A Quote of Clarity

"It is time for writers to admit that nothing in this world makes sense. Only fools and charlatans think they know and understand everything. The stupider they are, the wider they conceive their horizons to be. And if an artist decides to declare that he understands nothing of what he sees- this in itself constitutes a considerable clarity in the realm of thought, and a great step forward." Anton Chekhov

Time Well Spent

I have spent the last several years writing down the books that I have read. I now find it a treasure to look over my loving titles that have been there with me and have become a part of me. This seems like a wonderful little hiding place to list them once again and document officially something I am very passionate about. Looking over the titles, they become a time line of sorts; I can honestly remember my life better because of my keeping track of this. (Oh, the regret of not doing this my entire life. Especially during my four years of being a Language Arts major in college!) By looking over my list I can remember the season I savored them in; the setting of where I read them; how I felt; the circumstances I was in at the time and of course, all the wonderful lessons the pages taught me as I savored each word. You are looking at my life; a delicate part of what makes me all that I am.

2002-
January
Alphabet of Grace- Frederick Buechner
The Writing Life- Annie Dillard
Bird by Bird- Anne Lamott (audio)
Life of the Beloved- Henri Nouwen (audio)
Peace Is Every Step- Thich Nhat Hanh
Reaching Out- Henri Nouwen

February
The Alarma Chronicles- Terry Taylor
On the Road with the Archangel- Frederick Buechner
Franny and Zooey- J.D. Salinger

March
The Long Walk- Stephen King (on palm pilot)

April
Creed or Chaos- Dorothy Sayers

May
The Ragamuffin Gospel- Brennan Manning
With Open Hands- Henri Nouwen
The Art of Loving- Erich Fromm

June (the Month and Year my Beloved Grandpa Jilbert went to be with Jesus- June 12, 2002)
Beyond the Mirror- Henri Nouwen
Our Greatest Gift- Henri Nouwen
Aging: The Fulfillment of Life- Henri Nouwen
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas- by James Patterson

July
Eyes of the Heart- Frederick Buechner
The Rock that is Higher-Madeline L'Engle
Son of a Preacher Man- Jay Bakker
Living the Questions- Carolyn Arends

August
A Prayer for Owen Meany- John Irving
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success- Deepak Chopra
10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace- Wayne Dyer
Telling Yourself the Truth- William Backus and Marie Chapian

September
Creating Affluence- A-Z Steps to a Richer Life- Deepak Chopra

October
Nights in Rodante- Nicholas Sparks
The Dance of Anger- Harriet Lerner

November
A Circle of Quiet- Madeleine L'Engle
Night- Elie Wiesel
Dawn- Elie Wiesel
The Accident- Elie Wiesel
A Thousand Country Roads- Robert Waller
Church: Why Bother?- Philip Yancy
Choke- Chuck Palahniuk

December
The Hobbit- JRR Tolkien
The Two Towers- JRR Tolkien

2003
January
No Man is an Island- Thomas Merton
5 Days in Paris- Danielle Steele
New Seeds of Contemplation- Thomas Merton
The World According to Garp- John Irving
Opening the Bible- Thomas Merton
Ellen Foster- Kaye Gibbons
The Hours- Michael Cunningham

February
Picnic, Lightening- Billy Collins
The Catcher in the Rye- JD Salinger
The Inner Voice of Love- Henri Nouwen
The Return of the Prodigal Son- Henri Nouwen

March
The Moviegoer- Walker Percy
The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Mulan Kundera

April
Slowness- Mulan Kundera

May
Waiting for God- Simone Weil

June
The Magnificant Defeat- Frederick Buechner
The Mount Vernon Love Story- Mary Higgins Clark
How to be Good- Nick Hornby
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix #5- JK Rowling

July
The Hungering Dark- Frederick Buechner
Peace is Every Step- Thich Naut Hanh
The Brother's Karamozov- Fyodor Dostoevsky (one of the best books of my lifetime to have read)
Imitations of Christ- Thomas a' Kempis

August
Vittorio- Anne Rice
The Guardian- Nicholas Sparks
Interview with a Vampire- Anne Rice

Sept
Something by Henri Nouwen but alas I never got the title down on paper...

Oct
The Precious Present- Spencer Johnson
5 People you meet in Heaven- Mitch Albom
Letter to a Priest- Simone Weil
The Prophet- Kahlil Gibran
The Long Loneliness- Dorothy Day

November
Broken Music- Sting

December
The Cloister Walk- Kathleen Norris
Everyday Apocalypase- David Dark
The 100 Secrets of Happy People- David Niven

2004
January
Spiritual Direction and Meditation- Thomas Merton
Bread for the Journey- Henri Nouwen
Answered Prayers- Danielle Steele

February
Can't Stop Loving You by Janelle Somebody (can't remember)
The Life you Save May be Your Own- Paul Elie

March
40 Days of Purpose- Rick Warren
The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
What a Difference a Year Makes- Bob Guiney
Everyday Apocolypse- David Dark

April
Peace Like a River- Lief Enger
Wouldn't Take Nothing for my Journey Now (Maya Angelou)- (Read on a plane on a trip to Las Vegas)
Mudhouse Sabbath- Lauren F. Winner

May
Writing in the Dust- Rowan Williams
The Dwelling of the Light- Rowan Williams
Dead Man Walking- Sister Helen Prejean
Warrier of the Light- Paulo Coelho

