Sherry’s daughter Rachael is blogging for her next week. Her first post this afternoon is an interesting book meme which I refuse to answer at this time but will pass on to you.
- A book that made you cry
- A book that scared you
- A book that made you laugh
- A book that disgusted you
- A book you loved in elementary school
- A book you loved in middle school
- A book you loved in high school
- A book you loved in college
- A book that challenged your identity or your faith
- A series that you love
- Your favorite horror book
- Your favorite science-fiction book
- Your favorite fantasy book
- Your favorite mystery book
- Your favorite biography
- Your favorite coming-of-age book
- Your favorite book not on this list
I’m game! But not for all of these. Works by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien are omitted!
A book that made you laugh DECLINE AND FALL by E. Waugh
A book you loved in middle school THE WEIRDSTONE OF BRISINGAMEN by Alan Garner
A book you loved in high school AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Lord Dunsany
A book you loved in college TITUS GROAN by Mervyn Peake
A book that challenged your identity or your faith
A series that you love Rider Haggard’s tales of Allan Quatermain, including King Solomon’s Mines, The Holy Flower, and others
Your favorite horror book If John Buchan’s WITCH WOOD qualifies, I suppose I would list that
Your favorite mystery book I like Wilkie Collins’s THE WOMAN IN WHITE
Your favorite biography Maybe Arthur Machen’s FAR-OFF THINGS
Your favorite coming-of-age book Maybe THE ROAD FROM HOME: THE STORY OF AN ARMENIAN GIRL by David Kherdian
1. A book that made you cry: Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
2. A book that scared you: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
3. A book that made you laugh: Beach Music by Pat Conroy
4. A book that disgusted you: ???
5. A book you loved in elementary school: Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
6. A book you loved in middle school: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
7. A book you loved in high school: The Chosen by Chaim Potok
8. A book you loved in college: Exodus by Leon Uris
9. A book that challenged your identity or your faith: The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
10. A series that you love: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
11. Your favorite horror book: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
12. Your favorite science-fiction book: Dune by Frank Herbert
13. Your favorite fantasy book: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
14. Your favorite mystery book: Booked to Die by John Dunning
15. Your favorite biography: John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father by Peggy Noonan
16. Your favorite coming-of-age book: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
17. Your favorite book not on this list: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
1. A book that made you cry: Just the other day, Jonathan Kellerman’s _The Butcher’s Theater_, which sounds odd, but the father’s sacrifical rescue of his daughter was extremely moving.
2. A book that scared you: I try to avoid frightening books.
3. A book that made you laugh: Several by P. G. Wodehouse.
4. A book that disgusted you: Andrew Klavan’s _The Animal Hour_. Much as I like Klavan, that one was just creepy.
5. A book you loved in elementary school: Don’t remember.
6. A book you loved in middle school: _The Long Rifle, the Saga of Andy Burnett_. I forget who the author was.
7. A book you loved in high school: _The Lord of the Rings_.
8. A book you loved in college: _Moby Dick_.
9. A book that challenged your identity or your faith: Lewis’ _Mere Christianity_. It really helped me think about God systematically.
10. A series that you love: Robert J. Tanenbaum’s Karp/Ciampi books.
11. Your favorite horror book: Don’t have one.
12. Your favorite science-fiction book: _That Hideous Strength_ (properly fantasy, but it’s in an SF trilogy).
13. Your favorite fantasy book: _The Lord of the Rings_.
14. Your favorite mystery book: How to choose? Maybe John D. MacDonald’s _The Turquoise Lament_.
15. Your favorite biography: U. S. Grant’s autobiography.
16. Your favorite coming-of-age book: _Troll Valley_ by me (unpublished).
17. Your favorite book not on this list: So many to choose from. Maybe Mark Helprin’s _Winter’s Tale_.
I did this on my own site… Funny to see the commonalities. Lord of the Rings – but of course! Wodehouse – check!
And Stephen King for scary and favorite horror… but I chose The Stand. It also scared the socks off of me -but I try not to think about it.
And then there’s the one I forgot about! Like Pat Conroy – I started reading him in high school… and Dune! Oh Dune was fun!
Excuse me – that should be the “ones” I forgot about…
This list is challenge for me and primarily shows how ill-qualified I am to blog on books.
1. A book that made you cry: I think a few books have made me cry, but I only remember the time I cried while dramatically reading The Fellowship of the Ring to my wife. What happens at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm got me emotional.
