Sometimes you read a book because you have to. Sometimes you read it and you hate it; but sometimes you read it & the words write themselves on your  mind and heart.

1.“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury: I read this book in a high school English class. The teacher tied the book into the idea of “truth” & what it means. This is one of the 1st books I personalized- the value of freedom & rights. The value of being able to think, memorize, create, & read. The value knowing right from wrong and unfortunately, the danger that can cause.

Favorite quotes:
“The zipper displaces the button and a man lacks just that much time to think while dressing at dawn, a philosophical hour, and thus a melancholy hour.”

“There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”

“What traitors books can be! You think they’re backing you up, and they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives.”

“We know the damn silly thing we just did.  We know all the damn silly things we’ve done for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, someday we’ll stop making the goddamn funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them.” He goes on, “But even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn’t use what we got out of them.”

2. “The Hiding Place” by Corrie ten Boom: I read this book the summer between my Freshmen & Sophomore years in college. I read it on a bus ride while I was surrounded by people I barely knew- as an introvert, that was difficult. I read it over two days that I got some of the worst news- a close friend died one day & my grandfather died the next, both deaths completely unexpected. The faith of Corrie ten Boom, the strength she had to tell her story, the forgiveness of Christ she reflected towards those who had been a part of committing heinous acts against her & her family- her actions & story reminded me of the strength of faith in Christ Jesus for everything.

Favorite quotes:
“Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him….Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness….And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself.” 

“This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.” 

“Do you know what hurts so very much? It’s love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.” 

“In darkness God’s truth shines most clear.” 

3. “Pride & Prejudice” by Jane Austen: I love this book. I tried reading it in 6th grade, but let’s be real, I missed the story-line in all the “Ms. Bennett’s”. I saw the movie (the one with Keira Knightley) & fell in love with the story. Heaven-forbid, I know, I watched the movie first. That’s the type of reader I am…I prefer to enjoy both movie & book rather than hate one & love the other. The movie helped me get a better idea of what exactly was going on in the book, & let me just say, the movie was great but the book was infintely better. Ultimately, it reminded me of the value of being a genuine person & being careful of how I view those around me but also being wise in my actions- not doing things because everyone else is, but because it is right & honest.

Favorite Quotes:
“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.” 

“Angry people are not always wise.”

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

“Our scars make us know that our past was for real”

–Don’t worry…this isn’t the end of the list.–
— To be continued–

Your turn: What are book(s) that have most inspired or impacted you?