A Year in Books

One of my early childhood memories is getting my first library card, the only requirement was that I was able to scrawl my name on that little tiny line.  Another memory is hiding under the covers with a flashlight, reading long after bedtime, braving the warning that I would ruin my eyes.  My mom's most effective form of discipline was to take away my library books.

A recent article in Forbes magazine described the rapid pace of technology in the past few years.  "In very much the same way, life today will look very different in the not-too-distant future. By 2030, our technology will be a thousand times more powerful and by 2045, it will be a million times more powerful. Things that seem futuristic today, like virtual reality, will be old hat by then."

Fifteen years from now?  I will still have a stack of books on my nightstand and kitchen counter and a line of books on my desk.  And the grandkids will still dig through my basket of Little Golden Books and beg "read another one, gramma."

I read things online and sometimes on a Kindle, but I will always love the feel of a real book in my hands. One of my daughters claims that you are never more than three feet from a spider.   I live almost that close in proximity to a book. 

I had a crazy schedule last year, but here is the list of books I read in 2014, in no particular order. 

You’ll Make It Through This by Max Lucado (2013)

Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber (2011)

Holy is the Day by Carolyn Weber (2013)

Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair by Anne Lamott  (2014)

Talk Like TED:  The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds by Carmine Gallo (2014)

Encounters with Jesus:  Unexpected Answers to Life’s Biggest Questions by Timothy Keller (2013)

The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good by Peter Greer (2013)

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard (1987)

The Miracle of St. Anna by James McBride (2002)

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride (2013)

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (2014)

Daily Rituals:  How Artists Work by Mason Currey (2013)

In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen (2001)

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (1972)

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry (2004)

The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer (1961)

The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer (1948)

Lila by Marilynne Robinson (2014)

Seeing Through the Fog:  Hope When Your World Falls Apart  by Ed Dobson (2012)

What Are You Afraid Of?  by David Jeremiah (2013)

Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard (1984)

Running for My Life:  One Lost Boy’s Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lemong (2012)
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (1936)
Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (1691)

The Bible

“It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.”  C. S. Lewis, God In The Dock