What I've been Reading

Abbi, over at What Sweeter Music, just finished graduate school and now has more “time to read other things that are not class-related.” She asked for recommendations,  "fiction or non-fiction, Improving and Worthwhile or Just Plain Fun." Of course, I couldn't resist. I could have made a list of The Best Books I've Ever Read, but by time I compiled and edited the list, would she have time to read any of them? So I just posted a list of the best books I've read lately:


Recently read:

Sacred Reading: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina
Michael Casey
Not just "you should read your Bible" or even a list of readings, but a primer on what the Church Fathers, saints, monks, and ordinary Christians have learned over the last 2,000 years about how best to read the Bible.

It's a Jungle Out There
Ron Snell
While Snell is narrating his own life, this isn't so much an autobiography as a collection of stories about growing up among  the Machiguengas in the jungles of Peru. Riding down a raging river, through deadly rapids, on a log at age nine. Catching exotic pets. Making dugout canoes. Perching in thorn trees at night to escape a herd of stampeding pigs. A quick, fun read.

Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers
Ralph Moody
This one came highly recommended, but it sat on my shelf for a long time. Another cowboy/pioneer story? I just didn't think I could get into it. Like the Little House books, there is a bit of "this is how we did things back then" but that's only the setting in which young Ralph learns what it means to be a man of character, like his father.

Currently reading:

The Autism Mom's Survival Guide
Susan Senator
I hesitate to recommend a book I haven't finished yet, but so far, it seems to give a pretty accurate picture of what it's like to be the parent of a child with autism. Each chapter is topical, drawing on the stories and experiences of many parents. I can heartily recommend Susan Senator's own story, Making Peace with Autism.