If I could mind your read

I got tagged by Chris who got tagged by kfan who got tagged three years ago with this book meme. Three years ago, it would probably have been easier to answer the questions.

Total number of books I’ve owned:

500+. I’ve been trying to get rid of them. They take up too much space, all my shelves are double stacked.

 The last book I bought: 

Here’s the thing. I’m not buying a lot of books anymore because I’m not reading a lot of books anymore. Two reasons. I no longer have a train commute, which was the only time of the day I could read. The second reason is the fact that since (and for some time before) I got diagnosed with diabetes, I tend to fall asleep the minute I start reading. Whether on public transport, or sat on the couch, my eyes close very quickly. I used to read in bed for hours, but I can’t do that anymore either.

The books I buy now are mainly photography related. Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography book (1 and 2), Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure, a some more I wouldn’t recommend. Others are written by friends and bloggers: Walter van den Berg‘s West and Merel Roze‘s Fantastico, and I’ve just ordered ‘Things I Learned About My Dad’, which was edited by Heather Dooce.

Other than that my main reading material these days, believe it or not, is comics. I’ve got a subscription for all issues (and all covers) of Dark Horse‘s Buffy Season 8 and IDW‘s Angel – After the Fall as well as the Firefly/Serenity comics. I’ve also been reading Marvel‘s Runaways TPB 1-7. I never thought I’d be reading comics, but some of the characters from the Jossverse have stuck with me and I want to know their story. (Unfortunately, my favourite characters aren’t the ones the focus is on.)

The last novels I bought are still sitting on my shelves, unread: Robert Little’s The Company, Pullman’s Northern Lights, H.G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights.

The last book I read:

Today I picked up Angel – After the Fall #7 and Buffy – Season 8 #14 and read them at A-Fusion, a Chinese bar/restaurant I go to a lot. It’s two doors up from the comic shop. I don’t remember which novel was the last one I read. It may have been  John Banville’s The Sea, or Marc Almond’s In Search of the Pleasure Palace. I know I never finished Adriaan van Dis’ De Wandelaar. The last book I really enjoyed reading was Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife.

Five books that mean something to me:

I enjoy books, but they don’t really ‘mean’ a lot to me other than ‘that was a bloody good read.’

John Banville – The Untouchable.
Ursula LeGuinn’s Earthsea series.
J.J. Voskuil – Het Bureau series.

Roger Zelazny – Amber series.
Can’t think of #5.

Tag five people and request they fill it out on their blogs:

The last time I tagged people nobody did anything with it, so I’m going to save myself the embarrassment.