One Book Meme

Thanks, Josh. Dang. Got hit by one of these. That’s what you get for hanging out on the internet without protection. By protection, of course I mean two large guys named Guido pushing people away from you.

A nice, quick diversion from work here:

1. One book that changed your life:
Philip Yancy, What’s So Amazing About Grace.

[I think that everyone hits a point in their lives where a book challenges your thoughts (or lack thereof) of what Christianity is suppose to look like. I don’t know if it’s the best, but this was mine]

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.

[In my crazy high school/college days, I would read the whole trilogy each summer]

3. One book you’d want on a desert island (assuming that How to Escape from a Desert Island with Two Coconuts, Bamboo and a Couple of Fish is checked out of the desert island library):
Frank Herbert, Dune.

[The irony of the choice didn’t hit me until I finished typing it]

4. One book that made you laugh:
Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens.

[It was all I could do not to crack up hysterically when I would read this book at lunch. It was a miracle I never got kicked out of resturants]

5. One book that made you cry:
John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog.

[Ok, so I have a thing for pets. Some days I think I like animals more than people]

6. One book that you wish had been written:
How to accomplish everything you want to do in life in 15 easy minutes a day.

[‘nuff said]

7. One book that you wish had never been written:

Anything with “Purpose-Driven” in the title (ok, a slight deviation from the question)

[Questionable theology + questionable social relevance = does anybody really need this? How did the Church ever survive before Rick Warren decided that it needed a purpose?]

8. One book you’re currently reading:

Aaron Allston, Betryal (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force).

[Woo-hoo! Love Star Wars!!!]

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Hans Kung, Justification: The Doctrine of Karl Barth and a Catholic Reflection

[Not that I know much detail about Barth’s theology, nor Kung’s. I just thought it would be interesting to read a take on reconciling the Protestant/Catholic divide. Frankly it’s been sitting on the bookshelf mocking me. I need to get through a few more lighter fiction books before I decided to tackle this.]

10. Now tag five people:
I don’t even know 5 people with blogs that haven’t been hit with this. Sorry, folks. Not trying to be difficult.