Whenever someone outs themselves to me as a non-reader, I frantically try to find some equilibrium between panic and restraint because what I want to do is make twenty seven book recommendations in crazed, frenetic succession.
As a small child, I read for fun.
For. Fun.
(Nerd alert.)
My husband could be found dribbling a basketball or riding his bicycle in his childhood. Me? I read. A lot. I traveled the unsettled Great Plain states in the back of a covered wagon with Laura Ingalls, sifted through clues with Nancy Drew, wandered Canadian Avonlea with Anne Shirley, suffered derision and loneliness with Jane Eyre, and stood in the Roman arena that Francine Rivers described in gritty detail. Some stories catapult me into my 9th year or my 13th in much the way that the smell of Listerine reminds me of my grandfather and hearing the Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” buckles me into the backseat of my parents’ car where I felt happy and safe.
In college, I switched my major from social work to English during my junior year, and I breathed deeply the camaraderie found in the pages of Frances Burney, Wendell Berry, Ann Patchett, Jonathan Swift, Mary Shelley, and Anne Lamott.
So I am a chronic reader. And I feel the urge to convert non-readers into readers in the same way that I feel it necessary to convert non-coffee drinkers into coffee addicts. I can’t help myself, and I have to work to set aside my tendency to be a serious jerk face when it comes to my friends who aren’t readers (or coffee drinkers).
My husband became a reader in college when he minored in English, and because he’s also a pastor, we both have unreasonably large libraries and an enormous deficit in bookshelves. Our seven year old is not really a reader in the way we would like for him to be. He would rather look at the pictures and try to construct a story from the images sprinkled throughout a book. But I’ve told him that he’s missing so much by skipping the words, that the words can take him anywhere the story goes. “You can travel the world and have any adventure you never imagined in a book!” I tell him enthusiastically, but he looks at me like I’ve grown a third head. “Mom. Books can’t take you anywhere.”
Well, no, not literally. I keep trying, keep encouraging, keep placing books all around the house (this is more practical than purposeful because, no shelves) and I keep reading in front of him so that he’ll see the value in it. I think he’ll believe me one day.
Sometimes I think people don’t read because they don’t know what to read. The world is an oyster full of really good and really crappy books.
Let me share some really good ones I’ve read recently and am working on right now. Currently I’m in the middle of several books–some for work purposes, some for leisure or personal growth.
- Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist (Essay driven, thoughts on faith and the sweet and challenging seasons of life)
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (I read this book in college because one of my wise Creative Writing professors put it on our mandatory reading list. I’m rereading it as refresher while I work on manuscripts and articles. Definitely a must read for all writers. She is a masterful writer who makes me laugh and hurt in one sentence.)
- Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle (I was unaccountably sad when Madeleine died in 2007. I read nearly every one of her non-fiction books in college, and several of her fiction books. I absolutely loved The Small Rain and its counterpart, A Severed Wasp, and have read both numerous times. L’Engle has a beautiful grasp of the language, which is most evident in Walking on Water, in which she writes about faith and art. All creatives should put this one on their list. Madeleine L’Engle went a little weird on her theology in her later books, and I had to part ways with her on faith, but I am still a lifelong fan of her writing. Her book Two-Part Invention is stunning. The scene where she describes sleeping alone at night after her husband died haunts me. I still stick my leg out across the bed at night to make sure William is next to me. I could wax poetic about ML for hours. She was my imaginary kindred spirit in college.)
- On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Okay, I have to admit I have NEVER read a book by Stephen King because his genre is just not my taste. But, his memoir on writing is at the top of all the lists for writers, so I’m giving it a go. I really love his voice so far.)
- Writing a Winning Nonfiction Book Proposal:Get that Book Deal by Mary DeMuth (She’s telling me every single thing I need to know while I write my book propsal.)
What I’ve read recently that I want to recommend:
- Still Life: A Memoir of Living Fully with Depression by Gillian Marchenko (I don’t have depression, but I think this book is a must-read for anyone in ministry or who may have friends/family with depression. I learned so much about the thought process and internal struggles of someone living with major depressive disorder. Her writing style is pretty great, too. I loved, loved the anecdote about Anne Lamott and have thought about that scene and Marchenko’s response to it several times.)
- Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table by Shauna Niequist (I gobbled up this book in much the same way I gobbled up the risotto from page 52. I stash the gluten free brownies from page 39 in my freezer so no one else can find them but me. Her writing is so beautiful in Bread and Wine; this was my first book of hers to read. Don’t tell her, but I love it so much more than Bittersweet.)
- The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (I could not put this book down. And imagine my utter surprise when I discovered in the acknowledgements at the end that the Grimke sisters were real people! This book was difficult to read at times, but I highly recommend pushing through the mistreatment of slaves. It’s important for us in the 21st century to understand the horrors of the past so that we don’t repeat history.)
- Looking for Lovely by Annie F. Downs (Annie is funny and real. There were definitely things in her story that resonate with me.)
- State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (I reread this book earlier this spring. I love the story and the story-telling so much. It’s a hefty book, but when an author can make you swat at imaginary mosquitoes while you read and feel sticky with Amazon humidity while sitting in a climate controlled living room, then she has done her job well. This is a fascinating story.)
Friends, readers and non-readers alike, I’ve given you a lot to read. Please be my friend and read with me. And drink some coffee. I’ll like you better. And maybe you won’t think I’m so weird.
We tell our seven year old, “It’s good to be a book nerd. Nerds rule the world.”
Please tell me what you’re reading or have read lately that you love and that’s sticking in your brain these days. You know you’ve found a treasure when a book digs itself into your thoughts uninvited.
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural Southeast Missouri where she tries and fails to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence (P&R) and Everyday Faithfulness (Crossway), and Memorizing Scripture (Moody). Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
[…] Thursday, I talked to you about all the books I’ve been reading lately. While looking through my stacks, I realized I have two copies of Madeleine L’Engle’s […]