i’ve been tagged...

by rick the book bitch but i only have five minutes to answer. let’s see what transpires.

1. one book that changed your life:

reaching out by henri nouwen. in this foundational work, henri speaks of spirituality as a movement from loneliness to solitude, hostility to hospitality and illusion to prayer. these movements provide an apt description of and direction for my spiritual life and this book continues to frame my consideration and assessment of my spiritual health. did i mention that the pixie gave me a personal audio recording of this book for my 26th birthday? i could say more, but i’ve only got three minutes left.

2. one book that you’ve read more than once:

crooked river burning by mark winegardner. this majestic book is a love song to the midwest, a chronicle of a class crossed love story and a reminder that “everything is what it is and also something else.” if I could force my friends and family to read one book, this would be it.

3. one book you’d want on a desert island:

the book of bebb by frederick buechner. i’ve also read this one more than once, but i only have one minute left.

4. one book that made you laugh:

a walk in the woods by bill bryson. the part about the mouthy, incompetent, ultimately failed thru-hiker who had an ass you could project a movie on just about killed me.

5. one book that made you cry:

the rise of evangelicalism by mark noll. um, weird, i know. but lately i’ve had enough of head religion and the stories of those who’ve found heart religion have been making me a little weepy.

6. one book you wish you had written:

shit, i’m one minute over. how about now and then by frederick buechner. that piece about “listening to life” and so ultimately finding out that “all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace” always kills me.

7. one book you wish had never been written:

uh….dharma bums by jack kerouac. not because it’s a bad book, but because it’s so damn good and i cannot read it (for reasons I am unwilling to discuss here).

8. one book you’re currently reading:

four minutes over. fuuuuck. evangelicalism divided by iain murray. for the record, i don’t consider him an evangelical at all, but a neo-fundamentalist. but it’s still worth reading.

9. one book you’ve been meaning to read:

on beauty by zadie smith. i tried to listen to the audio book while ripping the horsehair plaster out of my living room but the setting was all wrong.

consider yourself tagged. comment below.