Book Report
Do you like to read? If so, what do you like to read and why? For entertainment, inspiration, spiritual growth, getting unplugged, learning? Perhaps you do not like to read, thinking that reading is for lazy people who aren’t getting things done. Or perhaps your job requires so much reading that you can’t stand to read otherwise. Or maybe you mostly listen to podcasts.
Regardless, what did you read or listen to this summer that entertained you, inspired you or helped you grow?
What would you recommend?
(Reply to this email with your response.)
I was seven years-old the summer I got a box in the mail. It was full of books that I had ordered through Weekly Reader at the end of the school year. I was thrilled!
I’ve always enjoyed reading. In fact, one of our sons said that an unspoken mantra in our family was, “We are just the next book away from greatness!” And years ago a psychologist who facilitated a clergy group I was part of told me, “You’re the last person I would recommend a book to. It seems like every other day you’re searching for the next life-changing insight.” Ouch.
Thanks to the library audio app, Libby and I listen to a lot of books. Some together, usually fiction, over dinner or on trips. We’re in the grips of a spy novel at the moment. When Libby is reading something inspiring I will know about it because she will want to read me particular sections. Initially, I had to overcome an little internal resistance, as if she was reading ‘at’ me. (I hate to admit to that kind of insecurity, but many husbands like me assume that we are always on the brink of needing correction. The only words more terrifying than, “Can we talk?” are “Can I read you something?”
But this summer I’ve appreciated things that she has read. Currently she is inspired by Mostly What God Does, by Savannah Guthrie. The openness and honesty of Guthrie about her life struggles and failures prompt good conversations between us. (Okay, get over your judgmental response to celebrities whining about their problems.)
What is amusing to me is that Libby seems to develop a personal relationship with authors who inspire her. She and Savannah are best friends now.
I might read again a book I listened to this summer, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, by C.S. Lewis. It was not so much what Lewis said that stretched me, it was how he thought about his experience, how aware he was of himself. His usual wit was entertaining as well, like when he said that the chief job of lay people in church is to “endure” the novel innovations of pastors, as if the worship of God needed to be improved.
My favorite fiction writers at the moment are Daniel Silva, Brad Taylor, and David Baldacci. I know that I should be reading the classics, but do you know how long The Count of Monte Cristo is on audio? 52 hours 41 minutes!
What did you read this summer? Fiction or nonfiction?
Do you talk about your reading to each other?
What would you recommend?
Mark
