The Book Challenge
Jeff Culbreath of Hallowed Ground has tagged me for the Book Challenge that has been going around. I have to confess, I was hoping someone would tag me for this, and figured Mr. Culbreath would be the one. Here it goes:

1. Total Number of Books I've Owned.
I have about 500 here in Korea and about twice that number in boxes in my parents' garage.

2. Last Book I Bought
The Russian Church and the Papacy by Vladimir Soloviev and Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin by John F. Collins
I bought these together from What the Book? [The New and Used Bookstore Seoul (Itaewon), South Korea]. (Prices are a bit higher, but shipping is free if you order more than one book.) I've been looking to read something by Mr. Soloviev for sometime. The latter was suggested by a commenter on this blog.

3. Last Book I Read.
The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot by Russell Kirk
I can't say enough about this book. Anyone who is interested in conserving the Permanent Things or who wants to understand traditional conservatism should read it. It's 500 pages long, but almost impossible to put down. I'd place this in the next category, but for the sake of variety, will leave its place open for another book.

4. Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me
The Spirit of Catholicism by Karl Adam
This is one of the books that convinced me of the truth of the Catholic Faith. It was written in the 1920s by a German Jesuit. SPOILER: You've got to love a book that ends, "I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church."

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
This book contains Dostoevsky's greatest "Holy Fool" as well as his most virulent attacks on Catholicism. Nevertheless, I consider it the greatest novel by the world's greatest novelist. I've never read a novel with so many plot twists.

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
I had little regard for the short story genre before reading this collection by the "Hillbilly Thomist." The best of these stories pack a punch that few novels do. Although a Yankee by birth and temperament, three-quarters of my ancestry is from the South, and fiction from that region has always resounded with me.

Think No Evil: Korean Values in the Age of Globalization by C. Fred Alford
This short philosophical study helped me to not only understand the people with whom I've cast my lot, but also the great peril of moral relativism.

Stuart Little by E. B. White
This book, given to me by my grandmother, instilled in me the love of reading at a very young age.

5. Tag 5 People.
Xavier Basora of Buscaraons

Aristotle A. Esguerra of Confessions of a Recovering Choir Director

Jason Choi of Musings of an orthodox Korean Catholic...

Tracy Fennell of Nosce Te Ipsvm

Anne Shirley of Ruminations

Lida of Veritas. Quid est veritas?

OK, I cheated; I included six people. I'd also love to hear from commenter Adam Goldsmith, who to the best of my knowledge has no blog.