, Warren Ellis writes himself some tasty sequential art. I especially recommend any of the Transmetropolitan or Planetary books.

Kate said...

Howard,
I'll check it out directly. "Thank you sir, may I have another." Oooh, wait, that conjures up some rather risque images.

Chris,
I have read some Warren Ellis. Specifically Excalibur, Hellblazer and The Authority, but not the ones you mention. I'll have to check those out, thanks. Warren also has a very, um, interesting blog at
http://www.diepunyhumans.com.

Anonymous said...

Kate, hey there. I just posted a response to your understandable comment to my book meme post.

Hang in there with me and my occasionally caustic attempts at humor. Read my comment and I hope it explains things.

Also, I love your list, filled mostly with stuff I've not read and now consider recommended to me from a reliable source. :-)