Books!

As you can probably tell from the background of my blog, and the way I compare my life to a story under the blog title, I love books. I have a modest antique book collection. I have a library (really more of an office, but hey, a girl can dream) with one wall of bookshelves filled to the brim and overflowing with books of all sorts (and more books in the living room).

Aside from my relationship with Christ, books define me. When I think of myself, I think of books -- the books I read as a child, the books I've collected over the years, the way books have challenged my thinking, increased my vocabulary, introduced me to characters (fictional and real) that I otherwise would never have met. Almost every night you'll find me reading in bed, sometimes into the wee hours of the morning. I really enjoy volunteering in our church library. I joined a women's book club last year. I guess you could call me a bookworm!

I love how books open up new worlds, encourage me, make me laugh and cry. I love coming to the end of a story and breathing out a deep sigh of satisfaction at the perfect ending of a tale well told. I love drinking in language that sings and dances and flies across the page in the hands of a skilled writer. What do you love about books?

I'm currently reading The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard. All I can say is "Wow." I'm only on chapter 3 and my thinking has already been challenged and I am looking at the Christian life in a new way. It's not an easy read...it's pretty deep. But I can't wait to read the rest of it! What book are you reading right now?

Here are some of my favorite quotes on books:

"The familiar faces of my books welcomed me. I threw myself into my reading chair and gazed around me with pleasure. All my old friends present -- there in spirit, ready to talk with me any moment when I was in the mood, making no claim upon my attention when I was not." ~ George MacDonald

"Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

"Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier." ~ Kathleen Norris

"In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you." ~ Mortimer Adler

"In a very real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. " ~ S.I. Hayakawa

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. " ~ Dr. Suess