Books on my Shelves and in My Hands

Terry Starbucker over at A Glass Half Full tagged me for a book meme. This meme is right up my alley, as my mother used to beg and plead for me not to bring a book to the dinner table each night. My own daughter always has her nose in a book, but I have to beg and plead with my sons to crack open the printed page.

So here goes:

Total Number of Books on my Bookshelves: I would guess that I have around 200 books. I’ve been selling them off one by one in the effort to downsize my life and only keep the ones that I treasure.

The Last Book I Read: I’m currently reading Talking Hands, a fascinating, well-written book about a community, Al-Sayid, that has a large population of deaf and hard of hearing members due to genetics and inter-family marriage. It is a modern day version of the community that existed in Martha’s Vineyard many years ago.

Last Book Bought: I just bought one yesterday despite a promise to myself that I would not add to my book collection. I had a gift certificate that I won a year ago on Epinions and I finally got around to using it. So I bought The Unheard, by Josh Swiller.

Five Meaningful Books:

What Happy Women Know by Dan Baker and Cathy Greenwood. I selected this book for next month’s BookHands meeting in my home. We’re going to explore the secret to happiness.

On the Fence by Mark Drolsbaugh. This book is special because I was able to contribute a chapter about growing up hard of hearing.

Please Don’t Cut Me! by Angela Hoy. Another special book for the same reason–I contributed a chapter about my son’s homebirth.

If You Could Hear What I See by Kathy Buckley. A humorous look at life without normal hearing.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson. This is a great book about letting the little stuff slide.

I’m tagging the following to play along:

Adversity University

Groovy’s Ruminations

Enter the Laughter

A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye

Beth and Cory’s Mom