Books have played a significant part in my life. From an early age, my mother read to me. When I was old enough to read myself, I immersed myself in books. I read both the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series. I read The Bobbsey Twin series that I found on the bookshelf in my grandmother’s upstairs bedroom. I read classics and romance novels. I read anything I could get my hands on. But my absolute favorite genre as a child was fiction. When I picked up a book, I didn’t just read it. I became a part of it. Reality would fall away, and I could literally envision myself as a character in whatever book I was reading. When I read, I had such laser focus on the story that I did not hear when my mother would call me for dinner, or when she would enter the room to inform me it was bedtime. One of my very favorite books as a child, which I discovered when I checked it out at the elementary school library, was “A Wrinkle in Time”, by Madeleine L ’Engle. My imagination went wild as I followed Meg and the other characters of this Newberry Award Winning book as they engaged in the quintessential good vs evil fight to save Meg’s father and the entire universe. If you have seen the movie but you haven’t read the book, do yourself a favor and read it. You won’t be sorry.
A few weeks ago, while working on my mom’s house with my siblings, my brother found an old children’s book called, “Little Mommy”. He held it up and said, “Does anyone remember this book?” I responded, “Does the first page say, ‘This is my house and I am the Mommy. My children are Annabelle, Betsey and Bonnie. They are good little children and do just as I say. I put on their coats and they go out to play?’” My brother looked at my sister and looked back down at the book. Shrugging his shoulders, he handed it to me, saying, “Here. I think you should take this one home with you.” This book is a treasure. My mom read it to me so much that I had it memorized BEFORE I could read it. I would then line up my babies and “read” the book to them, too.
As I have gotten older, my taste in books has expanded. I still love fiction. But I love other genres, too. Because I know that there are other bookworms out there, I thought it would be fun to share some of my recent favorites. Several of these are autobiographies and non-fiction. Some are by secular authors and some are by faith-based authors. Believe me! I am just as shocked as you that these books made my list. But they are all great for different reasons and are worthy of a mention.
“Wildflower”, by Drew Barrymore
I’ve just always really had an affinity for Drew because of her movies, and because of my exposure to her via social media as a mom and an overall seemingly nice person. Her book did not disappoint. Her childhood was less than traditional in all the worst ways. Steven Spielberg is her godfather, and she is now a single mom who is not only raising two girls but is producing movies and building a makeup empire. She is upbeat and positive, and I want to be her “for real” friend.
“Mrs. Kennedy and Me” and “Five Presidents”, by Clint Hill
Clint Hill worked for the secret service, protecting five presidents – Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. Do you remember the photo in Dallas of the secret service agent climbing onto the back of the car to shield the injured President Kennedy and the first lady from future bullets? That person is Mr. Hill. His unique perspective of each president and the world events during each president’s terms in office is eye-opening and poignant. All of his books are good, but Mrs. Kennedy and Me is my favorite.
“Chase the Lion” and “The Circle Maker”, by Mark Batterson
Mark Batterson is a best-selling author and the pastor at National Community church in Washington D.C. His church is highly regarded nationally for its innovation and influence. For several years, their church service was held in a movie theatre that they rented. Can you imagine smelling buttered movie popcorn and having it remind you of church?
In The Circle Maker, Mr. Batterson shares the story of a first century Jewish man and scholar named Honi who, during a time of drought, drew a circle around himself in the dirt. Honi told God that he would not move from that circle until the rain came. You will have to read the book to find out what happens next.
Chase the Lion is a book based on an obscure verse in II Samuel 23 where a warrior named Benaiah, on a snowy day, chases a lion into a pit and kills it. Its hard to imagine how an author could write an entire book about this event. Mark does it, and the result is both inspiring and hopeful.
“Love Does” and “Everybody Always”, by Bob Goff
I was privileged to hear Bob Goff speak in person once. I can honestly say I have never met anyone like him. He is an attorney by education but has been gifted to see the world how it could be, not how it is. He doesn’t take “No” for an answer. He is changing the world by going to the places where many people are too frightened to go. Uganda is a good example. Bob learned that children were being kidnapped there, mutilated and killed by witch doctors in the area. So, he did what every normal person would do, right? Wrong! He called a meeting with the witch doctors. He offered to open a school where they could receive an education. The catch? They had to leave the children alone. Those colorful dots on the cover of the Everybody Always book cover? Those are fingerprints of the witch doctors in Uganda. Do you think love can’t change the world? Read these two books, and then think again.
