Monday's Musings - Books Beside my Bed....

 This is a random Monday's Musings - a  2 for 1 as it incorporates the book themes I usually reserve for "Wednesday Book Reviews."   Not that I am consistent with either one of these self-made blog categories - Monday's Musings or Wednesday Book Reviews.  But I'm not going to be too hard on myself...

For this installment of Monday's Musings I would like to share with you a few books I am currently reading or planning to read in the near future (near future being a relative term that could mean one month or one year from now).  Books on the top of my reading list are transferred from the bookshelf to the basket beside my bed as pictured above.  This "basket" resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa and completely stresses out my Type A hubby. 

In addition to books, this tower is supported by 4 different writing journals, Writer's Digest magazines, a Christianity Today article a teacher copied for Tony and me over a year ago (hello, time to read it), Vincent's baby book for recording random milestones and memories, a precious resource from our church titled "What Does God Look Like? and Other Questions Preschoolers May Ask" by Alison Ozment, our Sunday School Curriculum with over a million dog ears and highlights, Boden and miniBoden catalogs (have you discovered this clothing company - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their children and women's lines!), a one year birthday card for a friend's little girl who will be turning 2 in six months (whoops - that one's a little late), a brown paper Whole Foods bag filled with cards the kiddos made that I need to send off to the grandparents, and let's not forget the archaic address book (at some point I will join the 21st century and go digital with my addresses).  Oh, and correspondence cards and stationary boxes - because as you can see, I am super timely with correspondence :).....

I'm aware that this post is beginning to read like tedious Facebook status updates of what's for lunch and dinner.  So on to books... 

 

 {Tony and I bought this trio of books last Sunday after we attended a parenting seminar by the three authors, Sissy Goff, Melissa Trevathan, and David Thomas.  They are from DayStar Counseling in Nashville TN and if you have the chance to hear them speak - GO :).  Looking forward to reading these over the next year.}

{Each month the ladies in our Sunday School get together for dinner and book club.  In November we read Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning.  I'm hoping to write a little book review here on the blog about it - very moving book.  Ragamuffin Gospel was written prior to Ruthless Trust and it's on my list to read and in my tower.}

{This book is compiled by Elisa Morgan and published by MOPS International.  This was a gift from our church to our family in celebration of Sophia's birth.  It has stayed in the basket since her birth as I frequently pick through the pages for encouraging words, beautiful poems, and lovely stories of motherhood.}

{I found this little jewel in a used book store in Bryson, NC.  I paid $4 and see that on Amazon you can buy it for $0.03 - quite the markdown!  Tony and I have a long history with used book stores - I could recount the stages of our marriage by describing the used book stores we've found and loved through the years.  I digress.  This book is written by Ruth Bell Graham (Billy Graham's wife) and Gigi Graham Tchividjian, her daughter.  I am savoring this book page by page, taking my time, underlining their nuggets of wisdom as I need them.  One of my favorite quotes so far is from Ruth Bell Graham in a journal entry she wrote in 1944.  Her doctor had just informed her that she and Billy would be unable to have children (the doctor was mistaken - they went on to have 5 children :)).  In reaction to the news she wrote, "Somehow it's easier to drink the bitter when it's God's hand that holds the cup."  Ruth Bell Graham is a beautiful, poetic writer.}

{I am reading this book for our neighborhood book club.  The irony that this book is stuffed into a leaning tower of chaos is not lost on me.  I have much to learn.}

 {Along with Ruthless Trust this book has remained in the inner circle of my basket because I re-read and quote them so frequently.  You can read my thoughts on Disappointment with God here.}

{Because this is exactly what I want to do someday and I know nothing about it.  Well, I shouldn't say 'nothing.'  I was raised on a dairy - surely that will help?  Looking forward to working my way through this one.}

{My "I want to be a better writer" books.  I have a few others on the bookshelf but these are the 3 chosen for the sacred basket.  I am about 1/2 way through  Anne Lamont's and Lisa Garriguas' books.  Ever read a book by Anne Lamont?  Her writing?!?!?  Wowzers, that's all I have to say.....  Writing Motherhood has provided numerous writing prompts on the subject of motherhood.  If you have any desire to record your journey through motherhood in the written word then I highly recommend this book!  And Elements of Style because I know that to be a good writer I need to read this book, then re-read it, then memorize it.  It's co-written by the same author that wrote Charlotte's Web - E.B. White.  An interesting tidbit because that's all I really know about this book .  I am avoiding it like the plague.  Grammar books remind me of diagramming sentences on the chalk board in middle school.  And that makes me want to crawl under my desk and hide.}

{My current fiction read.  I'm about 50 pages in and it's slow moving folks.  While the themes of immigration and the Indian caste system may stimulate the more sophisticated mind, this mommy of two needs a little more action in her fiction these days.  I have a hard time not finishing a fiction book so I will probably stick it out and will possibly write a review - how's that for non-committal :)}

All images via here.

So, there you have it folks - the contents of my bedside basket.  Although I forgot to mention the Kindle (captured in the first picture - about 12 layers from the top).  The Kindle - the solution to my Leaning Tower of Chaos.  Yet it works its way to the bottom of the basket, time and time again.  I enjoy the feel of pages pressed between my fingers.  I find great satisfaction in impulsively reading the ends to novels when I am only half way done.  Electronic readers rob me of these indulgences. The visual of pages still to read encourages me to persevere in finishing a book.  Skimming back through, finding my favorite quotes, re-reading whole chapters - these tasks are all done with greater ease in a printed book.

So it appears as though the basket is here to stay.  What are you reading these days? Will you give me your suggestions for books to read?  I think the tower has room to grow.  Maybe four more layers?  Maybe six?