Category: Reading List

There are three reasons I am excited about buying and reading E.L. Doctorow’s latest book Homer and Langley.

The first is that of course, he is a famous writer and the book is already a best seller. I say he is a great writer, yet the only work of his I have read is Ragtime, the classic written in 1975.  The book was later made into a movie (well done) and a Broadway musical (fabulous). Therefore it’s easy for me to say that everything I ever read by E.L. Doctorow was good.

The second reason is that the Homer and Langley he writes about are the Collyer brothers. In 1947, these siblings were found in their Manhattan home surrounded (literally buried) by tons of rubbish they had collected and hoarded. These famous recluses became the poster boys for obsessive compulsive disorder and paranoia.  I was a child when their bizarre life style was discovered, but in 1955 I read My Brother’s Keeper, a novel by Marcia Davenport, based on the Collyer brothers’  lives. The story is fascinating and I can’t wait to read another take on it.

The last reason is E. L. Doctorow is 78 years old!  Go Edgar! At the time when lots of folks are kicking back and watching Game Show Network, he’s turning out a best seller.  So, I will applaud that in a way that every writer will understand. I’m going to buy and read his book.

This is on the list of 15 books that have made a lasting impression on me. Since I discovered Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman by Anne Ortlund about 25 years ago, I have read it several times. My copy is stained with some sort of a spill –  water or coffee.  The title is taken from Proverbs 31, where Solomon describes the ideal woman. Busy, organized, spiritual – a person in her own right, but supportive and caring for her husband and family. “Her husband calls her blessed, and her children also.”

This book was just what I needed in 1984 as I struggled to be wife, mother, stepmom, grandma, working woman, church woman, spiritual woman (there’s a difference), and trying so so hard to find out what God had planned for me. I was a mess of fragmented pieces. It may sound cliched to say a book changed my life, but this one did.

Anne Ortlund wrote this little book in 1977. It’s about the disciplines of getting to Christian maturity. She says, “Our sensuous age forgets that feelings come and feelings leave you but the disciplines of life are what get you to where you want to go.”  And it’s about organization. She devotes one chapter to describing her notebook/calendar  …  ten years before day planners went on the market.

She gives practical suggestions on everything from managing a schedule (to avoid being overwhelmed with activities) to maintaining a wardrobe (to avoid spending hours deciding what to wear).  But most importantly, she writes about choosing priorities.  Solomon says a beautiful woman gives her life to God, family (including church family) and the needy people of the world.

I Googled Anne Ortlund to see what she’s doing nowadays. She is still a part of Renewal Ministries, begun by her husband Ray, who died in 2007.  She continues to host spiritual retreats for women at her home in Newport Beach, California, and to disciple women one-on-one.

I was tagged on Facebook to list 15 books I’ve read that will always stick with me – the first 15 I thought of in no more than 15 minutes.  This was fun. Later, I’ll probably think of others that should be included.  Many of these I have read more than once, most I plan to read again. One day I’ll elaborate on my choices. Here’s the list in no particular order.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

2. Flag Full of Stars – Don Robertson

3. Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman – Anne Ortlund

4. Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini

6. Gifts of the Spirit – Kenneth C. Kinghorn

7. Jewel – Brett Lott

8. Me & Emma – Elizabeth Flock

9. Writing for the Soul – Jerry Jenkins

10. Meeting God at Every Turn – Catherine Marshall

11. Bridge to the Sun – Gwen Tarasaki

12. Black and Blue – Anna Quindlen

13. Light on Snow – Anita Shreve

14. Saving Graces – Elizabeth Edwards

15. Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott