Reading Reflections 2017

You know my life is busy when I'm not reading. I have to be super busy not to be able to read. (Or I have to think I'm too busy to read. It's one of the two.) From October - December of 2017 the only thing I managed to read were books aloud to the kids and I was playing major catch up in my Chronological Bible in order to complete reading the Bible though by the end of the year.

You can see my 2017 Reading List here. I link reviews to titles and one thing you'll quickly notice is that while I read a little, I wrote even less. The sad thing to me is that I have a bad memory when it comes to books and writing out my thoughts on them helps to solidify stories and information. For that reason, I am sorry that I dropped book blogging because there is likely much more information lost than in year's past. While I hope to correct that this year, one never knows how life will go! Meanwhile, I thought I'd take a quick moment to record my favorite reads of 2017.

As I mentioned earlier this week, this past fall our family went to Prince Edward Island on vacation and so the large chunk of my 2017 reading was focused on the works of Lucy Maud Montgomery. A huge treat and treasure was picking up a copy of After Many Years: Twenty-One "Long-Lost" Stories by Montgomery. If I had to pick a favorite of my Montgomery-related reads, I'd have to pick this After Many Years because it was fresh, new and therefore especially fun!

As a bonus, I purchased my copy of After Many Years at the site of Maud's Cavendish Home and it is stamped as such.

The book I feel most accomplished for having read (or, uh, finished) was Atlas Shrugged and I made a very short blog post about that! Atlas Shrugged was tremendously fulfilling but a great deal of work! I can honestly say I enjoyed it and that I'm glad to have read it. Also, I'm glad it's over.

I'm still a huge fan of D.E. Stevenson books and still devour everyone that I can lay my hands on. This year I was blessed to read three different titles by this delightful author. If I had to choose a favorite I guess I'd say I most enjoyed Celia's House.

One of the most interesting books I read this past year was most definitely Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies, by J.B. West.

I picked this up during one of Amazon's Deal of the Day offers on the Kindle and I'm SO glad that I did. This title is absolutely fascinating. If you want to get a better picture of what the life of any random First Lady is like, then this is the book for you. West served as Chief Usher at the White House for decades and he recounts his experiences with six of our nation's First Ladies. What I love is that he didn't write this book to "dish" on any one particular First Lady but to explain an institution. It's fabulously well done. Take a trip down memory lane with this one and enjoy the ride!

This past year was probably the year I learned the valuable importance of the read aloud book for me, the mother. If the only book I get to spend time with is the one that I also will be sharing with my kids, I want to make that read aloud a particularly good one! (I can see some of you smiling and nodding your heads even now!) Once upon a time I was browsing the bookshelves at Powell's up in Portland. A dad approached me to ask if I had read the Swallows and Amazons series yet. He raved for a few minutes about how he had read them aloud to his kids and absolutely loved them. His sales pitch sold me and I purchased a couple of the titles.

Fast forward to 2017 and it looked like the reading level would be appropriate for almost all of our kids (ages 3- 11 now!) and so I pulled Swallows and Amazons off the shelf and read it aloud.

And. we. loved. it.

This twelve book series is set in between the World Wars and is set in the Lake District in England. Published in the 1930's, these books were the Harry Potter series of their day and they deserve another go 'round. It follows the adventures of four siblings and their explorations as they sail and camp and make friends with the locals on their holidays. We read the first book and immediately chased that book down with the second, Swallowdale. I loved these books so much that I think I have to declare them my top favorite books read in 2017! They are wonderful! Oh, and the kids liked them too. However, they did request a break before we move onto the third book in the series so I've complied with the request. Just you wait though because the moment I am "allowed" to go back in the world of the Swallows, I'll be there in a heartbeat! Also, I'm pretty sure I want to spend the rest of my life in the Lake District in England.

That pretty much summarizes my reading year. What about yours? If you've written up an end of the year reflection post, I'd love to see it! Leave the link in the comment section and I'll go visitin' my old book blogging buddies and catch up a bit!

Happy New Year to you all! I really have missed you!

Reading vs. Housework - This Week in Words

Ah ha! An argument that interests me! =D

Carpe Libris introduced me to this article by Susan Wise Bauer on the importance of reading. This was my favorite quote:

“Acquaint yourself with your own ignorance," Isaac Watts advised his readers in his self-education treatise Improvement of the Mind (originally published in 1741). “Impress your mind with a deep and painful sense of the low and imperfect degrees of your present knowledge." This cheerful admonition was intended as a reassurance, not a condemnation. A well-trained mind is the result of application, not inborn genius. Smart readers aren't born; they're just willing to tackle difficult reading and to stick with it.

