I volunteered to be tagged to do this book meme. (For the purposes of this exercise I have decided to leave the Bible out, since it answers just about every question.)

1. One book that changed your life:

Victory Over the Darkness by Neil Anderson. After reading this book I began reading others of his. Neil Anderson’s teaching on our identity in Christ changed my life.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:

Difficult to answer as there are quite a few books I’ve read more than once. The most well worn book on my bookshelf is The Enneagram. The first time I read this book I was having a difficult relationship with someone. This book totally changed the way I related to them and it helped immensely. Consequently I probably went a bit overboard and tried to analysis everyone I knew thereby reading the book several times. Also the last 10% of the book gets very complicated and I was very keen to understand it so I kept re reading it. In retrospect I think the last 10% is probably not worth worrying about.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:

The first thing that came to mind was to take the longest book in my house. On investigation this proved to be Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on the Bible. Having dipped into this on a couple of occasions and found that he was so busy being concise he didn’t really say anything I decided against it. Then I thought I could take a puzzle book as I quite like puzzles. The ones I usually buy have 67 puzzles in them (don’t you think 67 is an odd number of puzzles to put in a book??). Then I thought if I finished the puzzles, but I was still on the desert island that would be awful. So I decided to take a long novel. I don’t normally read a lot of fiction but some years ago I read and enjoyed Leon Uris’ Exodus and since it has about 700 pages it should keep me going for a while.

4. One book that made you laugh:

When Two or Three are Gathered … Someone Spills the Milk by Tom Mullen. Even funnier if you are the parent of several small children.

5. One book that made you cry:

Requiem for a Wren by Neville Shute. At the start of the book you find out that the main character is going to die. Yet I was crying so much I could barely read the last pages where she does actually die. At the time I think I related to her but now I don’t think I would.

6. One book that you wish had been written:

Jesus : the first 30 years by Mary (Jesus’ mother).

7. One book that you wish had never been written:

Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein which won the Australian Children’s Book of the Year for Older Readers. It is one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. It is aimed at young teenagers and offers them no hope. I was appalled and I obviously haven’t got over yet since that was in 1989! (John Marsden’s Letters from Inside comes a close second for very similar reasons.)

8. One book you’re currently reading:

Radical gratitude by Ellen Vaughn. I would like to become a more grateful person.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:

About twelve years ago someone recommended I read, John Stott’s Issues Facing Christians Today so I bought it but never got around to reading it. Seems a little late now as I don’t suppose the issues are still relevant.

10. Now tag 5 people:

I don’t like to tag people without asking so I will let you know on this one.