'cause she made me
Sarasusa tagged me.
1) Total number of books owned?
Surely in the thousands, combining my books, Doodle's (some of which were formerly mine), and pcc_car's (aka Rupel's). And this is after a few major purges of boxes and bags full.
Sarasusapcc_car got one too. Mine were:
2 photography guides on sale table and a children's book called "The Last Book in the Universe," plus 2 craft-related magazines
3) The last book I read?
I just finished "The Emperor's Winding Sheet" by Jill Paton Walsh. I also have a few others going here and there. I got a few pages into "The Twenty-One Balloons," which I liked as a child and just had Doodle read. I know if I reread it I'll find some outdated things in there that I'll regret Doodle reading. A teachable moment, I suppose. And for braindead moments I have a book of heartwarming cat stories going somewhere.
4) Five books that mean a lot to me?
Some of these are more categories than single books though. In no particular order (except maybe the first):
1--the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (a series of 5 books). My absolute favorite children's books ever. There are many second-tier ones such that I could fill up this whole question with children's books and still have many more to go. Almost all of Rosemary Sutcliff's books would probably be second in line to the above. The Little House books, Tove Jansson's Moomin books, several British series such as some of Edith Nesbit's books...and some picture books (a lot of Little Golden books such as The Color Kittens with the original illustrations, and Home for a Bunny....).
2--a few songbooks, including Rise Up Singing and the various incarnations of the Friends Hymnal.
3--The Joy of Cooking: Even though I hardly ever cook by recipes (heck, I hardly ever cook at all), this book just makes me happy. Maybe that's why they call it The Joy of Cooking. Heh.
4--A selection of the books I read to Doodle when he was a baby and toddler. I can't single out just one. Just seeing one of them makes me feel warm and fuzzy (or alternately teary) all over.
5--There are so many I want to fit here in #5 (I've left out the dictionary!!!! :-O how can I! And the 6 inch wide genealogy my great-great-grandfather wrote about my father's patronymic line!), but I'll put The Wonders of Life on Earth, a gigantic Time-Life book which my brother and I used to pore over endlessly as kids.
5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their LJs:
Ain't gonna. But you can if you want. But I challenge my husband, Mr. "I'll create an lj but I won't list any interests nor will I make any entries" pcc_car himself, to do this. I know..."The Joe Namath Story." "Freddy the Dectective." Ha, I've practically filled it out for him.