Recently, my family went through a crisis, which is why I have delayed posting another blog post. Like most family crises, everything stops and moves in surreal time, and most outlying projects get forgotten about for some time.
Things are beginning to settle down now. A new normal has been calibrated, and life has begun to improve and even move forward. Things feel hopeful again.
I started to think about what to write here, and I realized that Titaw reads right through the crisis. My reading definitely changes, and I became a researcher more than an outright reader, but most of my learning comes from reading or, at times, listening. This particular time involved a field I don’t have any knowledge about, with acronyms and diagnoses I had never heard about. I did a lot of reading. It was web pages and articles.
This new diagnosis qualified my family member for programs I didn’t know our state offered. More webpage reading, and now insurance paperwork and plan information. This isn’t the fun reading. I started to look for books by people about the new-to-us condition, and I just stopped. I realized I couldn’t read anymore about it right now. I just have to live it for a while.
My reading life didn’t stop, however, these are the reads that are getting me through right now:
Of course! I didn’t march through my Bible in a year reading plan. I was in it everyday, but some days all my head could wrap around was the Psalms.
Breaking Free From Broke by George Kamel
This is a book I didn’t think I needed to read. My husband and I are approaching full retirement and anticipate retiring with no debt at all. The mistakes we made or things we did right are definitely in the past. However, I got this on Audible and George Kamel reads his own book. He is very entertaining and at times laugh-out-loud funny. In every single chapter, I learned something. What a great listen!
Atomic Habits by James Clear
I have read this before, but my son gave me a little cash for Mother’s Day, and I bought my own hard copy of this book. I am reading, underlining, and finding all sorts of new insights to consider.
If God is Good by Randy Alcorn
My husband is listening to this on Audible, I am reading the hard copy. I have to take it in small chunks as he gives a lot to think about. I always knew that God is good, but I am not sure that I understood how to answer the question, “If God is good, then why are bad things happening?” This is definitely a book that spurs a lot of reflection.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
My one fiction book! I wanted to read a classic, and this had been sitting on my nightstand for a while. The Russian names and the size of the book were daunting to me. I finally put it on my Audible, and I am really enjoying this book.
Regardless of the things happening around me, Titaw is still reading, and so should you.