Tagomania

Ok, I've been tagged. (Thanks Shyam, it's a pleasant little task and I 'm sorry it's taken me this long to do it). And it's actually quite a stimulating task for me to come up with answers to all these questions. Sadly, no Tamil titles.

1. What is the total number of books you've owned?

Well, honestly, how on earth can I know or remember. Any number I put down here has to be a major approximation. For sure, all my life, I've lived in houses that have abounded in books. The question, I suppose, is, how many of them were mine? A fair few of my books still reside in Chennai, and that should be 200 books or so. As for here and now, once again, it's a house full of books, but most of them not mine. And I am so tired of accumulating things (the last time we shifted, we had a garage full of things that we needed to 'donate') that I have deliberately toned down on buying.

2. What is the last book you bought?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I had to, the Potter series is the only one I am collecting books for now.

3. What is the last book you've read?

Paulina Simon's 'Eleven Hours'. Tight action of a psycho kidnapper and his kidnapee (is there such a word) - who is a full-term pregnant woman. The ending was a bit grisly but it wasn't a bad read at all.

4. What are you currently reading?

'Delayed Diagnosis' by Gwen Hunter. It reminds me of Robin Cook's books. Right now, the book's at the stage when the heroine begins to suspect something fishy is going on in the small American town that she lives in. It takes me a long time to finish one book as the only time I can (and do) read is on the train to and from work. *Sigh* the life of a mom & home-maker I guess...

And 'Lost Laysen' by Margaret Mitchell. Apparently, she wrote this one other book too, apart from 'Gone with the Wind.'. I can't believe she was only 16 when she wrote this book.

5. What are the 5 books that have meant a lot to you or that you particularly enjoyed?

Difficult question alright.... how can you expect a senile old woman like me to remember the names of all the books I loved? Here goes anyways

Lost Horizon, by James Hilton. I read this book when I was in high school and there was something about it that really got to me. Into me. More the unsaid things rather than the obvious. Shangri-La. The tone of book. The language. Although I don't own it yet, I recently had ocassion to re-read it - my hubby's boss was kind enought to lend me his copy.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Like you, Shyam. But unlike you, I haven't read it in ages, but will love it for the same reasons as you - gentle humour, such a difficult, touchy subject handled with so much understanding - couldn't have put it better meself.

Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. This, in spite of the book's inherent rascism. I am sucker for a good romance and the romance between Scarlett and Rhett is too good to resist or forget. And the history. For the sake of the first one, I even read the second 'Scarlett', which of course, was mostly crap. The only good thing was the second book united the lovers!

Daddy Long legs by Jean Webster. What a cutie that one is!!! I just love Jerusha and always will.

The Da Vinci code by Dan Brown. The characterisiation was wafer-thin and the language was nothing to write home about. But some of the ideas in the book were so revolutionary, I was mighty impressed.


6. What book(s) would you wish to buy next?

The next Harry Potter, of course, to complete my series. Can't think of anything else for now.

7. What book(s) caught your attention but you never had a chance to read?

It was a book by Bill Bryson, but I can't remember what it was called. I think it was do to with Aussie?

8. What book(s) that you've owned for so long but never read?

I know I do have some, but can't remember the titles.....

9. Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why

I don't think I will. Coz some of the people I want to pass it onto are not bloggers and others may not want to play tag. So, anyways, I will say that I wanted to tag Lak, Asha and Maya. Only Lak has a blog, that I know of....
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Like you feel hungry when you read about food, all this book tagging has created in me a desperation to read some of the books that are being talked about. So, I've gone and reserved 'Gone with the Wind' in the library. And will do more reading, overall...