some books I've read and maybe you can too

Confession: I am not A READER. I saunter casually through the New York Times best-seller list choosing pretty much by cover design. I hmmm noncommittally when assaulted with face-to-face impassioned recommendations. I don’t make eye contact in Barnes and Noble. Sometimes I even forget that reading is in the realm of possibility. (you may start your shaming now…) 

But, I do love books. 

I feel I must tell you that these are not necessarily my favorites, or the best, or the least objectionable, or the most recent…these are books that have stuck to me. Changed me. Made me think hard about big things. Made me laugh like a hyena late at night in bed…and so forth and so on. You get the idea. FYI: I’ve chosen to save most of my Christian worldview books for another list. I've also chosen to let you look these up on Amazon yourself. Think of the calories you'll burn!

1.     The Boys in the Boat

Took me a few chapters to warm up to Daniel Brown’s account of the American rowing team in the 1936 Olympics, but I’m pretty sure I spent the rest of the book forgetting to breathe. The stories of these boys,  what they were up against, and what was going on in the world in that decade make this book worth ignoring heaping mounds of laundry, dirty dishes, emails, and texts from loved ones. Not that I would know anything about that.  

2. A Long Way Gone

Ishmael Beah wrote this gripping account of how he became a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. It’s too sad to give any more detail than that. Because of its graphic violence, I will likely not read it again. But if I ever interact with refugee children from a war-torn country (yes please), although I may not understand them, at least now I know, and my heart is bigger and softer for it. 

3. The Reason I Jump

Naoki Higashida had autism. And he was thirteen. And he up and wrote a book about his life. Let this sink in.   

4. Frozen in Time 

You’re going to want several forms of heat readily available when you read this book. I’m not kidding. Mitchell Zuckoff writes a gripping account of WW2, the Arctic, humanity, bravery, duty, loss, triumph…you get the idea. This book brought all the feels.

5. Shoe Dog

Phil Night created Nike. This is his memoir. Need I say more? I loved watching him gather and interact with his business team most of all. Plus, let’s face it. Athletic shoes and business were two fantastically new worlds for me. It was pretty cool to walk through them with a well-seasoned native like Phil Night. 

6. James Herriot

Big animals. Big personalities. Big food. Big country. All set in the outrageous beauty of the Yorkshire Dales. Warning: do not pick up this book if you are uncomfortable with bovines and/or someone sticking their arm up into one. There’s a fair bit of drinking and language as well. But, try as I might to stop, Herriot’s books get an annual read. 

7. Mitford

This Jan Karon series follows the life of an Episcopalian rector in a rural southern community. (stop laughing) The pages glow with small town and small church humor, and the characters are quirky and laugh out loud relatable. I seriously think I know some of these people in real life. These are hot tea, fuzzy blanket  and stormy weather books, and you will become addicted to them. Good thing Karon is prolific. 

8. The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness

I’m not sure why a friend gave me this book by Timothy Keller, *Looks into the middle distance* but I need it. It’s Scripture rich, engaging, short, and powerful. Right now I’ve got it on audio and it gets a listen every few weeks. Unless I forget. wink.

9. The Wright Brothers

I felt led to include a David McCullough on this list because it makes me look really good. It’s also a delightful slice of Americana. Two brothers invent in this book. And the odds are super against them. And then…they fly. So, yeah. You may want to pick this one up.  

10.    What I’m currently reading

Platform by Michael Hyatt. 

If you read this book, please do not notice that I have yet to take any of Michael Hyatt’s excellent and proven advice about how to grow your virtual platform. But someday, when I find my ducks so I can put them in a row, I will put them in Hyatt formation. And I dare say it will work splendidly. 

Of Time and the River by Thomas Wolfe. 

You guys, what this man does with English will blow. your. mind. The storyline is long-legged and awkward. The language can be unfortunate, and there may be some significant objectionable material ahead. Still, for now I find myself tearing off small shards of paragraph and chewing them slow like savory jerky until the flavor dissolves. Never you mind I’ve had the book for half a year and I’m less than 50 pages in. Reading Wolfe is rewarding work. 

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So, if you happen upon a 4’11” woman wearing fuzzy eye brow glasses darting around the B&N aisles throwing brightly colored books into her basket, just know it’s my attempt to mask my lack of bookish and be a reader like the rest of all y'all. And have pity. 

Beth 

you once were the same

I saw him first when I glanced at my rearview mirror. A large gray pickup truck swerving bully-like through the construction traffic behind me. Then all I could see was his grill as he laid on his horn inches from my back bumper. Then beside me in a flurry of obscene gestures and lurching in front of me with such a change in speed that I had to brake hard to keep from plowing into him.

Spending our life in malice and envy,

 hateful, hating one another

Then I saw it. Fixed prominently to the back of his truck was the most graphic image of a naked woman. I’ve never seen something that pornographic on a vehicle before. I blushed deep to think of so many people around me seeing what I was. I felt as if all women were being stripped of their dignity by that picture. I felt as if somehow my own worth had just been ripped away.

 Disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures.

You see, I know that man without knowing him. He thinks he is strong but he is weak. For all of his bluster, he is powerless. Bound skin-breaking tight with the chains of his anger and lust. Broken by his desires. He does not call the shots in his life. He is no free man. His pride and passion rule heavy-handed over him. And I know this man’s end; It is horrific. Sin only doles out one wage.

For we also once were foolish ourselves…

Then something clicked inside me. Like a cog that at long last had shifted into place. I know this man because I know myself. I know the sure fall in temptation. The pursuing of pleasures only to find that I cannot stop. The realization that the attitudes, and actions I thought put me in control were actually my masters, manipulating me like a limp puppet on a string.

But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared,

 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds…

but according to His mercy.

I know what it’s like to be rescued from that. I even know what it’s like to be rescued from that and not act like I have been. In reality there is nothing separating me from a life like that man but the kindness and love of God. His salvation that I heard, and it resonated so deep in my heart that with my whole being I lurched forward to believe it. And in that moment he saved me from myself. And He set me free from sin. And there is now no more condemnation.

so that being justified by His grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

So there I sat in my car looking like all the other flustered drivers he’d worked his evil on behind me. But the tears that began to fall were not angry tears. There was pity there mixed with sorrow mixed with a great thankfulness and wonder.

For we also once were foolish ourselves…

but He saved us.

Titus 3

Beth