2. A book that scared you: Al Gore’s Earth in the Balance–just kidding. Actually, a little book I read in elementary school, which was a thing-at-the-in-of-the-bed story, has probably scared me for years. Don’t rem. title.
3. A book that made you laugh: Leave it to Psmith, by PG Wodehouse
4. A book that disgusted you: Beloved, by Toni Morrison (not the whole book, just a few parts)
5. A book you loved in elementary school: Something on Hercules.
6. A book you loved in middle school: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume
7. A book you loved in high school: Count of Monte Cristo, by A. Dumas
8. A book you loved in college: (what did i read in college?) Crime & Punshiment, by F. Dostoevsky
9. A book that challenged your identity or your faith: James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh. I don’t recommend it.
10. A series that you love: I don’t do series
11. Your favorite horror book: As a Man Lurketh
12. Your favorite science-fiction book: Foundation by Issac Asimov
13. Your favorite fantasy book: Tolkien’s TLOR
14. Your favorite mystery book: And Then There Were None, by A. Christie (I was in the play in high school, but I enjoyed the book version more.)
15. Your favorite biography: The CS Lewis Chronicles, by Colin Duriez
16. Your favorite coming-of-age book: I don’t know
17. Your favorite book not on this list: The Power and The Glory by Graham Greene.
A book that made you cry: Imzadi
A book that scared you: I’ll Love You Forever (pyscho mom and child)
A book that made you laugh: Belly Laughs
A book that disgusted you: (the shopaholic books)
A book you loved in elementary school: Island of the Blue Dolphins
A book you loved in middle school: N/A
A book you loved in high school: The Rowan
A book you loved in college: N/A
A book that challenged your identity or your faith: N/A
A series that you love: Sword of Truth
Your favorite horror book: I hate horror.
Your favorite science-fiction book: Any of the Rowan Series
Your favorite fantasy book: Any of the Sword of Truth Series
Your favorite mystery book: N/A
Your favorite biography: N/A
Your favorite coming-of-age book: N/A
Your favorite book not on this list: The Villa
You guys have been good sports with a few of my memes, so I’ll give this one a quick whirl. I get the sense that the meme was intended for mainly fictional books, but it wasn’t spelled out that way, so I’ll probably have a few non-fiction in there.
A book that made you cry: Return of the King by Tolkien (of course) – the scene where Sam’s deep courage sets in for the final ascent to the Crack of Doom gets me every time.
A book that scared you: Once in college I found The Omen on the shelves & read it through, & felt just sick & terrible afterwards.
A book that made you laugh: This’ll surprise everyone – Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. It’s mostly a very serious, deep dark tragedy, but I found two or three spots in it to be very funny, and I think that was the author’s intent.
A book that disgusted you: Portofino, by Frank Schaeffer. It had some good laughs here and there, but the family of the young protagonist, Calvin Becker, is so obviously based upon Schaeffer’s own family of origin that when Calvin’s mother is subjected to a sordidly embarrassing situation, it made me wonder if something like it had ever happened to Edith Schaeffer. That seems to me like some sort of violation.
A book you loved in elementary school: Harold & the Purple Crayon.
A book you loved in middle school: I mostly read science in those days.
A book you loved in high school: Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis
A book you loved in college: The Reenchantment of the World, by Morris Berman
A book that challenged your identity or your faith: True Spirituality, by Francis Schaeffer (father of the aforementioned “Frank”)
A series that you love: I’ve been enjoying the “Lemony Snicket” books, though it might be a bit strong to say I “love” them.
Your favorite horror book: Not my favorite genre, & I think Carrie by Stephen King is the only one I’ve read besides The Omen, & I liked it a lot better, so I guess it’s my favorite in the genre. But that doesn’t win it a place in the circle with my REAL favorites.
Your favorite science-fiction book: Flowers For Algernon
Your favorite fantasy book: Lord of the Rings, of course.
Your favorite mystery book: The answer is a mystery in its own right.
Your favorite biography: Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis’ spiritual autobiography.
Your favorite coming-of-age book: ?
Your favorite book not on this list: The Discarded Image, by C.S. Lewis
A favorite mystery pick would be Skull Mantra by James Pattison. It’s set in Tibet, and besides relating a lot about the country is a great read.
I forgot to mention my favorite sf novel. The Golden Age by John Wright is an amazing book. There are more ideas on some pages than in most books. It also has one of the best endings I’ve ever come across.