Monthly Archives: May 2007

Book character meme

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Found this one at Circle of Quiet. Here are my answers:

Three characters you wish were real so you could meet them:

1. Aslan. In Narnia, of course, maybe in The Magician’s Nephew so I could witness the creation of Narnia.
2. Anne Shirley. But you all knew that. I love Anne, her spunk, her love of books, her imigination, her red hair I suspect is much like mine.
3. Holden Caulfield. Even since reading Catcher in the Rye, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for him.

Three characters you would like to be:

1. a hobbit. Who wouldn’t like to live in a hobbit hole? They love a party, good food, friends, storytelling, poetry. Plus, to experience life as a short person… intriging.
2. Alex Ramsey. When I was ten, I was so jealous of Alex being stranded on that island with that beautiful horse.
3. Jo March of Little Women. Another strong female character with a love of words.

Three characters who scare you.

1. Carrie the title character from the Steven King novel. No doubt about it – and I’ve never read it, but I’ve seen enough of the movie to know to steer clear.
2. the pig head in Lord of the Flies. Actually, the whole situation freaks me out. Nice British boys falling into blood lust, killing so easily, leaving a slaughtered pig’s head to rot in the sun. Horrific.
3. Fred, the husband, in The Handmaid’s Tale. Again, the plot line is the scariest part. I’ll not give it away, but I will say this: the reader is presented with Fred, a well-educated military officer abusing raping a woman because the “law” gives him the right to do so.

Tag, you’re it.

Girl gets prayer book

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I recently read Girl Meets God by Lauren F. Winner. It’s a memoir (love that) and a story of a spiritual journey (really love that). Winner writes about how she went from Orthodox Jew to faith in Jesus. A brave book, this is.

I first had my hand on this book a year or so ago when browsing titles at my local bookstore, but for some reason I’ve long since forgotten, I didn’t find it interesting. Then the other week through my Internet clicks, I re-discovered it. Funny how a title just seems to grab you when before you couldn’t have been bothered.

Winner, writing from the view of an Episcopalian, describes how she enjoys using The Book of Common Prayer. I’ve never used a prayer book, vaguely know what to do with one. My church is not of the Episcopal flavor that Winner likes (she’s pursuing her doctorate in the history of American religion, so it’s not surprising to me she likes a traditional place of worship).

I always thought the best prayers are the spontaneous ones you “came up with” yourself. Prayers from a book? Not for me. But the more I read about Winner’s love for it, the more fascinated I became. And it seemed to work for her. Then I thought of the times when I wanted to pray and got stuck looking for the right word or drifted away with distractions. I like to write prayers down to help me keep my thoughts on the subject at hand, to help my mind from wandering. What would happen if I took those prayers and printed them into a book for others? Hmmm.

Maybe there is something to this prayer book stuff after all.

So now I have one. And since I’m interested in my Irish heritage, I found a lovely Celtic prayer book. I’m still learning how to use it properly, doing a lot of flipping the pages back and forth, but I’ll let you know how it goes.

You know, my favorite books are the ones that motivative me to change, challenge my thinking. Girl Meets God is one of those books. Winner had a similar experience with At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. She credits that fiction book — along with a dream about mermaids — with helping her come to Christ. How neat is that?