Fiction,  Nonfiction,  On Reading

Reads I haven’t blogged about

It’s a shame that when I don’t write, I don’t remember what I read — at least, not well. Something about the writing process grabs that mysterious interaction between a book and a mind, and develops it into a coherent and rememberable possession. Wendell Berry speaks of education as “furnishing the mind,” and reading is educational in that sense — but most so when paired with writing.

So I am listing some of what I’ve read since the beginning of the semester. Listing, after all, is one of those prewriting strategies designed to get us past writer’s block. So why not?

Here goes:

Mini Habits for Weight Loss, by Stephen Guise — a great little book I stumbled upon on Kindle. It develops the idea that most of us fail because we set grandiose goals. Setting small ones — ones that are impossible not to achieve, like “one pushup a day” — establishes a pattern of success that gives us momentum to succeed.

Adventures in Prayer, by Catherine Marshall — a compendium of different ways of praying by an author I always enjoy. It enriched my prayer life in some significant ways.

Beyond Ourselves, also by Catherine Marshall — an extended reflection on the different ways be can move beyond “settling” for a faith that feels stale and plodding, and into the realm of what the Bible promises. My mentor from college, in whose discipleship group I grew and learned while in college, invited me to take part again via the internet with the group of students she’s leading now, and this is the book we discussed.

The Great Divorce, The Weight of Glory, The Abolition of Man, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, all by C.S. Lewis, and all rereads. Nourishing and thought-provoking as always! The last two I actually listened to via Audible, and my older daughter listened too, so it was fun to have someone to discuss them with!

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl. I sorely wish I’d written any of the blog posts about this one that I started in my head. It’s an amazing book by a Holocaust survivor about having freedom in every circumstance. What we need to respond well to adversity — even the debilitating adversity suffered by those who endured concentration camps — is meaning, Frankl concludes. We must be able to find meaning in our experience to maintain our humanity, rather than succumbing to the brutality around us and directed at us.

How to Think, by Alan Jacobs, another reread. Someday I’d like to use this in a writing class. It’s a great little meditation on how to maintain civility and clarity of mind in, as the subtitle puts it, “a world at odds.”

Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making, by Andrew Peterson. Though this book felt more rambling at times than I wish it did, Peterson does unearth some gems about the creative process in general, and Christian artistry in particular.

Write Better: A Lifelong Editor on Craft, Art, and Spirituality, by Andrew T. LePeau. I’m reading this now and finding that though much of it is familiar (and, in fact, material I teach in my college writing classes), much of it is developed in ways that help me to see new possibilities. I’m taking some of the author’s advice myself and plan to share some of it with students.

Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, by James M. Lang. I haven’t gotten very far in this one, but what I’ve read has been great. It focuses on how to adapt what we do in the classroom to the human mind. Like the “mini-habits” author, Lang focuses on small changes we can make to improve the effectiveness of both teaching and learning.

Keeper of the Lost Cities, Exile, Everblaze, Neverseen, Lodestar, and Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger. These are actually written for middle-school aged readers, but my younger daughter has returned to them several times even though she’s in high school now. She invited me to read the first one, and I’ve been tearing through the series. I’m having a ball with the elves, goblins, ogres, alicorns, extinct animals, mutant-like superpowers, and diabolical villains in Messenger’s fictional world and enjoying sharing it with my daughter! There are two more books after I finish Nightfall.

Last but not least, I’m rereading Hind’s Feet on High Places, Hannah Hurnard’s classic allegory about journeying to the high places of faith. All in all my mind is populated by stimulating and challenging possibilities, thanks to all these authors who have shared their musings and imaginings with the rest of us. Despite the many reasons we have for being discouraged about the world and the humans who exert such power in it, reading helps to remind me of our better nature, and the better prospects that can result from human creativity. There is always reason for hope.

2 Comments

  • Ruth

    It’s great to see what you’ve been reading. I agree that writing about the books I read helps me remember them, and an additional advantage is that others get introduced to them, too!

  • GretchenJoanna

    Thank you so much!! Your description of what happens when you write about your reading rings true to my own experience. Before blogs I used to try to write something — sometimes a lot — for my own benefit, about every book.

    Here, I was especially glad to read your response to Frankl’s book, which I’ve heard nothing but praise for, but have never added to my library. Your brief review may be the one that prompts me to take the next step. :-)