Books

I do love a good book. A while back I posted 15 of my favorite books/authors on Facebook, and my list looked like this:

1. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson (given to me at my MCC orientation - this book has done more to make me a pacifist than all my Mennonite training.)
2. The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara (I met Mariatu while working for MCC - a delightful young woman with quite the story.)
3. A Long Way Gone; Memoirs of a Boy Soldier) by Ishmael Beah (story of a child soldier in Sierra Leone - a recommend of Leah's)
4. Stolen Angels: the Kidnapped Girls of Uganda by Kathy Cook - (the story of girls abducted by the God's Liberation Army in Uganda - While working at MCC, I met Angelina Atyam, one of the Mom's of the abducted teens,who was instrumental in starting Concerned Parents Association.)
5. Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza (about a woman locked in a bathroom with 7 other women for several months during the Rawandaan massacre - a recommend from my brother Tim who heard her speak.)
6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (about a boy growing up in Afghanistan.)
7. Captivating by John & Stasi Eldridge (Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul - recommended by Kirsten)
8. Author Orson Scott Card: Especially the Enders Series and the HomeComing Series. (I think Matthew got me started with these books.)
9. Following Christ by Joseph Stowell (this book struck me because he is very strong on the point that Christian institutions are all about creating Christian leaders, but Christ was all about creating followers.)
10. Nineteen-Eighty-Four by George Orwell (a recent read... one of those that I had to read because it is referred to so often, but I hadn't read it... Both fascinating and depressing.)
11. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (about a girl growing up in Afghanistan.)
12. Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith (a fun, light read.)
13. Author Jan Karon's Mitford Series (also a light read; very refreshing.)
14. Author Max Lucado (easy to read inspirational reading.)
15. Author Chaim Potok

I went to my bookshelf to check out one of these books for information, and found more that should have been on the list. There are many, many, many more, but some of them I don't own, and some I have lent out, and my memory is short, so I can only add the ones I have and/or can remember.

How Sleep the Brave by James Hunter - a very old book about the Scottish Christians back in 17th Century and a hero called the Black Avenger, who could whip anyone, and often did rescue people from the soldiers. Kind of a Christian Superhero! Definitely not pacifist... but I loved it as a teen.

Favorite authors that I read to my girls: Enid Blyton (Boy Next Door was a favorite) and Frances Hodgson Burnett.

This past year I read Little Bee by Chris Cleave - thanks, Kendra for that recommend.

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan - short stories about children's lives in Africa. Very dark, but one of those books I'm glad I read, and am not wanting to repeat anytime soon.

Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb - a story about Ethiopia

I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctors Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity by Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish - an excellent book about working toward peace.

As you can see, I love to read about other cultures and countries. I have been reading a lot of fluff lately. While I don't think that's necessarily bad, there is so much I want to read that might actually be of benefit spiritually and mentally, that I'm trying to pick my reading material more carefully once more.

I recently picked up "Stolen Life: the Journey of a Cree Woman" by Rudy Wiebe and Yvonne Johnson. I have read so much about atrocities in other countries, it was time to read about one in my own. I thought this would be high on my list of recommends... and it is. It is well-written, and sometimes hard to put down. But it got to the point where it was too hard to pick up. I couldn't handle all the abuse, and pain that one person could suffer - at the hands of the authorities, and of those who were supposed to love and protect her. Read it if you can. We need to know what is happening in our own country to people around us.

I have just picked up a trilogy called "Kristin Lavransdatter" by Sigrid Undset. It was the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928, and was translated from Norwegian. Since it is about a woman in midieval Norway, and I have read so little about both that time period and even about Norway, I was fascinated when I heard about these books. I think they will take some time to read - I will have to renew them a few times, or maybe just find my own copy. Thanks to Reg for the recommend.