Tag Archives: books

Kansas City, Here I Come

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When PB asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, I was ready with an answer.

“I want to go to Kansas City and visit the Charles Spurgeon Library on the campus of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.”

Not your typical birthday request, I know. Even PB raised his eyebrows at that one, but he’s always game for a road-trip-adventure. And I promised him some KC barbeque.

As we crossed the state line into Missouri, we played “Kansas City, Here I Come” by Wilbert Harrison, recorded in 1959, which seemed appropriate since it was my birthday trip and that’s my birth year.

See? I wasn’t making it up. Not every old dead guy gets his own library.

Spurgeon had a 12,000-volume personal library. After he died, half of his books were sold and ended up in America. They sat in boxes for 100 years in a basement. Then Midwestern Baptist rescued them and someone donated several million dollars to build a library to house and display them. Everything you ever wanted to know about Charles Spurgeon is there. We spent three hours soaking up every bit of it.

PB was a trooper.
Down deep, I think he loved seeing everything as much as I did.

This is the pew Charles was sitting on when he came to saving faith in Jesus.
He was 15 years old.
He started preaching at 17 and had his first church when he was 19.

Spurgeon’s desk—we were allowed to touch it.

So Many Books. The man read six books every week.
That’s 312 books per year.
But then, Spurg didn’t have TV or Internet or Automobiles.

The paintings all over the library were really beautiful.
Every little enclosed case had a story.

There were three cigars in his coat pocket when he died.
To the glory of God.

A good time was had by all.

My admiration for CHS grew exponentially.
I sure hope he teaches and preaches in the New Earth.
I’ll be in the front row, grinning from ear to ear.

We celebrated at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que with brisket and burnt ends.

Thanks, honey, for making my birthday dreams come true.
You’ll always be my #1 preacher.

Best of 2024

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“I do not want to just read books;
I want to climb inside them and live there.”
~Unknown

I’ve climbed inside some great books this year–47 to be exact. Picking my top ten won’t be easy, but here goes.

10. The Dean’s Watch, Elizabeth Goudge
I read one Goudge book every year for the sheer enjoyment of it. The English countryside in her captivating stories is a perfect escape for me in February. There’s always transformation, redemption, and beauty, but never in a formulaic way. This is a good one to climb into.

9. Water From a Deep Well, Gerald L. Sittser
I’m a church-girl, but I didn’t know much about the sweep of church history. It may sound boring, but Sittser made it come alive starting with the early Christian martyrs and moving through the desert saints, the monastic movement, the mystics, the medieval laity, the reformers, and evangelicalism. We stand on the shoulders of centuries of faithful believers.

8. David’s Crown, Malcolm Guite
Guite wrote a sonnet for every one of the 150 psalms with a creative twist. The last line of each psalm is the first line of the following psalm and this pattern is woven throughout the book. Then the last line of Psalm 150 is the first line of Psalm 1. So cool. He’s a true wordsmith.

7. The Bartender’s Tale, Ivan Doig
This is a rollicking-good story set in Montana in 1960. Doig’s characters are so well developed and the settings so masterfully described that reading his books only feeds my fantasy of living in Montana. Talking about this novel with my neighborhood bookclub made it even better. Plus, snacks were served.

6. The Re-Set, Jeremy Riddle
I listened to the audio version of this book. Riddle read his own words with such passion and conviction, I was brought to tears more than once. He had some hard things to say about the state of worship in the modern church, but always with a heart of love. I’ve given this book to every worship leader I know.

5. The Storied Life, Jared C. Wilson
Jared Wilson is “Author-in -Residence” at Midwestern Seminary which means his job is to write stuff. After publishing 26 books, he wrote a book on how to write books. I don’t know if I have a book in me, but I’ll definitely use his wise words to propel me into 2025 with fresh inspiration.

4. The Last Battle, C. S. Lewis
I read “The Chronicles of Narnia” to PB this year. The last page of the last book gives me goosebumps every time. Narnia is a treasure.

3. Kristin Lavransdatter, Sigrid Unset
I wanted to read a book set in another country, so I picked a 1,124 page novel about a Norwegian woman in the 1300’s. I’ve never read medieval literature, or Scandinavian history or a book that’s more than 2″ thick. I new experience for me—and I liked it.

2. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
PB and I immersed ourselves in Dickens this Christmas. We watched the 2009 animated film with Jim Carrey as Scrooge. We read “A Christmas Carol” together. We took the free course from Hillsdale College, which consisted of six delightful lectures by a literature professor. Then we watched “The Man Who Invented Christmas”—the story of the journey that led Dickens to write his Christmas masterpiece. God bless us everyone.

1. Trusting God in the Darkness, Christopher Ash
This was the book that impacted me the most this year, which I read while studying the book of Job. Themes of suffering, loneliness and despair were gently dealt with in Ash’s book. Every single page has sentences underlined or notes written in the margin. It’s too good to say any more about it. When you’re ready to wade into deep waters, get a copy and read it slow.

Honorable Mention: volumes 1 and 2 of the Harvard Classics.

Here are two other “Best of” lists:

Movies/TV shows

  • Jonathan and Jesus, Prime documentary
  • Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office, PBS
  • Yesterday, Netflix movie
  • Music by John Williams, Disney + documentary
  • Young Woman and the Sea, Disney+ movie

Podcasts

  • Bible Project, Sermon on the Mount series
  • Church of the City New York, Jon Tyson
  • Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram
  • What It’s Like To Be, Dan Heath
  • The Cause, Rob Pirie

Climb into a good book in 2025!

Further Up and Further In

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Back when we were homeschooling, my favorite part of the day was the afternoon read-aloud time. I loved picking out great stories and doing all the “voices” of the characters. The kids would sprawl out on the living room carpet and color or draw or build Lego creations while I read. “One more chapter, pleeeease” was music to my ears.

I missed afternoon read-aloud time when the kids grew up and left the nest. So I decided to read to PB. My dear husband is always a good sport when it comes to my ideas, God bless him. As it turns out, he loved it as much as the kids did. And I still get to do “voices.”

I was shocked when he admitted that he had never read The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, so we started book one last January. This week, we finished book seven. Please understand that instead of “one more chapter, please” I now hear soft snores after a few pages. It’s slow going.

The characters were a real test of my various voice inflections. King Tirian got a British accent while the Dwarfs spoke with a Scottish brogue. Shift, the Ape, had a Texas drawl and Puzzle, the donkey, was given a Bronx dialect. Puddleglum had an “Eeyore-ish” sound and Rishda was gravelly and sinister. Of course, for Aslan, I tried my best to imitate Liam Neeson and I took it up a few octaves for Reepicheep.

“The Last Battle” is my favorite book in the series. I couldn’t hold back the tears at the end when Aslan came leaping down the mountain, “like a waterfall of power and beauty.” When the children said goodbye to the Shadowlands, I had to stop reading for a minute. PB didn’t quite know what to do.

As the beloved characters go further up and further in,
the reader knows what this is all about.
This is heaven, Eden restored, the Golden Gates opened.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” said Lucy. “Have you noticed one can’t feel afraid, even if one wants to? Try it. “By Jove, neither one can,” said Eustace after he had tried.

“The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside.”

The Chronicles end with this magnificent paragraph—

And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Some of the finest words ever written.
Pass the tissues.

In case you’re wondering what’s up next for PB:

Classic Adventure

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PB and I took a little road trip.
We didn’t go very far.
We weren’t gone for very long.
That’s our kind of adventure.

We went to a band concert in a park.
We toured a breathtaking religious site.
We walked through a historical homestead.
We overlooked a river at flood stage from a bluff.
We ate steak and shrimp at a good old fashioned supper club.

The highlight, for me, was a stop at the largest used book store in the state, with over half a million books.

Be still, my heart.

After perusing dusty titles for the better part of an hour, I stumbled on a treasure—literally. A stack of volumes on the floor tripped me up. And I’m so glad they did.

The Harvard Classics were compiled in 1909 by Charles W. Eliot, Harvard University President. He proposed that anyone who would commit to reading this “Five-Foot Shelf of Books” would be exposed to the greatest works ever written and be duly educated.

Sign me up.