June
Your Erroneious Zones- Wayne Dyer
Dress Your Family in Courduroy and Denim- David Sedaris
We Were the Mulvaney's- Joyce Carol Oates
Penguins and Goldren Calves- Madeleine L'Engle

July (all titles this month were read on an amazing trip to Alaska with my dear friend Lynn)
Bird Girl and the Man who Followed the Sun- Velma Wallis
Two Old Women- Velma Wallis
Me Talk Pretty One Day- David Sedaris

August
Looking for Alaska- Peter Jenkins

September
Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy (a book that I am incredibly glad that I've read)
Bleachers- John Grisham

October
The Da Vinci Code- Dan Brown
The Monk who Sold his Ferrari- Robin Sharma

November
Holidays on Ice- David Sedaris
Wilco- Learning How to Die- Greg Kot
Benjamin Franklin- Walter Isaacson (one of the most enjoyable books and interesting that I have ever read)

December
The Christmas Tree- Julie Harwood
Clowning in Rome- Henri Nouwen
Lullaby- Chuck Palahniuk
A Grief Observed- CS Lewis

2005
January
Blue Like Jazz- Don Miller
Seven Story Mountain- Thomas Merton
Messy Spirituality- Mike Yaconelli
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek- Annie Dillard
Mother Teresa: In my Own Words 1910-1997
Searching for God Knows What- Don Miller
Hey Nostradamus!- Douglas Coupland

February
A Series of Unfortunate Events- Lemony Snickett's
Blink- Malcom Gladwell
Little Children- Tom Perrota
Winter's Tale- Mark Helprin
His Excellency- Joseph Ellis

March
Walking on Water- Madeleine L'Engle
Heaven Loves Mercury- Brad Watson
The Spiritual Journey of U2- Steve Stockman
The Gospel According to America- David Dark
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith- Anne Lamott
Subversive Spirituality- Eugene Peterson

April
The Cat's Pajama's- Ray Bradbury
New Way to be Human- Charlie Peacock
The Rock Cries Out- Steve Stockman

May
Miss Wyoming- Douglas Coupland

June
The Sacred Way- Tony Jones (one of THE best spiritual books I know of)

July
A Long Way Home- Nick Hornby
The Places that Scare You- Pema Chodron

August
The Restless Heart- Ron Rohheiser

September
The Jesus Prayer by ??- Wonderful little treasure too! Lord Jesus Chrst have Mercy on Me!
Bright Evening Star- Madeline L'Engle
Turning my Mourning into Dancing- Henri Nouwen (Read after the death of my Beloved Grandpa Slade who died on September 5, 2005.)
Walking a Literacy Labyrinth- Nancy Malone

October/November
Through Painted Deserts- Don Miller
Goldie- A Lotus Grows in the Mud- Goldie Hawn
The Tao of Pooh- Benjamin Hoff
Being the Person God Made You to Be- Joyce Meyer

December
The Shipping News- Annie Proulx
Your Best Life Now- Joel Osteen
Teacher Man- Frank McCourt
The Sacred Journey- Frederick Buechner
Now and Then- Frederick Buechner
Telling Secrets- Frederick Buechner
Eleven Minutes- Paulo Coelho

2006
January
The Sparrow- Mary Doria Russell (one of the best books I have ever read)
girl meets God- Lauren Winner
Charming Billy- Alice McDermott
Ragman- Walter Wangerin Jr.

February
3 Weeks with my Brother- Nicholas and Micah Sparks
The Trouble with Poetry- Billy Collins
The Holy Longing- Ronald Rohheiser

March
Gilead- Marianne Robinson
Children of God- Mary Doria Russell
Book of the Dunn Cow- Walter Wangerin Jr.
Henry and June- Anais Nin
Doll's House- Henrik Ibsen

April
Book of Sorrows- Walter Wangerin Jr.

May
Befriending the Stranger- Jean Vanier
A Thread of Grace- Mary Doria Russell (one of the most important books I have ever read)
To Own a Dragon- Don Miller
Are Woman Human?- Dorothy Sayers
How to Expand Love- Dali Lama

June/July
Coraline- Neil Gaiman
The Golden Compass- Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife- Philip Pullman
The Everyman- Philip Roth
Til we Have Faces- CS Lewis
Time Tactics of Very Successful People- B. Eugene Griessman
The Body Artist- Don DeLillo
A Generous Orthodoxy- Brain McLaren
The Little Prince- Antoine de Saint Exupery
John Wesley for the 21st Century- John O. Gooch
Encounters with Thomas Merton- Henri Nouwen
Letters to Malcolm- Chiefly on Prayer- CS Lewis
Teachings on Love- Thich Naht Hanh

August/September/October
If on a Winters Night a Traveler- Italo Calvino
The Shattered Lantern- Ronald Rahoheissner
One Hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Orthodoxy- GK Chesterton
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime- Mark haddon
A Spot of Bother- Mark haddon
Marley and Me- Josh Grogan

November/December
Reading Like a Writer- Francine Prose
Memories of My Melancholy Whores- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Firmin'- Sam Savage
Dynamics of Faith- Paul Tillich
The Pursuit of God-A.W. Tozer
The Lord's Prayer- N.T. Wright

And there you have it...til the next book ends...