Kwtia

I have been Book tagged by Valiant Contender...and it took me while before I figured out what that meant.. :) so here goes...

Number of Books I Have Read:
No idea..can't even guess ...but I will admit that there are a lot of books that have pieces of tissue or pencils in then to remind me of where I strayed and got distracted and started reading something else...not monogamous with the books i'm sorry to say.

Last book I read:
Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi...like i said before..go get it folks, really.

Number of Books i Own:
I think just under 2,000.

Books that mean a lot to me:
Conference of the Books
Khaled Abou El Fadhl
This book and his writing really helped me make my peace with the faith we were raised in but which got twisted and brutalised by the reigning orthodoxy. He wrestles Islam out of the ugly tangle of prejudices and anger and hatred and ignorance and fear that has plagued it and presents an evolving and very loving relationship with the text and the faith.

Upside Down : A Primer for the Looking-Glass World
Eduardo Galeano
This book made me laugh out loud in the subway, which is where I read most of it, and also got me so riled up about and interested in topics that had passed below the radar before. His Open Veins of Latin America is also great...and what a title.

Anything by Graham Greene...I don't know why but his writing manages to break my heart every single time..and it's so simple..

The Gift
Daniel Ladinsky's translations of short pieces by Hafiz...this was a lifesaver whenever I had nightmares or when things got icky...I would just open up a page and whatever I read made it all seem ok.

Arundhati Roy in general..her one leap into fiction and what a leap...and her essays...articles...
earthquakes. whatever you want to call them..just stuff that makes you sit up and say 'damn, that was sharp!'

The book I have been reading for a ages but could not finish:
The Corrections
J. Franzen
I have no idea why I am so slow with this..it keeps going back on the shelf and I keep pulling it back out...it has taken a tour of every tabletop and surface in the house...it will be finished someday..

I am currently reading:
Fiction: Snow by Orhan Pamuk... haunting tale about extremism, love and contradictions...
Non-Fiction: Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice-Geoffrey Robertson- I like the way this is written, it tells the story of the rise of Human rights law and problems with the systems in place in a very engaging way...only 60 or so pages into it..have a ways to go.
Arabic: Samarqand- Amin Maalouf(translated from the French)- I know I'm late in the game for this one...but better than never eh..

Supposed to tag people now...so if you just read this..you are tagged..I can't list all the bloggers' bookshelves I am interested in..