At the beginning of 2008 I read Alissa Wilkinson’s terrific blog on the subject of loving books, and was quite taken with her idea of  recording all of the books one has read for the whole calendar year.  So here’s my list for 2008, with some accompanying commentary.  One thing I noticed while looking over my list is that they all have human relationships at their center.  

1 - The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare.  This play always gets me thinking about the eternal problem of how difficult it is for diverse people groups to get along.  Shylock always reminds me that even the most difficult and annoying people deserve empathy.  If other people cannot provide it, there is the assurance that God has provided difficult people with the empathy they need, in the person of Jesus Christ.  

2 – Mansfield Park – Jane Austen.  Jane Austen was one of my first “real” authors.  My Aunt Dru, who is very dear to me, got me started reading Jane Austen (and Charlotte Bronte, of course) when I was about 12 years old.   I love the Gospel parallel of  the last being made first, and the lonely being put into families, although I really was rooting for Fanny Price to win all the marbles and own the big house.

3 – A Dress to Die For – Dolores Johnson.  This is one of several mystery books of the “tea cozy” genre that I enjoyed this year during my train rides home from work.   My personal favorites are the ones with cookie recipes, and the ones in which the cat solves the mystery.  At the root of my lifelong attraction to mysteries is that they affirm the value of every human life.  

4 – Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman.  This is one of those books that is so much a part of the culture that you feel like you have read it, even if you have not.  I had only read excerpts carefully selected by my high school English teacher, and atter reading the whole thing this year, it is easy to understand why!   Few people know that Whitman lived in Camden, NJ for the last nineteen years of his life.  I grew up about 5 miles from there.  Yay, South Jersey!

5 -- John Adams – the biography by David McCullough.    I read John Adams this year because my friend Tara Hawks expertly crafted some of the costumes for the recent television miniseries about Adams’ life, and because my husband had just given the book to me as a Christmas present.   I was fascinated and impressed by the Adams’ marriage, and their relationships with their children, as well as their strength of character and their scholarliness.  Much of the correspondence contrasts rationalism and romanticism with the belief in absolute truth.

6 – Strong Poison, and Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers.  Dorothy Sayers is one of my all-star authors.  The third in this trilogy is Busman’s Honeymoon.  These mystery novels were published during the 1930’s and deal brilliantly with politics and relationships between men and women.

7 – The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fford.  This book was a gift from a good friend, who knows that Jane Eyre is my favorite book.  It was pure fun for a book-lover, a kooky time-travel story full of off-beat characters and twists on classic books.

8 – Crown of Wild Olive --  lectures of John Ruskin.  Speaking to live audiences in Victorian England,  John Ruskin was direct and forceful in his views on class structure, esthetics, and a just economy.  These presentations were made towards the end of the era when it was assumed that the listener had a basic knowledge of  the Bible, whether or not she might agree with it; and a basic knowledge of classical literature.

9 --  Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin.  It’s the story of  Greg Mortensen, a mountain climber who works with local communities in Pakistan and Afganistan to build schools.  This book conveys the message that a just society sustains  life, creates beauty, and mitigates against evil – well, most of the time.  There are rumors that Mortensen has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize.

10 – Water for Elephants --  Sara Gruen.  This new book, set in the depression era, is the story of a senior at Cornell who joins the circus, and meets the two loves of his life.  The book places a high value on lifetime love, which is timely for today’s readers, who may be questioning the attainability or even the value of lifetime love.  

11 -  A Song I Knew by Heart – Brett Lott.   If ever there were a writer for marriage and family therapists, Brett Lott is that writer.  He gets us.  Now I must read all of his other novels, including his biggest-seller, Jewel, about a family with a Downs Syndrome child.

12 – Are Women Human?  Essays by Dorothy Sayers.  Did I mention that Dorothy Sayers is one of my all-stars?  It is especially satisfying to read a favorite author across various genres.  

13 – The Southern Review.  Although admittedly not a book, this literary journal is included on my list this year because every piece included is of such high quality.

14 --  Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins.  I am not qualified to comment on poets, but would just say that Hopkins’ writing, while widely discussed for its scholarly merits, does not seem to get enough attention for its esthetic beauty.

15 – Phineas Finn --  Anthony Trollope.  I attended an author’s talk by P.D. James, another one of my “all-stars”, at which a member of the audience asked her what she was currently reading.  She said that she was not reading many new books at the time, but rather re-reading several authors, including Trollope.  The next day I hit the Strand book store and purchased the first two books in the Palliser series, including Phineas Finn.  The two books together made my tote bag weigh about the same as a bowling ball.  My labors carrying my heavy load home were not in vain, as Trollope is now one of my favorite authors.  

16 – A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens.  There’s only one Dickens.  Different thoughts strike me each time I re-read A Christmas Carol.  This year, it was Marley’s ghost explaining why some souls have to travel abroad for great lengths of time, with no peace, no rest, and constant remorse.  Marley’s ghost explained that this was the fate of people who choose to live their earthly lives within a limited self-centered sphere.

17 – Life Together – Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  I have read this inspired book several times during my morning Bible study time.  Any discussion of relationships must include, as Bonhoeffer did, a treatment of  one’s relationship with oneself in solitude. This book contributed to my comparatively basic thoughts in my Conversant entry,  “It’s the Stupid Economy”.

There were also numerous therapy books and theological books on my list this year.  I have started Nancy Pearcey’s book Total Truth, which I think makes the reader more conscious of  the source of personal values and even personal value-making.  I wonder if my list has any books in common with any Conversant readers.  It would be fun to compare notes!