I commented on a friend’s Instagram bookstack picture and she asked what I’m reading. It’s not as simple as taking a bookstack picture for me, since I read a ton on my Kindle and also listen to audiobooks.
Also, I’ve noticed that I go through reading seasons, much like feast or famine. Sometimes all I want to do is dive into a book or five. Other times life fills up and I’m not as motivated to read.
Right now I’m a full-on book glutton, devouring them all! Mysteries, literature, spirituality, non-fiction, you name it and I might be reading it (or have recently finished it). I try to pick up poetry at least once a week to slow down, because poetry requires a slower, more mindful approach, less stuff-my-face kind of reading.
And then I wonder: is my current book-gobbling an attempt to quiet the noise? The world is once again loud and angry with politics, heat waves, and hurricanes, among other disasters. My brain gets overwhelmed, bombarded with so much that I don’t know how to sort it out.
So I turn to the words of others, words I carefully choose to allow in, words that distract, entertain, take me adventuring, give me the pleasure of unraveling mysteries along with the characters, let me flee to other countries, other times and spaces, other realms of ideas, anything to prevent me from having to engage with my own thoughts on the distress of living in these times.
[Five Minute Friday prompt: FLEE]
It’s not as bleak as all that, I know, and I do simply love to read. So here’s a small glimpse at what I’m reading, including books I’ve recently finished, some I’m slowly savoring, and others I’m about to begin…
Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer
One Perfect Couple, Ruth Ware
The Night We Lost Him, Laura Dave
Darling Girls, Sally Hepworth
The Story of You, Ian Morgan Cron
Devotions, Mary Oliver
Othered, Jenai Auman
The Emmanuel Promise, Summer Joy Gross
A Book of Uncommon Prayer, Brian Doyle
The Exvangelicals, Sarah McCammon
The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman
I’ll write short reviews of my September and October 4- and 5-star reads in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more. Meanwhile, tell me what you’re reading and how you’re coping with life’s noise.
Your books certainly do look interesting! Fleeing into a bookstack is something I would certainly do.
I think sometimes too, we need to remember the Name of the Lord is a strong tower and we can run back to it in crazy times to build ourselves up with books and testimonies that share His hope so that we have something to give out.