Tagged

I’ve been tagged by Violet at promptings. These questions have been good food for thought while I’ve been taking my turn painting our porch. (The graduation open house party is this Saturday and we are making the mad dash to squish ten years of home improvements into one week.)

Total books ever owned: Hmmm..this is a tough question. I was going to say about 1000 but my husband says he thinks it is about 2000. I must not be as discreet in my book buying as I thought.

Last book I bought: I’m not exactly sure which book officially qualifies as the last book I bought because I sometimes buy books a couple at a time. But here’s one of the most recent at least: The Shoes of Van Gogh: A Spiritual and Artistic Journey to the Ordinary by Cliff Edwards. It wasn’t recommended to me by anyone. It just jumped off the bookshelf at me as do many of the great books that have come my way.

I am currently reading: I usually have a number of books going at any one time and my sidebar list isn’t always up to date. The following books are in my current pile: Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight, The Quotidian Mysteries by Kathleen Norris, Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity by Lauren F. Winner, Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl, Younger by the Day by Victoria Moran, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Writing the Sacred Journey by Elizabeth J. Andrew.

Five books that mean a lot to me:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I first read this book when I was in 7th grade. It was a pivotal book for me because it took me out of my middle-class suburban Protestant late-1960s world and transported me to the world of a girl my age--Francie--growing up in a poor Catholic family in Brooklyn, NY in the 1930s.

Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis. I first read this book after a good friend gave it to me in college. At the time I’m not sure I understood the deeper meanings Lewis had in mind when he wrote it. I’m not sure I understand it all even now. But what really struck me and stayed with me was the concept of putting words to our true thoughts, questions, experiences. The quote I wrote down then and have kept all this time is: “The complaint was the answer. To have heard myself making it was to be answered. Lightly men talk of saying what they mean. Often when he was teaching me to write in Greek the Fox would say, ‘Child, to say the very think you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that’s the whole art and joy of words.’ A glib saying. When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you’ll not talk about joy of words. I say well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?”

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. This is a classic daily devotional book that I keep going back to again and again. Each day’s reading is dense and direct, no stories or fluff. Here’s an example from today’s reading, which I read just this morning: “There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God’s way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God.”

Balancing Act: How Women Can Lose Their Roles and Find Their Callings by Mary Ellen Ashcroft. I read this book about 8-9 years ago when I was on the verge of trying my hand at working writing into a new career, as well as a new avocation. Ashcroft posits that many of the expectations placed on women, particularly within a Christian cultural context, are generic and simplistic and cannot be applied universally to every woman. Following Christ does not equal following any one-size-fits-all social expectation but responding as an individual to His specific call in your life.

The Art of Thinking by Ernest Dimnet. First published in 1930, this classic on thought has earned more pages of typed notes in my files than probably any other book I’ve read. Here is a piece of his advice that convicts me every time I read it: ““Do not say that it only took half an hour to clean out the little desk and consequently you only wasted thirty minutes by not being methodical. For the same jumble that was in your desk was also in your mind, and even in your life, my dear lady; you lost time and thought little of it, but moreover you were ineffective, a poor fumbling tennis player never gave a smash. You ideal should be never to waste a step, a word or a gesture. Looseness is the reverse of elegance. Indeed it is in everything the first cousin of slovenliness.”

And now to say “you’re it” to five people: (1) Jed, my cousin and friend, at inner circle; (2) Ciara, a blogging friend, at Something Beautiful; (3) Jeff, my devonthink advisor and blogging friend, at Culture Craftsmanship, (4) Paul, a fairly new blogging friend, at A Spiritual Diablog, and (5) N. M. Kelby, famous author and long-time high school buddy, at her brand new very cool blog that makes me want to move back to Florida (for the full effect check out her home page when you get there). On to you. It’s been fun to share this book history and I hope you’ll think it is too.

Comments

[violet]

Nancy, what riches! I must find that book on thinking, and a whole slew of others! Thanks so much for sharing.

[Paul M. Martin]

Nancy, thanks so much for remembering me and giving out the link to my blog - and in good company. I've checked out and like the other links you posted.

I don't know what happend. I bookmarked your site after first posting a comment months ago, but every time I checked, it was your old post. I'd figured you'd taken a leave of absence from blogging, but just looked at your archives - apparently not.

Anyway, how does this tag thing work? Do I answer the same questions about books that you did on your post, only post them to my blog, then give my blog url to another blogger in an email and tell them they've been tagged?

Technical note:

[Nancy]

Sorry, Paul, I should have given you some better instructions. But you have it right. Answer the same questions I answered (they are in bold). Then pick five bloggers to tag in turn and ask them to answer the same questions. When you have it posted, come back to this post on this blog and let us know it's ready. Make sense? Imagine the matrix of great books we'll all learn about by following the links. And I'm glad you got reconnected to my blog. Yes, I'm still at it. :) Looks like you are going strong over at Spiritual Diablog!