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?

~Walter Wink's The Powers that Be. I've known about Walter Wink's work for a few years, and read a bit of it before, but reading this book with two small groups at church this fall really had an impact on me. The main point is that as Christians, we are called to non-violent resistance, a new way of being in the world. I really believe this and he builds a strong case for what is a surprisingly unpopular idea.


2. What is one of your favorite childhood books?

~I'm not sure I could choose just one. My grandmother and father read to us often, and once I learned to read I just about lived at the library. I still have a story book that my grandmother read to us from --Gateway to Storyland. I loved the childhood biographies of famous people that were in every library when I was a kid. I read Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden and the Bobbsey Twins and Judy Bolton. I loved Little Women.


3. Do you have a favorite book of the Bible? Do tell!

~The Gospel according to Matthew. Especially the Sermon on the Mount.


4. What is one book you could read again and again?

~I read lots of books over and over--all of Madeleine L'Engle's books, the HP books, Winds of War by Herman Wouk... they are all like good friends.


5. Is there a book you would suggest for Lenten reading? What is it and why?

~I don't have a suggestion at this point. I am leading a class on the Book of Common Prayer so I will be immersed in that and in commentaries on it. And I want to finish MarkKurlansky's Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea,which I started and abandoned for time reasons.