Books: Tagged by Fantasy Writer Guy

I was tagged recently by the Fantasy Writer Guy to write a little about the books in my life. So here goes:

Number of books owned:
Probably around 2,000. They're stacked all over the place, sometimes 2 or 3 deep which makes it hard to find a particular book. I hope to have a larger home in the future where all my books are visible and easy to search.

Most recently read:
The Sovereign Individual by Davidson and Rees-Mogg. It's a fascinating book that makes a strong case that wealthy people in the future will declare their independence from any particular country.

Most recently purchased:
Lady of Mazes by Karl Schroeder. This sci-fi book was recommended to me by a friend in Dallas with very good taste. It's set in the far future and filled with action, ideas and intellectual energy.

Five most meaningful books read:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. This is a mystery novel that showcases Ayn Rand's philosophy of individual freedom. It was relevant back in the 60s and is just as relevant today. I had always believed in liberty, but this book showed me how much deeper the rabbit hole goes.

Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky. This book, written in an unusual style where every page is an individual "chapter", describes Dr. Minsky's theory that our brain is really a colony organism. In a nutshell, your big "Me" is really the sum product of all your mini "Me"s interacting with each other. It's a theory I strongly believe and it heavily influences the way I think about minds.

Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. This book masterly weaves stories about three geniuses in the fields of Math, Art and Music to delve into the heart of creativity, intelligence and consciousness. It's one of the most profound books I've ever read, and won its author the Pulitzer prize while he was still a graduate student.

Contact by Carl Sagan. This book is about what happens when Earth is first contacted by aliens. It's very imaginative and includes several important plot lines that are not in the movie including an incredible ending.

And last by not least....

The Boy's Book of Knowledge. This was one of the first books I ever owned, and was a present from my parents when I was about 5 years old and living in Iran. I read the book almost every night, and particularly enjoyed the chapter about space and science. It definitely reinforced my love of learning, exploring, and reading.

Comments

[Christopher St. John]

I'm in a similar situation in regard to books. Delicious Library (http://www.delicious-monster.com/) has been a huge help. Scan 'em in (just point your webcam in the general direction of the barcode, it's actually kinda fun) and it loads them up, cover art and everything. Of course, once you've found something in the database you still have to find it in real life, but that was never really the problem, it was ease-of-browsing that was causing me grief. My dream setup is having a room set aside as a library with Delicious Library running full time on a Mac Mini over in the corner as a card catalog...

[Fantasy Writer Guy]

Wow! Intriguing recommendations here. I'm adding 3 new titles to my shopping list.

Oops - 4 titles. Re Sovereign Individual: As one who's begun viewing his body as a prisoner of his country (though not my mind - oh no), this intrigues me too. Too bad I'm poor!