Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Here's a meme very similar to this one, which I stole from Simon (here's his take on it):

1) Total number of books I've owned
Over my whole life, easily over 500, maybe as many as 1,000. Books are my friend, and I wish I had a lot more of 'em, but since $$'s an issue, I often rely on the library (I've had my own card - in the adult section, mind you - since I was 8 years old).

2) The last book I bought
Used, Christgau's Rock Albums of the '70s, which is so excruciatingly valuable to me (and so out of print). New, The Abs Diet Eat Right Every Time Guide by David Zinczenko (unexciting, I know, but hey, I've lost 20+ pounds so far).

3) The last book I read
I'm currently reading Will Fellows' A Passion to Preserve: Gay Men As Keepers of Culture, which is interesting but I'm not 100% sold on yet. But considering how much I love his previous book, 1996's Farm Boys, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt (I'm only to page 50 so far, and will give it at least another 25 pages).

4) Five books that mean a lot to me (in no particular order)
*Ethan Mordden, How Long Has This Been Going On
*Simon Goddard, Songs That Saved Your Life
*E.M. Forster, Maurice
*Christgau's Record Guides (the aforementioned '70s book, along with his '80s and '90s volumes)
*Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On


5) Tag five people and have them fill this out on their blogs
*Chrisafer, one of the most wonderfully book-loving bloggers I've ever known
*Alfred Soto, the latest most wonderfully book-loving blogger I know
*Matos, the man, 'nuff said
*Mike Daddino, just plain brilliant - and since your site isn't a blog per sé, you can always answer in the Comments
*Gaz, a/k/a Curt Beery - again, not a blog, but you can use Comments