It's Monday -- so here, have a [book] meme!

It has been far too long since I flicked open this little pixellated book journal. Therefore, to flex my little book-musing fingers, a meme:

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
The Good News Bible given to me by my aunty Nell when I was just a baby.

2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you'll read next?
(for the sake of simplicity, we'll stick to one of each)
Current read: Love Over Scotland by Alexander McCall Smith
Last read: Sick Heart River by John Buchan
Next read: Breath for the Bones by Luci Shaw

3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
Everything I've ever tried by Jodi Picoult.

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?
Maybe A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

5. Which book are you saving for "retirement"?
War and Peace.

6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
Sometimes I'm guilty. Eep.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
Sometimes authors are brilliant enough that they can make even acknowledgements sound interesting.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?
Jo March, perhaps -- only without my sister dying.

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
There are too many to consider. Plus, it is on the way to Monday night and therefore my brain is lazy.

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
Once, a few years back, I was sitting in the pit area at my father's motorbike race meet, reading Stephen Lawhead's Hood. The wife of the man in the opposite pit smiled, but we didn't talk much. The second day of the race meet, however, she returned with a massive bag full of Lawhead books -- all for me! She'd noticed and she wanted to pass her own collection on to someone who would enjoy them. That was pretty incredible.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
Sometimes I love certain books and certain people so much that I feel sure they would go together, and give them to each other.

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
My Bible. It's not only gone places with me, but it's in my heart, too.

13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad ten years later?
I've loved most stuff I've "had" to read.

14. What is the strangest item you've ever found in a book?
An inscription with a web address.

15. Used or brand new?
Both have their own small delights.

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
I'm too chicken to try anything of his.

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
My Sister's Keeper. Alright. So throw rotten tomatoes at me.

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
Hmm... I'm sure there are many, but none come to mind.

19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Oh, the descriptions of starchy, fatty, utterly delicious foods in that book make my mouth water just thinking of them!

20. Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?
My cousin Elizabeth. I think that out of all my friends, hers is the book taste most similar to my own. We love so many of the same books.

How about you?

Facing unimaginable challenges

I am frequently disappointed by the low-quality writing of a lot of contemporary Christian fiction. One Christian writer who never fails to surprise and delight, however, is Angela Hunt. I've read almost ten of her books by now and each one has been a treat to digest both as an eager reader and a hopeful writer. The reader part of my brain revels in Hunt's personable, highly-relatable characters and her surprising plot twists. Meanwhile, my writer's side is gaping at the obvious amount of research invested in the story and the clear, concise writing that maintains a lot of internal and external tension, keeping me captivated all the way through.

I finished her 2008 book, The Face, today and loved it. Not loved it in that I was left with a syrupy sweet all's-well-that-ends-well kind of contentment, but loved it in that I was challenged and provoked and captivated. The Face is the story of Sarah Sims, a girl born with severe facial deformities resulting in a lack of facial structure -- no eyes, nose, ears, or a mouth. But there is more to her story than this huge challenge. Her past and the deaths of her family members are buried government secrets, and Sarah grows up sheltered from anything resembling the real world in a remote intelligence agency's safe house. The story is one of intense personal growth and thrilling spy adventure, Alias-style. I'm going to make my sister read this one, right away.

The Face
Angela Hunt
Rating: 9/10

PS. In one of those coincidences which are too interesting to be called such, while I was reading The Face, I stumbled across About Face, a blog providing "a forum of hope and encouragement for those suffering from perceptual disabilities, facial deformities, and cranial birth defects." I've only explored a little, but already I've been challenged by the faith and grace shared in the posts there. I recommend you check it out.

Reading writers writing on writing

In my picture of an ideal world of words, I would spend equal amounts of time making words and reading words. However, this is an imperfect world and sometimes -- like lately -- there is only opportunity for one of those pursuits. My solution has been to read words about making words, and thereby develop the warm, fuzzy feeling that, although I might not be doing much writing, I am at least learning about it and potentially storing up inspiration for when it should come in handy.

This month, I've completed four books in some way associated with crafting words and making books. I'll share them with you over the next little while.

The first I finished was the famous Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. I'm ashamed that it took a school assignment to actually get me to read this from cover to cover. I'd dipped into it in the past but this time I actually read it right through, discovering as so many others have that this little book is not only incredibly commonsense and practical, but it's also surprisingly readable. Readable and funny.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Elements of Style (sometimes simply referred to as 'Strunk & White') is a simple how-to book containing guidelines for clear, concise speech. It began life as the text for an English class by Strunk, who taught -- and inspired -- writer E.B. White (Charlotte's Web, anyone?). In later years, White was asked to revise the work, and did so with grace and humour. The end result is a grammar book that is surprisingly unlike a grammar book in that it is fun to read. I definitely need a copy of my own to keep and refer back to.

Elements of Style
William Strunk, Jnr., and E.B. White
Rating: 9/10

PS. The edition I read was this one, with charming illustrations by Maira Kalman. Delightful!

