A recent Reader’s Corner column asked, “What’s on your nightstand?” and listed several books I am either currently reading or have on my “to read” list and stacked in my various spots around the house—including the nightstand. Several people around town have told me they added some of the titles to their own list, and a few mentioned their own current reads (meaning, of course, that my list got longer with their recommendations).
Karen Halfpop, digital/production manager for the Globe, shared, “I always have books in progress on my phone—currently “The Race: Discovering and Following God’s Plan for Your Life”—or Kindle—"Buried by Table Rock Lake.” Her current print read at the time of her response was Dr. David Jeremiah’s “The Great Disappearance,” and she is also enjoying a new KJV Spiral Bible, which lies flat and has room for note-taking. As for our editor, Janet Steinkamp, she said, “My list keeps getting longer and longer.”
Columnist Lauri Thompson is re-reading “The Art of the Soul,” a collection of 52 short articles by Joy Sawyer encouraging readers to use their creativity. She is also reading “Believers: Lessons from Women of Powerful Faith,” from the NavPress Bible study series “Her Name Is Woman,” originally released in the 1970s and updated in 2015. “It can be used as a group study,” shared Lauri, “but it’s also exciting to read on your own, as the author makes the Bible characters ‘come to life,’ kind of like Sight & Sound or The Chosen.
I can always count on my high school friend Susan for good recommendations, which she regularly shares on social media. “I just finished this intriguing book, another one set in World War II and the present,” she wrote about Susan Meissner’s “A Bridge Across the Ocean.” “Interesting and mysterious!”
No discussion of reading is complete without checking in with my kids! “I’m in the middle of one I really need to finish,” said Luke. “It’s Know Yourself, Know Your Money,” by Rachel Cruze, Dave Ramsey’s daughter.” It was a gift from his banker brother, and highly recommended for young adults or anyone else wanting to get on solid financial footing. Luke is also revisiting, via Audible during his daily commute, the “Chronicles of Narnia” series by C. S. Lewis. We read those as a family when the children were young, something I also recommend!
My daughter recently shared that she is re-reading Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” in memory of her husband’s uncle, who passed away several years ago and whose last advice to them was the book’s admonition to “seek first to understand, then to be understood.” That seems like a great one to wrap up with, as cultivating the habit of reading can be a wonderful way to seek and gain understanding!
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