L.L. here, thinking about books.
Recently, my friend Bradley J. Moore expressed mild surprise that I’d just bought a business book, and I tweeted in response that I’m actually an avid reader of business and social media books. I’m guessing Bradley was surprised because, as Dan King (smilingly) put it the other day, he thought I was mostly “the poetry chick.”
It’s true that I’m still making my way through How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry. Yet if you were to look at my book pile right now, this is what you’d see:
The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business
Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up
The Next Level
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
Found Art: Discovering Beauty in Foreign Places
God in the Gallery: A Christian Embrace of Modern Art (Cultural Exegesis)
Mirror of the World: A New History of Art
The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life
Naturally, I’m wondering about you. What books are in your pile? Would any of them surprise us? We’d love to see.
Book by Candlelight photo, by Ann Voskamp. Used with permission. Post by L.L. Barkat.
(Speaking of books, if you’d you like a chance to win a copy of The Soul Tells A Story: Engaging Creativity With Spirituality In The Writing Life, stop by Seedlings in Stone and leave a comment before 11 pm EST January 1, 2010. Or, just join in the proposed New Year’s writing project.)
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In my book pile at the moment: Days Like This Are Necessary: Poems by Walter Bargen; Silence by Shusaku Endo; A Short Trip to the Edge by Scott Cairns; Eagle Pond by Donald Hall; Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith; Refractions by Makoto Fujimara; and Mississippi Solo by Eddy Harris. Some mysteries. Some popular fiction. And a big, whopping fat biography of artist Edward Hopper that I’ve been too intimidated to tackle.
I’ve read all of Hall’s books, poetry and prose. Some I like more than others. I will be interested in hearing your thoughts on Eagle Pond. The work of Jane Kenyon (his late wife) is worth reading.
Ah, poems in a business man’s book pile! : ) Is ‘Silence’ fiction?
Fun to see a few I recognize too. What are you thinking of ‘Trust Agents’?
“Silence” is the novel selecetd for the IAM discussion group in January.
Oops. Now I probably should have known that, right?
the stack: Satchel (started) by Tye, Broken Vessels by Dubus (started), Finding Calcutta by Poplin, Orthodox Heretic by Rollins, In Search of Stones by Peck, Sidewalks in the Kingdom by Jacobsen, A Civil War Army vs Navy by Feinstein & Pure Pleasure by Thomas…
No stacks–I’m a one-book-at-a-time gal. My dad just leant me Salman Rushdie’s “Shalimar the Clown.” I’m about 60 pages in, but with lots of doctor appointments for my mom, I expect to read it quickly. Unless it sucks.
Oh, Megan, this made me laugh. Will you read it (slowly) even if it’s no good?
My current book pile:
Remembering by Wendell Berry
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb (almost done)
Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
The Devil Reads Derrida by J.K.A. Smith
Image magazine (which I read slowly)
and I got a subscription to The New Yorker for Christmas, so I’m looking forward to my first issue!
Ah, the book pile–my favorite of all stacks.
Berry is so wonderful. And so is Image.
By the way, Glynn, I loved Refractions. Excellent book. I read that one slowly as well. Read one essay at a time and let it sink in. It worked well devotionally.
I’m almost finished with your new book of poetry: Inside Out and Leigh McLeroy’s Treasured (which was a promo copy).
Other things on my mantle/desk/nightstand include:
Gordon Atkinson’s (RealLivePreacher.com) latest book Turtles All the Way Down
McHugh’s Introverts in the Church (promo copy)
Wilson’s The Mindful Manager (promo copy)
Peterson/Griffin’s Epiphanies
Annan’s Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle (promo copy)
the latest issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction
H. P. Lovecraft collection The Call of Cthulu.
As you can see, my reading list is determined by others these days. And friends. And my continued love of a good scary yarn.
Which reminds me. My son and I are reading Goosebumps books together. My daughter and I are reading Harry Potter together (though she reads this on her own a lot too).
Lovecraft is wild. You’ll enjoy the Cthulu collection.
