At last, a response!

Alright, this book tag business has stressed me out for DAYS since I’ve been back, so here it is! I am sure that I will read this in a week and have completely different feelings on half of the books I’ve listed—and have thought of about 15 other books that I SHOULD have listed—but this is how it stands today:

1. How many books have I owned?

Hmmmm, over my lifetime? Probably thousands. At this present moment? I’d estimate around 400 or so…I got rid of several in the last few years due to all of the moving I was doing. Books are HEAVY and I’m a single girl, so anytime I ask friends to help me move, I am ridiculed for all of the boxes of books I have! I still have several boxes of books “in storage” at my mom’s house (that’s ‘code’ for: I just haven’t made the effort to load those heavy boxes into my car and cart them over to my own apartment! Anybody interested in helping? I’ll take all of the help I can get! ;) And that number does not include all of the books I’ve loaned out that never find their way back home! If I counted those, I’m sure that number would be a tad bit higher…hmmm.

2. What was the last book you bought?

Blue Like Jazz: nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality—Donald Miller

3. What was the last book you read?

Blue Like Jazz—just finished it on the plane. It’s very post-modern in its approach to Christian spirituality. I’m still processing it and I may need to read it a second time to decide how I feel about it as a whole, but I found it to be a very thought-provoking book and I enjoyed Miller’s writing style. Someone else read it and let’s discuss! :)

4. What are FIVE books that have meant a lot to you?

1. The Bible—God (nf) …and I write this knowing that Jen and Abe have also listed it, but I’m not copying. I believe that any Christian who does NOT consider the Bible to be the most significant book in his/her life needs to take a second look at the faith that they claim to have. Possibly it’s become mundane and dry, or else it was never there to begin with, but the Bible is a good place to start in either case. Why rely solely on what other people are telling you about God when you can discover it for yourself? And NO ONE tells better stories than God!

2. Waking the Dead—John Elderidge (nf) I’m not typically one for ‘pop theology’ but this has been one of the most inspiring books I’ve read in a while.

3. The Life You’ve Always Wanted—John Ortberg (nf) One of the most practical, hands-on applications of the spiritual disciplines I’ve ever read. He makes the spiritual disciplines sound so simple and easy-to-do…like why haven’t I been living like this all my life—oh wait, because I’m a selfish, self-centered, flawed human being! It’s a great read/re-read…now what box is that book in?!

4. Pride and Prejudice—Jane Austen (f) JA is one of my favorite ‘classic’ writers and, except for maybe Emma, this is probably my favorite of her works.

5. Systematic Theology—Wayne Grudem (nf) ok, so maybe I haven’t read the WHOLE thing, and maybe I can’t remember most of what I read when I did read it (b/c I was reading it at 4am the night before a massive ‘worksheet’ was due) but I the class I took that included reading from this book was one of the best classes I’ve ever taken, and Dr. Stan Norman is one of the most intelligent, witty, sarcastic teachers of Theology I’ve ever known!

5. Honorable Mentions

The Journey of Desire—John Elderidge (nf) I read this before Waking the Dead, so of course the newer always replaces the older, but it was very effective as well and written along the same lines as WTD.

Night—Elie Wiesel (nf/narrative) Very thought provoking and artistic in its style. After reading that book, I could understand how someone could lose their faith in God.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden—Joanne Greenberg (f/nf?) It’s about a 16-year-old girl who suffers from a schizophrenic break and her struggle to regain her mental health. I first read this book in high school and it both disturbed and intrigued me.

Great Expectations—Charles Dickens (f) I only mention it because this is the one book I truly forced myself to read. I hated it—and I let my hs English teacher know it—until about the last 20 pages or so. I finished the book proud of myself for having persevered, and I actually enjoyed it by the end! (I was not so successful with The Grapes of Wrath, however!)

Consumer Reports Magazine—can I count a magazine? I just LOVE CR!!

6. What I Should Read?

Searching for God Knows What—Donald Miller

Captivating—John Elderidge

All of the summer reading that my students were assigned and that I will be teaching through in a little over a week!

I have a list of classics—both literary classics and works concerning faith and Christianity—that I will never get to the end of! I suppose that is especially true if I never actually begin! ;) The one I’m working on right now is The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I’ve read the first chapter…about three times, now!