book tag

Ooh look, I've been tagged by someone I only know through her blog. Hello to Mara's Child of Beyond Lilith.

1. Total number of books I own

Now there's a question! I've never counted. Perhaps 10m of shelfspace worth? Which is a few hundred at least.

2. The last book I bought

I seem to have been too skint to buy books lately, so the last book I bought must have been at Word Alive in March, which means it was a triple purchase of a small paperback ESV Bible (now getting lots of use, so perhaps hardback might have been sensible), Not even a Hint by Joshua Harris (relationships advice, quite hard-hitting, still boggling at some of it, but on the whole useful, if taken with a pinch of salt) and The Challenge of Islam to Christians by David Pawson (not read it yet).

3. The last book I read

Atonement by Ian McEwan. I got into McEwan while doing English Literature A-Level when one of my classmates lent me The Child in Time in a bid to persuade the rest of the class that we should study it. He didn't succeed, but I loved the book (the fact I had quite a crush on him at the time might have had something to do with it!) and sought out more. Atonement is beautifully evocative and sad. It's about consequences and trying to atone for past wrongs, although the way it's constructed means this doesn't become clear until the end.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me

Imagine: A Vision for Christians and the Arts by Steve Turner
This made me think about the reasons why I do things and doing everything for God's glory. It also lead me to read...

The God who is There by Francis Schaeffer
The way Schaeffer takes on philosophy head-on helped a huge amount when I was doing my MSc and getting bogged down. I love the way he tackles big ideas and is also passionate about people.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Unclassifiable literary detective fiction, sort of. Very silly, very clever.

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
The real Winnie the Pooh, with E H Shepherd illustrations and no Disneyfication or American accents. Pure childhood escapism.

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Well, all her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries really, but especially the later ones with Harriet Vane. A quintessentially Oxford book.

5. Tag five other people, and have them do this on their blogs.

See previous post.