Aww, fer Pete's sake...

Why am I always it? A certain Possum with too much time on his hands and devilry in his soul decided I needed to be tagged into the game. I've never been in one of these before, so forgive me if I lack a certain meme etiquette. Frankly, I always thought a meme was a Hawaiian bird that the lazy ^%$#@ over at the NY Times crossword puzzle use to fill in a space when they can't think of something more useful.

I didn't ask to be in this, so don't blame me if you don't like the answers.


1. How many books have I owned? Are you SURE you want to ask this question? I know I can't count that high. Multiple thousands to be sure. I probably should have reinforced the floors before the bookshelves went in.

2. The last book I bought was: Well, Mrs. bought Harry Potter 6, so I guess that counts. The last book I recall consciously purchasing was The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes about George Scovell, an officer in Wellington's army in the Peninsula. I haven't really started it, but we had credit at B & N and actually went to the store, and I physically picked up the book before buying it. On the to-read list.

3. The last book I finished was: Sharpe's Regiment. I'm re-reading the whole series, and I'm nearly done with Sharpe's Siege. I'm sure a lot of people find the series repetitive & formulaic, but I enjoy them, anyway.

4. What books made an impression on me? What a question. Almost every book I read makes an impression on me (especially the ones I drop on a toe). Certainly the Bible and the Talmud are important, but I don't consider those "books" per se. I remember Ambrose's D-Day as being very notable; RF Delderfield's "To Serve them All My Days" is another favorite read that I can pick up again and again. I don't know if there's a book that changed my life exactly, but certain books mean a lot to me.

Two of David Klinghoffer's books are tremendous (I found one of his books a bit slow) - The Lord Will Gather Me In, about his journey to orthodoxy, and Why the Jews Rejected Jesus, which I've written about elsewhere. The last book I'll add for now is Diane Ravitch's The Language Police, which I highly recommend.

I reserve the right to add or change this list. In the meantime, to keep things alive, I hereby tag...JORDANA!

Nyah nyah nyah nyah.

UPDATE: Ms. Jordana has begged off, claiming (ridiculously) that she's already got one. The recently relocated Yorkie Lady has agreed to pick up for the slacker, so look there for the continuation of our game of tag.