My pile:
On Writing, Stephen King
On Writing Well, William Zinsser
How to Think Like Einstein, Scott Thorpe
Jane Austen (I didn’t pay attention the first time around)
I’m really impressed that a poetry chick like you would have some of these books in the stack! Here’s mine…
Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide? (advance copy) by Karen Spears Zacharias
A Popular Survey of the Old Testament by Norman Geisler
Telling True Stories edited by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call
Biblical Preaching by Haddon W. Robinson
All The Hits So Far by Bradley Hathaway (yup… poetry)
And coming any day now…
Real-Time Connections: Linking Your Job to God’s Global Work (advance copy) by Bob Roberts Jr.
What a great title … Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide?
Hadn’t heard of Telling True Stories. What do you think of it? And of Biblical Preaching?
Okay, and I hadn’t heard of that poetry book. Guess I’m going to have to call you the Cool Poetry Guy.
I’m like you – I always have a few books going at once (apparently so do many other HCB-ers!)
When You Are Engulfed In Flames – Davide Sedaris
The Trusted Advisor – Charles Green
Patience With God – Frank Shaeffer (just ordered this one)
How to Run Your Business By The Book (Promo Copy) – Dave Anderson
The Deptford Trilogy (this is a re-read!) – Robertson Davies
God, Money and Greed – Jay Richards (on order)
An embarrasing book about Male Menopause – (I’m turning 50 in 2010)
The Principle of the Path – Andy Stanley
Plan B – Anne Lamott
And I just finished reading this morning: The Go-Giver – Bob Burg
This was fun! It’s interesting to see what everyone else is reading.
Next time, let’s do music: “What’s on your i-tunes playlist right now?” We’ll really be delving into the psyche of the HCB community!
You’ll want to read Lamott’s other work when you’re done with Plan B, which I enjoyed a lot.
And you are much too young for whatever that 7th title is.
Bradley, David Sedaris cracks me up. I always enjoy hearing his segments on This American Life.
Dan, kudos to you for having some poetry there! That is awesome.
Robin, I love Jane Austen. Last year I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but I’m not sure that qualifies…
My reading stack (probably nothing surprising here):
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (just finished), The Year of Living Biblically (in progress), Saint Francis by Nikos Kazantzakis (a friend’s recommendation), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Reason for God, Sophie’s World, My Antonia, a novel written by a student during NaNoWriMo, and a stack of student’s papers.
here’s my pile. just thinking about this fires me up.
The Presentation Secrets of Steven Jobs, Carmin Gallo
Relational Intelligence, Steve Saccone
Choosing to Preach, Kenton Anderson
Stones into Schools, Greg Mortonson
The Boundary Breaking God, Danielle Shroyer
The God and Beautiful, James Smith
The Teaching of the Twelve, Tony Jones
Warrior Princess, Princess Kasune Zulu
The Three Tasks of Leadership: Worldly Wisdom for Pastoral Leaders, Eric O. Jacobsen
Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture, Makoto Fujimura
I’m coming late to your post today. I always have more than one book going at a time, and books of poetry are always available. Some of the following are gifts I’ve just received and have not yet begun; others are newly added to a pre-existing stack that also includes weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly periodicals on art, literature, etc. Here’s the current stack of books:
A Slender Thread, Diane Ackerman (just a few more chapters left; excellent); This Great Unknowing: Last Poems, Denise Levertov (ongoing); Song of the Sparrow: New Poems and Meditations, Murray Bodo (ongoing); Being True to Life: Poetic Paths to Personal Growth, David Richo (just received); Teaching a Stone to Talk, Annie Dillard (a re-read); Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words, Kim Rosen; The Dark Night of the Soul, Gerald May (almost finished reading this); Open Door: A Journey to the True Self, Joyce Rupp; A Book of Silence, Sara Maitland; Dawn Light, Diane Ackerman; Portrait and Dream: New and Selected Poems, Bill Berkson (ongoing), If I Were Another, Poems by Mahmoud Darwish translated by Fady Joudah (ongoing; superb); Sphinx: The Life and Art of Leonor Fini (I have three of her graphics and love her work; this book, my gift to myself, arrived the day before Christmas), Proust and the Squid, Maryanne Wolf (I’ve been reading this on and off); Daybook, The Journey of an Artist, Anne Truit (I’m half-way through this); Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?, Mahmoud Darwish (ongoing; wonderful). I’m also reading my way through Bearing the Mystery: 20 Years of Image, edited by Gregory Wolfe, a very fine collection of work that does not require a linear approach.