The complete 50-volume set is available on Amazon—for $1300. The new books have shiny fake-leather covers and clean, crisp pages.

In that used bookstore I found my treasure at 95.4% off the Amazon price! The covers were faded and the pages were musty. Perfection!

It took me a while to track down PB in that gigantic maze of a bookstore. But when I did and he saw the glimmer in my eye, he knew. A treasure at a bargain price cannot be denied. Now I just need him to put up a five-foot long shelf in my office.

I’m hoping to open Dante’s Divine Comedy or Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and find a few hidden $20 bills from 1909. Even if I don’t, the true treasure is the joy of reading and learning from the old books.

Volume 1, here I come.

All the Books

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I’m a book girl. When I was in elementary school, I was taught “readin’, ‘ritin’, and ‘rithmetic.” As time went on, I majored in reading, liked writing, and got by in math. I can balance my checkbook and I can figure out which box of cereal is the best deal per ounce. But algebraic equations and geometry proofs were never my strong suit.

Reading is my jam.
I love going to libraries as much as PB likes going to Menards.
And that’s saying something.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library boasting a collection of more than 34.5 million books among 838 miles of shelves.* Amazon’s online store contains over 32.8 million published titles, with 7,500 new Kindle books published daily.**

So many books, so little time.
Sigh.

John, the beloved disciple, ended his masterpiece gospel with this thought:
“Jesus did many other things as well.
If every one of them were written down,
I suppose that even the whole world would not have room
for all the books that would be written.” John 21:25

34.5 million books? Small potatoes.
838 miles of shelves? A drop in the bucket.

Just think of all the things Jesus did that aren’t recorded in the gospels. What was life like for Jesus and His parents in Egypt during those years of hiding from King Herod? Was there any sibling rivalry between Jesus and His brothers? When He turned water into wine, what kind of wine was it? What did Jesus talk about with Moses and Elijah on the mountain of transfiguration? Did Jesus laugh out loud and do a dance when He rose from the dead?

So many questions. So much time.
👏👏👏👏

The whole world may not have room
for all the books that could be written about Jesus,
but the new heavens and new earth will.

You will find me in the heavenly library someday,
with all the time in the world to read all the books in the world.

*Statistic from http://www.loc.gov
** Statistic from http://www.wordsrated.com

Books of 2023

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I took a different approach in my reading life this year. Instead of setting a goal to read a certain number of books (I read 37 – of course I kept track), I created some categories in hopes of becoming a more well-rounded reader. I think it worked. I feel rounder.

1 book by Elizabeth Goudge — Genetian Hill by E. Goudge
I read a Goudge book every February. Her writing is full of English cottages and rose gardens and lovely language. I seem to need that in February. During the year, I look for copies at used book sales and shops. The musty smell and worn pages enhance the overall experience.

1 book by Eugene Peterson — Leap Over a Wall by E. Peterson
This book on the life of David and his relationships with various people was a great companion while I read through the Biblical record of David in 1&2 Samuel. Peterson communicates deep theology without being stuffy.

1 book on the Fruit of the Spirit: Joy — Aggressively Happy by Joy Marie Clarkson
Clarkson is delightful, funny and tells good stories. She’s also a realist: “Cultivating happiness takes grit, determination and a good sense of humor. It’s a lot of work.” One other book in this category: Choose Joy by Kay Warren.

1 book on prayer — Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton
Staton is the director of the 24/7 Prayer Movement in the USA. He can write about the topic because the man is a pray-er. I needed his passionate words to give my prayer life a jolt.

1 old Christian classic — The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (written in 1678) and Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard (written in 1955). I’ve read them both before, but I was given beautiful gift copies, so I read them again. And I’ll read them in the future. Classics.

1 English classic — Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I haven’t read this iconic story until now. I picked it up because it was short (only 100 pages) and it fit my category. It’s kind of creepy and kind of cool and now I know what references to “Jekyll and Hyde” really mean.

1 book of poetry — The Word in the Wilderness by Malcolm Guite
Poetry is hard. Malcolm is here to help. This book contains a poem a day for the season of Lent and Easter. I read the poem each day, then read Guite’s explanation of the poem, then read the poem again and said, “Ahhhhhh. I get it now.” Poetry is wonderful.