Click HERE to read the complete article. It produces some good food for thought!

Reading as a Ministry (Part 2)

I talked about how I view Reading as a Minstry a few weeks back as it's been something that has been on my mind for awhile. I originally meant it to be a one-post deal, but then you all started leaving comments and sharing your thoughts and so I relabeled that post "Part 1." I have no idea how many times I'll talk about it. It might depend on how much you decide to talk about it.


To reiterate what I said the first time, I think that reading is a ministry in two ways:


1. As you read you should be discerning what is truth and what is untruth and applying it to your life. As you make practical applications of what you've read, you will be changed as will the lives around you. In other words, what goes in must come out. What will be it? Will you read quality or fluff? Whatever goes in, will come out.

2. By reading worthy books, you will be able to make good recommendations to others. Theoretically speaking, the person you've spoken to will take the book of your suggestion, read it, and make his or her own applications (see the #1 reason to view reading as a ministry). It's a circuluar concept.

In response to the first post, Barbara H. left a good comment worthy of some consideration and before I go any further in discussing this particular form of ministry, I want to address what she said.

Barbara said, "I have seen, though, on Christian message boards where someone will say they talked to so-an-so about a problem and "all they wanted to do was throw books at me." I was shocked. I never feel that way when someone recommends a book. I know sometimes we need a more immediate answer, but usually in such a conversation I'll share whatever the Lord lays on my heart to say and then recommend a good book that goes further on the subject." (She did go on to summarize her comments to also say, "But whether we recommend a specific book or share what we learned by reading one, what we read does make up the thoughts and illustrations we can share with others. I hadn't thought of it in terms of ministry, either, but it is that."

I was so glad you said that, Barbara, because I think it is easy for avid readers to want to push books all over people. I mean, we know the glories of reading, right? So naturally we want to share. It IS, as another commentor said, "our bent." I know that there are so many times where I want to tell someone, "Oh, if you'll just read this one book . . . !" I'm sure they'd find the answers that they'd need and then they would hear "my" advice through the words of another author - someone they don't know - and I get off scott free (essentially)!

Not everyone is a reader. (And that is an entirely different discussion that I'm going to desperately try to make myself avoid! Ha!) When we know that someone is not a reader, it does us little to no good to try to tell them about any particular book. The chances of them actually sitting down and spending time in the company of a wise (or otherwise!) author is slim to none. If we recommend a book instead of taking the time to communicate face-to-face then we may have lost the ability to truly minister to the person all together. We have to know the audience to whom we are speaking. We must listen to their needs and address them as accurately as possible. I totally agree with Barbara on this.

Women like to talk, right (as is pictured so accurately in the cartoon below!):




We need to be ready to TALK and not just "throw books" as one person complained. Still, we should be reading for ourselves, tucking away nuggets of truth, so that we can share what we have learned for ourselves. (In other words, you wouldn't have a conversation with someone and constantly be saying, "Well, as C.S. Lewis said..." or "as Jane Austen pointed out...." or "as Jules Verne handily illustrated..." although you can say all of those things. However, if your entire conversation was pieces of OTHER people's thoughts and conversations, then you make a boring conversationalist and an ineffective minster of any sort at all!) What goes in, comes out. Take truth in and make it your own in thought, word and deed. Learn to share from your heart, not just the quotes in your head!

And even this leads me back to my original statement: in order to minister well one must be discerning. You must know why you are reading what you are reading. You must be thinking about what you read. You must hold books up and examine them in the light of scripture. You must discern what is truth and what is not. Particularly as a Christian reader, you have no right or excuse to NOT pursue truth because someone died in order to give it to you. The price of truth is high. The journey is difficult. But it is something to find great joy in.

It is a job, a responsibility and a delight to be a discerning reader. To be discerning, to develop that ability, is something to strive towards.

As you discern and sort through books, distinguishing the worthy from the unworthy, you will grow in wisdom and knowledge. With practice and study you will grow to learn what has merit and what does not. Some books ARE worthy to be read. Some books are not worthy at all. Do you right to make the call as to what is worhty and what is not? That sounds so arrogant, doesn't it? But I would suggest that you not only have the right but the responbility. Again, what will be helpful (as a Christian) to figure out which books are worth the time and which are not? Scripture. (Note: I'm not saying that books are "bad" or "good" because I think if I used those terms we'd start focusing on reading personalities and likes and dislikes and those things must be factored in. But even after the factoring has been done, you should still be left with a list of books that are worth people's time and those which are not.)

Reading is a priviledge. It is a responsibility. And by and through it you can find new and exciting ways to minister to other people whether you think you can or not. You never know what God will use to touch another person's heart. It could be a book, directly read. Or it could be you, someone who has read and can relate truth on a personal level - straight to the heart of the matter.

