-
My first memory of reading: 5 or 6 years old
I had found a pocket Gideon's Bible. It was from the 70's and this hideous green color. I found it hidden in an old shack behind the country house my parents had just purchased.My sister and I were playing in our blue playhouse. I arranged the chairs like pews and pretended to be a preacher as I read from the book of Matthew aloud to my 4 year old sister.
I realize that 5 or 6 seems young for this type of reading. I don't know if my memory is correct, but that's what I've got. -
The Dollhouse Murders
The first book I remember completing as a child was in the 5th grade: The Dollhouse Murders. I remember being scared as I read it in class, but also disapporinted that the dolls were not actually murdering people or coming to life. -
AP English: First Experiences with Quality Writing
Sophmore year of high school, I read "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "The Things They Carried" - two of the first books of quality that captivated me. -
Annie on My Mind
I turned 16 the summer before junior year of high school, got a Ford Explorer and spent many hours camped out at the local library in Lubbock, Texas at the local bookstore Hastings and the local library in their very small Gay and Lesbian selections.I read the teen lesbian book "Annie on My Mind" in one day, crying most of the way through while I listened to Verve Pipe's song "Freshmen" on repeat -
The Ragamuffin Gospel
In high school, my favorite teacher bought me the book "The Ragamuffin Gospel". However, it wasn't until my junior year of college that I actually got around to reading it. That semester was my first semester at a 4 year college. I had an internship at the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology. Spring 2008 was a very stressful semester that made me feel very inadequate. I would come home and read the book and cry, comforted by the grace God provides to ragamuffins like me. -
The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne
This book will make you want to sell everything you own and live the rest of your life in service to the poor. Shane Claiborne is the of the most genuine followers of Christ that I know of alive today. Reading his first book in college was transformational. And, one day, I aspire to own nothing...except maybe some underwear. -
All things Rob Bell
I fell in love with all of the works of Rob Bell. His writing is very easy to read, but well put together. Reading his works helped me to feel comforted to see that I wasn't the only Christian reading the Bible with a bit of skepticism and real concerns about passages that seem to portray a judgemental, sexist and even blood-thirsty God. Seeing how Rob Bell described his relationship to the Bible and God as living and changing allowed me to feel that I could disagree, ask questions, and think -
James H. Cone
In my African American Religious History class, we read "Black Theology and Black Power" by J.H. Cone. I remember shouting and reading this book passionately allowed. Though parts of the book are extreme for today's society, I felt the importance of the words as we studied African American history from slavery to present day. Main point: Jesus is on the side of the oppressed. Jesus is the oppressed, therefore, Jesus is black and always is on the side of the oppressed. We must follow.
