22 June 2009

15 books

i was tagged with this meme by a facebook friend:

"Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose."

i'm posting here my comments alongside each book,
because they may (or may not) looked too presumptuous on fb.

1. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle) - my first Sherlock Holmes book, got it from my father's collection. Read all Sherlock Holmes stories thereafter.

2. Sophie's World (Jostein Gaarder) - light and entertaining intro to philosophy. I also read 2 other books by Gaarder, they were not as good as his first.

3. Lost in a Good Book (Jasper Fforde) - my first Thursday Next novel, got me hooked on the series. I have yet to read "First among Sequels" though.

4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (JK Rowling) - and the rest was history...

5. Nine Horses (Billy Collins) - my first (& only) Billy Collins book, the rest of his poems I scoured on the net

6. Introduction to Poetry (Edith L. Tiempo) - has yet to set me on the path to writing poetry

7. The Next American Essay (John D'Agata) - forever influenced the way I write

8. Dead Aim (Conrado de Quiroz) – best commentary on recent Philippine history and politics

9. Rizal Without the Overcoat (Ambeth Ocampo) – got me through teaching 3 semesters of Rizal, without boring my students (hopefully)

10. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey) – life-changing …and I’m not usually into self-help

11. Blink (Malcolm Gladwell) – set me to reading popular science again, & Tipping Point, & Outliers, & the next Gladwell book definitely

12. The BIBLE – first read it from cover to cover in high school. For some it was Tolstoy’s War and Peace that was their monumental high school read, for me it was (almost naturally) the Bible.

13. Laborem Exercens (John Paul II) – my favorite social encyclical in college

14. Catholicism (Richard McBrien) – my personal definitive guide to Catholic doctrine & history

15. Virtues for Ordinary Christians (James Keenan, SJ) – changed my view of moral theology, besides the author being my professor and friend.

couldn’t resist adding…
16. Heroic Leadership (Chris Lowney) – what would the world be without the Jesuits?

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