The Bible
OK, Campers! I have saved my very favorite for last. The most read book in the world, The Bible, is my absolute favorite of all time. In the last year, I have fallen in love with this book all over again. A little over a year ago, I was challenged to read the bible from front to back. Yesterday, I finished that read through. I was so happy that I had finished. But I was sad, too. Truth be told, I had never read the Bible straight though before. I had read it in a more topical way. Or I had read favorite books repeatedly. I had spent a whole lot of time in the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. I had absolutely no idea that this book makes so much more sense when you read it like a book, from beginning to end. So, I just have one question. Why didn’t someone tell me to read it this way before?
This book is loaded with everything that makes a book exciting:
- The sun standing still until a battle is won
- Creation of the Universe
- Family Dysfunction
- Romance, Weddings and unfaithful spouses
- Murder
- Talking donkeys – Shrek does not own the market on this dramatic device
- Giants
- Sword fights
- A Dragon
- A Shepherd-turned-king
- A virgin birth
- Angels and Demons
- A chariot of fire
- Poetry that captures every possible human emotion
- Martyrs
- Visions
- God speaking in thunder and in a whisper
- People sawed in half
- Locusts for dinner
- Waters parting to allow for a speedy escape
- A well-fortified city falling with no shots fired – just trumpets blowing and people shouting
- Multiple people coming back from death to life– Jesus, Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter
- Arguments among the people of The Way
- The formation of the church – (referring to a movement or congregation, not a building)
- Speaking in languages not previously known so people of other nationalities can hear the truth
- Miracles galore
- Jesus’ ascension
In the Old Testament, I read again the story of God calling Abraham, an old and childless husband of Sarah, to become the Father of the Jewish people. I celebrated when Isaac was born.
I marveled in Leviticus with how detailed God was in terms of the best way to set-up camp, what to eat, and even where to put the bathroom in the camp. I smiled as God described all the many festivals that his people would attend. God likes a good party.
I appreciated the direction that God gave his people as they put together the tent that would become the tabernacle, direction that included such minute details as the color of thread to use. I loved that God’s glory filled that tabernacle. God loved the Israelites so much that he lived In the desert with them in a tent they built for him.
And so there wasn’t bickering, he told each tribe where to set up camp around that tabernacle. The tribe of Judah, by God’s instruction, set up at the end by the main entrance. You basically had to go through the tribe of Judah to get to the entryway. Jesus’ bloodline came from the tribe of Judah. Because of him, we can have access to God, the Father. I don’t think that is coincidence, do you?
In full transparency, I stalled a little when I got to the prophets. It really helped me to learn that there are 3 types of prophets: Those who prophesied before the Israeli exile. Those who prophesied during the Israeli exile, and those who prophesied after the exile. Understanding which type of prophet I was reading helped me understand what they were saying a little more clearly.
There were 400 years between the old testament and the new testament. There were no prophets who provided a written word from God during that time. What a long 400 years that must have been for God’s people.
The gospels come alive when you have the history of God’s people ingrained in your mind from the previous books in the old testament. Finally, in Acts, when Cornelius the Centurion had a vision that he needed to send for a man named Simon Peter, I began to get really excited. When Peter came, he was dubious at first. Cornelius wasn’t Jewish, and technically, Peter shouldn’t have even entered his home. But he shared the gospel at Cornelius’ request, and everyone in that house became believers…. the first “gentile” (non-Jewish) believers. This event cascaded into a lifelong ministry for Peter as he shared The Way with gentiles everywhere. (This is one place where I sincerely wanted to cheer when I read it. Why? Because we finally got to the part in the story where they were talking about ME!)
What follows next are many letters to the churches in the surrounding areas to provide instruction, clarification, encouragement, and even discipline to the fledgling congregations.
The Bible ends with the book of Revelation. Much of it is written in metaphors that can be difficult to understand. But it is the one book in the bible that offers a blessing to both the person who reads it and the person who hears that reading.
So, what’s next for me? I think I am going to read the bible straight through again. I might do that via the audio version this time. Once you get started, it really is a book that is hard to put down.
Kristi McLelland said, “The Bible isn’t only the best story ever told. It is also the truest.” Having just finished this number one, all-time best seller, I believe that statement now more than ever.
What about you? Have you read any good books lately?