1 book on nature — The Heart of John Muir’s World by Millie Stanley
Muir was the “Father of National Parks” and grew up in the mid 1800’s a few miles from where I live. He wrote, “Oh! that glorious Wisconsin wilderness!” I need to be reminded to open my eyes and take in all the natural glory right in my own backyard.

1 biography/memoir — All My Knotted Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore
Over the years I’ve done several Beth Moore Bible studies. Sometimes I love her, and sometimes I roll my eyes a little bit. Shame on me. You never know what a person has gone through in life. Her transparency and conversational style had me gobbling up this book in two days. Then I listened to her read the audio version. I also read the memoir Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield.

1 Jane Austen book — Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
I’ve read “Pride and Prejudice” several times, but now I’m making my way through her other books, one by one. Three down, three to go.

1 book on writing — Write Tight by William Brohaugh
I’m a sucker for books on the craft of writing. I’ve read so many they all are starting to sound the same. Basically, “sit down and write.” All right already.

1 Montana historical novel — The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
My great grandparents homesteaded in Montana in the late 1800s and I’ve dreamed of living in Big Sky country ever since I was a little girl. I’ve read this title before, but PB and I listened to the audio book on our way to Montana in June. Pure delight! I also read Dancing at the Rascal Fair by the same author.

1 book on the church — Positively Irritating: Embracing a Post Christian World to Form a More Faithful and Innovative Church by Jon Ritner
This was my #1 book of 2023. It shook me up (in a good way) and caused me to think hard about church and culture in new, scary, and exciting ways. Ritner asserts that the church needs to pivot from being a “restaurant” (expecting people to come in and be served) to becoming a “food truck” (taking the gospel out to where people are). I can’t stop thinking about it.

Honorable Mention:
The Sound of Life’s Unspeakable Beauty by Martin Schleske
Secrets Of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge
On Getting Out of Bed by Alan Noble
David Rise by Mark Buchanan

May God bless your reading of books in 2024!
 

My Top Books of 2022

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‘Tis the season for book lists. I’ll join the party.

To be honest, 2022 wasn’t a great reading year for me. Maybe it had something to do with a major life change (retirement), but I had a hard time focusing and concentrating. Maybe it was because I kept picking bad books. All I know is, I gave up on more books than ever before. I managed to plow through 28 books this year, which is about half of my usual. Here are my top five.

5. Surrender to Love, by David Benner
My word for 2022 was “hesed”, the Hebrew word for love. I thought to myself, “I’m going to learn how to love. I’m going to become a more loving person. I’m going to get this love thing down.” Then I read Surrender to Love and everything shifted. My quest to become a better lover had to start with learning how to be a better receiver of the Father’s love. When I tried to imagine God thinking about me, I usually assumed He was somewhat frustrated and disappointed. I began contemplating the fact that God bursts with love for me, and that love swells in His heart when He thinks of me. I don’t know if I got any better at loving other people this year, but I did find a deeper appreciation for the length, width, depth and height of His love for humans, including me.

4. Reforesting Faith, by Matthew Sleeth
Trees were a major theme for me this year. I read books about trees, I listened to podcasts about trees, I listened to sermons on trees. And I spent a lot of time walking in the woods. I read Matthew Sleeth’s book in January and thought about it all year. He points out, “Other than God and people, the Bible mentions trees more than any other living thing. There is a tree on the first page of Genesis, in the first psalm, on the first page of the New Testament, and on the last page of the Revelation. Every significant theological event in the Bible is marked by a tree.” His comparison of human lungs and tree roots still blows my mind.

3. Deeper, by Dane Ortlund
Dane Ortlund’s book, Gentle and Lowly was my 2020 book of the year, so I was eager to read his next offering. It did not disappoint. He addresses the broad idea of what it means to grow in faith and mature in Christ. Then he gives practical advice on how to do that without becoming formulaic. I turned many of his ideas into prayers: “Lord, help me to trade in my snorkel and face mask for scuba gear that takes me down into the depths I’ve never peered into before.” (I can’t find my copy. If I lent it to you, could I please have it back?!) 🙂

2. How It Went, by Wendell Berry
My absolute favorite fiction book series is Wendell Berry’s Port William novels. I read all of them in 2017 and it was pure joy. I’ve been thinking about re-reading the series, just because I miss the characters and Berry’s way of writing about them. So imagine my delight when I saw a new addition! I couldn’t push the “Buy Now” button fast enough. At 88 years old, Berry still has the ability to write words that make me ache and smile all at once.

