Being an Advocate for Reading

When you love something, you find a way to do it — dancers dance, singers sing, jugglers juggle, writers write, and readers read. I love all of those things, but I make time to read more often than most anything. And I have hundreds of books. I surround myself with books. I’ll admit that there’s a certain comfort in being in the midst of books; safety in the sheer number of stories and information potentially at my fingertips. I feel more alive being within hands-reach of all that thought, feeling, creativity, and knowledge (which may account for my recently getting a job at Schuler Books…Eastwood location!). However, it’s more about the reading than the having.

I consider myself to be an advocate for books. Both having them and reading them. I subscribe to the notion that people tend to read if there are good books around. All teachers and students benefit from having some sort of classroom library, all family members benefit from have a family library that morphs as children become teens and then adults. Books just accumulate in this house. They come from friends and family, from book sales, from students, from bookstores, from being found, from libraries, and other more mysterious places over time. When they start piling up on the floor, it’s time to buy a bookshelf or give away a few. When I was teaching, I would horde books so that my classroom library had a bit of everything. I didn’t want students telling me they couldn’t find a book they wanted to read from my room or the library. They needed choices and I was there to provide them.

To some extent, I’m still like that. I’ve given many boxes of books away over the last few months. Some to book sales and some to individuals that I thought would like to read the book. There’s a Little Free Library down the street from me and I have been supplying it with books for months; I really need to put one up in our yard/garden soon. When we were in Seattle this past summer, I was pleasantly surprised to see many Little Free Libraries in the Greenwood neighborhood where Rachel and Robbie live. I wonder if that would work in East Lansing? I’m all about getting books in the hands of readers, that is, you. I hope to catalog all of my books and start my own library…bookstore?…but until then, if you need/want/desire a book, feel free to stop by our house. Find a book you like and it’s yours. No charge. (No book report due on Monday either.) After you read it, give it to a friend.


In recent months, I’ve read (and recommend):

The Alchemist, by Paolo Coela

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Golf and the Spirit (finished after many months of reading it sporadically in the john) by M. Scott Peck

Bouquet of Red Flags, by Taylor Mali

Michigan: Four Seasons, by Bob Rentschler

Currently reading:

Strength to Love (digital version at archive.org), by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Neither Wolf, Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn

What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self, Edited by Ellyn Spragins

Social Thinking at Work: A Guidebook for Understanding and Navigating the Social Complexities of the Workplace, by Michelle Garcia Winner and Pamela Crooke

The Yes magazine

Upcoming events:
Saturday, Oct. 1, the East Lansing Public Library re-opens after renovation. Festivities all afternoon.

Sunday, Oct. 2, the 64th Michigan Antiquarian Book and Paper Show. 9:30 am. – 5:00 pm at the Lansing Center in Lansing. $5 admission (children 13 and under are free)

Sunday, Oct. 9, the CROPWALK in Lansing. I’ll be walking. Add your support at my page.

Friday, Oct. 21 – Sunday, Oct. 23, the People’s Church Men’s Retreat, Conversations about Race. $100 (includes five meals and lodging) or $75 just for the program on Saturday.

P.S. Hillary Clinton for President!

“Reading any good books?”

The days are too short.

It’s a miracle that I can get the stuff done that I need to get done. But then there’s the whole list of things I “want” to do which I add to my days…somehow. And I want to read. I was born curious. I’m beginning to think that somewhere along the way I have combined my natural curiosity with a variation of Attention Deficit Disorder; my short attention span is fueled/drugged by a plethora of interesting information and promising fiction. For example, I can honestly say that right now I am reading nine books (that’s not counting a few newspapers and magazines). It’s a ridiculous number…and yet I choose to do it because I love to do it.

Here’s what I’m reading these days:

> The Measure of a Man, by Gene Getz — The current, thought-provoking text for our weekly Men’s group at church.

> Bob Dylan’s Chronicles, Volume One — An amazing, autobiographical look into the singer/songwriter’s passionate life journey. It reads like poetry.

> Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart by Patricia Donegan — I’m reading one haiku a night as medicine for my soul.

> The New, Complete Joy of Home Brewing, by Charlie Papazian — I’m really just skimming this text so that I have something quasi-competent to say when I attend my He-Brews Men’s group (that’s right, it’s a play on words…a bunch of Christian guys teaching each other how to brew beer).

> Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other by Sherry Turkle — I just started this book, which I checked out of the library. It came highly recommended from a friend who knows of my love-hate relationship with technology.

> Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh — Also recommended by a good friend, this book is probably helping me the most right now: to slow down, to be in the moment, to center, to be authentically me.

> Operation Falcon by Abby Seal — Last week, one of my students gave me a copy of a book she published. After my shock subsided, I congratulated her, shared how excited and impressed I was, and vowed to read it as soon as possible. The fact that I have students who write in their free time re-energizes me for teaching. It’s darn encouraging to know that some of my students choose to share their thoughts publicly (including on our class wiki) without worrying about a “grade.” She published it using a site called createspace.

> Algernon, Charlie, and I: A Writer’s Journey by Daniel Keyes — I have taught Flowers for Algernon for several years, but this book by the author is giving me insights I plan to share with my current students.

> Anne Lamont’s Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith — I open this book randomly from time to time and it continues to connect to my life in profound ways.

I may write more about a couple of them at some point, but I am glad I don’t have to write a “book report” about each one. I consider myself a life-long learner these days, which is a fancy way of saying I get to choose what I read from the recommendations of friends, family, colleagues, and the media. And no due dates or book reports. (though at some point soon, I will be taking an actual class to keep my teaching certification…)

Recently, I was asked what I am currently reading. I am an occasional contributor to the I-Anthology with a group of writing teachers across the country. I couldn’t decide which book to share, so I didn’t get into their digital recommendation video. Bill Moyers, of the Moyers and Company television show, also has been thinking about book recommendations lately. His viewers submitted a list of Book Recommendations for President Obama that is interesting. That same link has other book lists: Required Reading list for Americans; Most Challenged books; Bill’s recommended books; and Bill’s Summer Books list.

So many books, so little time. I’ll throw in one more list — a couple years ago, my students created an alphabetical list of book reviews they had written. It’s helpful if you are interested in delving into some of the best Young Adult fiction out there. Whatever list you use, please stop reading this blog and pick up a book. Use your right to read and think…while we still have it.