books

Lane - who has a new website, very nice - commented recently that it is cheesy to say a book changed his life. It occurs to me that there are several books that have changed me - maybe they haven't changed the course of my life, but they had a significant impact on the way I think or relate to people. So, I offer three categories: 1. Books that changed me, 2. Books that I love, but didn't change me, and 3. Books that wanted to change me, but didn't. But first, a disclaimer - I read a LOT of books. I might write this list today, and write a completely different (and equally accurate) one next week. I reserve the right to add to and/or change my mind at any time. Enjoy.

1. Books that Changed Me

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, by Mildred Taylor
My 7th grade English teacher had a shelf from which we had to pick a book and write a report. I chose this one; I still have my teacher's copy. The book is about racism in the Deep South during the Jim Crow era. I read it when I was twelve, and the main character of the book is a girl about the same age. I remember sitting in my prepubescent bedroom one night and looking in the mirror. I tried very hard to imagine what I would look like if I was black, like the girl in my book. I thought about where our house would be, who my friends would be, if I would go to college … and I got angry. As I finished the book, I kept saying out loud, "That's not fair!" It was the first time I saw racism in my little Alabama life for what it was.

White Oleander, by Janet Fitch
It's a beautiful book, it really is. Have all of you read it? There are things that I love about it - it reads like poetry, and I always love the rhythm of words - but that isn't what affected me. When I read this, I understood for the first time that people do the best they can with what they have. That there is always a reason why people do the things they do, and if I don't understand their decisions, then I probably don't know them well enough to see their perspective. It opened my eyes, and still affects the way I relate to people who are different from me.

The Gospels, by God (and some people)
A few years ago, I came to a disturbing realization about my faith: I knew more about Paul than Jesus, and more about morality than trust. So I set out to know the man Jesus better than I knew anyone else. I wanted to be as well-versed in what Jesus said as I was in the Epistles. It took a little while, but the more I read, the more I began to see Jesus as a radical, a man who would not have cared for my religious paraphernalia. I loved reading about Jesus' relationships - how he approached people, what he tolerated and what he didn't, what he loved and hated. It profoundly affected my faith.

The Signature of Jesus, by Brennen Manning
It was our call to radical discipleship, and marked the beginning of a new way of looking at our lives and our future. I can't even say that I loved the book so much as God just spoke to us through it. "All that is not the love of God is meaningless to me" has been my prayer since reading this book.

Honorable Mention:
The Psalms, by God (and David, and Solomon, etc). It took me a while to get into them, but once I could hear the rhythm, I couldn't get enough.
Boundaries, by Cloud and Townsend. Since I have been accused of being a Boundaries Nazi, I won't say anything else about this book.

2. Books that I love, but didn't change me.

Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver (really, anything by Barbara Kingsolver, but I'll use Prodigal Summer for arguments' sake).
I'm convinced that Ms. Kingsolver is a believer. Like Flannery O'Conner, all of her stories ultimately are about redemption. This book is full of life, and I read it during a really happy and hopeful time in my life. My sister was pregnant, we'd just moved into a cute little duplex in Mikkee's neighborhood in Nashville, Elizabeth was my roommate for a summer, and in general, life was good. Prodigal Summer will always remind me of that time, that hopefulness.

Paradise, by Toni Morrison
I can't find anyone (except Valerie, but Valerie has such an inordinate love for books that I can hardly be surprised) to agree with me about this, but I LOVED Paradise. I loved the symbolism about death and life and the magic embodied in healing … I just loved it. Since I read it, I've probably recommended this book a dozen times, and no one else has enjoyed it the way I did. Go figure.

Honorable Mention:
The Collected Stories of Flannery O'Conner (especially "The River"), In the Wake of Home, by Adrienne Rich (which is actually a poem and not a book), "The Open Boat," by Stephen Crane, "Barn Burning," by William Faulkner, "A Jury of Her Peers," by Kate Chopin (all stories, not books - by the way, "A Jury of Her Peers" is a great read for my feminist friends. And doesn't this paragraph remind you of a test on punctuation from high school? But I digress), The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, and The Hours, by Michael Cunningham.


3. Books that wanted to change me, but didn't.

Passion and Purity, by Elisabeth Elliot. A close second would be I Kissed Dating Good-bye, by Joshua Harris.
When I was in college - and starting to hang out with Brian - dating was out, and "courting" was in. I was more legalistic back then, and when I read Passion and Purity, I started feeling like I was doing something wrong when Brian held my hand. I didn't like that. I also didn't like all of the self-inflicted rules proposed by these types of books. So, um, I kissed the books good-bye, and kissed my boyfriend instead. It worked out okay for me.

The Purpose-Driven Life/Church, by Rick Warren
This guy takes fundamental Christian principles and markets them as though they are the deep truths of God. I don't know who should be more embarrassed - him, for acting as though "God has a plan" is a radical concept, or us, for agreeing with him. I tried to read both books, and couldn't get past the first section.

Every Man's Battle, by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker
Good Word. I read the first chapter and felt sick. If what I read is true, please don't tell me about it. I don't want to know.

The For Dummies books:
I read one a few years ago. It didn't make me less dumb on that particular topic.

Honorable Mention:
Middlesex, by Jeffry Eugenides
It's incredibly well-written, but it's too graphic for me. Do I really need to know the complete sexual history of three generations of a family? Although I do enjoy the fact that one character is named "The Object" because of her relationship to the main character … nice. But overall, it was too much for me. At the author's defense, I'm not sure it was his goal to change me. So maybe this doesn't really belong in this category. It needs its own - Books I wanted to like, but didn't.

This list kind of exposes my lack of dignity in book choices. My mom is a book snob (and so are some of you, although it pays off for the rest of us that you are so picky. You usually recommend good books), and while I appreciate that logic, I also appreciate a good Oprah book every now and then. Such is life.