1. Total number of books owned?
Fuck. A lot. Now, I'm talking just the straight-up book books, here, strictly non-comics stuff. If they were organized, I could count them. They're so totally not. More than ten. Less than 1,000. Quite possibly more than I could ever consider reading in this lifetime.
2. The Last Book(s) I bought:
The last one I can distinctly remember buying is The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, by a whole bunch of people.
3. The Last Book(s) I read:
Christ, I don't think I've actually finished one in some time. The ones I'm working on include:
- I Am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe. It was 50% off, so I don't feel too guilty about it. So far, it's not too bad, but after seeing Madagascar, I'm going to have trouble reading it with a straight face.
- A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace, whose titular essay I reread three or four times a year.
- Running With Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs. I started it and it was going fairly well, but then I decided I would prefer to pretend I lived in a world where people such as those contained therein are drowned at nativity. I'm sure I'll get back to it someday, but the whole thing left me with a strong desire for a shower and/or a flamethrower.
- Positively Fifth Street, by James McManus. This was chugging along well for me, but something shiny must have caught my eye and I've since lost interest (or at least momentum).
- Destination: Morgue! L.A. Tales, by James Ellroy. I love Ellroy, but his stuff is like reading a Gatling gun, so this one got put aside for a while.
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling. I decided I needed a refresher before Book 6 came out, so I read Book 4 (Aha! One I finished!) and started into this one, but I grew disinterested in reading the pages in standard linear order. Still, I've got until mid-July, so I'll finish it eventually.
I'll leave it to you to figure out why these books mean something (or, if you see me in person, you can ask). In no particular order:
- Generation X and
- MicroSerfs, by Douglas Coupland.
- Sacrifice, by Andrew Vachss.
- Candide, by Voltaire.
- Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72, by Hunter S. Thompson.
- American Tabloid and
- The Cold Six Thousand, by James Ellroy.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.
- Mefisto in Onyx, by Harlan Ellison.
- Trainspotting, by Irvine Welsh.
- Towing Jehovah, by James Morrow.
- The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, by Daniel Pinkwater.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl.
- Wonder Boys, by Michael Chabon.
- The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris.
- The Drunken Driver Has the Right of Way, by Ethan Coen.