Books

KC tagged me with this, so here we go!

1. How many books have I owned?
Way too many . . . i quickly counted the books in our library (our spare bedroom!) and in other places around the house, and we've got around 400 books. However, that doesn't count the many, many books we bought/acquired then either sold or gave away. We've probably gotten rid of another 200 books or so.

2. What was the last book you bought?
Hmmm . . . last book I acquired (free sample sent to me) was The New Catholic Answer Bible (about 2 weeks ago). The last book I actually paid money for was a collection of C.S. Lewis' Narnia books (for my wife, as a b-day gift).

3. What was the last book you read?
Last book I finished reading (just yesterday - I actually read it in less than two days cuz it's light reading) was lost boy lost girl (a horror/mystery type book). I'm still currently reading 8 Weeks to Optimum Health by Dr. Andrew Weil, The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey, The Birth of Christianity by Dominic Crossan, Inner Christianity by Richard Smoley, Christ In A Post-Christian World by Pamela Young, and The Sacred Way by Tony Jones.

4. What are FIVE books that have meant a lot to you.
Hmmm . . . that's a really hard question . . . so let's see . . . I'm gonna cheat and put a few more than five (and I'll limit myself - I could keep adding to this list!) :-)
A) The Bible: I started reading it my sophomore year in High School and read through most of it before I graduated High School. I actually started on one of those small, red Gideon Bible New Testaments, then moved on to a full NAB Bible. Haven't looked back since :-)
B) Care of the Soul / The Soul's Religion by Thomas Moore: I really like his approach to soul/spirit, and his alchemical approach of not trying to "fix" all of life's problems and bad moods
C) One River, Many Wells by Matthew Fox: see my comment below (D); I like this book because it ties in strands from disparate religions and tries to show the interconnectedness of faith where some strive to see only differences
D) Hyperspace by Michio Kaku: My introduction to the wonderful world of cosmology and theoretical physics - I devoured the book and then went out and bought more on the topic
E) The World's Religions by Houston Smith: I've loved world religions since I started my own spiritual path my sophomore year in HS, and Smith's treatment of them - very respectful, very loving, putting each religion's best foot forward - only deepened my love for them.
F) Catholicism by Richard McBrien: My first college religion textbook - I loved the way McBrien made everything fit together, the way he gave historical as well as theological reasons for the hows and whys of Catholicism - it helped shaped my own historical approach to my faith
G) By Way of the Heart by Wilkie Au: Another college textbook, this one on holistic spirituality - I still find myself using stories and examples from that text in my own teaching today
H) The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney: On the Myers-Briggs/Kiersey-Bates temperament sorters I usually come out slightly introverted - I really liked this book because it helped me get a handle on my own introversion as well as the flaming introversion of my wife - highly recommended reading for anyone!

5. Tag five people who haven't played yet
Ummm . . . I don't stray too far into the blogosphere - I think the people I might tag have already been tagged - if not, I'll tag later! :-)

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo