BAM! Hit with another meme. This time from Linus of Pepper of the Earth:

1. Total Number of Books IÂ’ve Owned:
Somewhere in the thousands, I imagine. Back in my Navy days, there wasn't much else to do besides buy 'em, read 'em, & throw 'em away (no room to store them on the ship). Currently there's probably less than 200 in the house that I'd call "mine". The other 3000 or so belong to Beloved Wife TNT.

2. Last Book I Bought:

"Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge. Standard Sci-Fi. Better in the concept than in the execution

3. Last Book I Read:

"Parliament of Whores" by P.J. O'Rourke. One of the few writers who can make me laugh out loud.

4. Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

"The Stand" by Stephen King. 800 pages long, but I've read it about 10 times. Not sure I can put the attraction into words other than to say it's a good story told by a good storyteller. In high school, I used to grab it whenever I couldn't find a new book to read, because at least I knew I'd enjoy reading The Stand. And - since it WAS 800 pages long - I'd forget a lot of the details since my last reading anyway, so it was almost as good as something new.

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. Mostly because Francisco's "money speech" just flat out ROCKS. Also, it's one of the few stories I've read where the heroes have more confidence and resolve than the villains.

"Art of Manipulation: How to Get What You Want Out of People in Business, in Your Personal Life, and in Your Love Life" by R. B. Sparkman. Sadly, this one's currently out of print. I stumbled upon this one at the library. It explains the specific techniques used by con men to con you, thus making you less of a mark. This book taught me one of the most important life lessons I ever learned, which I blogged about way back when over at Bad Money.

"Unlimited Power" by Anthony Robbins. Contains numerous specific, practical techniques for getting yourself to do the things you know you ought to do. Robbins turned into a carnival barker during his later years, but the fundamental ideas in this - his first book - are solid.

"Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" by Frank Miller. Technically a comic book ("graphic novel!"), but the story gets under my skin. Thematically, it's about being true to yourself and doing what you know is the right thing, even though there's a price to be paid for doing it.

5. Tag five three people and have them do this on their blog (yeah, I'm changing the meme - sue me):

Ogre of Ogre's Politics & Views - I want to see how he blows this one off.

Anathematized of Rivers of Blood - I heard she needs something to blog about.

Pamela of Atlas Shrugs - because she needs an excuse to post a little fluff. That and she made me giggle with that Newsweek cover.

Posted by: Harvey at 11:11 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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