I used to read this blog called Amy Loves Books until the author really started irritating me. It was a personality issue I think. But though I decided I didn't like her personally, I admit that I really enjoyed, and was inspired by, her writing. She must have had something to do with my starting my very own blog. She was the first ever blogger who I ever followed regularly. She had an excellent set of posts describing her experience with post-partum depression.
I once commented to her that I thought it was much more interesting to read about what people actually were reading rather than what they would recommend for other to read. I enjoy reading the occasional trashy novel myself, and I think that fact should humanize me somewhat for those who might be tempted to think I am too serious. Not that I've read any trashy novels in a while.
I'll tell you what I am reading now, and someday I'll even share what else is on my bookshelf.
I have this awful tendancy to be reading three or four books at once, while simultaneously thinking of six or seven other books I would like to read. This creates plenty of problems for me. A typical problem is that I lose track of what in fact I am supposedly reading.
Right now I am reading:
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnette. I read this book when I was young (whatever that means), and I knew that I loved it, but I certainly didn't remember why. I wondered what sort of power such a book might have now that I'm an adult. The answer is that it is a wonderful, glorious, inspiring book. It makes me want to have a garden of my own. It makes me want to spend lots and lots of time outside. I am troubled slightly by the racism of the period, but I have to lay that aside, because the rest of the book is spledid. It makes you want to jump rope, and live an exceedingly healthy life. Perhaps it romanticizes the purity and power of children to make the grown-up world right, but if it does, while I am reading it, I simply do not care. I ordered the Norton Critical Edition because I wanted access to the historical information, as well as the critical essays, but I cannot promise that I'll read them before my neighbor's book club meets.
(And of course I wonder what we'll read next. I have The Brothers Karamzov on my shelf, waiting to be read, but I've also borrowed some Walker Percy fiction from Patrick and Alina, and the latest Diana Gabaldon from my neighbor who has the book club. I want to read Moby Dick eventually. I'm less into fiction than usual at the moment, however.)
Studies in Words by C.S. Lewis. This book is pure linguistics, and I think I've been working on it for a month already. Honestly it's a bit beyond my comprehension, but it is an enjoyable experience reading some of Lewis's non-religious critical work. The book is all about the meanings of words, and the ways that they have been used over time. There's a difference between a word's meaning sometimes and the authorial meaning. Lewis also indicates something he calls the dangerous meaning of a word, which is a meaning recognized by current readers that was unlikely to exist in the author's time, and the meaning with which a word is most likely to be misimbued. (This sort of writing perhaps makes me sound like an overeducated snob, but it is true that I am interested in such things, and reading this book has awakened me to the treachery of redefining words according to their accepted meanings. It also makes me realize that I don't always truly know what a word means,even if I have used it a hundred times.)
(I have to go on facebook to see what else I am meant to be reading just now. And this is one of the reasons why I keep a record on Visual Bookshelf.)
Fear and Trembling by Kierkegaard. This is a wonderful book and I am absolutely in love with it. Kierkegaard looks at the story of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in the book of Genesis from every possible angle, and in this book he discusses the nature of faith. I picked the book up because I have this question about what the scriptures mean when they refer to fear of the Lord. I don't know whether Fear and Trembling will answer that question or not, but it does talk about what it means to live this life in faith, a subject with which I happen to be confronted immediately. I have a question now, which I asked my husband just the other night. Does appropriate fear of the Lord preclude fearing His works, or actions? If anyone reading this has an answer to this question I would be grateful.
Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman, which is a Bible Study by Beth Moore. I've never before done a Beth Moore Bible study, so this is quite a new experience for me. A friend invited me to participate in one being held at First United Methodist downtown, and I agreed for several reasons. I like how Beth Moore takes an inductive study method, and breaks it down (or slows it down) into manageable parts for the lay reader. This far (in week 1) I have enjoyed doing the study immensely, though I have never yet attended a Bible Study meeting at First United Methodist, for reasons of children's health, and even though I don't always agree with Moore's points of emphasis. I borrowed an Esther commentary from my brother-in-law Wednesday night to supplement the study.
Unofficially I am also reading How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur, God Calling by "the two listeners" and publised by A.T. Russell, and I'm studying Esther and Hebrews (for Sunday School) on my own using The Inductive International Study Bible, in which the guiding materials were provided by Kay Arthur. I've been doing lots and lots of spiritual reading and study recently, and today I found out one of the reasons why, which I may share with my readers ("if any," to quote one of my son Isaac's favorite movies, "The Wizard of Oz.") eventually. Besides this I am trying to finish my reading of the Bible, and re-read the New Testament by the end of the year.
This is not like me normally, I swear. There is so much I want to learn, which is a subject I will embark upon at a later date. For now, Michael is waiting for me to watch a particular program with him before bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment