Lisa's Favorite Books

Read the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to find out why a lamppost always makes me think of a good book!

		The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis People are always surprised that this is not only my favorite C.S. Lewis book, but my favorite book of all time. That’s because they haven’t read it yet. Or because they weren’t there with me when I first turned its pages and had my concepts of Heaven and Hell radically re-sized. Without divulging too much of the revelatory nature of the story-line (my mind exploded on the last few pages) let me tell you the structural format. A bus arrives to take our narrator and his companions on a little vacation….from Hell. Each of them is met on the outskirts of the heavenly realm by someone they “knew” in life…and the conversations that ensue are full of Truth and Light. My favorite conversation is between two artists, where one says to his visitor: “When you painted on earth, it was because you caught glimpses of heaven . . . here you are having the thing itself.” Sigh. Time to go re-read that chapter, and in fact the whole book. Please join me! ISBN 0-06-065295-0 San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers © 1946 C.S. Lewis Pte Ltd renewed 1973
		Golden Key by George MacDonald In all honesty, this vies with The Great Divorce for my Number One position depending on which one I have re-read most recently. MacDonald was inspiration to Lewis, but these two books have a completely different effect. This is the book that leaves you aching for “the country whence the shadows fall” along with our heroes, Tangle and Mossy. I am Tangle, really. And some of you are probably Mossy. In a Fairy Tale pattern that somehow seems more real than Fairy Tales, Mossy finds the Golden Key, and because of it, has a mission to find something bigger and better. My favorite scene is definitely Tangle having to throw herself headlong into the river that runs to the center of the earth…”You must throw yourself in. There is no other way.” Indeed, how many of us have taken that dive. A note to book lovers: be sure to buy/borrow/read the edition with Maurice Sendak’s illustrations. You will linger on each page. ISBN 0-374-42590-6 © 1967 New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux illustrations by Maurice Sendak2nd edition 1976
		Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith & Art by Madeleine L’Engle This book changed my life, second only to the Holy Bible. As an artist and a Christian, I had been struggling with the disparity between what often seemed narcissistic (self-absorbed) about the Artist’s world, and the incarnational quality (God-breathed) of that same world. Madeleine L’Engle provided the needed balance and the validation for the artistic process, whether it be in music, visual arts, dance or any other expression of the creative nature which mirrors the very nature of God. My copy is dog-eared, underlined, and much re-read. Any time I read it again, I find myself newly inspired. I love all her dozens of books, many more well-known than this, but this is by far the jewel of my collection. Many of the concepts that have taken deep-root in my life as a Christian and and Artist come from the pages of this book. ISBN: 0-87788-919-8 Harold Shaw Publishers/Wheaton Literary Series © Crosswicks 1980. Reprinted in 2001 in a Hardcover anniversary edition ISBN 0-87788-918-X
		Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (7 books) I know I’m cheating, because these are really 7 books, but for anyone who’se read them, I dare you to read just one! They are now published in one volume, so I can get away with calling it one book, but for me it is one story. And C.S. Lewis remains the master storyteller, with his Christianity evident in his characters as well as his underlying belief about right and wrong and what evil and good both look like. How many of us feel like Lucy. But me – I always identify with Edmund, the traiter who cost Aslan his life. In the end, he was the one who understood redemption better than anyone. He knew it should have been him on the stone table. So every time he looked into Aslan’s eyes after his triumphant resurrection, he not only saw his unworthiness, but he saw the love that would go that far. I have to many favorite moments in all 7 books to describe them here. But for you Narnia experts, don’t miss the BBC dramatization of The Silver Chair with Tom Baker as Puddleglum. Delightful.
		Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann A childrens’ board book that will have any adult laughing right along with the child. I have purchased so many copies of this book for gifts…you need to own this book! The storyline has the Zoo-keeper is walking through the Zoo and wishing each animal good-night as he locks them in for the night. What he doesn’t know is that the Gorilla is walking behind him unlocking each cage as after he is done. A lovely parade ends up following him through the Zoo and . . . home! This book is all you need to prove that great illustrations can tell a story. And that all Zoo-keepers’ wives are rather exceptional human beings! ISBN 0-399-23003-3 New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. © 1994 Peggy Rahmann
		Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, Tales of the Restoration by David and Karen Burton Mains (3 books) Well, here I am again citing multiple books as one book, but the two sequels are just as important in the story line as the first exceptional book. In the first book, Tales of the Kingdom, the authors give us Scarboy, an orphan who hears a rumor that there is a Kingdom AND a King…so he begins his hunt even though it is illegal in the Enchanted City to mention the King. How he finds the King and is transformed into Hero, is a story that on the surface looks like just another children’s book. But I have known adults (myself included) to stop and examine self after a chapter, perhaps the chapter where Amanda has a dragon hidden away and loves it too much. Or maybe Dirty who lived with the pigs and wouldn’t allow herself to love anyone or become clean…until she met the King. The sequel, Tales of the Resistance, leads Hero and Amanda in to the Enchanted City to rescue more orphans. And the last book, Tales of the Restoration, leads to a courtroom where the rulers of the City, including the Enchanter himself, put none other than the King on trial! As usual, I am a fan of