So many good books!

I walked to the Little Free Library and put in The Cross and the Switchblade. That book moved me. I’ve never been in such dire straits as the people in it. I’m a middle-aged white woman who has never gone hungry and who has loving relationships. My household has had a working car and a house, with brief interludes, for my entire life. I have an associates degree and my husband had three college degrees. Our children are doing well, in a society that actively hinders people. I could become an arrogant entitled woman with no patience for people in other circumstances.

Instead I read The Cross and the Switchblade, The Hiding Place, The Diary of Anne Frank, Schindler’s List, The Good Earth, Robin Hood, The Help, Memoirs of a Geisha, Night by Elie Wiesel, Onions in the Stew… so many books that have grown my perspective. At one point I had all my books out on shelves. It took eight bookshelves seven feet tall, and when we moved away from there the books had increased. My children read them freely. We gained so much from other people’s points of view. And we talked about them. Oh so many discussions, fascinating, laughing and crying and investigating discussions!

Our society and indeed, I myself, take less time to read books now. We’re learning online, articles, videos, podcasts, stories, comments, and stories in the comments. I love learning. People and their experiences are fascinating. Digging into online communities is like digging in my garden. There’s lots of dirt, mud, and water, occasionally poop. But finding diamonds and better yet, colorful plants and flowers, people growing and becoming more than they were before, rewards my efforts. I am grateful.