Ok,so my "friend" just "tagged" me on some kind of book thing where you respond with favourite books and things. Since this doesn't include "if you don't tag/post/reply your children will be born with cloven hooves down to the fourth generation" or something like that, I'm inclined to respond. But those I tag at the end, feel free to decline.
1) One book that changed my life: This isn't a cop-out. I just looked over at my bookshelf and if we're talking changed my LIFE, the only book I can definitely point to on that one is the Bible . Everything else has given me insight and changed thoughts or practices, but not exactly my life.
2) One book you have read more than once: Hmmm... the only one that comes to mind is Working the Angles by Eugene Peterson. Not to say I haven't read any others more than once, but this is the only one I'm sure of. And I REALLY recommend it. If I had the time and discipline, I'd read it every year. The desire is there.
3) One book you would want on a desert island: It doesn't say THE one book, so I'll pass on the pat "bible" answer here and go with War and Peace by Tolstoy, simply because everyone has said how great it is, but unless I'm on a desert island, there's probably no way I'm going to get a chance, or commit the time, to reading it.
4) Two books that made you laugh: Tough one. I'm going back to elementary school for the first, Don't Care High by Canadian author Gordon Korman. I'm pretty sure I laughed at the absurdity of a high school that was more zombie than anything else - especially while I was in grade 4. And while I could go with the Presbyterian Book of Order, or the way I've seen it being used and abused lately, I'm instead going to go with Stephen Lawhead's The Paradise War (Song of Albion trilogy, book 1) for nothing other than the cover art. It was a great book and I highly recommend Lawhead if you're into fantasy, but I made fun of Bridgette mercilessly for years because it looked like a trashy romance novel, it's not.
5) One book that made you cry: I don't think I've shed a tear over a book. Although if any book would have, Henri Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus would certainly be one. Now, if this question had been movies, I'd have a slew of them, but books, not so much.
6) One book you wish you'd written: I'm torn here between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows because if I'd written it, and the six books before them instead of Rowling, I'd be ROLLING in all that money. I'm torn between that and Rick Steve's Europe Through the Backdoor 2008, The Travel Handbook because that would have meant I'd traveled Europe extensively enough to write the book - that would be awesome.
7) One book you wish had never been written: As hard as it is to argue with Mein Kampf, I'm going to go with Marx's The Communist Manifesto. Call me what you want politically - and I do agree with some of the things that Marx puts forth - but what people have done with his writings over the years...
8) Two books you are currently reading: I'll break the rules and give you the THREE books I'm actually reading - The Connecting Church by Randy Frazee, Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell and Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels. All good & interesting in very different ways.
9) One book you've been meaning to read: John Bright's The Kingdom of God. I started and got through the Intro, put it down and haven't picked it back up - not for any lack on the book's part.
10) Five people that I tag: Wes Barry, Lars Rood, Rob Higgins, Dave Derus, and of course, Bridgette. I would've tagged Raymond Bonwell & David Hallgren, but I'm not sure how they'd post unless they do so as a reply because they don't "blog", but I'm certainly curious about them as well...
7 comments:
Thanks for playing Don. I find it interesting that both you and my good friend Josh (who tagged) me listed Harry Potter as the book(s) you wished you'd written, not for their literary value, but their economic enhancement. :-)
Rick Steves is awesome! His books are so helpful. Brad and I used his "Italy' 2005 when we traveled through Italy! I agree. I wish I coule have written those too so I could be the one doing all the research!
I love Lawhead. Song of Albion is perhaps his best work.
What can I say, economic enhancement isn't bad. That's why I play most of the time!
I hope to use Rick Steves someday too!
As for Lawhead, I've got to rate, from what I've read:
Arthur series #1
Byzantium #2
Albion #3
But all are sensational.
I took the challenge and made the list. It was fun to reflect various literature. I have to say, I felt like a bit of a geek while I was doing it. When I was a kid, I used to say I hated reading. But the truth is, I hated reading the crap the schools forced me to read.
Remember our protest against Robertson Davies? LOL. Man was I a geek.
So is the economic gain of Harry Potter your connection to unwriting Marx? :)
Higgins - glad you played along. Boy, we were BOTH dorks back in the day, glad we've come so far...
David - hmmm... now that's an interesting thought. When I get back down to it, I think that my pragmatism trumps both capitalism & socialism/marxism, at least for me.
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