Friday, March 2, 2012

Moving Thoughts Friday





Every Friday I’m going to ask a question. The questions I choose might be ambiguous on purpose. The goal is to have you answer the question according to your beliefs, where you’re at in life or a circumstance that might have recently impacted you. The only thing I ask is that you provide an explanation for why you answered the way you did.



It’s my hope to understand you better through this and also to gain a greater understanding of humanity and how people make decisions.

Best. Book. Ever?

*photos by Stock.XCHNG

22 comments:

  1. I assume you're talking fiction or most everyone will say the Bible. I can't answer that. I have waaay too many books I've loved over the years to pick. Maybe I'll narrow it down to 3 and come back later! :)

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  2. Besides the Bible...A Voice in the Wind (first in the Mark of the Lion series) by Francine Rivers is my favorite book. It is the one I never get tired of reading, the one that stays with me for days and days. I love the simple, quiet faith of the heroine who is thrust into a pagan household, facing ridicule, temptation, and eventually death because of her faith. It is brilliant.

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  3. Hinds' Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard. Love, love, love that book.

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  4. This is hard--I tend not to rate the books I read because I always seem to find an even better one!

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  5. Next to the Bible: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

    What gets your vote?

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  6. Oh geez...

    Ok, not including the Bible... I would say...Jane Eyre.

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  7. I think Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, because it's the book that convinced me to write inspirational fiction. And because it's such a beautiful, beautiful story that I could read over and over (and have).

    Sherrinda, I just got the Mark of the Lion series for Christmas and LOVE it.

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  8. I can never, ever answer this question because I've read so many good, life changing, didn't want to put it down books.
    This answer came to mind this morning:
    This best book I ever read?
    The first book I ever read.
    Why?
    Because that was the first time I glimpsed the wonders that awaited me in the vast array of books ...

    Yeah, it was probably "See Dick Run." or something like that at school -- but it was the first book ever.

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  9. Way too hard, Wendy. Way too hard!!

    But, I'll attempt.

    1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I don't know why this book speaks to me so, but it does. I can read it over and over and get something new out of it. Love this book.

    2. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. This book wowed me with its morals when I first read it back as a teenager. I'll never forget the impression it made on me.

    3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Couldn't put it down! Awesome book!

    4. Man of Power by Mary Wibberley. Yeah, this is an early eighties Harlequin Presents--I'm sure it's not on anyone else's best-book-ever list, but I read it every few years and still love it. It's a gem!

    I could go on and on. The Little House series. The Phantom Tollbooth. All of the "Shoes" series. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. All of the Texas books by Jodi Thomas. The Cynster series by Stephanie Laurens. Okay, now I want to go read!!

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  10. I could copy Sherrinda's answer word for word. Totally agree that, besides the Bible, A Voice in the Wind is my favorite. :)

    Fun to see everyone else's choices!

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  11. Ooooh, that's SO hard to answer. I would have to say "Jane Eyre".

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  12. I'm breaking the rules and naming three. (Did you catch that, Wendy? I'm going outside the envelope. See how you're s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g me, my friend?)

    1. Little Women - I loved the story, and I related so much to the character of Jo, with her desire to be a published author.

    2. The Little House Books - I loved that Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter urged her to write her stories and record a period of history that few had. Those stories are a big reason I write books set in the same era.

    3. Harriet the Spy - I loved that she had an insatiable curiosity and a burning desire to record her stories.

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  13. Yes, definitely too many to count! I'd say the one I'm most attached to would be Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy or The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. I'd also throw Gone with the Wind in there, too. I'm a classic lover, what can I say? As for modern books, hmmm...I loved The Host by Stephenie Meyer, but I'm having a hard time getting into it for a second read.

    Hmmm...just click on the Goodreads link on my blog (http://www.heatherdaygilbert.blogspot.com), as I'm sure there are tons of books I'm forgetting as I answer this!

    Good question--what's YOUR fave?

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  14. I have to say, "The Voice in the Wind" by Francine Rivers. This was the first Christian fiction book I read. It's a picture of the world, all it's darkness, trouble, etc. and how a Christian 'should' live while in it. Set in the days of the Roman Empire, she takes all excuses away by using a young girl who is not only Christian, but a Jew, a girl who has lost her family by the horrible actions of people just like those she's made to serve. She even includes the heartache of loving someone who doesn't love the Lord and walking away from it because she knows she can't be unequally yoked.

    All these concepts and more are in this book, yet it is not in any way preachy. She just paints the picture of what the Lord asks from us, using situations we aren't likely to ever have to encounter.

    It all comes to just how much we love the Lord and are willing to obey. I've read the first two in the series again and again. Thanks to this book, I look for Christian authors to read and have become one myself. (unpublished at this time, but...)
    Anyway, that's my two cents worth.

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  15. Honestly folks, sometimes it's so much easier to dish these out than to take them. ;)

    But if I HAD to answer (which I so rarely do on Fridays to avoid swaying answers), I'd go with Peace Like a River.
    ~ Wendy

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  16. Okay, you know the Bible is a given. But if I'm held at gunpoint and have to say something other than the Bible, I think I'd probably go with Tamara Leigh's book Stealing Adda. It's not overly deep or spiritually profound (although it does have a nice spiritual arc built into it), but I like it because it's the first Christian fiction book that made me laugh and snort out loud. :)

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  17. I'm going to say "Spring Comes Riding" By Betty Cavanna. I read this book a bazillion times when I was a teen.

    Still totally love it. :)

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  18. Hmm. I'm sure my answer will change by tomorrow but since I just finished this trilogy it's heavy on my mind. So for today I'll say The Hunger Games. Any other day I'd probably say the Little House series or Anne of Green Gables. Just another of your tough questions Wendy! ;) Have a good weekend!

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  19. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. The story is the best allegory of Christ's love for us that I've ever read.

    Blessings,
    Susan :)

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  20. So many to choose from! I don't know if I can name just one, but I do love, love "Expecting Adam" by Martha Beck. "Peace Like a River" is one of my favs, too -- I think I may have to dig that one out and reread it.

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  21. Wendy:
    After the Bible, I would name Runaway Jury by John Grisham. Every other page had me thinking it would end differently. There were three forces trying to sway a jury trial. The book was about a big tobacco trial.The movie was about a gun control trial. But the movie's plot was still the same.

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