book – noun \ˈbu̇k\
: a set of printed sheets of paper that are held together inside a cover : a long written work
: a long written work that can be read on a computer
: a set of sheets of paper that are inside a cover and that you can write information on
I keep ordering books. I start one and before I finish it, I start another.
I’m nearly buried in books. There’s no way I’ll be able to read them all in this lifetime. My family will need to bury them with me. Maybe they can construct my casket out of books.
I remember BK (before kids) when we lived for six months in Springfield, Illinois, in a duplex set a few feet from the railroad tracks. We had little stuff, and I kept everything clean, and Dennis traveled all week, and I was a regular at the library. I could lay on the couch all day and read. I read in bed at night. I read a novel about a writer who went to places like Morocco and took some kind of drug to stimulate his creativity. I think I read that book in a day, stopping only to go to the bathroom or to grab a cheese sandwich. That’s the only book that stands out during those months, and it’s all I remember about it. I don’t even recall its name or the drug.
I can’t lie on the couch or read in bed for long any more. I’ll fall asleep.
So many of my friends have published or will publish books this year. Some are set to release next year. Some are actively working on theirs. I want to read every word.
I’ve stalled on my books. Life has gotten in the way, and I know all the rules about working that writing time in no matter what–but lately it’s not working.
I’ve even wondered if I’m meant to write a book at all. Especially when so many have beat me to my themes. Of course, I know my story is my story, and themes are universal, but still…
End of pity party.
There’s been this meme going around on Facebook about ten books that have somehow stayed with you. I posted a list. Others posted lists. And I’d do a head smack because, “Oh, yes! That book, too.” Or… maybe there was a book that several had read that I missed. I wish I’d copied all those lists.
Anyway, I thought I’d list my ten books here and hope that some of you will list yours here so I have them all in one place.
1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Jo inspired me to write. I still smile at the image of her in her scribbling suit–a black woolen pinafore she could wipe her pen on and her hair bundled up in a black cap topped with a red bow. When she was in a writing frenzy, the family could judge how well genius burned by the position of the cap. If the cap was on the floor, they didn’t dare speak to her.
Jo won a contest and went on to write stories that brought in more checks. By “the magic of a pen, her ‘rubbish’ turned into comforts for them all.”
“Oh, when those hidden stores of ours
Lie open to the Father’s sight,
May they be rich in golden hours,
Deeds that show fairer for the light,
Lives whose brave music long shall ring,
Like a spirit-stirring strain,
Souls that shall gladly soar and sing
in the long sunshine after rain.” ~ J.M.
2. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, apparently written during a train trip from Chicago to Texas and published the year before I was born. “Every age has its own characteristics,” he wrote. “Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart.” I read this in Tampa, Florida, again while my husband traveled and wrote, “October 4, 1981 – In pursuit… ” in the flyleaf of my Bible.
3. Karen! Karen! by Karen Burton Mains. I got to meet Karen at my first writer’s conference in Wheaton, Illinois. Karen wrote about her “fatal flaw” of looking back and saying, “It might have been . . . If only I had . . .” She said her junior high English teacher wrote across the top of one of her compositions: “Karen, you have the gift of writing. I feel sorry for you. You will be unhappy all your life if you are unable to use it.”
When she was approaching thirty and pregnant again, Karen did battle with her lack of discipline by resolving to get her home in order and keep it that way. “The rooms were to be picked up each night even if my tongue dragged in exhaustion on the floor! It was a grim undertaking, grimly undertaken.”
“I suspect I was also often physically exhausted because of the misuse of my creativity,” she wrote. “An artistic ability is a dangerous thing to contain; it is like floodwaters surging behind a dam. Unable to find its natural course, the tide overflows the banks, overwhelming the surrounding lands with its forces. The artist denied is often neurotic. I was to learn that the use of my gift was not only a matter of spiritual obedience–it was essential for my emotional health.”
