Bookish

The other day my friend, Kathy, posted on Facebook about the books she'd recently read. It got me to thinking about a quote by C. S. Lewis: “I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.”

I enjoy reading books more than once. I may reread a book four or five times over the years. It's like visiting with a friend you haven't seen in awhile. You pick up right where you left off. Well, in this case, right at the beginning again!



Mr. Lewis also said: "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." When I'm finished with a good book, I just don't want it to end. It lingers in my mind. What did I learn from it? Where did it take me? Now, tea, on the other hand, will never do. Coke for me!

"All my life I've loved books. But the Bible was the only book that ever loved me back." Edward Grinnan, Editor-in-Chief at Guideposts. What a statement! Everytime you read the Bible you learn something new. It never disappoints.



Love poems are usually written in books. But here is one that is written to a book . . . the Book.

"Welcome dear book, soul's joy, and food!
The feast of Spirits, Heaven extracted lies in thee;
Thou art life's charter, the dove's spotless nest
Where souls are hatched unto Eternity.

In thee the hidden stone, the manna lies,
Thou art the great elixir, rare, and choice;
The key that opens to all mysteries,
The Word in characters, God in the voice.


O that I had deep cut in my own heart
Each line in Thee! Then would I plead in groans
Of my Lord's penning, and by sweetest art
Return upon himself the Law, and stones.
Read here, my faults are thine, This book, and I
Will tell thee so, Sweet Savior thou didst die!

Henry Vaughan, 1622-1695, Welsh physician and poet

I enjoy reading books I've never read before. But I especially enjoy going back and rereading a book I loved. Whether a good fiction story, biography or non-fiction work, your world is enhanced by good writing.

A few books I enjoy picking up again are: "The God I Love" by Joni Eareckson Tada; 50People Every Christian Should Know" by Warren Wiserbe; Reagan: A Life in Letters; Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World" and Beverly Lewis' books on the Amish.

I'll end with another quote from C. S. Lewis: “No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.”

The Bible wins again! You just continue to grow . . . the more you read it, the more you learn.

What are you reading this summer?