Books-A-Million

One of the great things about being in this "period of transition" (aside from the blessing of being home with my children) is the time it affords me to do things that are otherwise difficult to do. Even simple things.

Like read a book.

Seriously, for as long as I can remember, I've been made to read. Aside from Marvel comics I collected when I was growing up (mostly X-Men and various Spider-Man series), the most I read was an occasional Choose-Your-Own-Adventure or Sugar Creek Gang book from the church library. The childhood book I remember with the most fondness is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I just may read it again to rediscover some of that childhood magic.

But mostly I was made to read for academic reasons. I was never one of those kids that took to the joy of reading (like my oldest sister "Gwiddle" who could always be found curled up on her bed reading a book). I think the only book I cover-to-cover in high school was The Great Gatsby - easily less than 200 small pages. Why? Because it was really short. Shorter than, say...the almost 500 page phonebookesque, high-schooler-spirit-crushing novel The Grapes of Wrath? Fuggedaboutit. Curse that Steinbeck guy...

For most of my college experience, I was reading a different kind of literature (while riding a piano bench), and a lot of it. That was certainly more joyous than reading my psychology or accounting textbooks, even when I was tangled up in some of Bach's mind-boggling fugues and worn down by some of Liszt's hammer-hand techniques.

During my graduate studies, however, I experienced the second recorded Great Flood of history - God's personal judgment against me for all those books I sin-skimmed in high school and college. I had to read an average of probably 10-12 books a semester. You see, for me this was uncharted waters, drowning in a true flood of, at times, some very lifeless stuff. Worse yet, I had to pay for them all out of my pocket. There's something to be said for the stereotype of a "poor seminary student."

I came across a lot of great books, and am thankful for that, but I'm really enjoying this season where I can pick and choose what I want to read. It helps that my wife is working as an assistant manager at a bookstore; she keeps the suggestions coming. In fact, I attribute this reading renaissance I'm experiencing largely to her. Thanks, Renelu.

I've read several books, am reading a couple right now, and have a couple more in the queue. I hope to give little reports on each of them over the next few posts. Maybe you'll find one that will impact or speak to you the way it has me. Or maybe we can find something to argue about. That would be fun. I only get to argue with preteens and preschoolers, and that gets old sometimes.

Stay tuned...

PS - Sorry for the delay between posts - I've been too busy reading!