the edition with the best illustrations by Jack Stockman. (The illustrations in the third book were done by Diana Magnuson, but she stayed close to the style and flavor of the original.) Rumor has it these out of print books were republished in 2007 with the original illustrations. There was a paperback reprint with new illustrations; don’t bother with those. Hunt down the originals! I always check the used bookstores for these books. Sometimes I find them, and it’s like finding gold! Tales of the Kingdom ISBN 0-89181-560-5 Colorado Springs: David C. Cook Publishing/Chariot Books © 1983 David and Karen Burton Mains. Illustrations © 1983 Jack Stockman Tales of the Resistance ISBN 0-89191-938-4 Colorado Springs: David C. Cook Publishing/Chariot Books © 1986 David and Karen Burton Mains. Illustrations © 1986 Jack Stockman Tales of the Restoration ISBN 1-5551-3758-8 4 Colorado Springs: David C. Cook Publishing/Chariot Books © 1996 David and Karen Burton Mains. Illustrations © 1996 Diana Magnuson
		The Unquenchable Worshipper by Matt Redman If you are a worship leader or a fan of the great worship coming out of the UK, you know Matt Redman’s name as the songwriter who gave us “The Heart of Worship,” “Better is One Day,” “Blessed Be Your Name” (written with his wife Beth) and “Once Again,” among many other favorites. But the same elegance he brought to his songs is evident in his prose, most notably for me in this book. Each chapter has an “Un” quality of worship that he dwells on: “Undone,” Undignified,” “Unnoticed” and my favorite “Unpredictable” worship, are just a few. I read this book like a devotional, and it always brings me back to the heart of worship. For those who love stories about how a song was born, don’t miss chapter 8 where he describes how his song “The Heart of Worship” was written. One summer I gave this book away at every camp I went to, waiting for God to show me the one person who should get it. I kept giving them away after that, so much so that I stopped writing my name inside the front cover because the book would inevitably be given away. That is the sign of a great book. ISBN 0-8307-2913-5 California: Regal Books/Gospel Light © 2001 Matt Redman
		Catwings by Ursula K. LeGuin How can you not be drawn to a book about cats with wings? A cat lover like myself didn’t stand a chance. I was already a fan of Ursula LeGuin’s writing (The Lathe of Heaven, The Wizard of Earthsea Trilogy) but what a delight to have her sensibilities turned to stray cats. From the first line of the book, which states: “Mrs. Jane Tabby could not explain why all four of her children had wings,” I was hooked. It is ultimately a story of how love finds a way even in a cruel world. And how sometimes you just have to take a chance and reach out to a stray cat to stroke it’s fur, or in this case, wings. The final words of the book have Harriet (a cat with wings) saying to her brother, “Oh James! Their hands are kind!” Inspiration to those of us who regularly tame wild cats. Illustrations? Of course, by S.D. Schindler, and, to my delight, presented on every page. Yes, there are sequels (Catwings Return, Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings) but this first book remains my favorite. ISBN 0-590-42833-0 New York: Scholastic, Inc/Apple Paperbacks ©1988 Ursula K. LeGuin. Illustrations © 1988 S. D. Shindler
		Mole Music by David McPhail I have a knack of walking into a huge children’s section in a bookstore, and stumbling across a great book that no one has told me about. This is how I found this book. I now pull it out of my bookshelf on a regular basis, and I have since gone hunting for more of McPhail’s books. (Try The Teddy Bear about a lost teddy bear and a homeless man! Absolutely lovely.) I originally liked this book because it is another great example of a book in which illustrations actually tell the story. There is a simple storyline of Mole, who lives a quiet life underground, and one day is inspired to buy and play a violin. As he practices and eventually gets better, he has no idea how his little songs are affecting the world above. He only sees that his life and his music are simple, and he never sees his audience. He doesn’t see that he has inspired, healed and even stopped wars. This is a book I pull out when I get discouraged and tired. It reminds me that the most genuine simple act can have a huge effect. It also reminds me that music can change the world. The author did the illustrations as well, and you know how I feel about great illustrations. These are exceptional. ISBN 0-8050-6766-3 New York: Henry Holt & Co., LLC © 1999 written and illustrated by David McPhail
		The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden Chester Cricket is accidentally transported in a picnic basket from the countryside of Connecticut to the subway station in Times Square in the heart of New York City. He befriends a mouse and a cat, as well as a little family running a newsstand. When they discover that Chester can make real music (and has an ear for picking up a tune from the radio) they soon have an audience at the little newsstand. When I first read this book as a child, I was familiar with the Times Square subway station and all the noises and smells and people. So I could imagine quite well how a little cricket playing Italian Opera could stop The City with his sweet sounds. At that young age, it was not impossible for me to imagine a cricket being heard above the trains and cabs, and I felt just as the people did when I read how he began to play. It was a life-changing moment in my development as a human being. I never felt the same about crickets after that…or any of the human crickets I have since met who could stop a City with the lifting of their instruments. Even as a grown-up, re-reading this book still brings delight and out-loud laughter. And a great memory of what it was like to be a child in the bustle of the New York subway listening for a tiny cricket that might be there. You may recognize the style of Garth William’s illustrations. He was famous for depicting “Some Pig” (Wilbur) in Charlotte’s Web and a Mighty Mouse named Stuart (Stuart Little) ISBN 0-440-41563-2 New York: Bantam Doubleday/Dell Publishing/Yearling Books/Newbery Honor Book © 1960 George Selden Thompson © 1960 Illustrations Garth Williams. Farrar Straus & Giroux reprinted 1970.

Note: the Holy Bible is a whole other category.

Click here for Lisa’s comments about The Holy Bible.