The Booking Through Thursday topic for this week is:

One book at a time? Or more than one? If more, are they different types/genres? Or similar?
(We’re talking recreational reading, here—books for work or school don’t really count since they’re not optional.)

Quite often I’m reading through a couple of books at a time — one in each bathroom. 😳 🙂

If I am reading a non-fiction book, I almost always have a fiction book on hand, too. It takes a different mindset to read non-fiction and it’s not something I read to relax like I do with fiction.

If I am reading a classic I often have a lighter work of fiction on hand as well.

I’m almost always in the midst of some Christian fiction book.

Sometimes I’ll also make my way through a third book if I am incorporating one into my daily quiet time of Bible reading and prayer.

The Booking Through Thursday topic for this week is multiples.

Do you have multiple copies of any of your books?
If so, why? Absent-mindedness? You love them that much? First Editions for the shelf, but paperbacks to read?
If not, why not? Not enough space? Not enough money? Too sensible to do something so foolish?

I have two copies of Little Women, both hardback. One came with a set of children’s books. The other I saw at a bookstore and just loved the illustration on the cover, the size of it, everything about it. It was the type of book that you would remember long after reading it for the book as well as the story. If I had ever had daughters, probably one copy would have been hers. I am hoping someday to have a very bookish granddaughter to share these kinds of things with.

Other than that, I discovered I had two copies of a biography of William Carey — I had just forgotten I already had it. If I haven’t given away the extra copy yet, I should.

As to the “why not” part of the question — I really don’t see a need for two copies of any book unless one copy is for children and one to save and keep nice, or one is part of a set that has some value. Otherwise I’d rather the extra copy went to someone who could use it rather than taking up space on my bookshelf.

One exception would be Bibles. We have different translations as well as older copies too worn for general usage but which contain notes we want to keep.

The Booking Through Thursday topic for this week is letters:

Have you ever written an author a fan letter?

Did you get an answer?

Did it spark a conversation? A meeting?

(And, sure, I suppose that e-mails DO count . . . but I’d say no to something like a message board on which the author happens to participate.)

I’ve thought about it, but wasn’t sure quite how to get a letter to an author. I have supposed that I could just send a letter to the publisher, but just never followed through.

These days, though, many authors have web sites and/or blogs, and it’s a little easier to make contact. I think the first author I ever contacted in that way was Dee Henderson. I discovered her while looking for a Christian fiction book to send my Mom. I didn’t normally gravitate toward suspense novels, but my mom liked them, so I was looking for something along that vein in Christian fiction. I was hooked from the first pages. Not only was the story excellent, but the underlying spiritual truths were clear, yet not told in a moralistic way. At one point I e-mailed Dee through her web site and told her how her books were ministering to my mother, and I did get an nice e-mail back.

In a twist on this question, I’ve had three different authors contact me after I’ve mentioned or reviewed their book on my blog. That was a surprise and a pleasure. One contact led to an “interview” on a blog book tour with Lynn Walker, author of Queen of the Castle: 52 Weeks of Encouragement for the Uninspired, Domestically Challenged or Just Plain Tired Homemaker. We e-mailed a few times in conjunction with the interview, and I’ve e-mailed her since (her book is written in a weekly, through-the-year format, so I am still enjoying and discovering it, and I commented once on something I had just read and how it helped me), but I don’t want to “bug” her or make her feel like I think I’m her new BFF.  🙂

I may have sent a short e-mail of appreciation to a few more, but really haven’t done that as much as I could have or probably should have. Sometimes I think authors receive all kinds of mail, mine would just get lost in the shuffle, what would I say anyway besides, “I really liked your book!” But I imagine authors really like to know that people liked their books! And especially when a book has touched me in some way, I should let the author know that. Elisabeth Elliot is a writer whose words have touched me and ministered to me in multitudes of ways, and at at the end of a chapter called “The Trail to Shandia” in her book Love Has a Price Tag, she writes,

