A book meme, as appointed by Jen
Where do I start? I was given this assignment by a friend to list my five most influential books. I love lists and listing things. I love order and lists give me a sense that I'm neat even if my life is falling apart around me. What a joy, now I get to list something. Thanks for making me think Jen!

How Many Books Do I Own? The question should be: How many books have I gotten rid of? Thousands. 95% of what I still own are boxed. I only display the loved and the cherished. Or what looks good with how I have the room decorated. Yeah, I'm that shallow.

Last Book I Read:I'm actually still reading it. It's Survivor, by Chuck Palahnuik. Amazing read. Only put it down for this writing assignment.

Ferdinand The Bull, by Munro Leaf
This is my Yin. It is everything that I am: falsely threatening, peaceful, and largely misunderstood. This is the only other tattoo I would ever get, not that I'm ever going to do that again...it hurt too dang much the first time!


Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
This is my Yang. It is everything I loved about being a child and everything I still love about being childish: adventure, the pretend, and the joy of being who you are with no inhibitions.



Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach
It was my first exploration into spirituality at the age of eighteen and it was my original Bible. It's a total New Age creation, but it told me Jesus was a man and that my struggles were His struggles. It still speaks to that struggle in me. That's saying a lot for New Age fodder.

Joshua : A Parable for Today, by Joseph Girzone
I love this book. It's another great Jesus parable and it still affects me. Humility with an honestly selfless agenda is something I can't even begin to understand and I think that's the allure of this story to me.



Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris
He's our generation's gay, expatriate Mark Twain and my favorite author of short stories and essays. A pure, unadulterated caustically hopeful genius. His other works include Naked, Dress Your Family In Corduroy And Denim, Barrel Fever, and Holidays On Ice. I own them all and all of them are worthy of making me squirt milk through my nose. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Honorable Mentions
Any work by Chuck Palahniuk. He's probably most famous for Fight Club, but some of his other works: Lullaby, Survivor, Invisible Monsters, and Choke, for example have the most distinct, visceral voice in post-modern literature. I just discovered that I haven't read everything this guy's put out. I'm aghast! He's also written Haunted, Diary, Fugitives and Refugees, and Stranger Than Fiction. It looks like I have some catching up to do! You have to get some of this guy's books! An amazing author. Every book is distinct and compelling in it's own right. A must for any discerning bibliophile!

A Book Of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi
The coolest book that I still don't completely fathom. It was orginally given to me by my best friend in junior high. He was very deep for his age, considering he was studying a 16th century undefeated samurai's book on battle strategies. I still can only read a chapter or two before I put it down in frustration. It's just not me. But I still like to fight with it every now and then.

The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." So begins the Piece de Resistance of the impressive body of work that is Stephen King's career. It started in 1982 with The Gun Slinger. He released his seventh and final book in the series, The Dark Tower, last year. I'm going to hate to see them maul these books in cinema, but I know it's coming. The books themselves deal with the adventures of an alternate world where knights are gunslingers and nothing is as it appears because evil is trying to rule the world. It's epic and you can read it without waiting for six years like I did, for the next installment.