Sunny, thank you for that smile upon your face.

Let's try something this week. Let's try Top 5's.

I know I don't read a lot now but up through high school I was rarely seen without a book in hand. Dinner table, shopping, it mattered not. I could read. And then senior year it just came to a grinding halt and with the exception of a few books I've never really picked it back up since. Currently, I simply don't devote the time to it. While I enjoy it- if I'm not in a situation where I'm free from everything else- I feel guilty. There is always something else to do.
As I looked back on this list I suddenly thought to myself Oy, I need to get out more... There is a definite pattern. Fantasy, or at least the fantastical, is in the world of each book. And I do enjoy other genres. But as to my favorites, well, there is no doubt. :)

Also, any of my top 5's are always subject to change. Which is why half the time I hate playing that game. Ahem. :)

That being said, here are my top five books:

5) Till We Have Faces by C.S Lewis
"And if it was a dream, Sister, how do you think I came here? It's more likely everything that I knew before was a dream."

It's entirely possibly this book isn't higher on my list simply because I've only read it once. It's quite a beautiful reinterpretation of the Pysche/Cupid myth in Lewis fashion. The characters are so well-handled, the language is so beautiful and the story is so well developed, I can't imagine how many times he had to rewrite it to perfect it. Thanks Kelly! :)

4) Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
"It is not your world, Piebald," she replied.

This is actually the second book in Lewis' Space Trilogy. Why not the first or third? I have no idea, except the third book is such a complete roller coaster ride that I doubt I've ever really processed half of what occurs in that book. But I love the theological discussions in Perelandra and I love the Green Lady. Their world, unhindered by sin and yet still facing the temptation of it. Again, C.S. Lewis never fails to fascinate.

3) The Giver by Lois Lowry
"Who wants to be the first tonight, for feelings?"
This book hasn't left my top 5 list since I first read it in...middle school? High school? Does not matter. Since the first time I read it. It explores a world where color, feelings, weather, memories, people...everything is sterilized. Everything is the same. Memories of war, pain, love, holidays, etc. are all held by only one member of the community, the Receiver. And through this book you discover their life through Jonas who becomes selected to become the next Receiver of Memory.

2) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
It was a dark and stormy night.

I had owned this book for months before actually reading it. Again. Guilt monkeys. No time. And I was struggling with falling back into a lot of depressing thoughts at the time. Does art matter? Not really. Does imagination matter? No. Kids should face reality. No unicorns. Bah.
Wow, so unlike me, it was kind of scary.
And in the midst of that I finally decided to read Wrinkle. I was so completely blown away by how it was so entwined with Christianity, and how the characters use language, art, math, all these different aspects to fight off the Thing, well... It not only pulled me out of my struggling thoughts but it threw me in the total opposite direction back to where I was before, but more solidified. Of course it matters.

1) Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
"You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies."

My favorite part about this book is simply how it's written. Barrie has such a lovely way of portraying the story and its characters. I love its whimsiness. I love that there are mermaids and pirates. I love the scene with Wendy & Peter's shadow. I love the imagery (Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her children's minds. It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for the next morning...). It's simply perfect.

And I do believe in fairies. I do, do. :)