Reading as a Ministry (Part 1)

Reading as a ministry? Wha . . .!? Don't we read for personal pleasure? How on earth could reading be considered a ministry?

I admit I didn't really think of it as being a ministry at first. After all, it doesn't seem to fit the definition of serving others very well. Reading takes time and focuses your attention on things other than laundry, dishes, regular bouts of hospitality, one-on-one attention to the children, etc., etc., etc. I thought of reading as something I pursued for my own personal pleasure. It is my escape from life. It doesn't exactly feel like reading draws me TO life and to service and ministry to others.

But wait.

Two things.

1. When I read (at least for me personally) I'm testing my thoughts and beliefs. I'm debating truth within myself. Yes, I am being entertained in a way that I enjoy, but reading makes me think (as well it should!). I test the author's world view against my own. I see if what the author has to say matches up to what the Bible says is true, honorable, pure and good. I think (or I try to) a great deal while I am reading. (Hence I titled this site Reading to Know.)

What I think inside my head and what I believe is true (or not) will play out in my actions to others. What I put inside of me either ministers to me or it tears me down. Again, whatever I put inside of myself will come out. If I take the time to choose books well and wisely, then I have greater chance of being a blessing to others as I act out what is good and right. If I am blessed and inspired towards truth and accurate love, then I will be able to share the same with others.

No, I'm not trying to justify my reading time at all. I don't think I have to. What I internalize I will externalize in my treatment towards you and others. It behooves you and me both to find quality reading material for me to spend my time on. Time well spent on reading is well-spent elsewhere when I began applying whatever truths I took in, processed, and acted out.

Because I believe that what we read (watch on tv., the company we tend to keep) will influence our attitudes, actions and behaviors, I DO think reading can be a ministry to others as we seek to learn, grown and mature in life.


1 Corinthians 15:33, spelled out in various translations (Yes, I recognize that it is specifically addressing human companionship but if your companion is your television set or your bookshelf then me thinks it doth apply!):



Stop being deceived: "Wicked friends lead to evil ends." (ISV)



Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (AKJV)



Do not be tricked by false words: evil company does damage to good behaviour.



2. I believed all of the above but didn't really think of it in a hard fast word called "ministry" until a friend of mine sent me an e-mail to ask me if there was a book I could recommend to her that would help encourage her spirit and build her up. Having recently read a few titles I thought she would enjoy and would be "just the thing" for where she was at - I sent her my recommendations and she followed up on them. Then, in relatively short time frame, another friend of mine asked me for information on blogs and blogging in relation to books. I had a little bit of experience and was able to tell her what I knew. It was helpful to her and exciting to me.

Now, I don't share either of the above instances to puff myself up. At all. I'm not thinking along those lines. What I mean to explain was that it took those two instances, one after another, to get me to really shift my thinking to including "reading" under the header "ministry". What was a foreign concept, suddenly seemed to be quite obvious.

Reading does encourage spirits. It distracts in time of need. It fosters good relationships. Knowing what books are worthy of time and attention and which ones are not worth the time of day can assist others in finding the answers that they need and want in an efficient time period.

There are plenty of books out there in this world. We're all aware of this. However, there are not as many writing talents as there are books, if you catch my drift. Having the time, energy and interest to sort through the stacks of books is a help to those who have less time and/or interest in doing so. Furthermore, developing the skill of being a discerning reader is equally important in this ministry. Thinking clearly and accurately is a skill worth developing. (To understand my reasons for thinking so, read my review of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment.)

I think it's important to be a thinking reader. I don't think we have the option, really, of not being one. Reading "light" books/fiction or whatever is certainly a blessing and a joy at times and I begrudge no one that bliss. Fiction is just as important as non-fiction. I'm not making distinction here between genres as I am between the reader's approach to any book. We cannot simply turn our brains off when we read. It is a disservice to ourselves and to those immediately within our sphere of influence. As a reader we bear the responsibility of filtering books, thinking about them, talking about them, BLOGGING about them, promoting the good and shunning the bad. (Note: I did not say banning, I said shunning.)

My mother-in-law wrote down the following quote and I really don't know who to give proper credit to:

"You'll be the same person that you are now in five years, except for the people you meet and the books you read."

Books and relationships go together. They build us up individually and as a society and tear us down in the same way. It's important to think about what you are reading and let things influence you properly. When that is said and done, then you'll truly be ministering to others.

At least, that's my opinion, goal and hope.

That all said, I hope my personal question to myself upon picking up a book is, "How will this affect me and my ministry to others?"

It's a valid question, don'tcha think?