Potato Chip Lit and so much more!

Potato Chip Lit and So Much More!

I'm a preacher, teacher, temporarily on sabbatical learning to do the whole blog thing, and I am certain I will make my stepson shake his head in despair when he sees this effort, but here I go...
Sure, I have more education than I know what to do with, but what I really love to do is read. With a couple of Master's degrees behind me and a student loan I am still paying off, I decided that I would try to blog instead of going back to school, which is what I have done in the past.

I have a hard time believing that there are folks out there who really care about anything that I have to say, and I am completely perplexed by the people who use the internet as their diary. I know you can still buy a diary because my daughter still receives four or five of them every Christmas. She is at that difficult age and difficult ilk of child who prefers to have her nose in a book or her face glued to the television or computer screen, rather than out playing like her younger brother. Her typical response to any question is a roll of the eye, a shrug of the shoulder and the all too familiar answer, "Whatever!" I realize now that I am the mother of a 13-year-old that the reason this is such a difficult age is because it is difficult to avoid being throttled by your mother, but- you know- whatever.

She is beautiful in an exotic way, and she is so ready to be an adult, but her body betrays her. She is spindly, stick thin with almond shaped eyes the color of dusk. My heart aches when I watch her move with the overly aware way that girls move when they are accustomed to bumping every doorframe and shelf corner. Soon she will know how to make the joints of her hips and knees and ankles move in a rhythm that sets boys' hearts in rhythm with her walk, but not yet. These are the awkward days.

On the other hand, my son plays every sport and does his homework without being prompted. At this point in my life, I give thanks for the moments in my life that don't require me to do anything but enjoy the people in my family. My son makes me laugh. He is goofy and a joy to be around. I am sure that he will join the ranks of the moody, the difficult, the teenaged, but not yet.

So what would I have to contribute to the internet world? Well, my nightstand has been known to groan under the weight of the books I have enjoy. I thought perhaps we might share some of those here. Now I guess I will share some other confessions, as well. I will read just about anything, if I can find a well-written sentence in it, and I'll read just about anything. Now about those other confessions, I said I'll read just about anything. I don't read much science fiction and I don't read bodice rippers. I have no interest in how Carmelita's flesh trembled beneath the captain's bold embrace. Good for Carmelita! I don't even feel remotely bad about it because the last time I checked Danielle Steele wasn't looking for an unknown schoolteacher's endorsement.

So here are some of my favorites. They are old and new, little known and well known, and we can talk about them again later. Please note: Silas Marner is not among 'em!

I don't do Dewey.

Religion/Religious

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

A Stone for a Pillow: Journeys with Jacob by Madeleine L'Engle

Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor

Letters to a Young Doubter- William Sloan Coffin


Young Readers

Al Capone Does My Shirts

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian- Sherman Alexie

Each Little Bird That Sings- Deborah Wiles

All of the Junie B. Jones Books are a hoot!

Picture Books

The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County- Janice N. Harrington

Crossing Bok Chitto:A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom by Tim Tingle and Jeanne Rorex Bridges

Non-Fiction

The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston
The Colony:The Harrowing True Story of the Exile of Molokai by John Tayman
The Hot Zone- Richard Preston
A Walk in the Woods-Bill Bryson
The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost

We'll talk more. I have to taxi my children to their various extracurricular activities. I'm sure I'll be thinking of all the books I've left off.......


Essays/Humor
Naked- David Sedaris

Fiction

To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee
The Red Tent-Anita Diamant
The Bridge of Sighs- Richard Russo