And then there was the night she heard God call her name after she had been “hunting the supernatural” for months. Just before she had fallen asleep that night, she’d whispered, “If I don’t taste something of yourself soon, a part of me will be destroyed because of its great need!” She heard her name at 2 a.m. She crept from her bed with her Bible and encountered Him in a way I’ll never, ever forget.
And I wrote “October 24, 1981 – Romans 12:1” in the flyleaf of my Bible.
I was thirty years old.
Now I’m sixty-five… and nowhere near where I hoped I’d be.
To be continued.
Word Count: 975 (Almost twice as many as a usual post. Sorry.)
As you think about the ten books you might list, what is it about one of them that’s stuck with you?
In the stillness,
Sandy
With Charity and Holley
Sandy, I LOVE this post, because it helps me to feel less guilty that our basement is sinking due to all the boxes of books I have stored down there! Until I met fellow authors and bloggers, I thought I had an illness! =] Well, maybe I do, but thus far, I have not read that as one of the definitions of a bibliophile! I do have books stored in my pantry, but I am also a literalist at times, so I figure this is food for thought, right?!
It’s true that writers are readers. I love your idea of sharing your ten faves, though if my instincts are right, I’ll bet that that has been really hard for you to do! Likely you have hundreds of favorites.
I find it nearly impossible to list ten books, but I will just say that these ten have changed me. But the list doesn’t indicate that other books have not changed me as well or that they are the only books I absolutely love! I think, too, that though I have a passion for stellar literature, sometimes a book will impact one’s life, because it resonsates on an extremely personal level during some time of transition, questioning, or difficulty. What I’m trying to say is that though a book right really speak to me at a certain time, given my circumstances, it might not speak as meaningfully to someone else. Hope this makes sense. =]
Books that have changed me . . .
1. The Bible (in various translations)
2. Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman by Anne Ortlund (Hers was the first book I read as a Christian in the mid-70s. Her book had a profound impact on me and just the few lines she wrote about journaling her prayers were to transform my life, because I started journaling, too. Journaling is the core of my ministry. )
3. The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer (we’re Tozer sisters, right?)
4. Chosen by God by Dr. R.C. Sproul (His book completely changed the way I think about God’s sovereignty, regeneration, and salvation) Frankly, any book by Sproul is gold.
5. Windows of the Soul by Ken Gire (fabulous on creativity and calling as a writer)
6. Adventure Inward by Morton Kelsey and LifePath by Luci Shaw (both excellent on Christian journaling; and I love Shaw’s poetry. I also love the poetry of Christian poets Christina Rosetti, George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins (wow!!), Robert Siegel, and Denise Levertov, and also Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, May Sarton, and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. My personal poet friend, who recently passed away and was a prolific poet and Faulkner expert, was Louis Daniel Brodsky.
7. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (and I love her sister, Emily Bronte’s, Wuthering Heights)
8. Anything by Elisabeth Elliot
9. Anything by Mark Buchanan
10.Sue Monk Kidd’s memoirs God’s Joyful Surprise and When the Heart Waits (Sue doesn’t any longer seem to adhere to Christian teachings, which to me is sad)
Ok, Sandy…..so TEN is impossible! I also love the writings of Os Guinness, Madeleine L’Engle, Jean Fleming, CS Lewis, Brennan Manning, Richard Foster, Robert Benson, Calvin Miller, Eugene Peterson, Thomas Kelly and there were two volumes on the life of Moses by Theodore Epp that, while not what I would consider to be great writing, really ministered to me at a pivotal juncture in my life.
Can’t wait to read your remaining books and those recommendations of others!
Blessings,
Lynn
Yes… Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman. That, too. I used her calendar system for years. You’ve listed so many of my favorites–that were impossible to include in just 10.
Yes, I think that Anne developed on her own a real prototype for all the myriad of planners to follow, and most important, hers had such a spiritual emphasis. When I visited her in her home in 2004, I asked if I could take a peek into her “notebook,” as she called it. And there it was, right by her side! She lived what she “preached”! She’s at home with Jesus now, where there are no longer time schedules! =] And yes, TEN is impossible! =]
I used Anne’s “system” for years. I’ve got Epp’s books on Revelation (Precept), but I’d like to read about Moses, and he’s got what look like some other good ones–like David and Elijah…
Yes, I have the David book. these are rich with biblical, spiritual insights, and being biographies, so easily applied (and hopefully lived out!) This has inspired me to read the Moses volumes again!