Analysis can make you feel guilty for being human. To be human, of course, means to be sinful, and for our sinfulness we must certainly “feel” the guilt which is rightly ours–but not everything human is sinful. There is a man on the radio every afternoon from California whose consummate arrogance in making an instant analysis of every caller’s difficulties is simply breathtaking. A woman called in to talk about her problems with her husband who happens to be an actor. “Oh,” said the counselor, “of course the only reason anybody goes into acting is because they need approval.” Bang. Husband’s problem identified. Next question. I turned off the radio and asked myself, with rising guilt feelings, “Do I need approval?” Answer: yes. Does anybody not need approval? Is there anybody who is content to live his life without so much as a nod from anybody else? Wouldn’t he be, of all men, the most devilishly self-centered? Wouldn’t his supreme solitude be the most hellish? It’s human to want to know that you please somebody.

We visited another place where I lived–Tewaenon– where the Aucas live. It had been sixteen years since I had seen them, but they remembered me, calling me by the name they had given me, “Gikari,” and everybody beginning at once, as was their custom, to tell me what they had done since they saw me. Dabu, with two of his three wives, came walking up the airstrip and began immediately–there are no greetings in Auca–to tell me that when he had heard of the death of my second husband he had cried. This prompted Ipa to remark that she had sat down and written me a letter when she heard of his death, but on rereading the letter said to herself, “It’s no good,” and threw it away. Sometimes readers of things that I write tell me long afterward that they have thought of writing me a letter, or have written one and discarded it, thinking, “She doesn’t need my approval.” Well, they’re mistaken–for wouldn’t it be a lovely thing to know that a footprint you have left on the trail has, just by being there, heartened somebody else?

Last spring I was checking the web sites of several different popular diet plans, and each of them had aspects that didn’t appeal to me (cost factors or elimination of certain whole food groups, etc.). Then I found Dr. Phil McGraw’s site dealing with weight, and it contained a lot of common sense, so I decided to buy his book, The Ultimate Weight Solution: The Seven Keys to Weight Loss Freedom.

Let me say at the outset that I am not a Dr. Phil disciple, so please don’t take this as an endorsement of anything he has ever said or written. I have never seen a whole episode of his show. I have caught parts of it at the doctor’s waiting room and the last ten minutes or so when my husband turns on the TV after dinner some times. I have found myself disagreeing with him on occasion (particularly one program dealing with when to end a marriage) and I have heard him once or twice use language I find offensive. But from what I have seen he is good at laying out a situation in plain black and white and applying common sense solutions. So with that in mind, I started reading his book.

And he does lay things out in plain black and white. Take, for instance, this statement in response to the excuse that “Because obesity runs in my family, I just can’t lose weight.”

Is holding on to the excuse that you’re a victim, blaming others for your results, really going to help you get in shape? Does it bring you happiness, peace, calm, and fulfillment? Is it working for you? If you answered No, No, and No, then stop listening to your own justifications and excuses for why you are putting up with these thoughts and beliefs, actions and inactions, that are not working for you. If it’s not working, let go of it!

Bottom line: there are no victims, only volunteers. You are creating the situations you’re in; you’re creating the thoughts and emotions that flow from those situations. You must embrace the fact that you own your problems and take action to solve them.

He reminds that, if we eat in response to stress, “None of these situations will get better if you respond by stuffing yourself with uncontrolled amounts of food.” You might say, “Well, duh.” But many people fall into that trap of comforting themselves with food, and sometimes that plain, clear realization is a wake-up call.

Here is another quote:

If you don’t have time to exercise, you are saying, in effect, that you have time to stay overweight and that you have time, at some point in your future, for a long, and still-growing list of life-crippling, life-threatening diseases that exercise ios known to prevent. If you don’t have time for exercise, ask yourself if you have time for heart disease, stroke, cancer, or diabetes. If you don’t exercise with some degree of regularity, you are making a decision to compromise your life quality, today and in the future.

Ouch. 

His first “key” is right thinking, and really that premise underlies the whole book, the premise that what you think determines how you feel and act.

