Tagged! One Book Meme

Tyler Williams of Codex has been kind enough to “tag” me (thanks for the heads-up Kevin!) so I will do my best to respond as the packers…erm, pack the house.

1. One book that changed your life:
Tough… Genesis, specifically chapters 1-3. (See also #6 below.)

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
There have been many, especially now that my daughter is old enough to be read to (and now read! she is 8 and just finished Harry Potter #6 and is starting back on 1 as I type, with boxes piling up around me). I also tend to re-read things because my memory isn’t what it never was. I was going to list a series and I just realized the meme is all about “one book.” OK, I have wasted enough time. I will pick Mind of the Maker, by Dorothy L. Sayers.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
I have to agree with TYler: I would probably want the Bible — in the original languages. (Although I would probably need a good Hebrew/Greek lexicon. 😉

4. One book that made you laugh:
Life with Jeeves by PG Wodehouse. Anything by Wodehouse really. He was a genius and I do not use that word lightly. I think it was Douglas Adams and/or Stephen Fry who once said that Wodehouse was the master of the English language in the 20th century. Pretty strong stuff, don’t you think?

5. One book that made you cry:
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson. I still remember reading this in, I think, the 4th grade. I cried and was mocked for it but it is an incredibly moving story. I understand it is soon going to be a movie. I am not sure I could go see it for two reasons: (1) if it is well made I will be a wreck and (2) if it is not well made it will be horrible. It is an excellent book.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
This is a curious one. Why would we wish a book had been written? I am sure that many biblioblogs can think of many books that we wished had survived, but that is usually because we know they were written, we just no longer have them. But why should we wish a book was written? Perhaps to know the inner thoughts of someone? In that vein might I suggest The Autobiography of Jesus: Man and/or God?

Hmm. I just noticed that Loren’s version says “One book that you wish you had written.” That makes more sense. Biblical Theology in Crisis by Brevard Childs. In fact, that work could go under #1. It has had a profound affect upon me and my approach to criticism.

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
The Da Vinci Code. Really, in some ways it has been great for scholarship, giving us a chance to educate the populace and so on. The problem of course is that all those millions of folks who read it (and heard the interviews) don’t bother to do the simple due diligence of reading the Gospels for themselves. (I would also include something like Mein Kampf.)

8. One book you’re currently reading:
Usually i have a few books going including some pulp fiction on my Palm like the Shadow. But with everything going on my reading has been strategic plans, budgets, and mortgage papers. Ugh. I will offer The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem by Borg and Crossan. This has escaped my attention, but a grad student pointed it out to me last week.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Swann’s Way by Proust.

10. Now tag five people:
Ed, Evan, Joe, The Prof, The Flesh Presser.