my book report

i was tagged quite a long time ago by susie, and it slipped my mind until i read mike's post and thought, 'oh yeah, i was supposed to do that wasn't i?' so here is my book report:

1. total number of books i own:

hundreds (i love to give away books - i buy them used and pass them on - i figure the price 1/2's every time someone else reads it!)

2. the last book i bought:

a tree full of angels, macrina wiederkeihr (recommended by amy loves books)

3. the last book i read:

the hawk and the dove trilogy, by penelope wilcock (recommended by elizabeth), and now by me. it is a story in a story - a mother passing down the heritage of the family to her daughters. a heritage of benedictine monks and a window into a world of truth, beauty, repentance and redemption. wonderful!

4. five books that mean alot to me:

the first ones that cracked the door were a trilogy by henry fosdick, he was the pastor of riverside church in ny and he was very friendly to the AA movement. i'm counting his 3 little OOP books as one - the meaning of prayer, the meaning of faith, and the meaning of service (also in one collection called the three meanings)- these books started a wedge into the rigid theology of my former years.

the next would have to be a pair (see, i can't do anything easy...) the jesus i never knew and what's so amazing about grace - phillip yancy. finally someone begins to write critically about what 'the church' has been feeding us for years. it chips away, piece by piece all of the pre-conceived, easy, fill-in-the-blank answers i had kept myself safe with for so long.

when when the heart waits by sue monk kidd. this was on yac's recommend list and i picked it up at nywc before he died. i had read little non-fiction written by women and i was intrigued. as i read her butterfly metaphor i was given a gift i had never had before - wings. a process of awakening and growth, and living in the tension that took the process from my brain, to my soul.

during the last books i was also working through a gentle path through the 12 steps by patrick carnes. this book gave me my life back. it took me years to finish it, but each exercise was transforming and redeemed a lot of the broken-ness of my past.

and finally the book that i just can't seem to put down, i'm constantly referring to again and again; as it has been the keystone to giving me a 180* perspective change - let your life speak, parker palmer. if you've read my blog for long you know how he has integrated each and every one of the above movements of my life in to a harmony that makes sense of it all. don't tell anyone, but if palmer started a cult i think i'd join it...

5. two major books i read when i was a kid:

madeline l'engle - sorry, don't make me pick. her time quartet and the austin series were some of my best friends as a tween. meg and vicky were everything i longed to be. it was through their eyes and the windows into their families that i began to realize how very broken my own was. they weren't judgemental and didn't leave me feeling awkward or alone.

the chronicles of narnia & the lord of the rings - again - can't pick... these men (and l'engle) taught me that people of god didn't have to be rigid, joyless automatons - imagination, story and vast new worlds were mine to explore - truth was told in such deep ways - i knew i would never be the same. they taught me more about god and truth than any bible study or sunday school class.

oh, and i need to tag: (sorry if you've been tagged and i forgot, or if i missed you because i thought you were already tagged!!)

susan
claudia
renee
kristin
natala