Bibliophilia

Just like with animals, I've had a lifelong love affair with books. I learned to read several years before I started school (in the time period when pre-K and Kindergarten wasn't required.) My mother once told me that as she was trying to teach my brother to read (he's four years older) I would sit and try to read the print upside down in books while she sat beside him. She mentioned that she worried I was dyslexic.

I went on regular trips to the public libraries with my mother before I started school, and of course, after. My father introduced me to classics when I was in grade school. I didn't know it wasn't "normal" to have read things like Brave New World, Lord of the Flies or works by Shakespeare and others before fifth grade. It just happened for me. My father would take a book from his shelf and say "Read this." So I did, and often we'd discuss the book after I'd finished. Sometimes my perception of the book's contents changed with reading it over various stages of my life, but I always was able to glean something from it.

Now the libraries don't seem to have the books I am interested in, or I'm on a waiting list...a long one...when a popular book comes out. This could be related to living in an area where there isn't a large library. Enter Amazon.com! When online book ordering became possible, I stopped going to the library as often. I've also been to local bookshops (which sometimes have the same problem the public library does...the book isn't available, though sometimes I get lucky.) They very kindly say they can order it for me and have it in two or three days, but I can do the same thing online. Admittedly, I have a bad case of "bibliophilia."

I'm currently reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. One of my favorite quotes from the book (so far) is:

...That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive--all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.

In my case, that's very true. I've learned a lot about Guernsey Island since reading the book and looking up information about it available online. It's a melding of reading for pleasure and reading for knowledge.

Reading: Rice and "gravy"

I've tried many times to read several of the works produced by Anne Rice, a former--and famous--resident of New Orleans, but haven't ever succeeded to the end. Though I know several people who have talked positively about her vampire chronicles and her newest spiritual fiction related to Jesus. I am, however, currently reading her autobiography Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession. From advance word about the book, Rice's spiritual journey has been reflected in both her vampire fiction as well as her other fictional work. I have always been interested in spiritual journey/conversion stories (not just limited to Christian matters,) and thought that Rice's autobiography might give me some insight into her spiritual journey as well as her creative process and subject focus.

The "gravy" in this entry's title is related to a book by Isabel Anders, Awaiting the Child: An Advent Journal. Anders, whom I met about a month ago has published several works, mostly related to spiritual or theological themes. Awaiting the Child is not only related to the season of Advent, it is a journal she kept during her first pregnancy, giving the title a dual meaning.

P.S. Rice (the food) and gravy has been one of my favorite "comfort foods" since early childhood. Reading has always been the "comfort food" for my mind and soul.

My Jesus Year

Currently reading My Jesus Year: A Rabbbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith by Benyamin Cohen.

I tend to read a lot of spiritually-related books, but my reading habits are eclectic and vast. This particular book caught my interest as it was in a blurb by the writer A.J. Jacobs, the author of two very good books, The Know It All and The Year of Living Biblically. In the first book, Jacobs sets a goal of reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in a year's time. No easy task. In his second book, Jacobs takes on the tenets of his Jewish faith placing them in the context of the Torah and the Bible and living "by the rules" set out in both.

Because I liked Jacobs' books, I decided to read Cohen's book. Because I have lived in the Bible Belt, I was intrigued how he would carry out his journey. One of the interesting things is that Cohen is an Orthodox Jew who married the daughter of a Methodist clergyman. Since she was no longer interested in the faith of her birth, she converted to Judaism. Orthodox Judaism. Like many converts, she tends to be a little more adherent to her "new" faith than her author-husband.

As I write this, Cohen has just attended his first "Megachurch" service in Georgia. The journey of the year has just begun, and I'm along for the ride.