I can’t list ten quickly. I have to ponder a bit. I’m a book lover too Sandy. I can’t seem to keep enough shelves to house them all. Even with a kindle the shelves groan under the weight. There’s something about holding a book in your hands – all those lovely words.
I’ll give you the first one that comes to mind – then I’ll come back with more (whenever my brain kicks in). “To Kill a Mockingbird” – pure perfection.
Sorry to be missing for so long. I’ve been collecting words on pages!
Oh yes, Linda. I almost put down To Kill a Mockingbird. I loved it. And while generally I don’t find movies (based on books) as satisfying as the books, themselves, I did love the movie, starring Gregory Peck–one of my all-time favorites!
I bought To Kill a Mockingbird a few weeks ago. I’ve seen the movie more than once, and I must have read the book at some point, but I don’t remember. I must not have or it would have made an impression, I’m sure.
Keep collecting those words. I miss you!
This post captured my fully and I can’t stand having to wait for the rest! I read Karen Mains as a young wife and stay at home mama and loved her. Now I want to reread.
I especially loved Open Heart, Open Home, too. 🙂
Sandy, the more I read your reflections, the more I’m convinced that there is a book, probably several, in you. I hope you will decide it’s time to put all other books aside except yours and see what happens! Oh, and by the way, I didn’t start writing my novels until 2007 when I was 52. We’re never too old to realize and/or put into practice the talents God gave us.
Blessings, my friend!
Oh yes! I’d forgotten to mention that! Go, Sandy! You’re a wonderful author, and we need a book!
Awww… thanks, dear friend. In His time.
Okay, so that made me a bit weepy, Martha. Thank you for that! I whined to Luci Shaw back in April that I was “so old,” but she said I wasn’t. She’s 85 now and still churning out the words. So there’s that. 🙂
Oh my gosh! Is she really? I love Luci’s work. You could just list her poetry books, alone, for great reads. She has been so nice to me, too. How did you meet her? We’ve only emailed.
And you are NOT too old! Think Caleb……and you are a baby!
I bought two books yesterday, started one of them, and began another on the Kindle. There is one splayed open somewhere mid-point on the table in my office. There is a theme that I see coming up in them that is resonating with the transition I am in. Reading one book at a time is not something I do anymore (which drives me nuts, but I can’t help myself.)
These thoughts on books brought to mind this verse in John 21:25—“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”
That’s amazing isn’t it? And we think we are drowning in books now. What if they had been written? There’s no answer I know, but something to think about.
Can’t wait for part 2 and beyond, friend.
Well, maybe part of them are being written through our stories. 🙂
I’m finding as I thumb back through my books that what resonated with me then still does now. Interesting, I think. Either I haven’t learned my lessons yet or those are the “themes” God’s opened for me to minister in, too.
Love you, girl.
Do you mind sharing your theme, Dea, if it’s not too personal?
🙂 🙂
oh, I hear ya, on all counts. I’m planning a “books” post, too…Oh, but to choose. Keep on with the steady flow of stories, of words and truth and syntax and love – you may not be where you thought you’d be, but I bet you know you’re right where God has you…
Pretty sure you’re probably right about that, Alyssa. If we trust His sovereignty, then even our mess-ups are being woven into the plan. No regrets. #talkingtothemirror 🙂
I love books! I am always reading several at a time. 1. The Bible. 2. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. 3. Knowing God by J.I. Packer. These 3 books, especially the Bible, have changed me profoundly. I’d have to think about the rest. Thanks for sharing some of yours.
Knowing God. Yes. And Redeeming Love? I have it. I still haven’t read it. And I taught Hosea to my Bible study ladies a couple years ago. That book’s in my (one of my) to-read piles.