I read 41 books last year during the pandemic. Granted, everything else was closed, but still. I\u2019ve been keeping reading lists for the past 15 years, and I was surprised to learn just now that 2020 was not a record for me, bookwise. Somehow, I managed to knock out 47 volumes in 2012. And that was without resorting to my niece\u2019s strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Years ago, when she was in fifth grade, I think, the local library had a summer reading program. Kids got so many points for every book they finished. One day I walked in to see my niece hovering over a stack of preschool picture books, which she was burning through at the rate of one per minute, trying to win the prize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I asked her if it mattered whether the books were appropriate for her reading age, she glanced up from \u201cGood Night, Moon\u201d and said, \u201cThe rules weren\u2019t specific.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which reminds me that I once heard a comedian introduce himself by saying, \u201cHi, I\u2019m 45. But I read on a 48-year-old level.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, compare all that to my list so far in 2021: four books. In my defense, I\u2019ve not been well. But I\u2019m hoping to pick up the pace as soon as the summer begins. While many of my colleagues teach during the months of May through August, I got into this profession for the primary purpose of having summers off. Oh, and to shape young minds and whatnot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I thought I might share with you my summer reading list. If you need something to do next week, you can send me yours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of today, I\u2019m 610 pages into reading the Bible, which I had always heard was excellent. Following a daily reading schedule, I\u2019m looking forward to the summer because some really awesome poetry is coming up: Job, Psalms and Proverbs. I\u2019ll be working my way through the major prophets when the fall semester rolls around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In tandem with this reading from scripture each day, I got a book for Christmas called \u201cThe One Year Book of Poetry.\u201d Each day features a poem by a Christian poet from the past, followed by a short commentary. I have 256 poems left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four years ago, I started a long-term goal to read one Charles Dickens novel per year \u2014 in the order they were published \u2014 until I finish all 18. I find Dickens consistently hilarious. Some of the novels I\u2019ll be reading for the second time, and that will be the case when I tackle \u201cThe Old Curiosity Shop\u201d this summer, which I read in high school because I thought it might be like \u201cSanford and Son.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last Saturday, I went to a book signing where the Ganus kids \u2014 they will like being called \u201ckids\u201d \u2014 were signing their dad\u2019s memoir called \u201cI\u2019d Do It All Again.\u201d Everyone who knew Harding\u2019s third president liked and admired him, and I look forward to reading the stories from his 97 years of traveling the world, preaching, leading a university, playing and watching sports, and eating peanut brittle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I love biographies, and this summer I also hope to get to the latest one from Brian Jay Jones. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve all read his marvelous book on Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets. In 2019, Jones wrote \u201cBecoming Dr. Suess: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination.\u201d Suess and Henson \u2014 along with Fred Rogers, George Lucas and Roald Dahl \u2014 were the architects of my childhood. Dr. Suess has been the subject of controversy lately, so I\u2019d like to learn more about the man behind the Grinch, the Lorax and the Cat in the Hat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few of my summer reads will let me finish up some loose ends from earlier in the year. I started Richard Foster\u2019s \u201cCelebration of Discipline\u201d but only got as far as his chapter on solitude so I could share thoughts from it in chapel. Then the book got laid aside under a pile of incoming essays. I do not read student essays during the summer. I know this will disappoint some of you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also started a classic novel called \u201cThe French Lieutenant\u2019s Woman\u201d way back in January. I may have to start over, as I have now forgotten who the woman was, and why she was with the French Lieutenant in the first place. I\u2019m sure she had a reason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Harding faculty voted two weeks ago to read Bren\u00e9 Brown\u2019s \u201cDare to Lead\u201d in the fall, so now it\u2019s on the list for the summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throw in some assorted magazines, newspapers and cereal box panels, and it looks like I have enough to keep me out of trouble for the next few months. I hope you have a glorious summer, made all the better by a stack of good reads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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