Monday, September 29, 2008

Books, books, books

I don't read as much as I should....I do try to read some and I will find books that I really like and then it seems that I always fall out of the routine of reading said books, forget to pick them up for quite awhile, and in so doing I forget what I had read to begin with - to the point of not being able to pick it up again from where I had left off. I can read a very few number of authors in one sitting - experiencing the total "pulled into a book" phenomenon where I do not want to put it down until it is done - but those books are very few indeed.

The flip side of this problem is that I am constantly finding books that I would like to read. Mostly non-fiction these days. I don't have the time to really find what and who I like stylistically in the fiction genre, so I stick with learning about things and subjects that I need a better handle on or a strong lesson about. Currently these are the books that I have started, but have put down and and they have now met the fate of me forgetting what I had started in the first place....the sad thing is each and every one of these are books that I was really getting something out of and enjoying...life just happened, and happened to get in the way of my reading time.

So here's the list:

Parenting is Heart Work by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller
Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character in You and Your Kids by the same folks as above
Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancy
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (and this one was work assigned no less!)
Thrilled to Death: How the Endless Pursuit of Pleasure is Leaving Us Numb by Dr. Archibald D. Hart

Now all of these have been started at differing degrees - some are chapters into it, on others I have just barely scratched the surface. Now listed above are 5 books that I need to read - books with which I need to follow through with the task I have begun - and what comes in the mail today?

The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman. I purchased this one used on Amazon cause I couldn't find it at the library. I have heard a lot about it and while I doubt that I will become totally sold out to the birth order theories of behavior and development of personality, I am very curious to see how accurate his research is concerning our own family. The back of the book is intriguing enough..."It's no coincidence that comedians Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, and Whoopi Goldberg are all the youngest of their sex in their families." Ummm, hmmmm, that is coincidental cause our little nut Avery is right there with them in birth order.

So while I am very curious to see what this book has to say, I feel very "wasteful" to tear into yet another new book when I have left the ones in the first list totally abandoned. So, I am going to start at the top and work my way down the list....hopefully one book a month is my goal and since October is already upon us, it will be a good time to start my new (yet another new) routine and goal....don't worry it will soon be abandoned. I bet I get this trait of book abandonment because I am the second born to an older brother in my family. I bet Dr. Leman has it all figured out as to why I do this and it's spelled out in his book....but no, I won't start reading it - yet....and I'm sure I'll never finish it.

1 comment:

Brook said...

Since I am a (quote) developmentalist (unquote) - can you hear my dripping sarcasm???, I will add my two cents about the Kevin Leman book. At this point I affiliate myself most closely with the Adlerian camp of thought about psychology and they believe strongly in birth order, but...I think some character traits we each have can be attributed to birth order, but for the most part I think God gifts us each in a special way regardless of our birth order. Jason and I are first borns and we are nothing alike! My parents are both youngest are nothing alike. I have met many middle children who are well adjusted...ok, ok, I am done. Jason has been on his soapbox about politics lately, so I wanted to give it a whirl! And you are blessed Jessie since I have pretty much abandoned our blog. :)

Surprisingly, I am not reading any nonfiction books right now, don't have any checked out from the library and I don't think I have any on reserve either. The nonfiction books I am currently working my way through, besides coursework, are:
Opening Your Child's Spiritual Windows by Cheri Fuller

Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer

Effective Parenting in a Defective World by Chip Ingram

The Love Dare, Steven Kendrick and Alex Kendrick

Jason can't wait to dig into Sinner by Ted Dekker. I see that Dekker has a few other books out too, so he better get going!