The Book Meme

I had no idea what a meme was. So, I looked it up. Hedwig_the_owl passed the book meme to me, and now I will complete it and pass it on to some other bloggers. So here we go.

The Number Of Books I Own
This is a tricky question, because my parents are book fiends, and we have a moderately sized room dedicated to books. I've never until a few years ago really needed to buy any books. But after I started discovering my own literary interests, I built up my own collection. I would guess that I'm up to about 200.

I own a lot of satirical books. George Carlin, Al Franken, David Sedaris. I also own a lot of Science Fiction, but specifically SF written by Philip K. Dick. I own all his short stories and a bunch of his novels. He is terrific. Besides that, I of course own the Lord Of The Rings books, with the Hobbit and the Silmarillion. I love books about language usage and books where old British men lecture on the audacity of younger generations' blatant disregard of "proper" usage rules. There's quite a bit of other stuff too, but I don't want to bore.


The Last Books I Bought
The last books I bought were Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris and The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell.


Last Book I Read
The last book I read was The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, the second book the Chronicles Of Narnia. I'm reading them through before the film comes out. It looks incredible.


Five Books That Mean A Lot
Hmm, this is a difficult list to create. But there are a few books which have completely changed me as a reader and a writer, and so those I guess will suffice.


The Elements Of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
This is the single greatest book on writing that has ever been written. Period. Everyone should own this book, regardless of whether or not you're a writer. It's short. It's sweet. No exuses.

Story by Robert McKee
This book is the greatest book I have ever read regarding storytelling. This book focuses mainly on screenplays (authored by a screenplay writer), but for anyone who wants to learn how to tell a great story, no matter the medium, this is the book to read.

America: The Book by The Daily Show writers
It's difficult to be funny, and it's even more difficult to write funny. But this book is so jam-packed with hilarity that by the end you're laughing because you can't believe you're still laughing. That's how great this book is. When I did the intern blog, and people knew I interned at Comedy Central, they would say things like, "You're funnier than the Daily Show writers." This is absolutely absurd. I wish I were a tenth as funny as these writers. With practice and time, maybe someday, but for now, I only bow to them. Funniest book ever written.

Rush Limbaugh Is A Big, Fat Idiot by Al Franken
Al Franken is one of my main influences when it comes to satirical writing. His style takes deadpan delivery to another level. He also helped me understand just what you could do to tell jokes via writing. The asterisks that inundated my intern blog were an homage to Franken's brilliant use of footnotes. If you read any one of his books, read this one first. It may be his best, but it was also written before everyone with half a brain started writing political books. His books will still always be better. And the reason is because he is funny. And the others rarely are.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
When I first heard about Harry Potter, I thought, "Great, kids are reading, but no thanks, I'm an adult. I only read grown-up books." My sister generally introduced me to the books. I always made fun of her for reading them. Then one day, after watching one of the films, I decided to give one a try. Well, needless to say, I was hooked instantly. I read the first book in one day, at just under 8 hours. I read all of my sister's copies, then shortly thereafter, I went out and purchased the first five books in a boxed set for myself. J.K. Rowling deserves to be as rich as she is. She's written an amazing story, and she's gotten children interested in reading during the process.




Now, for some other bloggers. Obviously, there's no obligation, and I'm not sure who's done one already, but we'll see what happens. In no particular order, how about...

Jasmine of Jazz... In Strange Places
Ginnderella of Raridayrar
Omar of Omar's Blog
Steph of The Last Ditch
One Glorious Conundrum of Obsession With Self Awareness
Mimi of Mimi in New York

Basically, do what I did, then pass it on. I guess.