1. The Songs of Jesus, by Tim Keller with Kathy Keller
My 2022 book of the year is The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms. This book saved my life this year. I’ve never spent an entire year in one book of the Bible, but God knew this was exactly what I would need in 2022. The Psalms became my anchor, my refuge, my strength. Along with reading the short passage, reflection and prayer each day, I made notes and highlighted key words in my Illuminated Scripture Journal book. But mostly I prayed the psalms. They gave me words I didn’t have, expressed emotions I was afraid to feel, and taught me the language of praise.

As Dane Ortlund states in Deeper, “The Psalms are the one book in the Bible addressed to God. In it God takes us by the hand and gives us words to speak back to Him.” The Psalms did indeed take me deeper into the heart of God. They will continue to be my lifelong companions.

I discovered more resources that kept pouring the richness of the Psalms into my heart and mind.

  • In The Lord I Take Refuge podcast, by Dane Ortlund
  • Hidden Streams podcast, by Chad Bird
  • Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon’s commentary on the Psalms
  • Music by The Corner Room, The Psalms Project, Poor Bishop Hooper and many others

“We cannot bypass the Psalms. They are God’s gift to train us in prayer that is comprehensive and honest. That’s it: open your Bibles to the book of Psalms and pray them — sequentially, regularly, faithfully, across a life-time. This is how most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have matured in prayer. Nothing fancy. Just do it.” — Eugene Peterson, Answering God

Here’s to a prosperous reading year in 2023!
Sing some songs of Jesus in the year ahead!

Resources
My Word for 2022
Be Like a Tree
Tree of Life
Fruitless
10 Things I Learned in January
The Bible Project, Tree of Life series: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/tree-of-life/
Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness, by Michael Card

My Top Books of 2021

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I like reading end-of-the-year posts that reflect back on favorite things, especially books. Sometimes I find a few titles to add to my TBR list. Sometimes I shake my head and screw up my nose at people’s taste in reading. These lists are pretty subjective and mine is no different. So take what you want and feel free to leave the rest.

I read 53 books in 2021, 12 of which were fiction, which is a new record for me. Because I focused on prayer this year, there are several titles on that topic. Here we go!

10. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People, by Pete Greig
Pete is the head of the 24/7 Prayer Movement. Back in 1999, a simple student-led prayer vigil in England went viral and people all over the world joined in to pray. And it never stopped. Twenty-two years later, Greig has learned a thing or two about prayer. This straight-forward, approachable guide was a good reminder of basics that I needed.

9. God On Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer, by Pete Greig
What happens when the head of a global prayer movement doesn’t get an answer to his prayers? Greig’s wife suffered a series of seizures that almost took her life and she continues to live with a debilitating disease, despite prayers for healing. In this book, Greig gets personal and honest about his own struggle and helps us wrestle with the hard reality of unanswered prayer. He reads the audio version of his book — you can hear the pain and the hope in his voice.

8. Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep, by Tish Harrison Warren
Drawing on her own painful experience of loss and doubt, Warren was grounded by liturgical prayer when she had no words of her own to pray. She writes about going through hard seasons in a way that helps us see the beauty in the midst. Her book opened up to me the world of ancient prayers given to the church through the centuries — rich prayers that are deep and vibrant.

7. The Whistling Season, by Ivan Doig
One of my reading goals this year was to find a novel set in Montana in the early 1900s. Why, you ask? My great-great-grandparents went to Montana in the late 1800s and homesteaded near Lewistown. I have a pile of letters written by Great-Great-Grandma Harriet to her daughter Kate (my great-grandma) in Wisconsin. I have long idealized what life was like for them out in Big Sky country. This novel helped me enter into their world. Plus, it’s a really enjoyable story.