My husband’s stack, a mix of business, design, creativity, and futures books, is even higher than mine. When I run low, I just borrow something from his pile.
Did I tell you we need more bookcases?
Currently reading:
The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky) : an incredible novel, highly recommended.
Up next (the top 5, but in no particular order):
Reading the Bible with the Damned (Bob Ekblad)
In the Bedroom (Andre Dubus)
Sidewalks in the Kingdom (Eric Jacobsen)
Naked (David Sedaris)
Trespassers Will Be Baptized (Elizabeth Emerson Hancock)
Ah, David. I laughed out loud at Trespassers Will Be Baptized. I’d love to hear what you think about it!
You know, right, that you all are adding to my book pile by the moment. So many good reads here!
Okay, I admit, Ann, I’m not seeking any student papers though. ; – )
My stack continues …
What Difference do it Make? – Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent
Turtles All the Way Down – Gorden Atkinson (Real Live Preacher)
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World – Jacqueline Novogratz
Half Broke Horses: A True Life Novel – Jeannette Walls
Confessions of a Public Speaker – Berkun Scot
What the Dog Saw – Malcom Gladwell
The Flying Carpet of small Miracles – Hala Jaber
Happy Reading!
I *love* seeing other people’s reading lists! The first one in my current pile is from Maureen’s post, I think dated Dec. 4 or Dec. 7 or something. So:
Body of Work (Christine Montross)
Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography (forgot the author)
East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
on request at library loan: Journey of a Novel (John Steinbeck)
Living for What Really Matters (Stacy and Paula Rinehart)
The Insider (Petersen and Shamy)
Ramona the Brave (Beverly Cleary)
Beowulf (translation by…oops, I forgot.)
Interesting question, the book pile one.
When Everything Changes, Change Everything by Neale Donald Walsch
Four New Yorker issues (I’m behind–Heather, hope you like your gift of same)
The Art and Craft of Poetry by Michael J. Bugeja
Several issues of Keywords, the journal of the American Society of Indexers
i just finished the main body of
“chasing francis”
now up to the study guide.
i am also half-way through
“insideout”
poems, by l.l.barkat.
there is a book that i read awhile ago called
“the same kind of different as me”
that i really liked, and i am considering reading it again.
i like to look at the books that i have of the art of hundertwasser.
i see something new each time.
i usually look into whatever comes up on glynn’s blog posts.
and i just picked-up
“lost mission” from the library
Let’s make this a record-breaker for number of comments on HCB Posting! Here’s number 29, who will get number 30???
Just picked up another book today: A Gate at the Stairs by Lori Moore (not related!)
This was listed in NY Times Book section as one of the best fiction books of 2009.
Okay, I’ll play. LOVED Same Kind of Different as Me, Nancy. I know you will, too. I try to be like Megan and read a book at a time, but usually I have several going at once for my different moods. Right now, I’m perusing Breath into Bones by Luci Shaw, which is excellent, and can’t wait to start Hard Laughter, Lamott’s first novel which my sweet hubby knew I’d never read–he got it for me for Christmas. I’m also about to start Run by Ann Patchett, who wrote Bel Canto. I always have a good devotional going, and right now am into Come Away My Beloved by Francis Roberts, which never fails to speak to me. I’m also re-reading Boundaries by Cloud/Townsend, for a Sunday School class project. Ah, so many books, so little time!!!
Just Finished: Same Kind of Different as Me. Almost finished: Imagine That: Discovering Your Unique Role as a Christian Artist by Manuel Luz and HALLELUJAH: The Poetry of Classic Hyms by Anna Marlis Burgard, an art book for the illustrations (Richard Krepel) with lyrics not music. Finished Whiman Leaves of Gold. In the midst of The Complete Robert Frost. Pending: Life in the Father’s House: A Members Guide to the Local Church by Mack and Swavely, Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices by Clawson, The Poor will be Glad: Joining the Revolution to Lift the World Out of Poverty by Greer and Smith. Helping with Ephesians for women’s Sunday school class starting 1/17. Possibly a post on bookstores soon?
I love the question! Here’s three currently perched at the top of my pile:
I’m Just Here for More Food, Alton Brown
Pen on Fire: a busy woman’s guide to igniting the writer within, Barbara Barrett
Alex & Me, Irene Pepperberg