Book Meme

I've been tagged for the book meme by a couple of people.  My apologies to anyone I have forgotten but with all that's been going on lately I haven't been able to keep up with who I've said what to or corresponded with these last few weeks.

But, I do know for sure that credit for a couple of tags go to my funky friend Ales Rarus and to Randy Kirk at The Truth About Everything.

1. How many books have I owned?

Right off the bat I'm confused because that doesn't seem to be asking how many I own now, but how many I have ever owned.  Right now I would estimate that I have about 1800 - 2000 books between the home and office.  If you count all the books I've given away or sold we're probably in the 3000 or more range.  Yeah I know, I'd be a wealthy man if not for this addiction.

2. What was the last book you bought.

I just bought two books this past week at the same time - Devotions for a Sacred Marriage and Devotions for Sacred Parenting, both by Gary Thomas.  I still think his book Sacred Marriage is the only book you really need for marital advice, and if not the only one, its the first one to read and the one to keep coming back to after you've read others.  So, when I saw this week that these two devotionals were coming out I had the same excitement that the gamers had when Halo2 came out.  I rushed right out and bought them.  They both have 52 devotions and one per week is recommended.  So, my wife and I are going to do one from each book every week and find something else for devotions on the other days.

3. The last book that you've read.

Sex and the Supremacy of Christ. I have a hard time finishing a book.  I've usually got half a dozen I am interested in at a time and I dabble in them all and someday get around to finishing them.  I do finish novels though - when I get wrapped up in a good story I'll make a point to stick with it till the end.  The only reason I finished Sex and the Supremacy of Christ so quickly was that Tim Challies gave me a deadline to post a review and I didn't want to get a demerit for being late.

5 books that have meant a lot to you.

Actually, I already sort of answered that question over a year ago in this post.  But I can add a bit to that list.

Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis - gave me back my imagination.

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis - see this review for how it impacted me.

Healing Back Pain by Dr. John Sarno - I was having a great deal of back pain a year or so ago, seeing a chiropractor, eating advil like candy and doing all kinds of other stuff to make my back feel better.  A friend of mine recommended this and I read the book and within a couple of weeks my back pain was gone with no other treatment.  Dr. Sarno shows how back pain and many other pains are the body's attempt to distract us from emotional pain with physical pain.  I've told this to some folks who think he's a snake oil salesman and that I'm an idiot for believing this.  But this guy is the head of some big department at NYU and his program has worked for me, the friend who recommended the book and several others in my church with back pain.  It's also helped me learn to use back pain as a guage of my spiritual and emotional condition. When I get back pain I now realize that something is happening on an emotional level and it is time to slow down, evaluate and spend time with the Lord about it.

Quo Vadis - this ranks up there with Pilgrim's Progress in my estimation.  I first got interested in this book by reading a review from George Grant. This is the kind of book that, when I start talking about it, I can only come up with cliche's and platitudes like "wonderful," "amazing," "awe-inspiring." 

I'm down to my last book, but there are two modern novels that I have particularly enjoyed and can't really say one is better than the other.

Wisdom Hunter by Randall Arthur - I know there are lots of books that are advertised as ones that will "grab you from page one."  But this one really does. The story itself puts you through an emotional workout.  It's one of the best antidotes to extreme fundamentalism I have read.  Here's my review.  This is one of five or fewer books I have ever read twice.

Beyond the Summerland by L. B. Graham - I'll go ahead and identify myself as a heretic by saying that I enjoyed this book more than Lord of the Rings.  I know that is heresy and I am not saying that L. B. has reached Tolkienish levels yet but I enjoyed this book more.  I am one of those uneducated slobs who never read Tolkien when I was a kid.  This past year I decided to read through Lord of the Rings and got stuck 3/4 of the way through the first book.  I think I may finish the book and even the trilogy someday but I have to say that Tolkien doesn't grab me the way he grabs most people, and I  also know I'll be mocked and despised for saying that.  Somehow Narnia grabbed me in a way that Middle-Earth didn't.  This is purely subjective and I say all that by way of disclaimer and will also point out that I am not saying that Beyond the Summerland is of the same literary quality as LOTR.    But, sometime around the time I began LOTR I also began Beyond the Summerland and breezed right through it, enjoying it immensely and eagerly anticipating coming home from work each day so that I could keep reading.  Obviously, with Graham being a modern writer, his style is more familiar and accessible to me than Tolkien's.  But the fact that his book is easier to read than Tolkien's doesn't mean that it is fluff.  Graham's book got a very good critical review from Books and Culture. He's head and shoulders above 95% of modern Christian fiction writers, creating a believable fantasy world, peopled with three dimensional characters involved in a compelling story.  My review is here.

5. Tag five people that haven't played yet.

Shaun Nolan of Postcript Posthaste

Josiah Q. Roe of Irresponsible Journalism

Will Hinton of Dignan's 75 Year Plan

Glenn Lucke of Common Grounds Online

Mike Russell at Eternal Perspectives

Note to tagees - you don't have to be as long-fingered as I was. Everyone else kept their answers to a reasonable length.  I just can't hardly say hello in less than 20 minutes.

Update - just for fun I went ahead and tagged Lauren Winner - we'll see if she plays.  She puts the rest of us booklovers to shame, she needs a new super-meme.  Instead of asking what the last book she bought was, we need to ask her how many books she has bought in the last day.  Dittos for last book she read.