I Have Been Tagged for a Book Meme

I was tagged by Susan of Penless Writer a little while ago to do this book meme.

I pass this meme on to Sara of Much to do about Something and Willow of Willow's Cottage and Linds of Rocking Chair Reflections

This is an interesting and fun tag to do but when it came to it I had difficulty choosing. I am an avid reader of all kinds of writings and literature and my current library contains approximately 650 books, having given approximately 500 away to a local Hospice. However my choice is as follows.


1. A Book that Changed your Life: I can’t actually say that any book has changed my life (only God can do that) but there are many books that have influenced my life.

Rees Howells: Intercessor by Norman Grubb was one of these. Norman is the missionary that I talk about in my story. His Father-in-Law C.T. Studd says of this book:
“Rees lived in a Welsh mining village. Leaving school at twelve he worked in a tin mill and coal mine, but he is best know as the founder of the Bible College of Wales. He learnt the Bible as the Spirit mad him live it. Every chapter in this biography is full of drama and light as Rees faced the implications of an entire surrender, learnt to love the unlovely, and found the key to prevailing prayer, became the channel of a mighty revival in Africa, was taught the principles of divine healing, and progressed ever further in faith until world events were being affected by his prayers. We are bold to say that, by this man’s life, the Church of Christ is being retaught truths of the Spirit and the Scriptures which we have never heard put just like this before; yet the story is told with simplicity, humanity and humour enough to enthral any reader”.

I was priviledged to visit The Bible College of Wales and meet Rees Howell's son. We were allowed to visit the prayer room where many of the intercessions took place. The sense of the prescence of God in that room was tangible.

2. A Book you read More than Once:

The Divine Romance by Gene Edwards. Many say that Gene Edwards in the present day C.S.Lewis. The Divine Romance is the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection as it had never been presented…………from the view of angels. It shows the Lord bringing forth His beautiful bride. The story concludes with the consummation of the ages, when a victorious Lord takes His bride to Himself. Truly the greatest love story ever told.

3. A book you would take to a Desert Island:

The Bible (NIV) containing lots of study notes and cross references so that I could not only read it but study it

4. A book that made you laugh:

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson. I think it is so funny seeing my country through the eyes of a foreigner and Bill is a master at spotting the unusual and ridiculous. At the time of writing Bill, who came from Iowa, had lived in Britain for 2 decades. His aim was to analyse precisely what it was that he loved about the country. This extremely funny book shows my country as seen through the eyes of an American. Not just any American though but one who can se the funniest in the most ordinary and mundane aspects of life here.

5. A book that made you cry: I can’t say that I have ever cried when reading a book but this one brought tears to my eyes when thinking about aspects of it.

Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. This is the account of a journey that Ewan and Charley took travelling on their motor bikes. Their aim was to travel from London to New York “the long way round”. Their journey of 20,000 miles took them across increasingly rough terrain as they travelled through Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia and Siberia. They then flew across the Pacific to Alaska then down through Canada and America to New York City.

I just loved reading about their joys and trials and the countries they travelled through. They were both very good at sharing their feelings and emotions too which made the book so interesting to me. The part of the book that brought tears to my eyes was their account of 2 year old street children living below street level, next to the pipes that took the hot waste water from the power stations. I have known of a number of countries where this happens but never before heard of 2 year old children living there.

6. A book you wished you had written: If I had written this book it would mean that I had sailed single-handed around the world. I am not saying that I would like to do this, I am saying that having experienced the ocean first hand I know what a remarkable achievement this would be.

Taking on the World by Ellen McArthur. In February 2001 24 year old Ellen McArthur completed the Vendee Globe, the world’s toughest race. As the youngest Britain to circumnavigate the globe single-handed, and as the fastest woman ever to have done so, her achievement was remarkable. The book tells her story from buying her first small boat, through sailing around Britain as a teenager, to racing the Vendee Globe itself. Enthralling and inspiring in equal measure, it shows how courage, passion and determination can overcome all obstacles – and how one young woman made her dream come true.

7. A book you wish had not been written: I found this question difficult because when I really thought about it, sometimes a book that one might think should not have been written may provoke thought in someone and lead to a positive conclusion. In the end I realised that I have never read ‘a book that I thought should not have been written’ so in commenting I would be acting on other people’s opinions. So I will pass on this.

8. Two books that you are at present reading: I will make this 3 as I usually have 3 different kinds of books on the go at once. A light novel, a biography, travel or something similar and a ‘spiritual’ book. The light novel I will read in bed and the other two during the day. My choices are:

Searching for Tilly by Susan Sallis and
Sahara by Michael Palin, pat of his series that includes Around the world in 80 days, Full Circle, Himalaya, Pole to Pole and New Europe and
The Mind of St. Paul by William Barclay.

Dr. Barclay has studied the life and teachings of the Apostle Paul for many years. In this book he has examined in detail the unique advantage of Paul’s mixed nationality – he was both Jewish and Roman. He shows how well equipped Paul was to be Christ’s greatest witness in the Hellenic-Roman world, and how much he contributed to the interpretation of Christ’s teaching and to the spread of Christianity as a whole.

9. A book you are going to read:

Running for the Hills by Horatio Clare. When Horatio Clare’s parents glimpsed an isolated sheep farm nestled in a mountainside, they fell in love with it. It had no running water but was beautiful and rugged. Their young son could run wild. They embarked on a perilous family adventure to build a new life in the wilderness. He vividly recreates his parents extraordinary way of life and his own bewitching childhood in a magical story of love and struggle.

(There were 9 questions but I am going to add another one to even it off and make it 10)

10. A book you read and never figured out:

The Life of Pi by Yunn Martel. After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a 16 year old boy named Pi (whose Father owned a Zoo in India), a Hyena, a Zebra with a broken leg, a female Orang-Utan and a 400lb Bengal Tiger. This is billed as an extraordinary work of fiction but in reading the story I could not work out if the animals were real or descriptions given to mask cannibalism.