I’ll often pull a stack of books out of my bookshelf and plan to read them throughout the following month. (Two months? Three?) Right now, I have two books on the floor by my bed, partially read. Two sit on my bedside table, also partially read. I have four books, wait, five on my desk in various stages of completion. Well, I wrote one of them, so that counts, right? The rest of the pulled books sit in my “to-be-read” basket in my office. My other book holding spot is beside my quiet time chair.

Want me to tell you what books?

Bedroom floor – The Chronicles of Narnia (CS Lewis) and Heaven (Randy Alcorn).

Bedside table – Why are We Sitting Here Until We Die? (A second read of Eva Marie Everson’s and Mark T. Hancock’s fascinating book)

Desk – The Emotional Craft of Fiction (Donald Maass), Refresh Your Hope (by my friend, Lori A. Hatcher), Social Sanity in an Insta World (edited by Gospel Coalition’s Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra), Someplace to be Somebody (my book, woot!), and Get Known before the Book Deal (I’m a little late, don’t you think?).

I needn’t go into the details of what’s in my “to-be-read’ basket. Suffice it to say I have absolutely no idea when I’ll get to them. By God’s grace, I will.

The book I am eagerly devouring at the moment is at my “quiet time” spot beside my Bible (which is my first read every day). It’s called How to Build a Healthy Church by Mark Dever. I’m a pastor’s wife, and we are in a transitional period for our wee church. We’ve purchased a new (to us) building and want to prepare the field for any rain the Lord may send. Doing it right is doing it biblically, and Pastor Dever lives and teaches what he espouses in this book (co-written with Paul Alexander). The Gospel always comes first.

Today Lisa Baker tells us all about her reading life. Share on X

I write nonfiction with a bit of fiction tossed in (so I can use this over-active imagination my good Lord gave me). To that end, I read more nonfiction books than fiction. Seasons of life demand different sorts of intake. For anything I write, however, I need to immerse myself in sound theology via the Bible, biblical articles, and books. But for this period in particular, anything I can read which helps me support my husband and gives my writing solid biblical theological backbone is what I need.

As I glanced at the list I presented here, I realize only one is a work of fiction. And that’s okay. It’s okay for all of us. We receive inspiration from many places. When I take rejuvenation breaks from hard-hitting theological studies, good and pure fiction is usually my landing spot. I know the Chronicles of Narnia is for youth, but if you promise not to tell, I’m a twelve-year-old living in a sixty-plus-year-old body. I hope I never grow too musty to enjoy delightful novels. I hope you feel the same.

What’s in your to-be-read pile?

Lisa Loraine Baker is the award-winning author of Someplace to Be Somebody. She has written for CBN.com, and is a regular contributing writer for the Salem Web Network. Lisa and her husband, Stephen, inhabit their home as the “Newlyweds of Minerva” with crazy cat, Lewis.

And out more at Lisa’s BRRC author page…