Rani's Favorite Books (part 1)

Hi guys! Welcome to July, in Too Many Books to Count! I’m so glad you stopped by. If you didn’t know, July marks one of the busiest months for me, and also the month in which I was born. Woo! So, that being the case, I usually like to do something semi birthday related, in our blog theme for this month. And I was wracking my brain in the night, trying to think of a good topic for us to discuss, but I found myself struggling to come up with anything that worked for the number of posts needed for the month… until it occurred to me, that we haven’t done a series about me, in a while. And this is as good a time as any to do it.

So, for those of you who just really want to know a little more about me, you’ll love this month! I’m calling it “Rani’s Favorite Things,” because that’s what we’ll be talking about. Some of my favorite things, in five different categories.

This week? Books! I’ve chosen the two books that I’d call my favorites, the two that have meant the most to me throughout my life. And, honestly, I wanted to choose the Bible as the first one—but I felt like that would be cheating. The Bible has inspired and transformed my life in many ways throughout the years, and probably too many to write in so few words. So I’m just going to leave that as an assumed #1, and we’ll talk about the other two.

Rani’s Favorite Books: Ted Dekker’s Circle Series

I know, I know, it’s not just one book. I couldn’t pick just one book. But I have loved, since the first time I started reading them, this masterful series by Ted Dekker. If you haven’t read anything by him yet, but you don’t want to dive into such a massive series when you’re just getting to know his writing style, check out Blink of an Eye or The Priest’s Graveyard—both really good reads, but reads that don’t require you to read anything else of his. But what am I saying? Just pick up the Circle, and start with Black.

The whole series started with Black, the story of Thomas Hunter, a man who would fall asleep in our world and wake up in one far different, where light ruled one side of the planet and dark ruled the other. Everything was literal in this world, in a way I’d never seen done before—and Dekker quickly immerses readers straight into the story.

I first read them when I was in high school, so I can’t really tell you how fast I got through the lot of them, but I know it didn’t take long, and that I soon found myself reading new releases as fast as they were coming out. I also know I need to reread them all, because they’re just that good.

Throughout the years, even without having read the original trilogy in over a decade, I’ve gotten a massive amount of inspiration from this series. It’s the basis for how I write the druids in the Druid Novels, the idea in the back of my head when I’m describing any new world I create, and the book I think of when I’m focusing in on making my characters the best they can possibly be.

Honestly, Ted Dekker is just amazing when it comes to writing stories that transform readers, to the point that when you start reading his books, it’s almost impossible to stop. And to the point that he's now teaching classes, every year, on how to write transformational fiction.

Highly, highly recommended author. I even have a tattoo, inspired by this epic series of novels.

Thursday… I bet some of you can guess what book I’ll be talking about.

[love]

{Rani Divine}