I understand where my love of reading developed: my Aunt Georgia. Even to this day - and I'm 26! - when she gives me a gift, it's reading related and it always has a personal, handwritten note on the inside cover. I also have a genuine respect and admiration for Dr. Anthony O'Keeffe, a professor of English and Literature at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, where I attended my first year of college. Dr. O'Keeffe helped develop my understanding and reading comprehension and increased my appreciation of literature. As a result, I became a confident and committed reader. He also made a comment that I will never (ever!) forget about reading, "An unmarked book, is an unread book." Every textbook that I used in Dr. O'Keeffe's class was marked and/or underlined. To this day, I mark ALL my personal books, and even some magazines!
Currently reading: "Read For Your Life" by Pat Williams
In the first 73 pages of this book, I'm beginning to realize just how deep my appreciation of literature really is. I wholeheartedly agree that books can, if you let them, shape your thinking, provide new perspectives, and influence your attitude. Books are the best way to challenge myself to accomplish more, keep my outlook fresh, and view life from all angles. If I learned anything in 2009, it was to take off the blinders and open my heart to new possibilities - God will work his will in my life if I am willing to surrender mine. My life has drastically changed in the past year. I surrendered the reins over to God and the doors of opportunity began to open in the field of education. My desire to pursue a career in education came to fruition when I acknowledged that I am an eager, willing, and constant learner. I am truly a lifelong student - and that is only enhanced with my eagerness to read more books.
"Reading lifts people up. It inspires us and challenges us to become better than we are today. People who read are people who achieve. They are better communicators. Reading is a critical key to success; it helps us understand life. Reading, when done effectively, takes who we are and makes us more. Books challenge our potential by shaping our values and thinking; helps determine our life course; and builds character."
"Read for Your Life" - Pat Williams
Other books I want to read, in no particular order.........
- Falling Apart In One Piece - Stacy Morrison
- The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
- When God Is Silent - Barbara Brown Taylor
- Scouting the Divine - Margaret Feinberg
- Leaving Church - Barbara Brown Taylor
- Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg
- Sutter's Cross - W. Dale Cramer
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
- The Sacred Echo - Margaret Feinberg
- The Country Girls - Edna O'Brien
- Go Tell It On the Mountain - James Baldwin
- The Power and The Glory - Graham Greene
- Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
- Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
- Jacob's Room - Virginia Woolf
- The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
- The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
- Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
- Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
- What the Heck Am I Going To Do With My Life? - Margaret Feinberg
- 1984 - George Orwell
- Five Star Living on A Two Star Budget - Margaret Feinberg
- The Hour I First Believed - Wally Lamb
Speaking of Faith - Krista Tippett- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - David Wroblewski
- Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
- Loving - Henry Green
- Dangerous Surrender - Kay Warren
- The Way of a Worshipper - Buddy Owens
- Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
- The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning
- TwentySomething - Margaret Feinberg
- The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel
- The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- The Seven Storey Mountain - Thomas Merton
- Celebration of Discipline - Richard Foster
- The Diary of A Country Priest - Georges Bernanos
- Man's Search for Meaning - Victor Frankl
- Black Like Me - John Howard Griffin
- Knowing God - J. I. Packer
- The Jesus I Never Knew - Philip Yancey
- and the books currenly on my shelves that I haven't read yet!!!!!!!!!!!
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