Slow Down and Read a Book!

So last week was my roughest week of chemo so far.  All my side effects were magnified, especially the nausea and fatigue.  It pretty much forced me to slow down.  Last Friday I spent the whole day in bed or in the house and all I did was journal, pray, sleep and read.  I read an entire James Patterson book in one day (mindless, easy reading) and then started To Kill a Mockingbird for the third time—just finished it and I remember why it is such an amazing book—am reading it with Micah now. This got me thinking about how much I love books and reading.  I buy books, download books, and can read books really fast.  Others watch tv or movies in their down time, but I read.  People ask me, how do you have time to read so much?  Well, I read every night before I go to bed for at least  45 minutes.  I usually read two books at a time—one fiction and one Christian non fiction.  It gives me time to relax and at the same time challenges me.  So I thought I would share with you, my blog readers, my all time top books.  Maybe you can choose some to read with your kids, or with your family or just for yourself.  Here we go:

Book List for younger readers:

The Little House on the Prairie series.  Loved this when I was a kid.  Loved the tv series too.  Can’t believe Melissa Gilbert is all grown up.

Anything by Dr. Seuss—he has such wisdom about life

Bridge to Terebithia—total crier—the movie was great as well.

The Giver by Lois Lowery—my all time favorite book.  My favorite book to teach when I taught middle school.  Got Micah to read it in fifth grade and he loved it!   

My favorite authors:  Jodi Picoult and Kristen Hannah—they have both written a ton of books.  My favorites by Picoult are Salem Falls and The Plain Truth.  My favorite by Hannah is Between Sisters.

My favorite classics:

To Kill a Mockingbird—Harper Lee

Catcher in the Rye—Salinger

The Great Gatsby (fabulous movie too, am re-reading it again this summer with Noah)

A Separate Peace –John Knowles

The Scarlet Letter—Hawthorne—loved this book—so fun to teach!

Lord of the Flies—another favorite to teach on—by William Golding

Of Mice and Men—one of my top favorites.  First book that I absolutely bawled my eyes out and couldn’t stop thinking about it for days.  Loved when Noah read it in Honors English for high school—we had some great discussions.

Other favorites—either through book club or on my own:

The Kite Runner

The PoisonWood Bible—all time top!

Language of Flowers

Rain of Gold

House of the Spirits

Thirteenth Tale

Boy in Striped Pajamas—Noah read this after me and loved his reaction when he “figured out what was coming”

Peace Like a River

The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: which by the way I just picked up two weeks ago—about a woman with cancer in a small town and how her community rallied around her—thought it was fiction, but it was a memoir by her brother—such an amazing book—a lot about family, small towns, community, and faith.  A must read!

The Red Tent

Mindless reading:  James Patterson books—plot driven and fast paced.  Beach reading.

Christian—Non fiction

If You Want to Walk on Water you have to get out of the Boat—John Ortberg

Purpose Driven Life (Rick Warren)

Jesus Plus Nothing =Everything

Radical and Follow Me by David Platt

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Love Does—Bob Goff (our friend!)

Ann Voskamp—One Thousand Gifts—this has helped me through my cancer journey so much!

Kisses from Katie (Katie Davis—young girl who started a ministry in Uganda)

Anything by CS Lewis—especially Mere Christianity and Screwtape Letters.  He is my favorite Christian writer!

So there you go my friends.  Pick a book and read!  Read alone, with a book club, with your kids, with a friend.  Challenge yourself with a classic or a good Christian book.  This is just a mere list of the many books that have impacted my life.  I will be reading quite a bit as my cancer journey continues.  I have been told by all my doctors that I need to slow down, sleep more, and rest.  So reading will be how I spend this down time. Blessings to all of you and thanks for your continued support and prayers!