Oh, and just as a sort of postcript...

... to my last entry: I feel compelled to add one teensy tiny disclaimer. In her appendix at the end of Get Married, Candice Watters answers questions she's been asked over time. In one of them, a 28-year-old single woman asks, "What's the best way to wait patiently for God's timing for a husband?"

Watters replies:

Based on all I've read and written, I'm convinced that at this stage, learn patience should not be your goal... If you don't have the traits Jesus set forth in Matthew 19 that qualify and equip a believer for lifelong celibacy, then you can be confident His will for you is the same as it is for most believers: get married and have children.

I feel that this is a dangerous precedent to set.

Based on this reasoning, we can assume that just because we don't feel called to do something, then we are free from the responsibility of doing it. I rarely feel a distinct calling to clean the toilet, but I do know that it's God's will that I should be a faithful steward of what I have, I should serve my family, and therefore I should strive to be good at housekeeping.

If we follow the same reasoning to an extreme, a man or woman may exempt themselves from being faithful to a spouse just because they don't feel called to pursue purity of marriage. This is a ridiculous extreme, to be sure, but I use it to emphasise my point that not feeling "called" to singleness doesn't necessarily ensure that you are called to marriage -- and soon. I would also add that I don't know of any woman who feels called to widowhood, yet this is a path God has asked some precious friends to walk down.

Just something to consider.

Get married: not really an order but an exhortation

It seems to take me forever to read non-fiction these days. Mostly it's because I read in the evenings before switching out my light, and sometimes all I can manage is light fiction. But I do slowly attack the meatier books and always find myself thankful that I've attempted it. There's so much good stuff to learn.

When Get Married, by Candice Watters, first started popping up around the internet and Christian book circles about last year, I was scornful.

The title alone seemed to take all of God's sovereignty out of the concept of meeting someone and instead place the responsibility firmly on the woman alone. That idea scared me. I didn't want to be told that the reason I am single now is because I haven't done enough. The not pretty enough, not smart enough, not outgoing enough, not skinny enough voices are rampant (enough) already.

Also, I'd had enough of women taking the initiative with regards to relationships. The church doesn't need any more of loud feminist agendas, and this new book's bold subtitle, What women can do to help it happen, seemed like the description of a power manual for relationship-savvy girls who want results and want them now.

But the new book became not so new and I found myself in a more comfortable place to finally give the controversial (at least, to me) book a go. It proved to be a case of judging a book not by its cover but by my own preconceptions, and I was delightfully surprised.

What I found in Get Married was a refreshingly unfeministic attitude stemming from a firm grasp of Scripture's complementarian picture of men's and women's roles. Instead of being a how-to manual for scoring the hottest, smartest, wealthiest (oh, and don't forget most godly) guy, Get Married proved to be an encouraging look at Christian marriage and how the postmodern generation has fallen from traditional marriage concepts to embrace independence and freedom -- in spite of the fact that no one seems to be enjoying the results.

Candice Watters' advice is back-to-the-basics, Scriptural stuff. No step-by-step "how to flirt" (I've actually seen this in Christian bookstores) or "interpreting his signals", but simple, healthy discussions on femininity, masculinity, purity, faithfulness, and community. However, those who are looking for help finding a mate won't be disappointed. Watters talks of the value of being part of a Christian community, of placing yourself under the guidance of godly mentors, of evaluating the essential qualities of a marriage partner, of living intentionally with the future goal of marriage in mind, and of defining your relationships to avoid wasted time and foolishly thrown-away pieces of your heart.

Some suggestions offered -- particularly in the chapters 'Living like you're planning to marry' and 'Pray boldly' -- may be taken to extreme and tempt the reader with the idea that she's only single because she hasn't done enough yet to earn or win marriage. This throws away God's grace and suggests He will never give good gifts until we are righteous enough to deserve them. Thankfully, we don't serve that kind of a god. We serve a lavishly-loving, fatherly God who showers us with blessings when we deserve curses, and who pours out good things again and again. A thoughtful reading of this book, along with a balanced idea of God's sovereignty and grace, should avoid that confusion however.

I learnt lots of things from Get Married. I was encouraged in my conviction not to have intimate guy buddies just for the sake of buddydom, and I was convicted of my tendency -- which arose quite possibly in defence of my own singleness -- to think of marriage as inferior to singleness instead of esteeming it as the rich covenant picture the Lord ordained for most of humankind to enjoy.

Get Married: what women can do to help it happen
Candice Watters
Moody Publishers, 2008
Rating: 8/10

Eh, what?

Today I was feeling not completely well, and not completely awake (owing to a 4.55am rising to drop family at the airport). It was also cold, cloudy, and grey. As a result of all these unique factors, I actually got to spend some time in bed cuddled up under a rug, reading. I haven't done that in a while and it was delightful.

And since it's put me in a bookish mood, let's do a meme (stolen from a friend and then tweaked). I call it the What Book Meme, and as always you are so very invited to chime in with your own answers to any or all of these questions.

