I was really hoping to fly under the radar in this Book Tag business; I haven’t read all the wonderful stuff posted by most people on the list.

Here goes:

1. How many books do you own?

I’m glad the question wasn’t how many books have I owned; I have taken several bookcases back to Half Price Books. I have my bookshelf, the wife has her bookshelf, and we share a large shelf in our front room. My personal current inventory probably runs around 250. I am sure the two of us have cleared several thousand.

2. What was the last book you bought?

Treachery by Bill Gertz.

3. What was the last book you read?

That was the last book I read completely. I am reading a new book, Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. I am halfway through this book and am enjoying this immensely. Book Report to come soon.

4. What are some books that have meant a lot to you?

Religion:

NIV Concordia Self-Study Bible
This book was a gift after I was confirmed in eighth grade. In addition to the Bible in NIV, there are exhaustive footnotes and cross-references on each page, plus at the beginning of each book is Luther’s commentary on each book. If there were a PDA version I would buy it or request it for my birthday. :)
Luther’s Small Catechism
It’s kind of a shame that in 7th and 8th grade I didn’t want to do memory work from here, but that I had to. I did the work; most of it was easy up until the Explanation of the Third Article. Let’s face it: “calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies” can make for a tongue twister. :) At that age I gathered a lot of facts (transubstantiation was an answer to a HS scholar bowl question) but not so much focus. It was like getting a very cool samurai sword but not learning how to cut with it.
Handling the Word of Truth: Law and Gospel in the Church Today by John T. Pless
Good stuff.

Secular:

Knowledge and Decisions by Thomas Sowell
Mandatory reading unless you’re a hermit. Sowell documents the extent of knowledge required to prescribe an action, and what happens when we prescribe actions, governmental and otherwise, without the requisite amount of knowledge. I had to read this book a chapter at a time and digest it. Unfortunately for the author, once this book is read, you really don’t need some of the others. The two best things I got out of are 1) some decisions that seem stupid to you can seem logical once you find out the incentives behind that person’s decision, and 2) price is the sum total of what it takes to get anything done, and the market is the only way to get things done without force or coercion. An absolute must read.
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
A highly enjoyable book of economics and baseball.
Dark Empire, Dark Empire II, and Empire’s End, published by Dark Horse Comics
I collect Star Wars Trade Paperbacks for their wonderful artwork and plot advancement beyond Return of the Jedi and thousands of years before The Phantom Menace. The two best, though, are Dark Empires I and II, where the Emperor is reborn in a clone and Luke Skywalker actually joins the Dark Side. Take that, Big Daddy Anakin!
The Death of Superman published by DC Comics
This is not a Nietzsche refutation. Before World Without a Superman and The Return of Superman, Death of Superman was an amazing read. Crying is bad when reading comic books, but this was wonderful drama. The following books were just mediocre, though I suppose Superman had to come back. :)
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and Gettysburg by Newt Gingrich
Wonderful tales of Civil War fiction. The Killer Angels was mandatory reading in my college American History class, and I came out of it feeling I was in the good, bad, and ugly of the Civil War. Gettysburg and its sequel, Grant Comes East, are a well-written and thought provoking analysis of what would have happened were Lee to avoid sending Pickett’s Charge up Cemetery Hill and instead loop around and cut-off Meade’s army. Good reading.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Cut out the atheistic Objectivist shrieking over the radio by John Galt towards the end, as well as the stark you’re-either-a-blessed-achiever-or-a-useless-eater attitude and this becomes actually quite an enjoyable tale of what happens when the demands of society break the will of achievers to invent and produce. The book becomes more topical and even scarier following today’s Supreme Court decision.

There you have it. I don’t know if this will actually cause anyone to buy more comic books, but there is more to life than Tolstoy. :)

Ack! I just got tagged by Pastor Snyder at Ask the Pastor with the other list. More rules too.

Funny book: Looks like from my book reports I need to be reading funnier stuff. I have to go with Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut. That one’s a killer. He’ll make you laugh about tuberculosis.

Western Civ? Take my two Civil War books.

Regional book: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I lived 20+ years in Missouri, so I’m allowed. Great exhibits in Hannibal, by the way.

I suppose I’ll be slightly embarrassed about Death of Superman. :)

Because this is now a unification of the two book tags I have to find people who were hit by neither. I tag Something Fishy, leoettiquette, and Chaz Lehmann. I hope this has been enjoyable.

Update: June 24, 8:44am: I got asked to choose a book I would read to my kids. The kids love anything by Sandra Boynton, especially Moo Baa La La La. As smart as the girls are, though, they may get doses of Luther’s Small shortly. :)