It's getting dark here in Alaska. Boo. I object.
But I don't object to having my fireplace lit these days. A lit fireplace encourages my reading habits, since "curling up beside the fire with a good book" is more than just a meme to me...it's almost a pavlovian response.
On my bookshelf (either printed or in Kindle version) are the following books. My goal is to update my list each week throughout the winter. I'm doing this for two reasons. First, knowing that I will be reporting my reading habits publically will help the procrastinator in me stay faithful to finishing a book in a timely manner. Second, I hope your reflexive response to my posts will be to share the books that are on your shelf (thus giving me ideas instead of asking Amazon for recommendations : )
So. Here we go.
"The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime" by Phyllis Tickle.
I've loved this addition to my morning routine. The book is divided into days and the days are divided into hours of the day. Thus, at any point between waking and sleeping, I can stop and be reminded of God's character, promises and my position as his daughter. Today's concluding prayer for the morning is, "O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant me the fullness of your grace, that, running to obtain your promises, I may become a partaker of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."
"Knowing God" by J.I. Packer.
Funny story. When I started this book I assumed that, seeing underlining appear in the first few pages, that I'd gotten this book from a used bookstore. The more I read the more I began to identify with the previous reader. "Wow" I marveled, "This person seems just like me!!" I thought this until I saw a handwritten note in the margin....and recognized the writing as my own. Haha!! I knew the person seemed exceptionally perceptive! It turns out (through deduction of the notes scattered through the book) that I read this while in college - about twenty years ago. It also appears that the insights that I gained then are the same ones that affect me now. The plain, direct writing isn't the most exciting thing you've ever read, but it is so very clear and helpful. From this morning "But, for all this, we must not lose sight of the fact that knowing God is an emotional relationship, as well as an intellectual and volitional one and could not indeed be a deep relation between persons were it not so."
"The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure" by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt.
I'm only a few chapters into this book but WOW, it is insightful. Neither batting for the right nor the left political or ideological camp, the authors' goal is to examine the ways in which the youth (college students) of today are being taught (either consciously or unconsciously) to handle ideas and ideologies with which they are unfamiliar. I'm thankful that I'm reading this when my children are in their pre-teen years. From my reading yesterday, "Emotional reasoning is the cognitive distortion that occurs whenever [a person attempting to use reasoning] interprets what is happening in ways that are consistent with [their] emotional state, without investigating what is true. The [person using reasoning] then acts like a lawyer or press secretary whose job is to rationalize and justify [their emotion's] pre-ordained conclusions, rather than to inquire into-or even be curious about-what is really true."
I also read alot for fun. Buuuuuuut, sharing fiction selections gets a little tricky. Just like sharing TV shows, you get into some muddy "stronger brother/weaker brother" territory when discussing personal entertainment selections. I'll have to think about this for a bit. But I can recommend a book that I think is an excellent addition to a favorite genre of mine, and that is "The Rook" by Daniel O'Malley. The writing is clever and the story line is unlike anything I've ever read before. I thoroughly enjoy it every time I re-read it, which I did not to long ago : ) If you like dry wit during conversations, urban fantasy as a genre and the city of London as a setting, then you might find this story delightful.
Comments