Ten Books

I have been "tagged" for a book meme, courtesy of Singing Owl. Thanks--I think!

I've always been the odd one out in a family that did not really value education or reading for its own sake, for I dearly loved to read. It was a difficult childhood, partly because of this, but reading took me to safer, lovelier places. So please bear with me as I list books from my early years along with more recent titles.

1. One book that changed your life:
Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, Walter Wangerin, Jr. This book of short stories is incredibly powerful. I recommend them all, but "An Advent Monologue" contains what I have come to think of as the best non-Bible motto for my life: "I can make good come out of evil; I AM the good come out of evil." (shivers even now just to think of this story)

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle. It's been years ago now since I read this book last, but I used to read it once a year or so. I still think it is one of the best written science fiction books ever, perhaps because though it was written for children, it wasn't written "down to" children. Thus, it is both very accessible and relatively sophisticated. Both appeal to me.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
Even it if is cheating, I would want the Bible, preferably an interlinear, along with a Greek and a Hebrew lexicon so that I could improve my very basic skills.

4. One book that made you laugh:
You've Got to Dance with Them What Brung You, Molly Ivins. It's pretty bad when you can't recall the last funny book you read that wasn't primarily pictures (as in Bad Cat, which was wickedly funny. But Molly, the quintessential liberal Texas colunist and good ol' gal, can always make me laugh. Her columns, particularly when they focus on Texas and/or Texas politics, are just edgy enough to make you think, but not so much as to be genuinely mean-spirited. She's an equal-opportunity insulter, an old-fashioned observer of the human condition, Texas political style. I have to say, it's almost as funny to read the negative reviews of her books on Amazon. (It's humor, ah say, it's HUMOR, suhn!)

5. One book that made you cry:
Charlotte's Web, E.B. White. I will never forget being nine years old, reading one Saturday morning when I was probably supposed to have been cleaning my room, crying my eyes out because Charlotte, the noble spider, died.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
The Life and Times of an Apostle: An Autobiography, Junia [the Apostle].

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships, John Gray. What cr*p! What's scary is how many "Christian" books echo the same ridiculous themes of women and men being first male and female, and only secondarily fellow human beings.

8. One book you’re currently reading:
Jesus: A Novel, Walter Wangerin, Jr. I'm enjoying this book immensely! A strong, human (and yes, of course, divine) Jesus, and his very Jewish mother: fiesty, strong in her own right, very human but passionate about those she loves. Wangerin is a master of character development and description.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Woman Be Free , Patricia Gundry. I got this a couple of months ago when I ordered some CBE books...I must be the only egalitarian Christian who HASN'T read it yet! Pat, I promise I will, as soon as I'm done with the novel. (Slow going because I'm so sleep-deprived and get through only 10-20 pages before drifting off.)

10. Now tag five people: Catherine (Come to the Table), Lorna (See-through faith, St. Casserole, St. Inuksuk, Sue (Inner Dorothy)