What's on my bookshelf

This is a purely indulgent post, about books. Again.
The very lovely Modern Mrs Darcy is hosting a link-up where people show what's on their bookshelves. Are you the sort of person who goes to a person's home and immediately (trying to be not quite as obvious as you obviously are) checks out their books? You can tell a lot about people by the sorts of things they have on display.

Our bookshelf situation is a source of despair for us. Our dream is to have floor to ceiling in-built shelving made from solid timber. Instead we have 2 tall, skinny, particle-board shelves in our lounge which hold our favourite books, and about a hundred or two hundred or a thousand books in boxes. One day, one day, we will get them all out.

Here's the top shelves of the two skinny units. For lack of a better place to put them, we have a John Bevere teaching series on the top left that we had high and lofty intentions of watching together, as a couple. *cough*. Moving on. 

A fair few un-read but want-to-read books on that shelf - including Life Interupted, Velvet Elvis, The Practice of Love (have read Idelettes entry and a few others) and an inherited biography of Tolkein that used to be my Poppa's. Below are some loved and well-read favourites including the Wrinkle in Time box-set by Madeleine L'engle, some light but fast-paced reading of hubby's, and the Clarice Bean books for intermediate readers by Lauren Child, my most favourite children's picture book author. 

On the other side we have New Zealand books and music/arts biography's on the top shelf, books that my husband LOVES. If you have a musician in your life then I recommend the Duff McKagan book "It's so easy... and other lies". This was really enjoyed and a powerful sort of redemptive story too. Then Terry Pratchett - his favourite. Snuck in a couple of my Madeleine L'engle books there too. 

Next down we have my mostly Christian fiction shelf (with Harry Potter leaning rebelliously on top - ha!). I love the Heirs of Cahira O'Connor series by Angela Elwell Hunt. They are brilliant. Most of her books are on this shelf - I discovered her through a book club a few years ago where we read The Silver Sword. I wasn't sure from the description that I'd be interested, but it ended up being one of my most favourite books ever. I'm thankful to my friend for choosing it! 

The book "Staying alive" is a beautiful collection of poetry gifted to me by my grandmother. I have a couple of Joyce Meyer books on these shelves but haven't been able to get into either of them. I like her teaching to a certain extent but I find her writing style difficult. Just personal preference I think.

Below is a hodge-podge of non-fiction gardening, pregnancy and arts books along with Barry Crump of my husbands.

Christian books on the right - Philip Yancey, well-read and appreciated. One Thousand Gifts, Grace-based Parenting (still reading), Boundaries (need to read), Lioness Arising (struggling to get into), and below that are Christian memoir/biographys: Bonhoeffer - my husband enjoyed this so much he was considering the name Dietrich for our next baby! Anne Lamott: Travelling Mercies, oh my heart. Then my precious Madeleine L'engle books. She is my most-loved author, for the longest time, since my mother gave me "A ring of endless light" as a pre-teenager. The Crosswicks journals are there, along with "A stone for a pillow", "Bright evening star", "Penguins and golden calves", and the ultimate life-changer "Walking on Water". There's Adrian Plass there too who we both utterly adore.

 Bottom shelves are a bit of a mess. More favourite Terry Pratchett's, and the Narnia Series. On the other side, Lord of the Rings and the beefy dictionary (I think this may have been my Poppa's also).

Bottom shelves are art and interesting coffee table books. Some favourite artists are in there: Da Vinci, Dali - plus a few of my interior and architecture books from my studies. I used to love Tricia Guild, I still do. Her use of colour and pattern is inspiring and her books are beautiful. Archeology and rock music books for my husband. Fairy tales and Calvin & Hobbes for fun. 

Thanks for snooping my shelves! Maybe I'll do a follow up when we have the floor to ceiling ones. Probably when I'm 80. Sigh.

I hope you're all having a marvellous week. My baby girl turns one on Thursday, so my life is flashing before my eyes. Where does the time go?

xx Sarah

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy today - check out her site and some other bookshelves too!

