Bookstack

Here is a visual feast of my current book stack as of July 19, 2011. The first book I’m reading is The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis. The rest are:

• The Razor’s Edge by William Somerset Maugham (I’ve read this book  before and is one of my favorites; it’s a custom to read it annually)
  
• The Painted Veil by William Somerset Maugham
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky
• Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope John Paul II
• Confessions by St. Augustine (I’ve read parts of it)
• Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Come Be My Light by Mother Teresa (recommended by a friend)
• Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel (I’ve been reading this one for a year. It’s pretty excellent and I consider it a tome; Weigel recently published The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II — The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy)

My bookshelf (well, not literally, more like piles of books on the floor and desk since I refuse to buy a bookshelf) consists mainly of biology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, pathophysiology and science related texts, fiction, autobiographies, poetry, and running guides. But for the past year since my Confirmation I’ve had interest in writings of theology. Call  it the consuming fire of the Holy Spirit upon the heart and intellect!

I am happy to confess that all but two (Witness to Hope and Introduction to Christianity) were bought second-hand. I love the anonymous writings in the margins, the highlighting of passages, the dog eared corners, the history behind them (like what was the person thinking as they were reading; the places the book traveled to), the old comforting smell of ancient libraries wafting from the pages, and the thrill of finding a book and exclaim, “You’re coming home with me, my friend.”

And it’s cheap. And addicting (go into a bookstore with the objective of buying one book; leave with three).

Call me old fashioned but I enjoy the feeling of paper between my fingers–going all digital will be the end of me. It’s the existential question that keeps me up at night…Kidding.