As a book lover, I have a very long list of favorites. I still have books from when I was 3 or 4 that I like to share with preschoolers today. Stories like Walt Disney’s “The Penguin Who Hated the Cold” by Barbara Brenner and “Ms. Suzy” by Miriam Young teach lessons of gratitude, loyalty and perseverance.
On my annual summer getaway to the ocean, I take Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s “Gifts from the Sea” along. It’s a collection of essays she wrote during her summer getaways by the seaside and it never fails to relax and center me while challenging me to assess the thoughts and motivations that affect my life.
“Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott appealed to me in another way. As an author’s perspective on writing, it helped me transition from journaling and schoolwork to writing for readers. It was the first book to teach me about plot and character development and its honesty about its writing process and struggles is always an encouragement to me.
I discovered “The Well-Trained Mind” by Susan Wise Bauer at this same stage of my life. I chose to stay home with my little boys and postpone college until they were older, but found myself missing out on the world of academic thought. Originally, this book came to me as part of homeschooling my boys, but it also became the canvas for my “home-college” years.
As such, when I returned to school, I found that I had become a much better learner and thinker. I can also boast that I read “Beowulf” by choice.
“Whole Foods for Whole Family” by Roberta Bishop Johnson started me on a journey of shaping the world’s view of health and nutrition.
Recently, I discovered Alana Chernila’s “The Homemade Pantry” in our Whitman County Library collection and adopted her hamburger bun recipe as my family’s daily bread. The entire food journey led to explorations of organic gardening, permaculture and holistic self-care, all richly provided by library materials such as Maria Noel Groves’ “Body into Balance” and Juliet’s “Healing Garden”. Blankespoor.
I am also very grateful for a lot of fiction books; way too many to share here. A series that I found just a year ago was by James Rollins. I love that it puts an incredible story between “Historical/Scientific Records Notes” and a final “Author’s Note to Readers: Truth or Fiction”. I’m often shocked to find that the most incredible parts of his books are actually the real parts.
Finally, I must admit that I am a proofreader of certain books.
Almost every year I re-read the “Anne of Green Gables” series and the “Lord of the Rings Trilogy”. These books of comfort give me back the gratitude, faithfulness and perseverance that I learned as a young person, so I am very grateful to them.
I hope you can connect with a book that sparks your gratitude this holiday season.
Campbell is Rosalia’s branch manager at the Whitman County Library.
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