Book Worm - Part 1

4. Read a new book every month

 

As with my sewing machine projects, I have reached the half way point on this item on my list.  In contrast, I have enjoyed this one and found it quite easy!  When I was younger I was a total book worm.  I remember my parents taking me to the library on Saturday mornings where I would pick up about 8 books at a time and have finished reading at least 1 of them by the end of the day.  However, I also remember one of my school teachers suggesting I read something a little more challenging than 'The Babysitters Club' or 'Sweet Valley High'.  Perhaps they had a point...  I used to stay up all night reading books, just to get to the end of another chapter.  I would try and read with a torch, or switch the light off when I heard someone coming down the stairs to tell me to go to sleep.  Of course, I usually got caught.  Or I would start laughing when I had pretended to fall asleep with the light on.

 

I think I lost interest in reading in High School, and definitely by the time I got to uni.  Unfortunately my abilities to study and concentrate on something seem to have decreased over time, as have my motivation levels.  So I thought it would be a good time to try and take reading back up again.  Hopefully without the late nights and teenage-angst novels.

 

Here's what I've read over the past 6 months:

 

April: Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

This was a pretty awful book, and I'm actually a bit embarrassed to have to include it!  My disclaimer is that I read this before I'd had the idea of doing my 30:30 list.  It's the story of a woman going to any lengths to disrupt her sister's wedding and prevent her from making the same bad choices in life.  Of course, it all ends happily ever after...  This book cost a few pounds from a supermarket, although I wouldn't be surprised to see it free with a magazine.  It was a bit of a distraction during a difficult week, and very quickly made it's way to the Oxfam shop once finished.

 

May: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

A complete contrast to the previous month, this was a compelling, well-written account of a boy's time as a child soldier in Sierra Leone during the 1990s.  Not exactly light hearted reading, I know.  It was horrifying to read about stolen childhoods, and what these children witnessed and experienced.  I find it extremely difficult to imagine this kind of life.  It makes me sick that this kind of evil exists in our world, where children are exposed to the inhumanities of war, become orphaned, are trained to kill or are used as shields, becoming hooked on drugs to dull the reality.  Ishmael was 'rescued' and taken to a centre to be rehabilitated, but even this was a painful read.  How do you even begin to repair that kind of damage?

 

June: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

After a failed attempt at climbing K2, Mortenson came across a small village in northern Pakistan and asked them what they needed.  The answer?  A school.  And so began a life changing journey.  The books documents Mortenson's struggles and successes, and the people he meets along the way as he build schools across Pakistan and Afghanistan.  An amazing and inspiring read, it also reminded me just how bad my knowledge of geography and politics is.  I would definitely recommend reading this.

 

July: Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo, with Lynn Vincent

This is a dad's account of his young son's journey to heaven and back during emergency surgery.  Even as a person who believes in heaven, I felt very sceptical when I started reading this book.  But by the end, I was convinced.  I hope it helps me to change the way I think about heaven and eternity - to have more faith, and less fear about the unknown.

 

August: Starter For Ten by David Nicholls

The fictional story of Brian Jackson as he attempts to figure out life, friendship and love through his first year at university and competing in University Challenge.  I saw the film version of this a few years ago, but I enjoyed reading more of the character details in the book.  It definitely reminded me of the days of awkward introductions, not getting enough sleep, wondering where your place in life is, and feeling increasingly stupid the more I (supposedly) learnt.  My parents don't like me saying this, but I reckon I peaked at high school.  It felt pretty downhill from there, academically.  This was funny, well written and a good break from the more serious reading of the past 3 months.

 

September: Nothing But A Thief by Danielle Speakman

And back to the serious books...  This was a very challenging book about street children in Peru, and how we respond to this kind of need.  A suitable read I thought, just before I go to Uganda for my work with a charity who rescue street children.  It gave me a greater insight into the harsh realities that street children face, and the reasons that children end up on the streets as well as why they stay there.  Again, it makes me sick to think of children as young as my own little nieces being abused, sleeping out in the cold, sniffing glue to take away their hunger pains, and living a life without love and security.  I would like to think that I care and want to make a difference, but this book made me question my motivations.  Do I want people to think that I'm a 'good person' because I work for a charity and go to Africa?  Do I give out of sympathy?  Did I leave my old clothes in Rwanda to help others or was it so that I had more space for gifts in my luggage?  Would I be prepared to give away the possessions that matter to me?  Do I listen to other people's problems with my own agenda or to give them a space to speak?  Is my life more about me or them?  Do I have genuine compassion for other people?  It makes me uncomfortable to ask these questions, but I think they need to be asked.  And, more importantly, answered.

 

Perhaps because this is my most recent read, I have a lot of thoughts that could do with the space and time to come together into something that makes sense.  I'm reminded of something I wrote while I was in Rwanda about wanting to live a life that is 'comfortably uncomfortable'.  It's good for me to be challenged by what I read, but will this translate into transformation?  Or will I just forget and go on living my 'uncomfortably comfortable' life.

 

If you have any suggestions of books for the next 6 months, then please let me know!!