“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” George R.R. Martin

Those are the words that best sum up my reading life. I’ve rescued a hobbit, married a prince, and survived the Bataan Death March. I’ve been taught school in the Appalachian backwoods and on the Alaskan frontier. I’ve prevailed against evil, fought for love, and sacrificed my last breath on behalf of another. I’ve lived a thousand lives.

And in each I’ve found a blessing for the only life I truly get to live. Reading books is nearly as essential to my life as breathing.

What books have impacted your life? #lorialtebaumer spills the beans on her reading life. Share on X (books like A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee, and most recently The Long March Home by Tosca Lee and Marcus Brotherton). I can tell you what I’m reading now (Fair Haven by Laura Conner Kestner, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, Heaven by Randy Alcorn, Revealing Revelation by Amir Tsarfati).

I can tell you I read anywhere I can. I will sacrifice food and sleep to finish a good book. And that I’m a better and happier person when I’m reading good books.

But ask me what my favorite book or favorite character from a book is and I freeze. There are so many that trying to think of one overwhelms me.

Or maybe it’s because reading is like breathing. My favorite breath is the next one I get to take, and my favorite book is the next one I get to read.

I read both fiction and nonfiction. I read across all (almost all) genres. I read books for women and books for men. Books for children and books for adults. Books written now and books that were written “back then.”

I sometimes read books that everyone else claims to love . . .  and I hate them. I read books everyone else says they hated . . . and love them. And that’s the thing about books. No two books can ever be the same because no two readers are ever the same. We each bring our own experiences and understanding, our own griefs and questions, dreams and longings to every page we read. That’s the magic of books.

And that’s why I write. I want to capture that magic. I want to help my reader live another life that makes them see or understand or love their real life better.

Scripture tells us that “in the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). God could have chosen anything at all to be the beginning, but He tells us in His Word that the Word was the beginning. Perhaps He knew the power words would have in our lives.

Perhaps He understood we’d need a way to help us understand each other, to see the world through different eyes, and to experience the moments that will remind us of the glory we are created for.

Lori Altebaumer is a writer who only half-jokingly tells others she lives with one foot in a parallel universe. With her boots on the ground, head in the clouds, and heart in His hands, she is a wandering soul with a home-keeping heart in search of life’s best adventures. Lori loves sharing the joys of living a Christ-centered life with others through her writing.

To learn more about Lori visit her BRRC author profile page…