Day 12

I'm grateful for a good book.

I've always loved reading, and from Ramona and Beezus to the book I'm reading now, I owe years of pleasure to their company. I like most electronic contraptions, but I don't believe I will ever find it as warm as cozy curling up with a Kindle as I do a good book.

Most of what I read for spiritual study are penned by authors long gone. My favorites are T. Austin Sparks, Watchman Nee, Mary W. Tileston (Joy & Strength), Brennan Manning, and Oswald Chambers. I've enjoyed the little I've read from G. K. Chesterton as well, and I hope to read his Orthodoxy this year.

Most of the fiction I like are by people still living, but I've loved the works of Jane Austen, Harold Bell Wright, the Elsie Dinsmore series, LOTR, and classics from C. S. Lewis. Just thinking about these books fills my veins with tea and scones.

Isn't it a sad feeling when you've grown to love the characters in a story, and you know the book is coming to an end? I felt that with several Jan Karon books in the Mitford series. I was thrilled when she announced that the protagonist would star in a brand new series called Father Tim. And she delivered again--and again in the second one.

My sweet, older friend Mae calls cherished books her "dear friends," and I like that. I've come to think of them the same way. Be they deep and full of truth, meaty in adventure, entertaining, or simply cheering, each has a personality and great value to me, just like my human friends.

Thank You, Lord, for good words in a binding.