CHOOSE: A WORTHY READ

So many books---how does one distinguish a worthy read! No perfect answer there. (Ecclesiastes 12:12) However, many times I'll continue to read books by a favorite author. Though even that is no guarantee.

Lisa Wingate has yet to fail me in book choices---though I admit I have not read all 30 of her fiction titles.

Her newest book, Before We Were Yours, which is set in Memphis 1936, will be released next month. It has already received RAVE REVIEWS. "Alternately shocking and heart-wrenching, yet ultimately redemptive."

Ultimately the Bible is THE Worthy Read and the best choice for the ultimate non-fiction!

But.....if fiction is the choice of your day, you might consider Tending Roses or other Lisa Wingate books.

CHOOSE: PITHY

Tweets are pithy. 'Cept I don't tweet. 
I get all atwitter just thinking about it. 
Blogging can be pithy, tho often mine are not----at least I can "choose pithy" as I blog today.

Pithy is often so much harder than wordiness! All wordsmith's recognize that writing hazard. Saying the most with the fewest words is more appropriate for today's hurried lifestyles.

Scripture itself supports the use of fewer, yet meaningful, words. In Job 16:3, the question is asked, "Is there no limit to windy words?" 
That's what superfluous words are like---hot air. 

More words can lead to confusion. Ecclesiastics 6:11 states, "For there are many words which increase futility."

Possibly if I choose to blog pithy entires, blog readers will be joyful!

"The teakettle is "tweeting you." (Family Circus,)

Was this one pithy enough? It took me about as long to type this as it did for my cuppa to steep.

Smell-Bound

I am enthralled by the familiarity of a library, or a small bookstore. 
I like the feel of a book in my hands.
I like the "smell" of a book----new or old, BUT not on my iPad. Though I have downloaded books for ease when I travel, I rarely read them. I end up adding to the coffers of Hudson News (booksellers) airport locations.
Books stack up in my life. Stacked beside my bed and on my reading chair, beside the kitchen table and ALWAYS in the car, in case of a traffic jam.
This recent "stack"alone has taken me through the "old" west, into Old Testament times, inside Nazi Germany, in the halls of Harvard with the first American Indian to attend the school, to a small town, to a ministry for gangs in a large city, behind the scenes of vaudeville and into the mind of a celebrity battling bi-polar depression, etc.

Know that this stack is NOT recommended reading. Some books I haven't even read yet. Some I have skimmed and scanned quickly through because the writing was too disturbing for me.
One book I put down after two chapters---which is rare for me.
As I have aged, I take to heart the old adage, "so many books, so little time" and following the wisdom of King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 12:12) knowing that the "making of books has no end and ....can become wearisome" so if a book doesn't keep me "spellbound" with smell and writing and topic-----I put it down!!

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY

Today's the day......guess where I am headed today? To the Collierville Library for a writers' conference.

.........and the  Mid-South Book Festival begins tomorrow. Body wearying fun for a bibliophile!

Be still my heart......the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

"TEA-chable"

The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. (Ecclesiastes 12:11, NKJV)

If one is going to "tea"ch God's word, especially if she is not a biblical scholar, much preparation is needed---tho the lessons for the teacher are usually greater than the lesson to be taught. Paring is necessary if there is to be clarity in the presentation. One thing is needful---God's word in God's way----God is El Shaddai, the "All Sufficient One"---everything else is superfluous.

"Keep the main thing the main thing" as Kay Arthur often says when she's teaching. C. H. Spurgeon puts it this way, "The man of one book is eminent, the man of one pursuit is successful."

As the "Preacher" says in Ecclesiastes, there is "no end to books and much study is wearisome," or simply put, man's all is to "Fear God and keep His commandments." 

There is nothing quite like a divine education---but it comes first to the teacher and then to the student. 

Grateful for a morning of "Tea With Thee" time, prior to teaching, this "TEA-cher" is still sipping from God's word and praying for a "tea-chable" spirit for both herself and her students.

Book Reflections & reviews...........

12/11/13........With so-o-o many books available in so-o-o many formats, it's hard to choose ones that are worthy of one's limited time. "There is no end to books, and too much study will wear you out." (Ecclesiastes 12:12)
It's even harder to recommend a book because there's a responsibility that one feels. Yet, as any librarian knows, when trying to lead a patron to their next great read, much of it depends on the patron's preferences as well as their life views.
For me,  to answer the question, "what's a good "new" book to read?" I just tell what I've read lately and then usually add a few disclaimers with my "choice"rationale. I just finished a new "quick & easy read" book and it was what I needed as my life has been one of ups and downs lately, and I needed a quiet gentle book. I found a book that touched me in such a way.
What really sold me on Mitch Albom's, The First Phone Call From Heaven, an allegorical story that deals with the power of belief, was the acknowledgment from the author (p. 327)

Finally---and firstly----anything created by my heart or hand is from God, by God, through God and with God. We may not know the truth about phones and heaven, but we do know this: in time, He answers all calls, and He answered mine. (Mitch Albom)

That to me is an "A-men" review.

Life Stories: worthy of an eternal sequel

3/6/13 Everyone loves a good story---young and old alike.

A good book captivates the very young.....

....and books continue to captivate us as we age (gracefully)

Solomon warns readers that the "writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body." (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

As my 20 year old sweatshirt says, "So Many Books, So Little Time."
I take that to mean that with so many books "out there" in print, that quality selection becomes very important.  I have just finished reading a good one, one worthy of my precious limited time. And glory of glories, there's a sequel, which, so far, is proving to be even better than that first---because it's a continuation of what was already a good story. For avid readers, a sequel to a good book is an added bonus. 

Thanks to Holly, a fellow booklover, for sharing Swan House, and Beth who shared her copy of it's sequel, The Dwelling Place.  

Our own lives have one story in two locations. Our spiritual stories---one this side of heaven---our "here and now" moments to savor and our "sequel" will be that added bonus. When our earthly life has been lived according to God's purpose, our "sequel" will include eternity with Him.

LITEA

2/12/11 Litea is a bookstore in Budapest and I love the Hungarian spelling because it reflects the two things I so-o-o enjoy in combination---a good book and a cup of tea---a good brisk Assam. I also loved this shop when I visited there on a mission trip in '97. There's just something universal about the smell of a good book store---it's right up there with the glorious smell of leather in an old library. Plus, this one had this small watercolor for sale that enabled me to bring this memory home with me.
I know that as Ecclesiastes 12:12 reminds me, "of making many books there is no end and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body." So, I try to do as The Preacher says, "find delightful words, and to write (and read, DAL) words of truth correctly."
A memory of the smell of good books (worthy of reading), a brisk cuppa and a small painting---a Litea experience right up my alley.