Friday, January 18, 2008

Friday Five: Read Any Good Books Lately?

1. What book have you read in the last six months that has really stayed with you? Why? I re-read "My Name is Asher Lev" in the fall and found it painfully delightful once again. There is such angst in this book. The theme of responsibility to both one's creativity and one's community has stayed with me as I've been writing music over these past months. How can I serve my community, but also seek to stretch their artistic parameters?

2. What is one of your favorite childhood books? As a very young child I LOVED "The Pokey Little Puppy" and before I could read I would "read" it to my dog, making up the story as best I remembered it as I went along.

3. Do you have a favorite book of the Bible? Do tell! The Psalms. They're easily the book I've read the most times and they are such a source of comfort/agitation/praise/confession...I can't seem to tire of them.

4. What is one book you could read again and again? The Small Rain and A Severed Wasp by Madeleine L'Engle. The novels tell the story of a character, but with many years passing in between. So the first ends in her early adulthood and then second picks up the story from there, but told by the woman to her grand-daughter. They're lovely books in which really horrible life events occur and yet so does transformation and grace. They're not pain-free but they're not despairing either. I highly recommend them.

5. Is there a book you would suggest for Lenten reading? What is it and why? My friend Steven Purcell published a book called "Even Among These Rocks" which I like to re-read every Lent. He includes poetry, visual art (historical pieces as well as originals) hymns, and reflection on Lenten themes and ideas. It's available at the Regent Bookstore https://shop3.gospelcom.net/epages/RegentCollegeBookstore.storefront/4790c6e200a1f3b4271d45579e7b0720/Search/Run