I’ve never backed down from a blogger tagging challenge yet...so here’s another one...

I’ve been tagged by the loverly Leandra:

1. Total Number of Books I’ve Owned: I’m guessing...about 300...but the library keeps me busy when I’m not borrowing books from friends also.

2. Last Book I Bought: The Dreamer's Dictionary.

3. Last Book I Read: I’m currently reading Catcher in the Rye by Salinger. I started this book years ago... & never finished it...which isn’t like me at all. It seems like a mandatory read. I’m in love with the way he writes in a true voice of a teenage boy:

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them."

...How could you not love a book that starts this way?

4. 5 books that mean a lot to me:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- One of my all time favorites. The only time I think a movie may have come close to being better than the book...& that isn’t easy to do. I love the slow, kind of southern way this story is told through the eyes of eight year old Scout.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane- I don’t know what it is about a story that starts at the end...then tells you how it all got to that point...that gets to me...but this one does. If you like character development & emotionally descriptive writing...this book is for you.

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume- I’ve loved her books since I started reading. I read her all throughout my childhood. I may have even learned the actual mechanics of how sex works from reading Forever (if you read this book as a kid...you’ll know what I mean). This book explores the ramifications of love & lust on two friends...& rings very true to me.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein- A book from my childhood. I just treated myself to the hardcover edition. This book is silly words with silly line drawings. I’m in love with the lessons here. How could you not love a book with stories about dancing pants & hugs of war?!

My fifth book would have to be a toss up between The Garden Design Book & the Georgia O’Keefe coffee table book I cherish. Both books are full of the most beautiful flowers & touching images. These are the books I’d want to save if my house was on fire.