What's In My Library?

Ok, so I have been tagged by Anne the Palm Tree Pundit (I feel so very cool). The topic centers on one of my favorite things...books!

(1) Number of books I own - Umm, I just asked my wife, and she rolled her eyes and muttered a disparaging "hundreds." I take that as a good sign, because it's actually well over that (probably somewhere between 800 and 1000). Which means she's lost count and I can keep asking for more... :-)

(2) Last book I bought - two by Lauren Winner: Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity, and Mudhouse Sabbath. I've read part of the second (it's ok), and I'm reading the first one a second time (it's excellent - which you can tell from my previous posts). Prior to that I purchased Subversive Spirituality by Eugene Peterson (which I am still working through - also excellent).

(3) Last book I read - Real Sex. You can read some of my thoughts on it here.

(4) Five books that mean a lot to me: (aside from the Bible, of course!)

1. Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz – This book provides penetrating, provocative reflection on Christian spirituality. Accessible and entertaining, it should resonate with the postmodern unbeliever in all of us. If I met a non-believer who was willing to read one book, this would be the one I would give them.
   
   
2. C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce - Ok, if I was dealing with a thinking non-believer, I would probably give them C.S. Lewis rather than Donald Miller, and I would probably start them here, although I would also encourage them to read the Chronicles of Narnia (but it really needs to be a old, original-order hardcover set from the 60's, or better yet, a set like this!). Even better, I'd want them to read Lewis' Space Trilogy (this is absolutely one of the best pieces of science fiction of all time, by a real author who understands how literature actually works and can write well to boot!)
   
   
3. G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy - Chesterton is a lot like Lewis... this is a great work more people need to read. Somehow I think Chesterton would easily hold his own in this rising tide of postmodernism.
   
   
4. Martin Luther, On Christian Liberty – This profound little book elegantly captures the heart of the gospel and illustrates how Sanctification by Faith fits squarely in the Reformed tradition.
   
   
5. For this last one, I'm going to change gears and list some favorites in the children's lit. genre, many of them very old and hard to find (and you REALLY need the hardcover versions of these - bookfinder.com can be a great resource here) - Fred Gipson's Savage Sam, Alfred Ollivant's Bob Son of Battle, Hilda Lewis' The Ship That Flew, Edward Ormondroyd's David and the Phoenix, and more recently, Kate Dicamillo's The Tale of Despereaux. And of course anything by Tolkien and Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea Trilogy. And, as a bonus if you can lay your hands on a copy, Steven Lindblom's The Mouses' Terrible Christmas (a mere 30 pages or so, with illustrations, but you will pee your pants laughing).

SO! How's that for eclectic? Now it's my turn... I tag Ryan, Charles, and Andree Seu (of World Magazine fame).