10 books

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There is this meme going around Facebook about listing 10 books that have stayed with one in some way. Nobody tagged me, and even if they did, I wouldn't put it on Facebook because I have never been a fan of chain letters, or guilting people into doing something (unless of course they are my little brothers, in which case all bets are off).

In other news, I've been reflecting on incarnation thanks to some amazing sermons at my church (December 1 and 8, 2013) but haven't found words for this yet. Or time to really dwell with it. And so I haven't posted.

No progress on the icon either. But I have almost finished the giveaway paintings.

Here's my list of 10 books that have stayed with me in some way. With commentary. Naturally.

  1. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
    Would it be crazy to say this was my scripture growing up? Not really. I come back to it again and again, and as I mature different moments and thoughts resonate with me.
  2. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, Ann Voskamp
    Seeing God everywhere and letting God within. This was one of those books that change how I see the world. I stopped writing down the list earlier this year, but I'm feeling a call to take it back up again.
  3. Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
    Although I still haven't forgiven him for making it a allegory about Jesus, I still look through to the back of wardrobes. Especially old ones.
  4. Brothers in Arms and A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
    (tied) BiA is my outright favorite of the Vorksogian stories and ACC is the most memorable for the dinner party scene. Worth reading the whole series just for that scene. Honestly. [The  book to start with is A Warrior's Apprentice which has the best opening scene ever.] Also, I seem to get a little manic (but not as bad as Miles Vorkosigan) for a few days after reading a book from this series.
  5. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Depressed me for weeks when I read it in college, hence fulfilling the "stayed with me" part of the meme. Not sure I'd dare to read it again.
  6. The Hunger Games series, Suzanne Collins
    Read the books one after the other after seeing the first movie, and because of the books' message, I can't watch the second two films. I feel too much like one of the spectators. This has even extended to The Hobbit film which I've decided not to watch the second two parts because its just a how-many-goblins-can-we-kill-while-running film. The goblins are treated as Other, Less-Than and are thus fit to be killed for entertainment. Oh yeah, Suzanne Collins has ruined me for certain kinds of films.
  7. Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World, Henri Nouwen
    The book I wish I could write.
  8. The Eagle and the Raven, Pauline Gedge
    Britons vs. Romans. Awesome mythology, descriptions and kick-ass female characters. Love this book, which I first read as a young adult and now am feeling the urge to go find it and read it again.
  9. In The Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity, Oskar Skarsune
    For pointing out how Jewish we Christians are, or were, in a super-compelling, non-conspiracy-theory, scientific way. (Which might shed light on some other books I've read on the subject.)
  10. Psalms for Praying: an invitation to wholeness, Nan Merrill
    OK, not quite the Bible, but it's a part of it, rewritten so that the enemies spoken of in the original setting of the psalms are our dark sides, and God is always referred to as Beloved.
All links go to Amazon because its just easy to find them that way, but feel free to get them (especially the Bujold and Collins ones) through your independent bookstore (like Mysterious Galaxy for San Diegans and folks in Redondo Beach).

What are your 10 books?

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