what we're reading

So it just so happens that not all farmers wear bib overalls. Did you know this? Some of them don't even chew on straw. Turns out some are actually pretty smart! And even like to read!

The two farmers I know best (my husband and my dad) are voracious readers. They both get lost in books or the Wall Street Journal for several hours in the evening. 

And they both like to snack while they do. And drink fresh lemonade.  And take naps. 

Hmmmmm.

Right now, my farmer is on a Clive Cussler kick. We treat ourselves to a stop at a used bookstore every couple of months, and we always manage to come home with a handful of Cussler's books. 

He's also reading about the American Revolution (because he loves history . . . and war . . . ). 

And each night, he reads me the daily Psalm, Scripture passage, reading, hymn and prayer out of the Treasury of Daily Prayer. True confessions: I fell asleep during the prayer last week. Then I woke up when he stopped talking. Then I admitted I fell asleep. Then I felt bad. Then I fell asleep again. I'm pretty much a mess. 

I love to read too. Like my husband, I was a big reader from an early age. I remember entire summer afternoons spent reading Lucy Maud Montgomery. Happy sigh. 

Now, because I write and edit for a living, I read a lot less, and that actually makes me really sad. Because I work with words all day, I squeeze in the Wall Street Journal and then look at lots of pretty pictures on Pinterest. Pictures. Not to be confused with words.

But I'm working to change that. Regardless of how many thousands of words I process in a day, reading is still one of my great loves and I'm getting back at doing more of it in the evenings. 

As in, I've been working my way through the Metaxas Bonhoeffer biography for about six months now. Hey, don't rush me. 

I also just started a little Duck Dynasty reading, and I'm marking up my new Paula Deen cookbook, even if that doesn't really count as reading as much as it's basically drooling over all the pictures. 

Finally, I'm anxious to crack open Hermann Sasse's book to Lutheran pastors because, while I'm obviously not one, his foresight and knowledge of what happens to a church body (and even a country!) when it looes its way is formative and telling. Plus, we learn from our past, and I can always use more of that!

What's on your nightstand or bookshelf this month?