Another Book Meme

This time from my previous tagee -- John from Dymaxion World.

Number of Books I own: Probaby just enough to fill one modest bookshelf with three or four shelves. I recently trimmed the fat rather drastically as I'm about to move.

Most recent book bought: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations. I'm only about a third of the way through, and it's awfully good. Much more accessable than I had imagined. Smith displays much more sense and humanity than many of his modern day acolytes.

Most recent book read: American Exceptionalism, by Seymour Martin Lipset

Five books that mean a lot to me: Um. I don't think I'm capable of forming a list like this. Sorry. I've got an attention span rivaled by many guppies. How about a list of five books I really enjoyed in the last year or so?

1) Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan
A wonderful introduction to the subject. I read it on one sitting and got up feeling like I got a good overview of most economic theories and concepts. I wish I read this six years ago, before I took my intro to econ class.

2) Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
You've probably heard all about this already...

3) Secrets of the Temple by William Greider
Who'd have thought a book about the Fed could be gripping over 500+ pages? Greider's book goes all the way back to the founding of the Fed among panicked bank runs and examines Paul Volcker's tenure as Fed Chairman in great detail. Along the way I learnt how the the mechanics of how the Fed controls the interest rates, and not to take monetarism seriously.

3) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Just because it's an excellent read. Much much better than the 'Harry Potter for Adults' hype would suggest. Superbly imagined, with fascinating historical details. But it's the characters that really drew me in, especially the (in my opinion) adorably curmudgeonly Mr. Norrell.

5) The Eyre Affair (and sequels) by Jasper Fforde
This series cannot be recommended highly enough if you are interested in witty and inventive books that are like no other detective series. Tuesday Next, the heroine, is a literary detective who plies her trade in a parallel world England where the Crimean war never ended and the hoi polloi is still nutty for Shakespeare.

This meme, however, shall die with me. Unless anybody has a burning desire for an invite.