Like most of you, I have stacks of books throughout my home, in varying stages of being read from unread to re-reading for the 100^th time.  I have a tote full that I’m actively reading, hoping to read, or have been asked to review that I cart from room-to-room, as well as a loaded e-reader.

When I was a young, the school library made a borrowing rates exception for me. They wearied of my consuming books on my way back to the classroom and begging to return. When I was eight, my parents instructed the town librarian not to restrict me to the children’s section. This led to the less-than-optimal situation of my learning the facts of life from a medical book. The librarian called to warn my parents, but alas, my reading speed outpaced my walking speed.

Like everyone nowadays, my life is full of family, ministry, earning coin of the realm, and life maintenance. I prioritize Bible reading but the rest falls into the margins of my days.

Want to see that an author's crazy reading list looks like? Here's the place to find out. #brrc #myreadinglife #reading #readingcommunity @lorisroeleveld Share on X

I’m currently leading Bible studies so I’m reading 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter for those, with related commentaries. In my daily time with God, I’m reading Moving Mountains by John Eldredge and following up with scriptures he references. It’s common for me to pair Bible reading with a non-fiction book about an aspect of the Bible or Christian living. My favorite devotional is My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

Research vs Devotional

It’s important for me to separate writing research from my devotional life. I’m currently writing a book on the lasting impact of women of the Bible so I’m reading various biblical women’s stories with related research. Before that, I read Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley in preparation for a book I cowrote with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith called Colorful Connections: 12 Questions about Race that Open Healthy Conversations.

Always looking to improve, I have three going on writing craft: Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, Write Better by Andrew T. Le Peau, and How to Write Short by Roy Peter Clark. Next on my list is Story Trumps Structure by Steven James.

After that, things get a little eclectic. My adult son insisted I would love Another Kingdom by Andrew Klavan and he was absolutely correct. I’m slowly working my way through Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley and Russka by Edward Rutherfurd. I absorbed Ann Voskamp’s new book, WayMaker: Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of  in about two days and have started The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan, a novel about a couple fleeing Ukraine at the end of WWII. These reading choices clearly having been influenced by current headlines either in the news or in our family’s life.

With the fullness of life, I need to be more intentional about reading widely these days but as a writer and citizen of the world, it’s both a priority and a joy.

 

The amazing Lori Roeleveld describes herself as a ‘disturber of Hobbits’ – do ask her why, because the answer is brilliant. She speaks at women’s events and teaches at writer’s conferences and teaches the art of Hard Conversations. She has degrees in Psychology and Biblical Studies and writes fiction and nonfiction. Connect with Lori via her BRRC Author page.