On my nightstand

I can’t recommend any of these yet because I haven’t read them but they came home from the library yesterday. 

You’ll see two here by Madeleine L’Engle – did you read A Wrinkle In Time when you were growing up?  She is a wonderful author and I’m looking forward to reading her adult writing.  A Circle of Quiet is her exploration of her own life’s meaning as a wife, mother, Christian and author.  Bright Evening Star is the story of her spiritual journey to Christ.

Kisses from Katie is one I’ve had on reserve for a while but I was way down the list until this week.  Here’s a brief synopsis:  What would cause an eighteen-year-old old senior class president and homecoming queen from Nashville, Tennessee, to disappoint her parents by forgoing college, break her little brother’s heart, lose all but a handful of her friends (because the rest of them think she has gone off the deep end), and break up with the love of her life, all so she could move to Uganda, where she knew only one person but didn’t know any of the language? A passion to make a difference.  I read Katie’s blog and love her ministry, Amazima. 

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a children’s book (grades 3-6 it says on Amazon’s site – ha!) about the adventures of a china rabbit who belongs to a little girl who dearly loves him.  He falls overboard from a boat and is lost.  He meets many on his journey back to his owner and learns much along the way about love and loss and loving again.  I love to have a children’s book in the mix and I hope it’s a good one!

The Peach Keeper is one I may or may not read – it’s written by a New York Times best-selling author and is a fictional tale of a southern woman trying to live outside the shadow of her family’s legacy.  Maybe I’ll love it – I don’t know.  I am trying to be a bit more discerning in my reading.  Whereas in the past I would likely finish a book I started just because I felt obligated (to who, I don’t know), now I will stop mid-chapter if it’s either not at all edifying or just plain uninteresting.  I am trying to think on things that are true, noble, right and praiseworthy.  That goes for my reading as well as my other input, I think.

Jeff has been enjoying several books on tape by Timothy Keller so I thought I’d see what The Meaning of Marriage is like.  I like the subtitle – Facing the complexities of commitment with the wisdom of God.  Not sure if I’m up for anything too heavy – I’ve been leaning toward fiction lately so I hope it is “compelling, wide-reaching and conversational” as the reviewers have claimed.

A book I can recommend is called Still Alice…



I loved this book.  It was written in the voice of a woman in her late 40’s who is an accomplished psychology professor at Harvard but who begins experiencing symptoms of early-onset Alzhheimer’s disease.  Reading it was like being inside the body of someone as she has to reluctantly accept the inevitable.  Written from this perspective the story was so real.  I’ve rarely thought about what it must be like to experience the ‘diminishing’ this disease brings.  I have to tell you, I thought about it for days after reading it.  And had to shake off some anxiety about not remembering whether it was garbage day or what I did with the Costco receipt. 

Now, what are you reading?

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