Hmm. If he would answer without reference to self-created image, Stray.

Kordax, Slipknotbondage13, Shot (same caveat as Stray) and Gary Poole.

“Five people I’d like to see to do this as well.”

Total Number of books I’ve owned

Hard to say. I counted (roughly) 190-205 around the place right now. When I pulled up stakes at the family home seven years ago, I left many behind. Probably as many as I now have. In addition, I have for years used my new book stash as a source of birthday, Christmas and other occasion gifts. Family and friends may think this a budgetary measure on my miserly part, but actually I like to share the books I have enjoyed rather than warehouse them unread on my shelves.

Last book I bought

Franklin and Winston, by Jon Meacham. A history of the friendship between the two central figures in the Allied nations facing Germany and Japan in WWII.

Last book I read

The above book is on my bedside table and is my current reading.

Last book I finished

The first book in the Black Tower series by Stephen King, The Gunslinger. Some time back. As I said, the internet swallows up a lot of my reading time.

Five books that mean a lot to me

(In no particular order)

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. The definitive Faulkner book for me, an examination of a flawed family and of the virtues of selfless love, devotion and compassion in the midst of decay and cruelty.

Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris. A book outwardly about baseball players, but really about mortality, friendship and tolerance. I used to re-read this book every couple of years. Have not done so lately.

The Last Gentleman by Walker Percy. I read this book for the first time when I was in my twenties and felt aimless and intimidated by the challenge of making a life in a complicated world. There were so many choices and uncertainties that I had to work on understanding myself, as well as the world, before I could get off dead center. The protagonist in this book faced the same confusion.

The Works of William Shakespeare. This is too monumental a work really to be considered a single book, but I have read many of the plays and poems several times, and they are the furntiure of my consciousness.

The Bible. As I said in my first post, I cannot claim to have read the Bible in a systematic or studied way, but both as a foundation of my faith and as a part of all of so much of our common culture, it is indeed very important to me, however unconvential and no doubt flawed my belief may be.

This has been a challenging exercise. I will have to think more on this whole enterprise, but for now this is my best effort at answering the questions put.

Perhaps I should tackle the reading again. I have been thinking that the internet has hijacked my reading time, and the Bible would be a fine way to reclaim that. I understand your meaning, I think, that you hope I could retrace your journey. I appreciate your good hopes for me.

Thank You.