Thoughts from the Bibliophile

I am a bibliophile to my core. Yes, that is, I am a Lover of Books.  My husband is a lover of books.  And now, amazingly, at 19-months our son is truly a lover of books.  Today, and this is not the first time, I went to get him up from his nap, and instead of reaching up his arms to be picked up, he pointed to a book that sat nearby, and made the sign for please. I handed it to him, and he proceeded to spend about 10 minutes, sitting in his crib, rubbing his sleepy eyes, reading a book, making elaborate motions, shouting out gibberish phrases, and clumsily turning the pages with his clammy little hands.  He hasn’t fallen far from the tree.  While I’ve always loved reading, especially for my spiritual growth, and have devoured CS Lewis, AW Tozer, Andrew Murray, Warren Wiersbe, and John Piper for some time, I have only recently allowed myself to enter the realm of fiction–which is somewhat ironic since I studied fiction writing in college, majored in English Literature, and considered getting a MFA in Fiction Writing.  I suppose I equated fiction reading with entertainment, which, like TV, was a waste of time.

BUT, oh how wrong I was!  When Dutch was born the very best piece of mothering advice I ever got was from my dear friend Grace, the mother of 4 boys now all under the age of 5 (!), who advised me that good, compelling fiction books would sustain you during otherwise-unbearable middle-of-the-night feedings.  So, my mother-in-law (another bibliophile, yes it runs in the family) stocked me up with 20-30 good fiction books, and Jeff gave me a little book light that clips onto the book.  I quickly mastered the ability to nurse and turn pages, and I read my way through dozens and dozens of amazing books, all in the middle of the night.

And now I won’t stop.  I still love my non-fiction, don’t get me wrong, and usually like to mix it up between novels and some Tozer and Piper to keep me on my toes.  But I must say, well-written, tasteful, subtly inspiring fiction is hard to beat.  So, I thought I’d give a little list of some of my favorites.  I have a really long list on Facebook, but this will do.  This is all in preparation for our LiveDifferent Challenge this week…stay tuned.  Here are just a few fiction recommendations in case you feel like exploring…

Best Series:

1. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith): 8 in all.  You’ll fall in love with Mma Ramotswe and her devoted husband Mr. J.L.B Matakoni.

2. The Rumpole series (John Mortimer): I sadly finished all of these during Dutch’s early months. I wish they went on forever! Rumple is an overweight aging junior British barrister with a wife he calls She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed.  Must read!

3. The Hawk and the Dove Trilogy: Convicting to the core.  Read on your knees.

4. Thorn in My Heart, Fair is the Rose, and Whence Came a Prince (Liz Curtis Higgs).  Great trilogy set in Scotland, a retold version of the Jacob, Rachel, and Leiah story.  Keep kleenex handy.

Best Author: (Meaning anything she writes is worth reading)

1. Rosamunde Pilcher (must drink tea while reading her.  The Shell Seekers is her most famous novel)

Other Goodies:

1. Year of Wonders: Incredible story of the plague in 1666.  Convicting, inspiring. Has a weird ending, but forget that part.

2. Ella Minnow Pea.  Ingenious! Must read!!

So there are a few fun ideas to get you started if you’re at all interested in dabbling in the fiction realm.  Some are light, some are heavy…I think we need a little of both in life.  Happy reading!