Book Talk: Thursday's Reflection

Meet Walter, the dog who reads.

Walter is a sheep-a-doodle who belongs to our daughter and her family. He is only a year old, but he is reading already.

Walter learned quickly that the expectation in our family is to READ. Smart dog. He prefers to read classics, and his current choice is one of C.S. Lewis's Narnia books. 

As I said, smart dog.


In France you are what you read. Or, according to The French Art of Making a Home by Danielle Postel-Vinay, at least what you include in your bibliotheque. Walter hasn't learned French yet, so I translated for him. "That means library, Walter."

        For the French, what you read is more important
        than the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the 
        rings on your fingers, or the watch on your wrist. 
        Books are more important than the job you perform,
        or how much you earn per year. ...In a society 
        obsessed by education, intelligence, and taste, books 
        are also an important link between who you are and
        what you tell the world. The books speak for you. The
        books you read matter. The books you display in your
        home matter even more. The absence of books in your
        life signals a deep and inexplicable void. 

An absence of books? I can't imagine, and I am glad Walter has figured that out as well. 

Rather than an absence of books, the problem in our household is managing the books we have. We don't quite have the "one in, one out" rule at our house, but we are paying more attention to books we want to keep and books we are ready to pass on to Little Free Libraries or used book stores. Or friends. Some Walter might eventually want in his library. 

I am using the library more as well. (Gosh, I wonder if Walter has his library card.) Along with being a more faithful library patron, my intention for the new year is to dip more frequently into what I already have on the shelves. My TBR (To Be Read) stacks. It's challenging, however, not to be tempted by new shiny titles. 

One of the blogs about books that I follow, Modern Mrs Darcy posted a 2019 reading challenge, which intrigues me. I suspect I could fulfill the challenge with books I already own.
              * A book you've been meaning to read.
                    The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah (F)
                    Unbinding, The Grace Beyond Self, Kathleen
                           Dowling Singh (NF)
              * A book about a topic that fascinates you.
                     The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai (F)
                     The Warmth of Other Suns, The Epic Story of 
                          America's Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson (NF)
              * A book that is a backlist of a favorite author
                     The Range of Motion, Elizabeth Berg (F)
                     A Place of My Own, Michael Pollan (NF)
              * A book recommended by someone with great taste
                     Autumn, Ali Smith (F)
                     Hearth, A Global Conversation on Community,
                           Identity, and Place, Annick Smith & Susan
                           O'Connor (NF)
              * Three books by the same author
                    The last three by Willa Cather: Shadows on the Rock,  
                     Lucy Gayheart, and Sapphira and the Slave Girl (F)                 
                    Three by Christine Valters Paintner: Water, Wind, 
                          Earth and Fire, The Christian Practice of Praying 
                          with the Elements; Awakening the Creative Spirit,
                          Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction; and The 
                          Soul's Slow Ripening, 12 Celtic Practices for  
                          Seeking the Sacred (NF)
              * A book you chose for the cover
                     The Good Doctor, Michael Kula (F)
                     Dreaming in Chinese, Mandarin Lessons in Life,  
                            Love and Language, Deborah Fallows (NF)         
              * A book by an author who is new to you
                      They May Not Mean To But They Do, Catherine
                             Schine (F)
                      When Spiritual But Not Religious Is Not Enough,
                             Lillian Daniel (NF)
              * A book in translation
                         ???? This must be a category where I need to 
                         expand. I know I don't want to read War and Peace 
                         again!
              * A book outside your (genre) comfort zone
                         Station Eleven, Emily St John Mandel (F)
                         Onward and Upward in the Garden, Katherine
                            White (NF)
              * A book published before you were born
                          Howard's End, E. M. Forster (F)
                          The Story of My Heart, Richard Jeffries (NF)

I don't intend to be rigid about this list, but it would be great to focus on books waiting for me on my shelves. Stay tuned.

An Invitation
Do you have any 2019 book intentions for the new year? I would love to know.