my books and a book meme

Books, books, books.

The UPS guy filled my entry way with several boxes of books, and there they will remain until I can find a place for them in the garage. There are my author copies of my latest release, The Perfect Life, as well as a box of Beyond the Shadows which will all too soon be going out of print, much to my disappointment.

Then there are my books in their pre-published forms. There are the rewrites of When Love Blooms, my January 2009 release, spread all over my desk. I work best on hard copy so it makes for a real paper blizzard. The copy edits/preliminary proofs of Wagered Heart, my May 2008 release, are due to arrive tomorrow and thus will interrupt the rewrites for a week or so. I’m not sure how soon I’ll see proofs of Bundle of Joy, December 2008, but it scares me to think they might hit right in the midst of intense work on the other two.

So in honor of the books I’m working on in various stages, I think I’ll answer the book meme I found on Camy’s Loft. Here goes:

One book that changed your life.
Not counting the Bible, which changed not only this life but the next life as well, I would have to say Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Reading it played a part in me growing closer to God and also changed the type of books I write and the audience I write for.

One book that you have read more than once.
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

One book you would want on a desert island.
My Bible

Two books that made you laugh.
Theodora’s Diary by Penny Culliford
Book Ends by Liz Curtis Higgs

One book that made you cry.
The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers. I wept buckets.

One book you wish you’d written.
Oh, there are so many wonderful novels, any one of which I wish I could have written. But if forced to choose one, I think I would go with Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. It shook me to my core.

One book you wish had never been written.
I’ll have to go with The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It is a beautifully written book, no question about it. Unfortunately, it is also biblically inaccurate. Readers who don’t know their Bibles or biblical history don’t know how incorrect it is, and thus are given a view of history that isn’t true. (I despise revisionist history.) The novel also has a man-hating tone that I disliked. There isn’t a single male character in the novel who is worth 2 cents. Most are worthless wimps. The best among them are jerks.

Two books you are currently reading.
A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith
One Step Over the Border by Stephen Bly

One book you’ve been meaning to read.
LOL! I have an entire bookcase full of books that fall into this category. I won’t even try to name one. I’ll just keep trying to get them all read.

If you feel like playing, answer the meme on your blog and leave a link to your answers in the comments or, if you don’t have a blog, complete the meme in the comments. Your choice. Have fun.

-rlh-