There's Always Time for a Good Book

Maria at Mommy of 4 has tagged me for a book meme'. Yay! The whole meme' thing is getting old, but I love books!

*1. One book that changed my life: Here's where I think I was crazy for agreeing to a book meme'. You mean I have to pick ONE? Alright. This may sound nuts, but it was my Humanities book from my freshman year of college. Up to that point, I'd never really had any kind of western civ or world history class and wasn't even remotely interested. Hannibal? Elephants over the Alps? That's crazy talk! The western civilizations book opened my eyes to history and culture and set me on a path I've stuck with ever since.

*2. One book that you have read more than once: Again with the choices! Here is much easier, since I don't often read books more than once. But I must choose the book I've read the MOST times, and that would be The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 5, Full-Color Collector's Edition), by C.S. Lewis. Okay, I've read the entire Narnian series about 35 times each, but Dawn Treader is my absolute favorite of all time. I laughed. I cried. It moved me, Bob.

*3. One book that I want on a desert island: There's only one choice here, and it's the Holy Bible, American Standard Version (ASV). Romance (Song of Solomon - a little too steamy for me, especially modern paraphrase versions), poetry (Psalms), wisdom (Proverbs and Ecclesiastes), GREAT stories (most of the Old Testament), how to live (most of the New Testament). Hands down, it's the one book I couldn't do without.

*4. One book that made me laugh: Here I have to give you two books. The first is from my childhood and it was Justin Wilson's book of Jokes. I used to read those jokes out loud to anyone and everyone and just laugh myself silly. For instance (and I hope I get this right):

A little boy was starting to worry his momma because he was 6 years old and had never talked. His momma and daddy tried every thing they could think of to get their boy to talk, to no avail. One day the boy's momma burned the toast at breakfast and the boy said, "Momma! You burned my toast!"

Momma was so excited she just cried and cried. When she calmed herself down, Momma said to the boy, "Boy, you ain't talked in six years, and now you gotta go sayin' I burned your toast? It sounds like to me you can talk. Why you wait all dis time?"

The boy thinks for a minute and says, "Cuz ain't nuthin' been wrong up till now."

I just loved Justin. But I promise I won't torture you with another.

The book which has made me laugh as an adult has got to be James Thurber's WONDERFUL O. Oh my goodness. Anything Thurber will make me laugh, but I just love this one.

*5. One book that made me cry: Cheater question. Any one of the Chronicles of Narnia make me cry every time I read them. EVERY SINGLE TIME I read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe I cry like a baby.

*6. One book I wish had been written: See, this book may be out there and I just don't know it. A book on how to be more emotional instead of less. Shut up!

*7. One book I wish had not been written: Ooo. Tough call. I'm all for freedom of speech. There are just some REALLY DUMB books out there. I don't think I'm all for freedom of dumb. I try to stay clear of the dumb stuff, so I can't really answer this one.

*8. One book I am currently reading: Reaching for the Invisible God, by Philip Yancey. I was tempted to list What's So Amazing About Grace?by Yancey as my most influential book. He's probably my second favorite author, and Reaching is very good. I'm currently using it and The Papa Prayer: The Prayer You've Never Prayed, by Larry Crabb, as my morning devotionals. Love 'em.

*9. One book I've been meaning to read:

He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student's Guide to InterpretingOld Testament Narratives, by Richard Pratt Pratt is actually the professor for my first class at RTS, Introduction to Theological Studies, and I'm enjoying his lectures. The class is set up beautifully. But the title of this book, all about the stories of God, the fact that He GAVE us the stories, not some systematic theology, just moves me. It's on my pre-read list for seminary, but I didn't get to it. Soon, I hope.

There it is. I'm not tagging anyone this time around. Please, by all means, feel free to blog this one and let me know. I'd LOVE to see your responses, or even just leave a comment on one or two of your answers. Thanks for playing!

Until I write again ...

Flea