Off the Grid/On the Bookshelf

I just got back from 4 lovely days up north at my parents' new cottage, along with Nathan, the kids, my parents, one of my sisters and her fiance. At the old cottage, that probably would have been a rather stressful weekend for this introverted, quiet-seeking girl, but thankfully, the new one has more space inside, and a park and beach next door that kept the kids occupied pretty constantly. The weather was great - mostly hot and sunny, which meant lots of swimming, with one rain day thrown in for some down time inside. And since we had no internet, no cell phone (do it sometime--it's fantastic!) and my brain was drug-free (the only way to survive stays at the previous cottage was to inundate my system with allergy meds), I was able to do a lot of reading. So with that in mind, here's some of what's been on my reading list lately:

Genesis: I'm reading a chapter a day, learning a lot about God and the Gospel from this Old Testament book. More on that shortly...

Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Booksby Tony Reinke: I just finished this book about a week ago. If you like to read, or if you want to like to read, or if you want to know some reasons why you should want to like to read, this book on what and why and how to read all kinds of books as a Christian is very helpful. It's very down-to-earth and easy to understand. And Mr. Reinke would be happy to know that all the other books I'm reading right now have a lot more ink in them because of him (I had hoped to do some writing at the cottage, but the only writing I did was in the margins of my books).

According To Plan: The Unfolding Revelation Of God InThe Bibleby Graeme Goldsworthy: This is a book recommended to me by my husband, Nathan, on how to read and understand the whole Bible in light of Jesus and His gospel, and although the writing style is sometimes a bit choppy, and sometimes needs more than one read-through for understanding, the content is excellent and has been a great aid to me already as I work my way through Genesis. I'm sure you'll see some quotes from this book on this blog in the coming weeks.

TOGETHER: Growing Appetites for Godby Carrie Ward: This little book that I read in one day (granted, it was at the cottage with few other responsibilities) is one woman's testimony of how she cultivated the habit and delight of reading God's Word daily by reading the whole Bible together with her then preschool-aged kids at the breakfast table over the course of 5 years (and then went back and did it twice more). I didn't really read anything here that I'd never heard before, but it DID encourage me to continue to nurture a love for God's Word in myself, and to work at putting aside less important things to get my kids in the Word more regularly, too. And if you're someone who really struggles with having a consistent Bible-reading time, you may find some helpful, gracious ideas in this book. You may also like her blog.

Deceptionby Randy Alcorn: a murder mystery by a good Christian fiction (and excellent non-fiction) writer... I can't tell you any more about this one, because that would take time, and I have to find out what happens next, and it's killing me! So I'd rather go bury my nose in it again. I'll see you on the other side of 400-odd pages!