Tag, you’re it!

/ 7 September 2006

Can you tell I’m a geek? (and I mean that in the most positive way possible) I’ve been “tagged” by Fernando’sDesk to participate in the “OneBook” game of tag — and I’m enjoying it!<p>One book that changed your life: This Bridge Called My Back (writings by radical women of color)</p><p>I read this book while I was an undergraduate — more than 20 years ago, argh! — and it was the first time I encountered feminists amongst whom there were also women of faith. It was also the first time I’d read a book in a scholarly context (it was an assigned text in a women’s studies course) that was written in the first person. I learned that important writing didn’t have to be distancing.</p>

One book that you’ve read more than once: All of the Harry Potter books (I read the entire preceding set each time the new one is about to be released)

I love the humor and the mystery and the relationships in these books -- basically the authentic quality of the world JK Rowling's created.

One book that you’d want on a desert island: oh this is hard! I love so many books that it's hard to imagine surviving with just one. I suppose I'd have to go the banal route and say the bible -- but I'd want a really good study bible, with tons of study helps and associated maps, images, etc. Primarily because it's such a rich and thorough set of narratives, history, poetry, and so on... you can never really plumb its depths entirely. I'd want either the Learning Bible, or an Oxford reference bible.

One book that made you laugh: America: The Textbook, by Jon Stewart and the rest of the staff of the Daily Show. This book continues to make me laugh out loud -- even at the same time as I remember the high I used to feel in cracking open new textbooks and smelling the fresh print (didn't I tell you I'm a geek?)

One book that made you cry: The Mermaid's Chair, by Sue Monk Kidd

There's something about the haunting quality of the main character's search, and the grief and sadness submerged in the main characters that really resonates with me.

One book that you wish had been written: "Faith and learning" by Robert Kegan. Kegan is my favorite theorist of adult development, and he's written two very important books (The Evolving Self, and In Over Our Heads) as well as a more popular "how to" book (How the way we talk can change the way we work). He's Jewish, and many years ago he wrote a short journal article that touched very briefly on themes of faith. I really wish he'd write a substantial text on the subject.

One book you wish had never been written: this is a hard one for me! Nothing comes to mind, even though I've been pondering this for a while. Clearly there are books I don't much like in terms of their views (Bill Bennett and Lynn Cheney's views on education, for instance) and there are books that are just poorly written (The DaVinci Code, for instance), but I'm not sure they rise to the level of "should never have been written", since they provoke good conversation.

One book you are currently reading: I'm currently working my way through everything Julian May has written (the Galactic Milieu trilogy in particular)

May is a wonderful author of detailed, richly evocative science fiction. The Galactic Milieu trilogy takes place in the near future, and has a wonderful wealth of Catholic theology woven through its narratives.

One book you’ve been meaning to read: Yochai Benkler's The Wealth of Networks

This book comes very highly recommended by Lawrence Lessig, and it's been popping up in a variety of blogs.

And now I tag: Day by Day, Ryan Torma, and Living Word by Word.

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