I don't normally participate in memes, but this one has some inherent value, so I'll bite.

easyjetsetter posted her book meme and tagged me to throw in my 2 cents.

I should warn you that I did not read any books throughout college. I avoided books like the plague; only recently have I been reintroduced to my childhood love of reading (you have NO idea how fast I tore through Tom Clancy books in middle school) ... so the list is somewhat recent. I also focus primarily on non-fiction books, so hope this is an interesting list.

Number of books I own
Roughly 80 or so. All bought within the past year from Amazon or from Barnes (that stupid membership card is killing me). Mostly non-fictional books, and mostly NYTimes bestsellers (even in books, I'm an addict to "pop" culture.

Last book bought
About three weeks ago (roughly), I bought Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. I also bought The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman as well as his new book , The World is Flat. I am currently reading The World is Flat, and am absolutely loving it.

Last book read
Sadly, the last book I completely finished was Aces and Kings by Brad Reagan and Michael Kaplan. Not a very impressive book, but being a student of poker, I was interested in learning about the background of some of the venerable poker stars. The rise of poker has paralleled the growth of the Internet ... so it's really interesting to see the stories of how these guys grinded out their living before poker got big.

Five books that mean a lot to me
I absolutely adore Hernando de Soto's The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. This book examines what forces have allowed America to succeed, and what can be done to help make the transition for those fringe countries trying to get with the globalized economy.

From my high school days ... Ender's Game by Greensboro author Orson Scott Card is my favorite fictional book of all time (low standards, huh?). I've recommended this to all my guy friends (it's a guy book), and they've all loved it immensely. The book iexamines the stresses and psychology of a child genius as he is tapped to save the humans from aliens (but it's not really a sci-fi book!).

I'm going to cop out and put 1984 and Brave New World as one book - and for obvious reasons.

Blink/Tipping Point/The Wisdom of Crowds/Freakonomics are also books that have really shaped the way I view the world. The power and intelligence of the masses is quite evident; as the internet allows us to become more collaborative, how much can we get done?

5 bloggers to tag
Let's hope you guys have time to do this: Matt Compton (the ultimate book expert), Terrence, Mikey Mike, Yush (although he's in Taiwan, maybe he'll have some time), and .... spaceinthewho.

. . .

The catchiest song ever. These guys are out of Berklee, and it's clearly evident they're looking to create the ultimate pop album. Indulging in pop albums is one of my guilty pleasures - I own a copy of Ashlee Simpson's "Autobiography," which is one of the better pop albums from the last few years. In any case, these guys got the image, the sound, and the swagger. I hope their album is good.

The Click Five - Just the Girl

She's cold and she's cruel
but she knows what she's doing
she pushed me in the pool at our last school reunion
she laughs at my dreams but i dream about her laughter
strange as it seems, she's the one i'm after

cause she's bittersweet
she knocks me off of my feet
and i can't understand why i don't want anyone else
she's a mystery
she's too much for me
but i keep coming back for more
she's just the girl i'm looking for

she can't keep a secret for more than an hour
she runs on a hundred-proof attitude power
and the more she ignores me the more i adore her
what can i do? i'd do anything for her

cause she's bittersweet
she knocks me off of my feet
and i can't understand why i don't want anyone else
she's a mystery
she's too much for me
but i keep coming back for more
she's just the girl i'm looking for

the way she see's it's me on her caller ID
she won't pick up, she'd rather be alone
but i can't give up just yet
cause every word she's ever said
is still ringing in my head
it's still ringing in my head
she's cold and she's cruel
but she knows what she's doing
knows just what to say so my whole day is ruined

cause she's bittersweet
she knocks me off of my feet
and i can't understand why i don't want anyone else
she's a mystery
she's too much for me
but i keep coming back for more
she's just the girl i'm looking for