The Bookshelf Meme

I’ve been in kind of a malaise this morning. Even though I had a nap yesterday and fell asleep on the couch last night before my usual bedtime and then overslept by an hour this morning, I still kept falling asleep while trying to read my Bible and felt foggy-headed all morning. I am just now feeling a little clearer. But several things I had in mind to post have all flown the coup for the time being!

I usually participate in Sally‘s Blue Monday, but since the day is more than half over and I don’t have too many more blue things, I think I’ll skip that for today.

I’ve been wanting to do a book meme (I’m almost always up for a good book meme!) that Janet at Across the Page tagged me for a while back. I didn’t want it to get lost in the shuffle of other posts — I wanted to wait to do it on a day I wasn’t also posting something else — plus I had to really think about these questions! So today seems like the perfect day for it.

Tell me about the book that’s been on your shelves the longest. . .

I don’t have any of the books from my childhood, which is too bad — I’d love to look back at what I read then! But I was the oldest of six, so I am sure they were all passed down, plus I think my parents got rid of things like that in a few moves. The earliest books I remember reading, besides Dr. Seuss, are A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The earliest books I have that I owned personally are from college days, and the one I think I’ve had the longest (besides my trusty Roget’s Thesaurus and Harbrace College Handbook from Freshman English) is Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot. about the five young men killed by the Indians they were trying to reach for the Christ and the way the Lord opened the door for the wife and daughter of one of the men and sister of another to go and live with the Indians and lead them to the Lord. I think I have mentioned it several times before — it was the first missionary book I remember reading and it impacted my heart and life in many ways.

Tell me about a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (i.e. a person, a place, a time, etc.). . .

This was a hard one, but I finally thought of a book that reminded me of my dad. He loved westerns and even rode in rodeos himself before he was married. He wore cowboy boots most of his life. Though I am not a fan of westerns and think the cowboy lifestyle has been greatly romanticized, there is still a soft spot in my heart for some cowboy items I see, like a card I saw one time with a print of a painting of a cowboy riding on horseback while holding a little boy who was asleep on his shoulder, or the book A Cowboy at Heart compiled by David Knopp. It must be out of print, because a quick search only turned up a romance novel by the same name, which this is not. This is a collection of poems, anecdotes, sayings, songs, facts, etc. about cowboys. I don’t have many mementos from my dad, but I bought this specifically because it reminded me of him, and every now and then I take it down and thumb through it.

Tell me about a book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity, in a used bookstore, prize, etc.):

I had seen the devotional book Daily Light on the Daily Path mentioned in several missionary biographies, and I was delighted to find a copy of it on a used book table at a home school conference several years ago (we do not home school, now but we did for four years). It was from 1906, I think, and was $2. Then the next year I found the exact same book for the same price, with the same binding, so I bought it, too. Both are falling apart now after several years of use  — I’d love to take them to a book binder and put the parts of the two back into one whole with something like what the original cover looked like.

Tell me about the most recent addition to your shelves. . .

Though I don’t need to add any more books to my TBR list, I came across An Unexpected Love by Tracie Peterson in the bookstore recently and picked it up. It is the second in the Broadmoor Legacy series. I had read the first some time back and of course want to finish out the series. 🙂

Tell me about a book that has been with you the most places. . .

I always carry something with me to read when I am traveling, but the only book that commonly always goes with me is my Bible. I like what Janet said, that it has “traveled around to different states and churches with me physically…and is ‘with me’ mentally more than any other book.”

Tell me about a bonus book that doesn’t fit any of the above questions. . .

Well, that is a hard one, too, because I have so many books, and many that have impacted my life in various ways. I always have a hard time narrowing answers down to one item. The genre would be missionary biographies, and the top few there would be Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank Houghton, By Searching and In the Arena by Isobel Kuhn, and Climbing by Rosalind Goforth. I have given the last three several times over to various people, but probably I have give Climbing more than any of the others. Rosalind had written a biography of her husband titled Goforth of China and another book called How I Know God Answers Prayer about their experiences as missionaries in China. Then she was asked to write about her own experiences and perspectives. She is very frank about problems they faced both in China and at home, and about her own faults and failures as well. She tells about the great lessons learned and answers to everyday needs.

I am also supposed to post:

The Rules
1. Tag 3-5 people, so the fun keeps going!
2. Leave a comment at the original post at A Striped Armchair, so that Eva can collect everyone’s answers.
3. If you leave a comment and link back to Eva as the meme’s creator, she will enter you in a book giveaway contest! She has a whole shelf devoted to giveaway books that you’ll be able to choose from, or a bookmooch point if you prefer.
4. Remember that this is all about enjoying books as physical objects, so feel free to describe the exact book you’re talking about, down to that warping from being dropped in the bath water…
5. Make the meme more fun with visuals! Covers of the specific edition you’re talking about, photos of your bookshelves, etc.

I am going to tag a few people I know are avid book readers, but please, anyone feel free to do this as well, and let me know so I can come read your answers.

Alice, Sally, Julie, and Susanne — you’re tagged! As always, only if you are interested and have time.