It occurred to me that mentioning some of the more favored books that I own might be a useful way for me to share about myself and, best of all, inspire recommendations of ones I'd like.

I'll skip some categories for various reasons, including that they may not serve such purposes well, or there were too many CueCat^*-resistant exceptions. Those exceptions include, I have a fair assortment of math and computing books, helpful texts for learning French and Chinese, and others for playing Chess, Chinese Chess, Shogi, and Go. Also, there are some basic staples like a dictionary and Shakespeare (my favorites are Macbeth and The Tempest), also books like Debrett's New Guide to Etiquette & Modern Manners.

I'm curious about sound synthesis, hence Computer Music: Synthesis, Composition, and Performance (Jerse, Dodge) and Music, Cognition, And Computerized Sound: An Introduction to Psychoacoustics (Cook). Other somewhat academic interests are reflected in On Intelligence (Hawkins, Blakeslee) and Dynamics of Complex Systems (Bar-Yam).

I'm curious about gaining some perspective through meditation, hence Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation (Zinn) and Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy (Sekida). In terms of attitude to life, I have appreciated Colin Wilson's work, I own The Outsider, Religion and the Rebel, and Introduction to The New Existentialism, also Robert Pirsig's, Zen And the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila.

I am interested in Christianity. My favorite Bible is New Jerusalem Bible: Standard Edition, I also have Asimov's Guide to the Bible which is loved more by laypeople than experts. On Christianity in general I also have, The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide (Charlesworth), Lost Christianities (Ehrman), The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity (Maccoby), The Gospel Of Jesus: In Search Of The Original Good News (Robinson), Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (Aslan).

I have a few history books, abridged A Study of History (Toynbee), A People's History of the United States (Zinn), Killing Hope (Blum), the Maus graphic novels (Spiegelman), Lies My Teacher Told Me (Loewen). Also, history of food: The Englishman's Food (Wilbraham, Drummond), A History of English Food (Dickson Wright), Food in England (Hartley).

My more cookery-related books include, The Chinese Kitchen (Hsiung), The Times Book of Vegetarian Cookery, The Encyclopedia of Family Cooking, The Conran Cookbook (Conran, Conran), Leith's Cookery Bible (Leith), The Sunday Times Cook's Companion, The Complete Cookery Manual (O'Reilly), The Complete Kitchen Companion (Chandler, Yates). In terms of food and health, I appreciated The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan (Reinagel) and The China Study (Campbell, Campbell).

I have had a long-standing interest in UFOs and the paranormal, books reflecting this are, Seven Experiments That Could Change the World (Sheldrake), Life in the Universe (Irwin, Schulze-Makuch), The Conscious Universe (Radin), UFOs & Anti-Gravity (Cramp), The UFO Evidence (Hall) (two volumes), and Unconventional Flying Objects: A Scientific Analysis (Hill).

My favorite classic literature is War and Peace (Tolstoy), The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoyevsky), Wuthering Heights (Brontë), The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien), A Prayer for Owen Meany (Irving), 1984 (Orwell). My favorite science fiction includes Greg Egan's Axiomatic and Luminous, and Iain M. Banks' The Player Of Games and Use Of Weapons. In regular fiction, I also like Banks' The Wasp Factory and Whit and couldn't resist Tom Baker's The Boy Who Kicked Pigs. The Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister books (Jay, Lynn) are an excellent way to experience the episodes without the canned laughter.

It's worth noting that many of these are older books that have survived multiple culls, in some cases been replaced. This makes me suspect that I missed out on some worthwhile books in more recent years.

^*A barcode scanner, perfect for ISBNs. The business model may have been justly derided but the device itself is an ongoing boon.