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The Book meme

Ben at the Tiger in Winter and my wife Rebecca at Doxology have tagged me with the book meme, which is analysed ably by our newest Red Ensign blogger, Robot Guy, here. I knew there was a reason this meme became so prevalent on the net so quickly. # of books I own: Does this mean the number of books I own, right now? Do the ones at my parents' place count? I don't know, honestly. I have owned lots and lots of books over the years. Everything from peanuts paperbacks I used to beg my parents for, back when they cost about 75 cents, to the pulp sci fi and fantasy of my adolescence, to the literature books from my days as a university student - I still have lots of them. I now read mostly non fiction and I often give away books I have not looked at in too long (too long is when I can't get new books onto my bookshelves). last book I bought: I often buy books on line and in bunches these days. I'll list God and the Philosophers, the Reconciliation of Faith and Reason here because it was one of the best in my last batch. Last book I read: Since my first confession may be coming up in the not too distant future, I just finished Lord, Have Mercy: The Healing Power of Confession by Scott Hahn. That was this morning. This afternoon, I started another Hahn book, The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth. My wife ordered both books but hasn't read them yet and I figured I might was well have at them before I place an order for myself. Hahn is a quick read, aimed at an average layman. His books I can tear off in a couple of days and have a better idea about what areas might be of greater interest to me in the future. Since I'm hankering to greatly improve my Biblical knowledge right now, the books have been great, especially the second one. 5 books that mean a lot to me:
  1. Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton. I ordered this one out of the blue and it hit me like a jolly tempest. The more I read, the more I liked. Read this one; I'm not kidding.
  2. The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy. I bought this as a reference and have found that I can pick it up at any time of day or night, open it to a random page, and be entertained for hours.
  3. Miracles, by C.S. Lewis, because I needed big league help with this aspect of Christianity and Lewis was up to the challenge. All of us moderns could use some help on this subject and this is an accessible book for most people.
  4. No Man is and Island, by Thomas Merton. This is the only book by Merton I've read, but I'm certain it won't be the last. This was a beautiful, meditative book, one that I made many references to on this blog as I was reading it.
  5. The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation, by Matt Ridley. This was a terribly interesting book by a good popularizer of science, Ridley, that helped me see that evolution and theism don't need to be incompatible. Ridley doesn't not argue that position, but his examination of game theory, evolution and human cooperation (morality) was terribly useful to me.
Tag! This meme has been around with a vengeance, so I don't want to tag five people, as I've been asked to do. Instead, I'm going to tag just one blogger, and that is Eternity Road's Francis Poretto (if he hasn't been tagged already).

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