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Do you have a favorite book?

A week ago I was the guest speaker at a young adult women's Bible study (not from my church). Their theme this year is mentoring, so each hostess invites a "mature" friend to speak to their group. After giving my testimony I moved on to evaluating Christian books (I used a Christian publisher, Alternative Medicine by O'Mathuna), and the book in hand (using a Randy Alcorn title, Christian imprint I didn't know by a mainstream publisher). They were a delightful group, sincere and well-read, involved in their families, church and community. Most, but not all, had children. The only people this age I have much contact with are my own children--who don't use libraries and don't attend a church (what we call Chreasters--attend on Christmas and Easter), so I wasn't sure what to expect. When I talked about recommending a title for their public library, which most of them used regularly (some Hilliard, some Columbus, some Dublin), a few expressed surprise that they could recommend a book. Is that a well kept secret? Do library websites and staff not encourage this (mine doesn't, but I thought it was a local "we know best" attitude)?

Then one well-read mama asked me, "What is your favorite book--besides the Bible?" I could definitely feel a blush on that one. Not only am I reading through the One Year NIV for the first time, but I'm somewhat promiscuous when it comes to favorite books--fickle and flitting, rarely reading the entire book. Table of contents, index, bibliography and a few key chapters and I'm out of here. So I mumbled a title I enjoyed two years ago, Wide as the waters by Benson Bobrick (Simon & Schuster, 2001). The sub-title "The story of the English Bible and the revolution it inspired" pretty much describes the theme. The book didn't do that well in sales, because several others with the same thesis appeared at that time, but I definitely think this one does the best job of showing that once the Bible was available in English, reading books of all types increased dramatically. There was an increase in the circulation and production of books (printing by then had been invented). "At the same time, once the people were free to interpret the word of God according to the light of their own understanding, they began to question the authority of all their inherited institutions, which led to reform within the Church." In short, it changed the world politically and socially, as well as spiritually. See author interview here. Another favorite, which I didn't mention, and which I did read cover to cover is The Story of English, a beautifully written and illustrated book that resulted from a TV program by the BBC. I bought it for $1.00 at a book sale, and I'll never let it go.

So if you ever are called on or choose to talk about books, arrive prepared. You might be asked about your favorite book or author.