The great news is that we made it to the library. Have I told you how much I adore the library - how I love it with all my heart? I left with new CD's and some magazines (I'm not allowed to check out books until I finish the enjoyable but lengthy, Portrait of a Lady, which we'll be discussing at our next book club), and a mental list of the items I would like to borrow once our book club has met. The not so good news is that we didn't exactly exit quietly. A certain wispy and long-lashed stubborn daughter of mine objected LOUDLY to my seemingly abrupt decision to wrap things up and head for home. The recent better news, however, is that that said family member is now sleeping.
Anyhow, all that to say that I've been thinking today quite a bit about books and how I wish I had more time (blah, blah, blah. Don't we all?) to read them. Before I was a mom, I had a "real" job - Ha! I am totally kidding! Let me re-phrase that: I had a job outside of my home. It took me a bus and a train ride to get there. That daily forty-minute commute allowed me to tackle such weighty classics as, Crime and Punishment and Anna Karenina. Now it's two pages here, three pages there between my kids' dance classes and before bed. I feel too guilty lying down on the couch, feet propped up, with an excellent book in hand. I feel guilty about all I'm not accomplishing by sitting idle. But then again, books, uplifting, challenging and thought provoking books, have the potential to revive me from my lukewarm intellectual, spiritual and moral stupor. They get under my skin in an uncomfortable/salvific way. And besides, I don't think twice about the minutes I w-a-s-t-e on the Landsend outlet website searching for patterned tights for my girls or looking for recipes at Cooks.com I might someday get around to trying. Maybe what I need is to set aside for myself a half-hour window reserved for nourishing my mind and soul. Viewing it as a priority, rather than a luxury, would benefit me immensely.
A couple of weeks ago, my blogging friend, Marigold, challenged me to come up with fifteen books that for some reason or another have made a significant impact on my life. Thank you, Marigold, for this chance to remember why reading is never a "waste." Below, in no particular order, are the titles of the books that have, thus far, stretched, inspired and comforted me. I hope to, sooner rather than later, add many more - as many as I possibly can.
1. The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
2. The End of the Affair - Graham Greene
3. The Great Divorce - C.S. Lewis
4. Till We Have Faces - C.S. Lewis
5. Father Arseny - Vera Bouteneff
6. Silence - Shusaku Endo
7. Walking on Water - Madeleine L'Engle
8. The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
9. Beginning to Pray - Anthony Bloom
10. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
11. Holy the Firm - Annie Dillard
12. The Complete Stories - Flannery 0'Connor
13. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
14. A Severe Mercy - Sheldon Vanauken
15. Boundaries with Kids - Dr. Henry Cloud
