Books, Books, Books!

I'm jumping onto this meme from A Chelsea Morning, though it's taken several days for me to get to it. Let's see if it inspires anyone else.

1. Books that changed your life: Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend - helped me take back the me I had lost along the way and restored my husband's respect for me in the process. Speaking of Love by Fred and Anna Kendall - helped me to understand that my husband was not just trying to rain on my parade 24/7 and that my son's desire to lead (control, sheepdog, etc.) me was not also not meant to drive me insane. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis - just because. The Bible - it continually changes my life.

2. Books that you've read more than once: The Chronicles of Narnia - I think at least 8 times through all of them at last count, Boundaries - I need updating regularly. The Bible - I'm on my second time through it entirely, though I was raised on it and have read many of the books multitudinous times.

3. Book you'd want on a desert island: the Bible, of course because it always has a fresh word for me, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - I'd need uninterrupted time to take it all in and begin to understand it.

4. Book that made you laugh: My dad had a copy of The in Blue by P.G. Wodehouse - very dry, very British humor that I appreciated at a very early age. I would laugh till I cried and those around me thought I had lost my mind.

5. Book that made you cry: wow, so many, the script for Shadowlands by C.S. Lewis - I literally sobbed. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom - two boxes of Kleenex, anything by Nicholas Sparks.

6. Book that you wish had been written: Don't lose yourself in your marriage: the young wives' guide to sustained respect and happiness.

7. Books you don't enjoy: self-righteous "Do it my way - the right way - and you won't have any problems" types, anything that implies there is only one right way, excessively frilly "women's" books, in other words, books that aren't REAL, also textbooks, manuals, Nathaniel Hawthorn, Ernest Hemingway, and Walden Pond.

8. Book you are currently reading: I just finished Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich and I'm supposed to be reading The Search for Significance, Growing Up Divorced, and a book about raising gifted adolescents. I keep starting, but can't seem to plow through any of these. I need another Wodehouse book to get me through.

9. Book you've been meaning to read: Mere Christianity - I think I'm going to need a discussion group for this one.

10. Book you remember as a real page turner: This Present Darkness - it was tough getting started, but then I couldn't put it down. The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Nighttime - written from the perspective of an autistic young man.

11. Nonfiction books you have enjoyed: Lisa Whelchel's books - all of them, Wild at Heart, and other aforementioned books.

12. Children's books your family has loved: Big Max, Where the Wild Things Are, Fox In Socks, The Pokey Little Puppy, Charlotte's Web, The Chronicles of Narnia, And to Think That It Happened On Mulberry Street.

My lifelong love of reading makes a comprehensive list impossible. Perhaps these few mentions will strike a chord with you.