~ decelerated reader ~

Growing up, I had a pride issue. I wasn't a Christian, so I did not have the guilt associated with being prideful, but I was full of it nonetheless. I changed schools too often to be the most popular. We didn't have enough money for me to be the most fashionable. While I found myself quite humorous, I was never really the class clown. What I was able to stake my claim on was being a great reader. I was always grades ahead in reading, which at some smaller schools meant I actually had to leave my classroom and go to the sixth grade class to participate in their reading lessons. I could tear through books like nobody's business, which is perhaps why my mother willingly moved me along from my Babysitter's Club books to her series novels (they were already paid for and took me longer to finish... at least a couple days). Even in high school, I was in one of those AP English classes where we managed not only to complete all of our required reading, but also found time to create unique gags to play on our teacher for each novel (i.e. plastic roaches on the ceiling above her desk for Metamorphosis, "Big Sister is Watching You" posters plastered all over the school with her old yearbook picture for 1984... you get the idea). In college, I enrolled in a seminar class on the historical novel, which had absolutely nothing to do with either of my majors.

Well, my friends, my ego has been deflated. I knew I haven't been reading as much post-college as any lover of stories should, but I had never really stopped to take stock. Seven weeks into the year, I should be working through my seventh book from the list of fifty I set as a goal. I have finished They Like Jesus But Not the Church and Interpreter of Maladies. I am halfway through Life After Church. At this rate, I should finish half of the list by yearend - HALF of the list! Do you know how many unread books from my shelves and wishlist did not make this year's list?! Not to mention finding time amidst all of the other things I'm trying to do: write, bead, relax, eat, sleep, work...

*sigh*

Nothing cures the loss of ego like a bit of healthy procrastination, so I will finally respond to Brook's "book meme". (though, I will take a cue from Ramon and refuse to let the madness continue by tagging anyone else). However, feel free to participate should you so choose.

1. One Book That Changed Your Life
The Irresistable Revolution ~ Shane Claiborne (just the most recent in a long line…)

2. One Book That You’ve Read More Than Once
Who’s Reading Darci’s Diary ~ Martha Tolles (…seriously, I must have read that book at least 20 times as a pre-teen before The Babysitters Club came along)

3. One Book You’d Want on a Desert Island
Freedom of Simplicity ~ Richard J. Foster

4. One Book That Made You Laugh
Bridget Jones’s Diary ~ Helen Fielding (uncontrollably… out-loud…)

5. One Book That Made You Cry
Annie John ~ Jamaica Kincaid

6. One Book That Scared the Hell Out of You
1984 ~ George Orwell

7. One Book That You Wish Had Been Written
the one I’m still working on…

8. One Book That You Wish Had Never Been Written
Let Justice Roll Down ~ John Perkins (just kidding, but ignorance is bliss and all…)

9. Two Books You’re Currently Reading
Life After Church ~ Brian Sanders & An Introduction to Ecclesiology ~ Veli-Matti Karkkainen

10. One Book You’ve Been Meaning to Read

and the list goes on…