Books for the Mind and Soul

Mark Robinson "tagged" me with the following prompts on books that I've read (and would like to read).

One book that changed your life: The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is by N.T. Wright. This was the first book I read on the historical Jesus. It helped me gain a deeper understanding of His radical message of hope and restoration which is spiritual and social, personal and political. (I would also like to give an honorable mention to The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin which has also had a tremendous impact on me as a writer, an African-American, and as a human being).

One book you've read more than once: 1984 by George Orwell. I'm not really one to read books twice, but when I switched high schools and moved from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Greenville, North Carolina in my junior year I was assigned 1984 for the second time (I had previously read it as a sophomore). I realized that it was just as enjoyable after the second go round and I consider it to be one of the most prophetic books I have ever read. For me, it highlights these essential truths: "Absolute power currupts absolutely," "Governments lie," and "Big Brother is always watching."

One book you'd want on a desert island, besides the Bible: Anything from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. I was an avid reader of fantasy books growing up and if I'm stranded on a desert island, nobody can help you escape to another time and place like Tolkien (even if there aren't any people of color in Middle Earth).

One book that made you laugh: I just finished reading Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel by Aaron McGruder (Creator of The Boondocks) and Reginald Hudlin (Director of House Party and Boomerang). McGruder's comic genious and Hudlin's talent for storytelling put a reversal on the original concept of the groundbreaking film Birth of a Nation (1915) which was saturated with racist propaganda. It's a satire, so I laughed more on the inside than out loud. The book lampoons the 2000 election by making East St. Louis the site of massive voter disenfranchisement instead of Florida and explores a wide variety of cultural and political issues in the context of the primarily black city seceding from the union.

One book that made you cry: It's a tie between The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Native Son by Richard Wright. The former deals with the harsh and exploitive conditions that immigrants and other working class people experienced in early 20th century industrial America. The second is the sobering story of how the insidious and ubiquitous nature of racism destroys the life of a young black man in the 1930s. Interestingly enough, both novels take place in Chicago.

One book you wish had been written: The one I'm writing now that I wish was finished!

One book you wish had never been written: Anything by Ann Coulter. In all fairness I've never read any of her books, because whenever I see her on television I get nauseous everytime she opens her mouth. If someone gives me her latest book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, maybe I'll read it... or not. Coming from one who has been labeled a liberal, let me just say, "God loves you Ann, but He don't like ugly."

One book that you've been meaning to read: Either Jazz or Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I actually met her recently and attended a lecture, but am ashamed to say I have never sat down and grappled with her material. I will continue to feel inadequate until I do.

One book that you are currently reading: The Metaphor of God Incarnate: Christology in a Pluralistic Age by John Hick. The book challenges the dominant tendency in modern Christianity to reduce the faith to a set of beliefs or propositions at the expense of truly understanding the virtues and the way of life that Jesus embodied and demonstrated. He raises the question, "Is it possible to think about the incarnation of Jesus in less literal terms and still be a committed Christian?" It is a very provocative book and would be too controversial for most Bible study groups, but I highly recommend it for those who are ready to learn about the diverse ways that the faith, and more specifically the subject of incarnation, has been interpreted over the past 2,000 years.

You're it!: Maurice Broaddus and Phil the Bald Blogger