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Can You Spell Bibliophile?

November 13th, 2007 by Richard Cockrum

Do you like books? I like books. I like the smell of old paper. I like the feel of the binding as it rests in my hand while I dive through space, time, and others’ minds. Books have as close to a perfect interface as we’ve found. You can mark your place. You can browse through them. Decently indexed, you can easily find anything in them. You can take them anywhere. You can mark them up, or preserve them for posterity.To me, books are the epitome of joy, pleasure, and creation. Electronic books just don’t make it. Paper is a necessity. Until you’ve held a book, you haven’t felt the good life. When they discontinue paper publishing, I plan on reinventing the printing press and taking Project Gutenberg back to it’s roots.

Terry Starbucker tagged me for a neat meme that’s floating around, the book meme.

How many books do I have? I have no idea. I counted 996, but this is approximate since we’re out of shelf space, so some books ares stacked. Many others are loaned out. And I keep finding them in odd and unusual places.

What’s the last book I read? The Towers of Sunset by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. Second in an excellent, thought-provoking series of fantasy books that he wrote.

What’s the last book I bought? It’s been a while, since we’re at the point that every book we buy means we need to at least try to find a home for an old one, but I think it was Wicked, by Gregory Maguire. This is a biography of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Five (plus one) Meaningful Books

  • The High Frontier by Gerard K. O’Neill. We can still do it.
  • The Nature of Personal Reality by Jane Roberts. Never believe anything anyone says without testing it. Seth said two things we can all test. You create your own reality. The point of power is in the present.
  • Yoga, Immortality and Freedom by Mircea Eliade. This is an excellent introduction to the theory, practice, and history of yoga.
  • The Tree of Life by Israel Regardie. Israel Regardie served as Aleister Crowley’s assistant for some time and became the transmitter of the theory and practice of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to the second half of the 20th century. This is an outline of the modern techniques of magic that have found new life in the psychology of Jung and the popularized, simplified, somewhat fuzzy technique embodied in the law of attraction.
  • The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn. This is one of the most influential books on the history of science you’ll ever find.
  • Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. One of the few works by a science fiction writer that started a religion, short lived though it was. Scientology has had a longer run.

So, what do you like to read. What has had an impact on your life and your world view? Nneka, Belle, Karen, Mike, Steve, mahud?

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19 Responses to “Can You Spell Bibliophile?”

  1. Steve Olson Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 10:51 am

    Rick,
    I like this meme. I’m going to participate on my blog (but it might take me a while). Thanks for including me. I love books.

  2. Rick Cockrum Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 11:07 am

    I’m glad it caught your fancy, Steve. I look forward to your post.

  3. Mike DeWitt Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 5:59 pm

    Okay, Rick, I took up the challenge!

    Mike

  4. Richard Cockrum Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 7:53 pm

    Thanks for participating, Mike. I’m taking a look at your bookshelf now.

  5. Michael Weir Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 12:12 pm

    Great subject!

    I replied on my blog!

    Peace bro!

    Michael

  6. Michael Weir Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 12:14 pm

    Ok, that last one sends you to my business web site. This one will take you to the blog site.

  7. Richard Cockrum Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 3:53 pm

    Hey Michael,

    You’ve got a good-sized library, there! Thanks for joining in.

  8. Terry Starbucker Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 10:05 am

    Rick, thanks for responding to the tag - 996 books, wow!

    As a fledgling yogi I need to read that Eliade book. Namaste.

  9. Richard Cockrum Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 10:36 am

    Eliade’s book is a fairly academic look at yoga, without much emphasis on the physical aspects of yoga other than breathing. It did a lot to clarify Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras for me and put it in the context of Eastern practice and philosophy.

    Om.

  10. The Joy of Reading | steve-olson.com Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 5:08 pm

    […] a recent post, Rick Cockrum asked the question, Can You Spell Bibliophile? Rick, thanks for the […]

  11. Mythology Blog: Between Old and New Moons » Book Meme Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 9:01 pm

    […] at Shards of Consciousness tagged me with this […]

  12. mahud Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 9:02 pm

    Thanks for the tag, Rick :)

  13. Richard Cockrum Says:
    November 17th, 2007 at 1:16 am

    Sure thing, mahud. I’m headed over to see what’s on your bookshelf.

  14. Karen Lynch-LivethePower Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 3:52 pm

    Ooooh Rick! you have no idea how much I love, love, love books! I’ve been a book addict since 1st grade!
    This will be fun….
    I’ll take a serious look at a post on it for next week! After Thanksgiving!

  15. Richard Cockrum Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 4:15 pm

    Hi Karen,

    Have a great Holiday. It must be grand living by Thanksgiving Point!

    No addiction is healthy, but a part of me says an addiction to books comes close. :)

  16. 3 Ways to Bring Back the Joy to the Holidays (Live The Power) Says:
    November 23rd, 2007 at 10:37 am

    […] my daughters birthday, I plan to just relax and enjoy. I may do some shopping online. Or I may just count my books, that will be […]

  17. Phil Gerbyshak Says:
    November 24th, 2007 at 7:56 pm

    Cool books Rick. I’ve not read any of them. Maybe 2008 will be the year I slip to a bit more fiction? We’ll see. :)

    Thanks for playing along with this meme. Always fun to see who plays and how they play.

  18. Richard Cockrum Says:
    November 25th, 2007 at 1:43 am

    Hi Phil,

    At least 3/4 of my library is fiction - mostly science fiction and fantasy. It’s been like that as long as I can remember. My non-fiction tastes are a bit off to the side of the road. :)

    It was fun playing.

  19. Attack of the Bibliophiles — Creating a Better Life Says:
    November 25th, 2007 at 9:34 am

    […] count would be impossible. I know that at this point it’s no where near the number that others who have participated in this meme have. I’m going to guess that I’ve got about 50 or […]

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