Skip to main content

Celebrate Saturday: Some Good Books

I am an avid book lover.

From the time I learned to read, there has been one close to me.
My bedside table is piled high with the ones I just have to read next.

Here are some of my favorites:



In 2000, Sam Venable of Knoxville published this beautiful book. I was privileged to meet the author at the fall festival held each year at the Museum of Appalachia. Since then, I have read the rest of his books, but this one is still my favorite.



Our country is blessed with an abundance of wildflowers. I have enjoyed and appreciated the ones in Alabama with the help of this book and some good teachers!



Sharyn McCrumb is another author from Appalachia that I adore. Her stories transport you to the mountain peaks and hollows and the life contained there. Her Rosewood Casket book is good enough to read over and over.



What can I say? I'm a Southern girl. This book should be read at least every decade.



James Michener is one of the great American authors. I have devoured his books, Alaska, Chesapeake, Hawaii, and more. Centennial, published in 1974, may be my favorite book of all time.



Frank E. Peretti has written many books since This Present Darkness, but it is the one that opened my eyes to spiritual warfare. It is a work of fiction based on biblical teaching. I would recommend it to anyone who doubts that demons exist.

I would like to suggest a New Year's resolution. Make a list of books you want to read, and write it somewhere permanent (maybe on the cover of your day planner). Fifty books is a reasonable number for a year; don't stop at three or four.

So many books; so little time!

Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. Proverbs 1:5

Comments

  1. Great list-I like all the books : ) McCrumb is one of my all time favorite authors.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tipper, thanks for the comment. It led me to your blog, which I love! It looks like we have a lot in common.
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Okay, Wanda, how have I missed McCrumb? I'm adding her to my 2010 list for sure! :-) Great post!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amish in Stantonville, Tennessee

Last week, my sis and her hub went with us to the Amish community near Stantonville, Tennessee.  It was a beautiful day, and we love driving to new places and finding new treasures.  We enjoy these mini-trips we take together, where we giggle a lot and get caught up on everything.  Also, the squirrels ate all our tomatoes, so we needed to find some to buy. You know the food you are buying is fresh when they bring it from the field while you are standing there waiting for it. Here is part of what we brought home, and it was all delicious. Stantonville is located in McNairy County, Tennessee, northwest of Shiloh National Military Park.

Holy Smoke Pie

I think it was in the late seventies that I first had Holy Smoke Pie.  It was at a party at Debra Morris Harville's house.  After we ate, Debra had to give the recipe to everyone there.  I came home and made it for my family, and it has been a favorite since then.  I always make it at holiday dinners, because I believe tradition is important.  It has become a favorite of our granddaughters. I've heard it called Chocolate Delight, Four-Layer Chocolate Dessert, and other odd things.  We call it Holy Smoke.  Here is how I make it: Chop us a cup of pecans; set aside. Add a stick of softened butter (NOT margarine) to one cup of self-rising flour. Cut the butter into the flour. Add the chopped pecans, and work it all together. Save two tablespoons of the pecans to sprinkle on top. Pour into a 9" x 12" pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil. Spread it over the bottom of the pan.  It helps to use your hands (o...

Out of the Dirt: Bragg-ing

Like every reader, I have my favorite writers. There have been so many that have stirred my emotions and made me a part of their world, and I'm thankful for that. The one is love the best, the one I cherish , is Rick Bragg. Yesterday, Rick was in our area. We were privileged to see a newly released documentary about his life called Out of the Dirt . Afterwards, he talked to us about family and roots. His first book, All over but the Shoutin' , was recommended to me years ago. Very early in the book, I was thinking, "Who is this? He is writing about me, about my family." I have never actually met anyone in the book, but they are all my neighbors and kinfolks. His other books are just as well-written. In his book, Writing for the Soul , Christian author Jerry Jenkins had this to say about Rick Bragg: I read other writers and strive to be like them. I read others, like Rick Bragg, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist, and simply surrender, knowing I will ...