Thoughts on this day, Mothers day

Today it's Mother's day, and I thought I'd write a wee something, in the honour of trying to write shorter posts more often :)
A rough start today, with hubby out insane-early to church and me having my first ever Sunday on Kids this morning (what an eye-opener), with lots of things to remember to bring and organise. Add to that a small boy who decided it was fun to use his snuggly lamb toy as a whip on his sister, and said sister walloping him back - all while I was trying to type out PowerPoint song lyrics on the kids computer - and I was exhausted before I even arrived!
But after church and after a meltdown my husband gave me this:

Oh yes. Not just 4 pieces either, which still would have been great, but heaps of pieces. And no, I'm not sharing. Well, I will share it with him since he paid for it but not with anyone else!  (And he didn't go out and buy it after I had a meltdown, he'd already got it. Plus a hand-made card from my kids. Organised husband, I salute you.)

Mothers day isn't a nice day for everybody. I think of friends who lost their mums well before they should have. I think of relationship breakdowns. I think of the kids today in church who didn't come with a mum, either because she's not around or she isn't the one bringing them to church. I loved Lisa-Jo's post "For the Motherless daughter", she says anything far better than I can and she gets it. I don't think you'd ever understand what it was like to not have a mother unless you didn't have one.

Some memories of my mum from my childhood are around various creative activities, though she probably wouldn't call herself overly creative in an arty sense. I'm grateful she nurtured that in us. School holidays surrounded by Lego villages. One set of holidays where I was obsessed with making clowns - ping pong ball heads, fabric bodies, funny colours. Her teaching me cross stitch, and how to use the sewing machine. As a child, watching her (probably nagging her, more likely), as she sewed us our tracksuits - very trendy in the 80's I have to say - and then getting to go to the shopping mall with her and choose a print from the fancy place where they put a picture on the front of your sweatshirt. The one I remember most was a Persian cat, hideous pastel coloured flowery thing that I adored. Pale pink tracksuit. White blonde bob haircut... you get the picture.

Mum introduced me to my favourite author, Madeleine L'engle. She managed to navigate choosing books for me in my pre-teen years which I just loved, which could have gone very wrong. The Little house series, Anne of Green Gables, Frank Peretti's Cooper Kids adventure books. My most favourite book was the first one she bought me of Madeleine L'engles, called "A ring of endless light". Actually the third book in a series about Vicky Austin and her family. Vicky is the middle child, a poet, misunderstood and hiding in the shadow of her blonde, outgoing younger sister. She explores identity and death and doesn't shy away from issues that sometimes people wouldn't want to discuss with kids that age. As I went into my teens my Grandmother became the one who introduced authors to me. Kate Atkinson's "Behind the scenes at the museum" was the beginning. I loved Carol Sheilds, another introduction from her. A doorway into a new world, grown-up and beautifully written. I haven't had the concentration to stick at books like those for years now, but on my Grandma's 87th birthday this year I bought her "Walking on Water" by Madeleine L'engle, and it is special to be able to reciprocate those moments of book-sharing, and of not knowing you loved something until it landed in your hands and you turned the pages. My Grandma also reads every Jane Austen book, every year, and I haven't done that in years but would love to follow her example once life allows for sitting with a book with long paragraphs and older language again. At the moment life allows for re-reading of extremely easy books, in between breaking up squabbles between small children.

Happy Mothers day, everyone. Whether you are one, or have one, or you don't, I hope you enjoy celebrating today those around you who bring life into the world - for that is indeed the most significant thing about a mother, and something that's gifted not only those of us who have gone through labour and childbirth. Women have in them the inherent characteristics of the creator, and he granted us that gift, the gift of giving life, of creation, of bringing life into the world. We can do this with our words, our friendships, our personality's, and our homes. May you all feel blessed and noticed today, beautiful life-giving women.

Sarah xx