1) What author do you own the most books by? Coming in first place: Mary Grant Bruce. I own 26 copies of various books of hers. These are getting harder and harder to find and I love to share them, so when I find a copy -- and if I have the dollars -- I try and pick it up. I've slowed down now, though, you'll be happy to know. Next comes Isabella McDonald Alden, at 23. This suprises me because she's not my favourite author. But again, her books are hard to find and they're very sweet. And in third, it's Laura Ingalls Wilder, because I keep giving her books away or loaning them to people, so I have multiple copies of lots of them. What does this tell you? Firstly, that I collect mostly books by authors with three names, and secondly: I finally understand why I am forever running out of bookshelf space.

2) What book do you own the most copies of? I have five copies of Mary Grant Bruce's A Little Bush Maid. In my defence, I must tell you that each of them is a different printing.

3) What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Alright then. I confess: Daniel, in The Bronze Bow. Also Jim Linton in The Billabong Books. They both seem the epitome of the awesome man.

4) What book have you read the most times in your life? Besides the Bible, I'd say... Little Women.

5) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? Little Women. After all, that's why I read it so many times.

6) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? I didn't finish Francine Rivers' A Voice in the Wind. It was compelling and yet... so wrong. Not recommended.

7) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? I really, really, really loved The Heaven Tree trilogy by Edith Pargeter. It'd been a long time since I read fiction that made my heart skip a beat.

8) What book would you most like to see made into a movie? I am thrilled beyond words to say that They -- the universal They -- are actually making a movie of a book I have loved for long ages: Rosemary Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth. I hope they do it justice. I really do.

9) What book would you least like to see made into a movie? I really don't like seeing Jesus depicted in movies. He's always portrayed as such a paltry, simpering man. So I guess I'd say I'd rather not see the gospels made into movies.

10) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult? I tried to read Sahara by Clive Cussler and the writing was just really so terribly bad I couldn't finish it. But this question strikes me as rather a nasty one.

11) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? Difficult mentally or difficult emotionally? I will have to think long and hard about this one.

12) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen? Er.... I've never seen a Shakespeare play. I'm so terribly uncultured.

13) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? I have never read Thomas Hardy and I can't for the life of me seem to like G.A. Henty even though historical fiction lovers say he's wondrous.

14) What is your favorite novel? That question is too entirely unfair and I refuse to answer it.

Now I have a "what" question for you: What book are you going to enjoy this weekend?

Blink, and maybe you should miss it.

In a world composed entirely of kittens and rainbows, my first actual book review post wouldn't be of a book I didn't particularly like.

However, I set out to document my reading, and document I will -- the good, the bad, and the ugly (well, maybe not so much the ugly).

Ted Dekker's Blink of an Eye seems to have all the right ingredients: an international chase, a beautiful woman in danger, an intriguing genius surfer with charmingly scruffy blonde hair (apparently some people do have it all), and the painful challenge of melding east with west.

Miriam, a beautiful Muslim princess, is on the run to escape an arranged marriage with a cruel and evil man. The marriage is entirely a political move, an attempt for one man to gain power through the bloodline. Seth lives in a completely different world -- a world where a cute guy with an IQ of over 180 can blow people's minds but still finds nothing exciting enough to make life interesting.

Of course, their stories collide -- just as Seth begins to see stuff before it actually happens. Prophet, psychic, or just really, really gifted? The book never explicitly answers that question, choosing to leave it in the realm of the artistic ambiguous but hinting that what Seth experiences may be a form of miracle.

Which is funny, considering that Seth doesn't even believe in God when the story begins. In fact, at one point he explains that his strange psychic gift is proof that there is no God. After all, if God is who He says He is, He must be sovereign. And if God is sovereign, He must know the future. And if God knows the future, then there must only be one future. And if there is only one future, then how come Seth can see ten or twenty or a hundred possible futures that will change depending on whatever action he chooses to take?

His reasoning makes sense, and, though Seth eventually comes around to maybe acknowledging that there must be a higher power somewhere, he never again addresses his seemingly flawless no-God logic. This is a confusing enough issue for any author to leave unresolved, but from a Christian author who seems to be trying to get a point across, it's even stranger.

In fact, the point of the story is something I failed to see. I understand that some books have no point but to tell a story and tell it well. However, if you are going to write a book that proclaims a Christian message, perhaps it's best not to couch it in obscurity. Then again, is Dekker actually trying to proclaim a Christian message, or simply a message of tolerance? Miriam, a Muslim, and Seth, a kid from Christian USA, believe they can create a future together and that all they need is love. After all, love changes everything, says Dekker in his afterword.

For me, this isn't enough of a premise for a Christian book. A thrilling chase with an American hero and a Muslim damsel in distress may make for an interesting story, but if there is to be a message about God woven in through it all, at least it ought to make sense.

The only love that truly changes everything is God's love. Otherwise, it's pointless.

Blink of an Eye
Ted Dekker
Thomas Nelson, 2007
Rating: 5/10