On a 3.5 hour drive through sage filled landscape, my husband and I whiled away a few hours by deciding the top 10 books either most influential or most representative of our lives. Here are the 10 that I came up with, in no particular order.
1. The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis
Like the Narnia book where Aslan tells Lucy that He hasn't gotten bigger, she has gotten older, "The Last Battle" has grown increasingly meaningful for me with age. One of the things I love most about this book is how Emeth, who did not know Aslan, is allowed into Aslan's Country where he grows to know him. As Aslan said to Emeth: "Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek..." I love this.
2. James - James
As a follower of Jesus, the Bible is my Sacred Text and there are many of its books that have been very influential at various times of life. James, however, has always captured my heart as being the book that encourages me that faith is more than just believing and should always have feet.
3. Why Not Women: A Biblical Study of Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership - Loren Cunningham, D.J. Hamilton, and J. Rogers
After wrestling through how my faith and sex intersects, this book is the book I wish I would have written, most loved reading on the subject, and wish every Christian would read.
4. Borderlands: The New Mestiza = La Frontera - Gloria Anzaldua
Having grown up in the borderlands myself and having chosen work and life that continues to occupy borderland spaces (although of a different kind than what she describes for herself), this book gave me words and led to greater understanding of how these experiences helped shape my identity.
5. A Generous Orthodoxy - Brian McLaren
After often feeling alone in my theological musings, this book finally offered another person's written words to my own heart's whisperings. It also sent me down a new road of reading and theological pondering within the emergent conversation that is helping define my current Christian understanding.
6. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation - Parker Palmer
After first reading this book in university, I was inspired to make sure I read it again every few years. It offers just the reminder that I need every time I find myself at one of life's many crossroads.
7. God at War - Gregory Boyd
Greg opened a whole new way of seeing an all-powerful God who is fighting to make this world the place of beauty that it's intended to be, and calls us to value the sacredness of life at all times. He introduced me to a new perspective of what it could mean for God to lovingly allow created beings to have individual choice and be so powerful that He can respond to those choices and work it for good. That perspective brought a new level of freedom to my faith journey.
8. The Walking Drum - Louis L'Amour
I loved this book as a kid (and still do as an adult). The adventure of Mathurin's world travel and quest combined with the importance of intellectual and cultural smarts for survival - awesome!
9. Trauma Stewardship: An Everday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others - Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
While overwhelmed by broad societal needs and my own limitations in meeting the specific examples of these needs inundating me daily, I experienced well-meaning people I shared with trying to "fix" me by suggesting additional things for me to do and be. Instead of feeling supported, they simply furthered feelings of isolation and loss. This book arrived just in time. With humor and practicality, it normalized my experiences in the wider context of service-oriented vocations and helped me understand the reality and impact of vicarious trauma.
10. The Encyclopedia of the Dog
I have spent more time over the last three decades researching dog breeds and all their traits than most could imagine! I still have an unnatural obsession with dog adoption websites and wishing I could adopt and foster more dogs than I should. Viva Canines!
How about you?
Any favorite, influential, and/or representative books that you recommend?
1. The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis
Like the Narnia book where Aslan tells Lucy that He hasn't gotten bigger, she has gotten older, "The Last Battle" has grown increasingly meaningful for me with age. One of the things I love most about this book is how Emeth, who did not know Aslan, is allowed into Aslan's Country where he grows to know him. As Aslan said to Emeth: "Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek..." I love this.
2. James - James
As a follower of Jesus, the Bible is my Sacred Text and there are many of its books that have been very influential at various times of life. James, however, has always captured my heart as being the book that encourages me that faith is more than just believing and should always have feet.
3. Why Not Women: A Biblical Study of Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership - Loren Cunningham, D.J. Hamilton, and J. Rogers
After wrestling through how my faith and sex intersects, this book is the book I wish I would have written, most loved reading on the subject, and wish every Christian would read.
4. Borderlands: The New Mestiza = La Frontera - Gloria Anzaldua
Having grown up in the borderlands myself and having chosen work and life that continues to occupy borderland spaces (although of a different kind than what she describes for herself), this book gave me words and led to greater understanding of how these experiences helped shape my identity.
5. A Generous Orthodoxy - Brian McLaren
After often feeling alone in my theological musings, this book finally offered another person's written words to my own heart's whisperings. It also sent me down a new road of reading and theological pondering within the emergent conversation that is helping define my current Christian understanding.
6. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation - Parker Palmer
After first reading this book in university, I was inspired to make sure I read it again every few years. It offers just the reminder that I need every time I find myself at one of life's many crossroads.
7. God at War - Gregory Boyd
Greg opened a whole new way of seeing an all-powerful God who is fighting to make this world the place of beauty that it's intended to be, and calls us to value the sacredness of life at all times. He introduced me to a new perspective of what it could mean for God to lovingly allow created beings to have individual choice and be so powerful that He can respond to those choices and work it for good. That perspective brought a new level of freedom to my faith journey.
8. The Walking Drum - Louis L'Amour
I loved this book as a kid (and still do as an adult). The adventure of Mathurin's world travel and quest combined with the importance of intellectual and cultural smarts for survival - awesome!
9. Trauma Stewardship: An Everday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others - Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
While overwhelmed by broad societal needs and my own limitations in meeting the specific examples of these needs inundating me daily, I experienced well-meaning people I shared with trying to "fix" me by suggesting additional things for me to do and be. Instead of feeling supported, they simply furthered feelings of isolation and loss. This book arrived just in time. With humor and practicality, it normalized my experiences in the wider context of service-oriented vocations and helped me understand the reality and impact of vicarious trauma.
10. The Encyclopedia of the Dog
I have spent more time over the last three decades researching dog breeds and all their traits than most could imagine! I still have an unnatural obsession with dog adoption websites and wishing I could adopt and foster more dogs than I should. Viva Canines!
How about you?
Any favorite, influential, and/or representative books that you recommend?
What a fun challenge! I would pick The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond and Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. Thinking about the other seven...
ReplyDeleteRichard Foster's "Streams of Living Water" almost made it on my list - a great thinker and writer. I've heard great things about Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" - it officially got bumped up my priority list to next in line - thanks for the response!
ReplyDeleteI love knowing people's favorite books. It not only give me ideas for new books to read but also shares a little bit of uniqueness about someone that wouldn't otherwise be contained in one list I think. Thanks!
ReplyDelete