No silly! I'm not going on a book tour. That's for writers who know what they're doing. I am giving a tour of the books in my life. We used to read a lot when I was a kid. We'd all gather in the living room at night and Dad would read to us. We lived in the boonies, y'all, and didn't have anything else to do at night. I'm glad we did it. I learned to love books.
If I have a lot of time on my hands-which is absolutely never, but I feel like at some point I did because I have this faint memory of it-I will enjoy all sorts of books. Nowadays my time is short. I want the book to be really excellent if I'm gonna spend my time reading it. The problem is, I haven't figured out the formula for what I consider awesome, so I can never figure out what book to start reading. I end up spending my reading time perusing Amazon or Goodreads trying to figure out what would be worth the short time I have to read it.
I want to know about the author. So then I start looking up their websites and making decisions based on the author as well. As if I need one more stipulation to add to what book I should choose. That's why recommendations from people I know are also biggies for me. If someone else-that I know y'all, not just a random person-read it and liked it, maybe I will too.
I like to learn something. I actually don't really want to read a story just for the sake of a good story. I want to read to the last page, close the book, and feel like I've learned something about history, a country, a group of people, or something.
As a child I loved the Betsy, Tacy & Tib books. I thought they were so cool and loved how much time they spent together. And what cool names y'all! I wanted to rename my best friend Tassy. Or Tib! Who wouldn't want a best friend named Tib? My best friend was named Susan and she only spoke Indonesian. But she lived two doors down from me and she didn't think I was too weird, even if I was the only white girl in the whole little Asian town I was raised in. So, you don't think I'm weird? Best friends we are!
As I got older I loved CS Lewis' space trilogy and The Screwtape Letters. I remember scenes from those books to this day. They helped me to better understand my Christian walk by giving me a creative way to look at life. And also it was very cool to love CS Lewis. Very grown up. Like drinking coffee. Which I started doing at summer camp because all the returning college kids drank coffee and that was very grown up. Like reading CS Lewis.
In high school I had to read I Loved a Girl and I Married You by Walter Trobisch and found them to be very interesting. Probably some of my first non-fiction reading began then. I was taking a Marriage class. In high school. Strange right? Looking back on it that does seem strange. But whatever. It was a good class and I learned a lot about relationships from those books.
College was way too busy. Good grief who reads books for fun in college? It's reading for class and then hanging out with college buddies. College was a four year hiatus from reading for fun. I did read some famous stuff, during the short period of time that I considered English Literature as my minor. Then I had to read Edgar Allen Poe and some other creepy authors.
And worse than that, we had to discuss the deeper meaning of every piece. Really? What if the author just wanted to write about a big tall oak tree and it had nothing to do with her deeper need for acceptance that she never got from her mother? What if a tree is just a tree because the author looked out her window and saw a tree and wanted to put it in her story? So I quickly learned that I had nothing to contribute to discussions in class.
Also my main professor was a little creepy himself. He drove an old station wagon with fuzzy dice hanging in the front windshield. He gave me a necklace with a gold heart for my birthday and also asked me what I would say if he asked me out. I told him I would say no and I promptly switched my minor to Psychology.
I didn't read again until our second year of marriage and that was when we lived in Africa. We were the only foreigners in a town in the middle of nowhere. OK, there were two Peace Corps girls, but they were our polar opposites so we didn't really cross paths. Our first year there, we didn't speak the language and no one spoke much English. So I read about two million books. Or maybe around 50. I think I averaged a book a week. To which I say to my previous self -
Good grief Jana, get out and meet the people already.
But somehow God blessed us anyway and we did eventually pick up the language and start making friends. My favorite book from all the many books I read while there was Out of Africa. Perhaps I remember that book in particular because I was able to travel to Kenya and actually see the house and some of the area where Karen Blixen lived.
Nowadays I read a little here and there. I think it's good to have a book or two in process. I like to have one "serious" book and one fiction book. I guess I like travel books and suspense type books the most. The verdict is still out on suspense. I like suspense movies, does that count?
I don't like to commit to a long series, but I do like:
The Zion Covenant Books by Bodie and BrockThoene (now that's how I like to learn history)
Mrs. Pollifax books by Dorothy Gilman (I like the different locations, and also Mrs. Pollifax cracks me up)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (although I petered out after awhile, that series is too long)
Some of my favorite fiction books are:
Nights of Rain and Stars (I think that's an awkward name for a book) by Maeve Binchey
The Book Thief (thanks for the recommendation Twyla C!)
Safely Home by Randy Alcorn
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
Invisible by Lorena McCourtney
Monday Morning Faith by Lori Copeland
Married to a Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen (not fiction but a favorite)
Diplomatic Baggage by Brigid Keenan
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers
What do you like to read?
