More Books ...

This week is the library's annual book sale. I've only been once. How could I not go? It supports a great cause (the local library), and I had a book due and one waiting on reserve. I've been striving to be more self-controlled in my book purchases after clearing off the bookshelves of tomes bought and never read, many of them from previous library book sales.

So because I needed to be at the library on Monday, I thought it too much to ask myself to avoid going to the book sale (conveniently located on the first floor of the library). In an attempt to moderate my purchases, I rode my bike (knowing whatever I purchased I had to carry home) and told myself I would spend no more than $10.

So how did I do? I bought five books and spent $12, but two of them I found as I was walking down a back hallway on my way out. And one of those two is a collection of teachings by Mother Teresa. Really, who couldn't use a word from Mother Teresa?

Here's my stash:

Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott - Anne (as if we're personal friends) is a writer's writer. Her book Bird by Bird has survived numerous book purges, although I haven't read it yet. This short book focuses on three prayers that she finds essential. I've read some of Anne before and while I don't think our faith perspectives always mesh, I'm interested to see what she's gleaned from focusing on these three prayers.

No Greater Love by Mother Teresa - I enjoy reading essay collections and as mentioned above, I think there is much to be learned from Mother Teresa's life and example. This book covers prayer, love, giving, being holy, work and service, Jesus, poverty and the poor, forgiveness, children and the family, and suffering and death. It also includes information about the Missionaries of Charity, a conversation with Mother Teresa, and a biographical sketch of her.

The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton - This is the wild card of my book sale purchases. It runs the highest risk of meeting the same demise as other chancy book sale picks: languishing unread for years on the bookshelf or going back to the library for next year's sale. I should purpose to read it first to make sure it gets read. Doesn't this excerpt from the back cover sound enticing?

"It follows an American librarian who travels to Africa to give meaning to her life, and ultimately loses a piece of her heart."

True Colors by Kristin Hannah - I've read and enjoyed several of Hannah's other books but wasn't familiar with this one. I was happy to stumble across it. It was voted "a book club best bet choice" by Coastal Living Magazine. It appears to have been submerged in the waves along some coast in its former life, but I'm good with that.

Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank - This is a new author for me, but I'm a sucker for novels set in the South. I've read good things about Benton Frank's (clearly not on a first name basis) work, so I thought it was worth a try for a $2.50 donation to the library.

A few others that are in my current line-up are Who is this Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus by John Ortberg; One Light Still Shines, My Life Beyond the Shadow of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting by Marie Monville; and Atlas Girl, Finding Home in the Last Place I Thought to Look by Emily T. Wierenga.

What are you reading this summer? Anything I need to add to my list?

It's a good thing we have a picnic to go to this evening. It will keep me from running back to the library sale, where books are now three for the price of one! Restraint, my dear self, restraint.