Saturday, January 31, 2009

One Book Meme

I got this from Educating Petunia and thought it looked like fun, although it is harder than anything for me to narrow any answer down to only one book!

One book you’re currently reading: The Family Cloister by David Robinson -- about how to apply the wisdom of the Rule of Saint Benedict to family life, written by my friend Kitty's cousin

One book that changed your life: Evangelical Is Not Enough by Thomas Howard, brother to Elisabeth Eliot. It opened my eyes to the beauty of liturgical worship and how it is centered on God's Word.

One book you’d want on a deserted island: Besides the Bible? Complete Works of William Shakespeare -- 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and several longer poems ought to keep me going for a while.

One book you’ve read more than once: Besides the Bible and just about every book in my library? (I adore rereading!) Hmmm..... I'll go with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I'd say that besides the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, I reread this book the most.

One book you’ve never been able to finish: Les Miserables. I've tried and tried and have never read beyond page 20 or so.

One book that made you laugh: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and in the silent reading room of the USD Library, no less. I had to leave before I burst an internal organ or two in my vain attempts to hold in my laughter.

One book that made you cry: Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. I was reading it in Hawaii in 1990 (halfway through grad school) and finished it around 2:00 AM by throwing it against the closet door of our condo and bursting into tears. Startled Keith a bit. Haven't read George Eliot since.

One book you keep rereading: The Psalms. Every month from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Showings of Julian of Norwich. I keep meaning to start it and something else always gets in the way. I want to examine her work if I ever pursue my doctorate -- I've only read snippets of this book in anthologies.

One book you believe everyone should read: The Bible, obviously. :)

Finally, grab the nearest book. Open it to page 56. Find the fifth sentence: From The Private Patient by PD James: [Rhoda speaking] "'I have an old portrait in the house where I live.'"

If you use this meme, let me know. I'd love to read your answers.

2 comments:

YesYouCan said...

I grew up in Norwich, UK, being very interested in Mother Julian of Norwich and would visit the small medieval church where she served as an anchoress. Her quiet, small cell, which one had to stoop to enter, was a place given to ready contemplation. Beautiful.

If you want to know about the story behind the woman, I highly recommend (yet one more) book:

In Search of Julian of Norwich by Sheila Upjohn.

Hope you get to read more about her!

Susanne Barrett said...

Thanks, Michelle. Love your web site, btw. Just added it to my Google Reader.

I added the book to my ever-growing book list. Thanks very much for the comment. :)

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