My friend Annie tagged me for the following list.

Here are the instructions: This can be a quick one. 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.

1. The Bible by God

2. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (My dad read this to me when I was little, and I've read it several times since. Among other things, it has helped remind me that God ALWAYS does what is best, and that no matter the circumstances -- man is not in control.)

3. In My Father's House by Corrie ten Boom (I read this for the first time last year, and it really brought home how influentially God can use a Godly parent to prepare a child for His future use.)

4. Little Women, Little Men & Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott (I read these books repeatedly when I was in grade school, and it showed me the concept that children should strive to be excellent in spirit and in actions, that I didn't need to wait to grow up before I began "working" on my inner man. It also watered a spirit of hospitality and fun open-housed-ness.)

5. Biography (maybe autobiography?) of Amy Carmichael by I'm not sure who (My dad read this to me when I was little, and what stuck out to me the most was the fact that God's way is better than our way.)

6. Biography of Gladys Aylwood by I'm not sure who (I heard this book read in chapters over the radio when I was a kid. I was impressed with Gladys' sense of adventure and love for "her" kids, and by the fact that she just did it, instead of waiting for others to say it was okay.)

7. Biography of Hudson Taylor by who knows (I was required to read this for a book report one year for a church club that I was in. What I took away from it was the love that Hudson had for the Chinese. He didn't try to transform them into his acceptable culture. Instead, he blended into their culture and told them THEY were valuable to God.)

8. God at the Controls by Jean Dye Johnson (My dad read this book to me when I was in grade school, and I've read it to myself more times than I can remember since then. What God always teaches me is the importance of WAITING and SPRINGING INTO ACTION. Both things I struggle with.)

9. Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot (I was required to read this in eighth grade as part of my literature class, and I fell in love with it. The quote by Jim Elliot --possibly mangled by me-- "He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose," has replayed itself in my brain ever since.

10. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (I still have not read the entire series. In fact, I think I've only read the first three or four books, but every time I pick one of them up, I am amazed again at the object lessons springing to life all around me. God is huge, and somehow, aspects of Who He is and how He has designed this life to work are woven so understandably into these stories by C. S. Lewis. I get blown away.)

11. Seeking The Secret Place by Lyle Dorsett (This is a biography of C. S. Lewis that I picked up at a garage sale [or maybe from the free books at the school library?], and what has impressed me the most about this book is the demonstration of the power of God in a person's life. Mr. Lewis was not someone who walked with God early in his life, or even someone who knew much about God. I love watching the transformation slowly unfold that changed him from what he was into what he became. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Second Corinthians 5:17)

12. Biography of George Mueller by Faith Coxe Bailey (This is another book that Dad read to me when I was little, and what stuck with me is the fact that God can be trusted even in situations that look impossible to us.)

13. Any Sherlock Holmes mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Oh, how I loved these books. When I was in high school, I devoured every bit of them. Then I pretended I was on a case. Constantly. Yeah, I needed a muzzle for my imagination. Observation is the part of these books that stuck with me. Observation which in turn feeds my imagination. People-watching. Stalker? I'll stop there, but know that these books which started this habit has greatly enriched my life, or at least the entertainment that I get out of life.)

14. The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers (I read this trilogy for the first time when I was a sophomore in college, and I haven't been the same since. The one thing that always comes back to me is the importance of following God even if you are nothing. God uses our small decisions to influence others for Him. It's humbling and sobering. Also, God showed me how important it is to LOVE, whole-heartedly, unselfishly whomever happens to be around us.)

15. The Secret of the Rose series by Michael Phillips (I have only read this series one time. I discovered it on the sixth floor of the library the summer of my sophomore year in college, and I would love to read it again, or own it [ahem, Jeremy]. While I was reading, God was tugging on my heart over and over about different things. The author puts various tidbits and object lessons throughout the story, and the truths are not always about the same thing. At one point, God had so convicted me that I had to put the story book down and get on my knees before Him. I took two things away from reading that series. The first is the fact that God should not be separated from my daily life, my entertainment. The second is the conviction that any books that I ever write need to be woven with Truth.)