6. Reading Ruth, by Leon Kaas and Hannah Mandelbaum
Our church did a women’s Bible study this summer on Ruth, so I downloaded this short volume to read along. It is written by a Jewish man and his granddaughter, which I thought was charming. Although Kaas is not a Jesus follower, his insights into Jewish tradition and the Hebrew meaning of words really enriched the study.

5. Night Driving: Notes From a Prodigal Soul, by Chad Bird
This is the story of an arrogant pastor and driven seminary professor who destroyed his marriage and career with affairs and addictions. With his life in a heap of ruins, he started driving a semi-truck through the Texas oil fields at night. After ten years of bitter struggle, grace and healing finally won his heart. He was a prodigal soul who found his way back to God. Chad Bird became a humble servant who now writes like no one else. Other books by this author that I read this year include: “Your God Is Too Glorious”, “The Christ Key”, and “Unveiling Mercies”. I will read everything this man puts out there.

4. Pray Big: Learn to Pray Like an Apostle, by Alistair Begg
This book caught my eye at a radio station where PB and I were doing an interview. The host told me to take it home with me and since I can’t turn down a free book, I slipped it in my purse. I was afraid this little paperback would turn out to be one of those “name-it-and-claim-it” kinds of things. I was skeptical. I was wrong. This small gem held many nuggets of truth that I’m still thinking about.

3. God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in the Everyday World, by Andrew Wilson
At the time I read Wilson’s book, I thought it was okay. But then I kept taking it off the shelf and referring back to it over and over. He takes the simple, ordinary things of this earth and weaves them around scripture, tying the holy to the common. My favorite chapter was entitled “Pigs”, but each short chapter holds its own treasure.

2. A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson, by Winn Collier
Collier was given the privilege of perusing all of Eugene Peterson’s personal diaries and journals, as well as compiling notes from hours of interviews with the famous pastor/writer before Peterson died in 2018. This biography doesn’t leave out the uncomfortable stuff, yet captures the remarkable life of a man of enduring faith, boundless creativity and lifelong devotion to the Word.

1. Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer, by Eugene Peterson
My number one book this year combined the theme of my year (prayer) with one of my favorite authors (Peterson). This book was a turning point for me in my quest to better understand prayer and become a better pray-er. “We cannot bypass the Psalms. They are God’s gift to train us in prayer that is comprehensive and honest.” Here is his recommendation: “That’s it: open your Bibles to the book of Psalms and pray them — sequentially, regularly, faithfully, across a life-time. This is how most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have matured in prayer. Nothing fancy. Just do it.” Most of my copy of this book is underlined. If you’re at all interested in falling in love with the Psalms, or learning to pray like Jesus did, this is the book for you.

As always, I’d love a good book recommendation!
I’ll add it to the 200 titles on my TBR list.
Here’s to a happy reading year in 2022!

Favorite Books of 2020

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Most people are ready to say, “So long!” to 2020.
It did seem so long.

Still, I can’t resist a look back at one of the most unique years of my life. In the midst of uncertainty, loss and grief, there were some surprising gifts. So, during these closing days of 2020, I’ll be sharing some of those good things — starting, of course, with books. I read 50 books this year. Here are my faves:

1. The Chronicles of Narnia
I started off the year by reading through the seven volume series by C. S. Lewis. I was familiar with “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, but have never read the whole series. Fantasy isn’t my forte, but Lewis created a world that drew me in. I cried when Aslan bounded down the mountain in the final scene. The series was written for children, but it is deep and rich enough for any adult.

2. The Scent of Water
Elizabeth Goudge was a British author who wrote novels set in English towns with flowery descriptions of gardens and cottages. I found, tucked within her stories, bits of wisdom that have stuck with me. I kept stopping to jot down lines that made me sigh with satisfaction.

“Lord have mercy. Thee I adore. Into Thy hands. These are three necessary prayers and they have three words each. Not difficult to remember. If in times of distress you hold to these you will do well.”

In mid-February, little did I know “times of distress” were around the corner. I was grateful for those three three-word, necessary prayers in the months to come.

3. Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament
Most of us don’t know how to lament very well. There’s a right way to do it, and Mark Vroegop walks us through it in this book. After losing a child, Vroegop traveled into dark clouds and then found his way back to deep mercy. The Psalms gave words to his suffering and he encourages us to be honest about our pain on the way to healing.

4. Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus and Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus
These two books by Lois Tverberg were extremely helpful in understanding Jesus’ Jewishness and middle eastern culture in general. There are some things in the Bible that seem strange to my American mindset, but make perfect sense when put in the context of New Testament Jewish understanding. Tverberg’s insights made the gospels come alive with meaning.

5. The Golden Alphabet
While preparing to write a series of blog posts on Psalm 119, I stumbled on this gem by Charles Spurgeon. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, taking about 12 minutes to read. Spurgeon’s verse by verse commentary takes 9 hours and 45 minutes to read. However did he do it with no internet?

6. All Things New: Heaven, Earth, and the Restoration of Everything You Love
John Eldredge writes in a way that makes me want to put the book down and applaud at the end of each chapter. Especially when it comes to imagining the possibilities that awaits us in eternity. If you think heaven is one long boring church service and all we do is sit around strumming harps, this book will rock your world.

7. Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad
I love Austin Kleon’s little books of pep talks. They are simple, profound and can be read in an afternoon. They contain a combination of funny drawings, poetry and good advise. Like this:

“How to Be Happy”

8. The Old Man and the Sea
I wanted to read at least one classic this year and this title by Ernest Hemingway was available at the library. It was also skinny — only 128 pages. I had another reason for reading this book. I remember my mother tucking me in at night and saying, “Bed, you are my friend,” which was supposedly a quote by Santiago, the old Cuban fisherman. She was close (“And bed, he thought. Bed is my friend. Just bed, he thought. Bed will be a great thing”). Now it makes me wonder if sometimes at night, my mother felt exhausted, like she fought with the biggest fish in the ocean all day.

9. The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Healthier, Happier and More Creative
This book wasn’t an easy read and (full disclosure) I skimmed some of it. Written by Florence Williams, a journalist from Washington D.C., it’s full of reports on studies done on the effects of spending time in natural surroundings. I figured nature was good for us, but I didn’t know HOW good. According to this book, it’s more important than we think. She included enough personal stories to keep me interested, but in the end, the scientific findings were what stuck with me. We need nature.

10. Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
Dane Ortlund’s thoughtful and meditative book was my #1 book of the year. This look at the heart of Christ made me think about things I’ve never thought about before. It showed me things about Jesus I’ve never noticed before. The chapters were short, but packed with many, many underline-able sentences. I will be carrying this one with me into the new year, reading it again so I can discover more things to think about and underline everything I didn’t the first time through.

Here’s to a good reading year in 2021!

January Lit List

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I remember my mother saying that February wasn’t good for anything except reading a book. I’ve adopted that same philosophy, but expanded it to include January and March. Gloomy winter days and cold dark nights are especially conducive to knocking titles off my To Be Read list and moving them to my Books Read notebook.

I’ve been listing books since 2004. There are enough pages in my notebook to keep recording titles until 2059. I’ll be 100 years old. I like to plan ahead.

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2017 has gotten off to a brisk start. Here’s what has been on the bookshelf in January:

  • The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gains — their love story and their rise to fame. They have somehow stayed humble and appreciative. Inspiring.
  • Nathan Coulter by Wendell Berry — the first of Berry’s “Port Williams” series of stories. Wendell didn’t know it would turn into a series when he wrote this. I’m glad he kept going.
  • Watch For the Light: Readings for Advent — this compilation of readings continued into January. It was nice to extend Christmas through Epiphany.
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte — somehow I made it through sixteen years of education without reading this book. I listened to the free audio version by LibriVox, complete with Elizabeth Klett’s English accent.
  • The Art of Slow Writing by Louise De Salvo — I’m a slow writer. Now I know it’s an art.
  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows — purely for fun. So delightful. I wanna go to Guernsey.
  • Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry — my heart just swelled typing this title. Oh Wendell. I wish you could come over for dinner and talk about Troy and Mattie and Burley. And, of course, Jayber.

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Happy winter reading!