Hello, I’m back from vacationing in Cancun, Mexico. Pictures of the trip can be seen here in my photo gallery. I’ll write up a little about what I saw and what I did in the next day or so.

While I was gone Dan got to talking about books with a set of questions. While I’m not one of the five people he asked to answer the same questions I figured it wouldn’t be a bad exercise.

Total Number of books I’ve owned
I really have no idea. I probably have a couple of hundred in my posession right now and I tend to give away my paperbacks or just leave them where I finish them.

Last book I bought
I bought two books to take to Cancun with me, Occidentalism; The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit and Whispering Nickel Idols by Glen Cook.

Last book I read
I’ve got a few pages left to read in Whispering Nichol Idols. I’ve always liked Glen Cook’s Garrett series for killing time in airports and waiting rooms.

Last book I finished
I finished Occidentalism sitting on the patio of my hotel room in Cancun while recovering from my climb up to the top of the temple at Chichen-itza. The ride out to Chichen-itza and back through the villages in that area gave me a little somethin to consider as I read the book. I want to get those thoughts down in here in the next day or so before they completely leave me.

Five books that mean a lot to me
These may seem not be of any help to anyone else looking for meaning or answers to life’s questions but they do to me.

1. Where The Red Fern Grows probably instilled my love of books when I was a youngster.
2. Lord of the Flies kept me interested in books through the teenage years.
3. The Hobbit opened up the world of fantasy books to me.
4. Stranger in a Strange Land introduced me to Heinlein and some of my most enjoyable reading for years after.
5. The Holy Bible; New International Translation taught me faith, taught me atheism, brought me back to a point of agnosticism and finally back to faith. It was my journey of running from God that brought me back to Him and reading the Bible was instrumental to it all.

Five people I’d like to see to do this as well
Felix, Cat, Jeff, Josh and Barry.