I decided I would follow up last week’s Sunday Seven with another list of my favorites. This week it is a listing of seven of my most favorite books (and let’s just put this out there – a daily read for me is The Word of God…)
The Red Tent – Anita Diamant: I love this book. It speaks to me as a woman and makes me want to dig deeper into the Biblical history of women in the tribes of the Old Testament. Clearly some liberties are taken, but it is a really good read – and one that I revisit every few years.
Sit, Walk, Stand – Watchman Nee: I first read this book in 1991 and then I was a book that I was in over my head on. It took me 6 months to get through it…and it’s a small book. It is so piercing and life changing. Watchman knows how to allow the Spirit to work through his words to change a soul. I have since read about every 5 years. It is one of the books the Rocket Scientist and I journey through together.
A Shepherd’s Look at the 23rd Psalm – W. Phillip Keller: Oh what can I say about A Shepherd’s Look? This is the book that drew me into a deeper understanding of how I am loved. It is truly a look at a shepherd tending his flock and all of the practical things that must be done in real life sheep herds. It is a great look at how God does the same for us.
Marley & Me – John Grogan: I think everyone knows this book and the movie. Love it…makes me want a new puppy every time I read it!
Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert: You already know that I love Elizabeth Gilbert and this book (especially if you read my previous posts on my time at the Click Away conference where she was the Key Note Speaker)…I melt every time I read it! I think I first picked it up 4 or 5 years ago and I have read it every year. The first time through I was at a place in life where I was trying to figure out, once again, where I fit in to this big world. I seem to pick it up each year at a time of deep personal reflection.
The Divine Romance – Gene Edwards: This book has true special meaning for me. I began reading this book while traveling from Tucson to Glorietta, New Mexico on a singles weekend. This would be the weekend that the Rocket Scientist and I began our dating relationship. He was on one bus, and I on the other. He saw me reading the book before we loaded up here in Tucson and at every stop he would pose a new question to me about the particular point I was in the book. It became a bond between us. It is a beautiful, fictional, look of the span of time from the view of the angels. It still takes my breath away, makes me cry and reminds me again of the moment I fell in love with the Rocket Scientist.
Of Mice & Men – John Steinbeck: Oh Steinbeck…how you have molded my reading! I still have my paper from my Sophomore year in Mr. McPheeters’ Advanced English Class. I owe a lot to Mr. McPheeters (I wonder what he is up to…he was honestly one of the best teachers I ever had…hands down). The basis of the assignment for the paper: is man basically good, or is man basically evil? Such a great book to pull apart this process of looking into such a deep question. Of course, I was mesmerized by every page (and by Grapes of Wrath too…but that is on my top 10 list…not my Top 7 list!). I don’t read it every year, but I do find myself re-reading this classic often.
An those are my top 7 books…what are yours?