thankful thursday

A good book::

How I LOVE a good book!

I mostly read fiction. I just love a good story. Lately, though, I've been reading a string of non-fiction books that really are rocking my world! {A couple I requested months ago from the library and they "just happened" to come in now. One I found in the basement. I'd gotten as a gift years ago and had never read it. One I pre-ordered LONG before the date it was to hit the shelves and waited and waited and waited some more for it to arrive at my house. Some I'd read about online. Other people were talking about how they had impacted their lives. Friends had suggested some. One or two I just happened to stumble upon . . . at this divine time . . . when all the messages would work together to have compounded impact on my life.} Thus, I've read quite a few books in the past month or so that really have had an impact on my thinking . . . and hopefully my life too. So, I thought I'd share them with you too, just in case your life could use a little impact right about now.

As a side note, I also VERY RARELY buy books. I'm a huge fan of the library and make tremendous use of the one in our neighborhood! I get SO many books from there. If my library doesn't have it, I request an ILL {inter-library loan} from another library in the consortium, so I feel very little need to actually own books. But, I have purchased {actually spent money on!} about 15 books this year -- not the past 12 months, mind you. This. Year. 2011. Since we flipped the calendar over. {granted 10 of them were copies of the very same book!}. That's a really big deal for me! Usually, once I read a book once, I'm done with it. My general philosophy is: check it out from the library. Read it. {Enjoy!} And then return it to the library. This works out great because:

1. I love to read
2. I don't need one more thing taking up space in my house
3. I don't have gobs of extra money to spend on books. {And, as much as I love them, most books are only of temporary use to me.}
4. And, hello! They are free to use with a quick trip down the block {and, if you time it right the trip can also include entertainment for you kids and a free outing. And what mom doesn't love that? Thus, we are also HUGE fans of library storytime! -- and Miss Jennifer}
   

Plus, I have this weird quirk where I don't actually read books I own. Library books have a due date. I'm {generally} a rule follower. That means I need to return them on time {or renew -- thank goodness for renewal!}. I don't like to pay fines, you know. Plus, I can't start a book and not finish it. Even books I don't like, I finish. So, I need to get them read before they are due. Books I own don't have due dates. Ahhh, yes. Even if I know I would LOVE a book and have been looking forward to reading it, the minute it belongs to me, it goes to the bottom of the priority list. It'll always be there, so there is no rush. But not so this time. These books are mine and I still read them {and am planning to start one of them for the 2nd time real soon!}

So, what are these amazing, life-altering books you might wonder? Well, here goes. In no particular order, here are some of the books that have been hitting me straight in the heart lately. Check them out too, if you dare::

• Crazy Love by Francis Chan {own it!}
• One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp {own it!} I think Ann is my kindred spirit. The Canadian version! Oh, how I'd love to meet her in person. Although we have emailed a time or two. And I got something in my actual mailbox {the one almost completely buried in snow} from her yesterday. Hand addressed in her super cute handwriting. I saved it all. Envelope and everything. It totally made my day!
• The Jesus Storybook Bible by God -- and Sally Lloyd Jones {own it!} It might seem surprising that I'm so impacted by a children's Bible storybook, but I am! I have read the unabridged version of the Bible and it has impacted me greatly too, but the simplicity of this story, the amazing illustrations and the thread of Jesus through every. single. story. has really had more of an impact on me than I expected. I thought I was buying it for the kids {Anna and Sara, especially} but I have found it to be more for me than them, even. I love it!
• Quotidian Mysteries by Kathleen Norris {own it}
• Complaint Free World by Will Bowen
• Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider {own it -- this one I haven't actually started yet, but it's next on my list and I plan to read it and put in into action as soon as I finish Crazy Love. But with all that I've read about it, I know it's going to be a great one!}