Book Meme

I was tagged by my Australian friend, David MacKay (Aussie Christian) to do this "book meme." (A "meme", I learned from Wikipedia, is "a unit of cultural information that can be transmitted from one mind to another.")

1. One book that changed your life: Education of a Wandering Man, by Louis L'Amour. (Surprise! I didn't put Desiring God, because everyone who reads this blog probably already knows that it changed my life, so I thought I'd say something you didn't know). L'Amour's memoirs largely focus on his self-education through his amazing experiences as a young man and his broad reading. I read this as a teenager and it helped kindle my thirst to learn. Ever since reading this, I've followed his example of keeping lists of the books I've read.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: David Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years, 1899-1939, by Iain Murray. My favorite biography - I think I've read it four or five times now.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Thomas’ Guide to Practical Shipbuilding. (Sorry, I could't resist using G. K. Chesterton's witty answer to that question!) But more seriously, assuming I had a complete copy of the Scriptures, perhaps I would choose Richard Baxter's The Saint's Everlasting Rest - since I would likely be nearing death, this would be good preparation for heaven.

4. One book that made you laugh: Time Flies, by Bill Cosby. It's probably been fifteen years since I read it, but I remember thinking it was hilarious.

5. One book that made you cry: Can't remember if I actually cried or not, but one book that deeply moved me emotionally was John Ensor's book on abortion, Answering the Call.

6. One book that you wish had been written: The History of Redemption by Jonathan Edwards - actually completed, and not just left in its sermonic, outline form.

7. One book that you wish had never been written: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, for obvious reasons.

8. One book you’re currently reading: The Presence of the Future: The Eschatalogy of Biblical Realism, by George E. Ladd. Excellent!

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller - so people will stop asking me if I've read it.

10. Now tag five people:

Phillip Way
Jeff Norris
Michael Hull
Derick Dickens
Cindy Ivey (my sister-in-law)