I did find a few areas of disagreement. One was a statement in the chapter on right thinking: “You have within you everything you will ever need to be, do, and have, anything and everything you will ever want or need.” As a Christian, I find all that I need, including the strength to do right, in God, not in myself. In the chapter on emotional control, he cites David and Goliath as an example of confidence on David’s part in contrast with fear of the other soldiers, but, again, David’s confidence in both his victory and his cause came from God, not his own self confidence (I Samuel 17). Also in that chapter he recommends certain relaxation techniques. I have no problem with breathing techniques, contracting and relaxing muscles to ease tension, listening to music (Dr. Jim Berg also advocates the use of these in Quieting a Noisy Soul), but yoga and meditation as the world thinks of it cross the line in my book, and I think people need to be wary of them.

He does also talk about specific foods and which kinds are best. There are several helpful charts and quizzes. He cautions against unrealistic expectations, such as thinking that once you do lose weight you’ll find a mate, get a great job, and everything will be rosy.

My problem with any kind of instructional book is that, as I am reading along, I’ll think, “Yes, that’s good,” “Yes, I agree there,” “That’s very helpful,” and then I get done, close the book, and a day or two later, think, “What was that again?” Things just don’t stay with me like they do when I read a story. So I think what I need to do is skim back through a chapter at a time, maybe listing out the points I underlined or noted to review the major points.

The Booking Through Thursday topic for this week is:Who’s the worst fictional villain you can think of? As in, the one you hate the most, find the most evil, are happiest to see defeated? Not the cardboard, two-dimensional variety, but the most deliciously-written, most entertaining, best villain? Not necessarily the most “evil,” so much as the best-conceived on the part of the author.

One of the best crafted villains that comes to my mind is Javert of Les Miserables because he doesn’t seem like a villain. He thinks he’s on the side of right. He stands for the good causes of righteousness and justice but forgets forgiveness and mercy and compassion. He reminds me somewhat of the apostle Paul who persecutes Christians because he thinks they are sinning against the God he thinks he is serving, yet unlike Paul, who is brought prostrate and converted when he is brought face to face with the truth, Javert can’t face it, can’t comprehend it, and sadly destroys himself.

I was looking on my bookshelf for something easy to get into in anticipation of a long doctor’s appointment (rather a long time in the waiting room). I found a small book called Sweet Dreams Drive by Robin Lee Hatcher there. I don’t remember buying it, but it had a big sale sticker on it and I had at least heard of the author, so that must’ve been part of my motivation, plus the fact that it looked like a good story. I didn’t realize at first it was the fourth in a series called Hart’s Crossing about a folks in a small town in Idaho. It wasn’t originally on my Summer Reading List, though I am adding it on. :)The story is about a couple who had found each other unexpectedly, fallen in love, and went on to pursue the American Dream — and run into problems with debt and a lack of communication and the sleep deprivation and tiredness resulting from the birth of twins. The point of view shifts back and forth between the husband and wife, Al and Patti, but what I liked about that was that we see the same situation from each point of view and see how it causes different reactions. It’s a sweet story of how they learn to sacrifice and put each other first and make their marriage even better than it was before.

Now I want to get the first three books in the series! I don’t think they are needed to really understand this story, but I liked the town the characters and want to read about the rest of them.

The second book is a prize that I won in Katrina’s Books Galore give-away last spring (thanks. Katrina!), Scrap Everything by Leslie Gould. The basic premise is the friendship that develops between two unlikely women. Elise has moved to her husband’s home town as a temporary stop on her way to her dream location of Seattle. Partly because she doesn’t really want to live in the town and partly because she considers it a short stay and doesn’t want to put down roots and partly because of her personality, which is somewhat reticent to get to know people, she seems aloof (another character later described her as “needy,” but I didn’t see her as needy at all: she seemed just the opposite to me. She didn’t want or think she needed their friendship or their help at all at first). One of the first women she meets is Rebekah, a new owner of a scrapbooking shop, whom Elise thinks is “perky” and describes as someone who “spoke in italics and exclamation points.”

