As PNH calls it: The book meme that ate blogdom's brain

OK, OK, I’ll play (I guess you can call this entry the final straw, although I wasn’t “tagged” by it, so this is kind of a bastard-child in terms of meme lineage):

Total number of books owned:

No idea. At least 2000. Possibly double that, counting boxes of books in the basement. Would be a multiple of that again if I hadn’t purged my author copies and editor copies of every book I was ever personally involved in a few years back with the help / at the insistence of b.

Last book bought:

Paperback of John Coltrane: His Life and Music by Lewis Porter, on the recommendation of xourmas, who says the way we’ve been studying music theory together and learning to play has some parallels in Coltrane’s own history.

Last book read:

Does re-reading count? If so, put me down for Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey / Maturin series, which I’ve just re-read for the umpteenth time. If not, Up from Conservatism by Michael Lind. It’s now a tad out-of-date, and Lind is still more conservative than I have, but turncoats make the best informants.

Five books that mean a lot to you:

1. The Truelove by Patrick O’Brian. One of my favorites from that series.
2. Money and the Meaning of Life by Jacob Needleman. A philosopher takes a hard look at what money really is and what it means and why it matters. I’m probably overdue to read this again.
3. Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny. One of his space-future reinterpretations of mythology, in this case Egyptian.
4. Night Soldiers by Alan Furst. I love all of his books but this first one in the series sets the stage for the rest and begins the series of subtle interlinkings that connect them all.
5. Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov. Again, this stands for many, but is definitely my favorite among them all. Conjures up mid 20th century totalitarianism and manages to weave together an intertwined take on literature and spirituality, at least the way I read it. Postmodern without being annoying.

Tag five people to continue this meme:

Cecil Vortex
Bill Cassel
Frances Pabon
Pete Gaughan
Willem Knibbe