There’s good news and not-so-good news to report from my reading chair this week. The good news – I’m returning to a regular reading routine. I’m finding pleasure in the reading process and healing for my mind and spirit. The not-so-good news? While I am reading daily again, I’m not reading with the same voracity and passion that I did just a few short weeks ago. I choose not to refer to this as “bad” news because I am seeing improvement. I know that things will return to “normal” in this area of my life relatively soon.
One of the things that has been a sure sign that reading is returning to normal in my life is the fact that I have been reading two books this week. This has kept me from successfully completing a book since my last posting, but it is doing wonderful things for my routine. What am I reading? With the completion of My Library Shelf (or as much of it as I was willing to read!), it was time to pick another shelf. This shelf of the Unger Library contained some names that I recognized, but haven’t read. Unfortunately, this shelf did not contain a classic novel. (It has been a challenge to find shelves in the Unger Library that fulfilled all of the stipulations to qualify for My Library Shelf project.) It might be a good thing in this season of my life that much of the shelf that I have chosen is fluff. I need a little levity in my life right now.
What am I reading, you ask? From My Library Shelf, I am reading Out of Control by Mary Connealy. It is a romance (can’t believe I am reading another of these willfully) set in the Colorado mountains. The novel opens with a young woman finding herself stranded in a deep cavern when she is rescued by Rafe, a rancher in the area. The plot centers around the questions of how did Julia end up in the cavern, why someone is pursuing her, and if she and Rafe can find love. Published by Bethany House, Out of Control had the suggestion that it would have an element of faith wrapped in it; I struggled to find it in the early portions of the novel. Now that I am reaching the halfway point, the author is much more pronounced in her examination of faith and God’s hand at work in the circumstances in which the characters find themselves.
The other work I am reading came at just the right time in my life. Max Lucado’s latest book is You Are Never Alone. Lucado is a favorite Christian author of mine who consistently finds a way to get to the heart of an issue in a way that always speaks to me personally. You Are Never Alone was written in the earliest days of the current pandemic. Lucado explores the impact of the miracles recorded in the Gospel of John on our modern lives. An early chapter focusing on the miracle at Cana grabbed my heart and reminded me that God truly cares about the smallest details of my life — not just the things of eternal significance — simply because the things that matter to me matter to Him. I am thoroughly enjoying Max’s writing and am purposefully moving through the book at a markedly slower pace because I don’t want to miss any of the treasures the pages hold.
So, I don’t have a full book review to share with you this week. (Maybe I’ll finish Out of Control in the coming days?) But I can report that I am finding peace and restoration right now in the pages of the books I am exploring. That’s a significant and important factor for me to celebrate right now.
Reading for Me 
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