Elise’s husband, Ted, is unexpectedly called back from army reserves to active duty and her oldest son has behavioral problems. Rebekah’s adopted daughter faces a medical crisis with a need for a kidney transplant, and the family seems about to lose either their farm or Rebekah’s business due to the expenses, especially when a laspe in insurance coverage is discovered. As they meet over scrapbooking, horseback riding at Rebekah’s farm, and helping each other through their problems, they learn to give each other a chance, they learn to give, and they learn to give up control to the only One who can control the events in their lives.

Even though the title and a lot of the setting pertains to scrapbooking, a reader wouldn’t need to be a scrapbooker to enjoy the book.

I found the physical transitions a little choppy and unclear in places. For instance, in the sixth chapter, Rebekah and her husband, Patrick, are in their kitchen talking. He has just gotten a glass of water when their conversation takes an unpleasant turn, and Rebekah says, “I’m too tired for this. Good night.” and turns off the kitchen light. It sounded (to me, anyway) like she left him standing in the kitchen in the dark. Maybe she did. But I think it was meant to convey they were done in the kitchen and going on to bed. There were a few “Huh?” moments like that throughout the book, but I don’t feel they marred the major part of the story.

I identified most with Elise; I could understand her feelings and reactions throughout the book. Maybe because of that, I felt some of the others were too hard on her later on in the book. I empathized with her mapping out her ideal plan and getting frustrated because God wasn’t allowing things to work out accordingly, then having to yield that plan to Him. And Rebekah, though a go-getter and ones who makes things happen, had to learn there are things out of her control as well that she just has to trust God for.

Overall I would recommend this book, and I’d like to read Leslie’s other two books as well some time.

I won a book from Deena at A Peek At My Bookshelf and volunteered to review a couple of other books, and wanted to start right away on the new book just out by Kay Washer, so I may have to scrap my Summer Reading List before it’s over. 🙂 But that’s fine — I do want to read all those books, whether I get to them this summer or next fall. We’ll see how it goes. I have plenty of to-be-read books stacked up to keep me happy for a long time. 🙂

The Booking Through Thursday topic for this week is:

1. Okay, love him or loathe him, you’d have to live under a rock not to know that J.K. Rowling’s final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, comes out on Saturday… Are you going to read it?
2. If so, right away? Or just, you know, eventually, when you get around to it? Are you attending any of the midnight parties?
3. If you’re not going to read it, why not?
4. And, for the record… what do you think? Will Harry survive the series? What are you most looking forward to?

At first I wasn’t going to participate in BTT this week because I’m one of the few people on the planet not into HP. But I just finished writing a lot of my thoughts in a comment on Cindy’s Notes In the Key of Life, so I thought I may as well post them here also.

The short answer is no, I haven’t read the books or seen the films. The “why” will take a little longer to explain.

As a Christian trying to order my life by the Word of God, I have a problem with stories about witchcraft and the occult. One of the most notable passages is Deuteronomy 18:10-12:

“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”

When we were watching the Lord of the Rings series, I found there are, of course, wizards in it. I did wrestle with that in my own conscience. Finally I concluded that Gandalf and the others are not wizards in the occultish sense of the word. They’re more like Middle Earth super heroes, a la Superman and Spiderman and Batman. It’s more fantasy than real occult — we don’t see witches and wizards or people in the occult world in real life riding on bird’s backs or powering off against each other with wands or staffs.

I thought also of the witch in The Wizard of Oz. She is a “fairy tale” witch — witches in real life aren’t green and don’t have flying monkeys. Really the implications of there being such a thing as a “good witch” in Glenda bothers me more than the Wicked Witch of the West. But in the story she’s more like Cinderella’s fairy godmother.

So in our family we’ve made a distinction between fairly tale type magic and the real occult. And even the fairy tale magic I’d rather have as little of as possible.

On the other hand, I have (rarely and not on purpose) read books and watched films that had a much darker and more dangerous pull and more palpable real evil even though there were no outwardly occult signs or symbols or people.

That said, we haven’t gotten into HP at all. He may be more the “fairy tale” type of wizard rather than really occultish — I don’t know. If any of my kids were interested in the series, I would have to check into it. But they are not at all interested. And though part of me wants to check them out just to see what they are all about and to speak of them intelligently when they come up in a conversation, my TBR pile is massive already and I don’t need another obsession.