Books that inspire

When I was a teenager,growing up in Florida, the cool thing to do was read. Yes, thats right, a real book with pages and a wholesome story. All my friends did it, and I loved a good book, especially if I could play hooky from school (homeschool that is), go hide in the bathroom, and be under the radar for an hour or so before someone decided I had gone MIA. My Mom and Dad were both teachers and taught my sister and I to love books. Every morning my Mom would read us a chapter from the Bible and then a couple chapters from an adventure book series like the Mandie Collection books, The Cooper Kids Adventure Series and sometimes Missionary Biographies. I think she started doing that when I was 3 or 4 and continued til my sister and I were 16 and 17 years old. I attribute this daily reading as the start to my love of books. In addition to reading to us every morning, my Mom was also a collector of books. She had so many books my dad had to build more book shelves! The last ones I remember him building were floor to ceiling all around our fireplace. ( Yes, even in Florida it got cold enough for a fireplace.. I know, I know, it was probably only 60s, but it felt cold to me!) 

My family's love of books continue to this day. My mom belonged to a Christian book club for a very long time and used to send them on to my sister and I. We finally had to start putting our initials in the covers so we would know which one we'd all read so it didnt get passed back by accident. Mom has long since canceled her membership to that club, but she still likes to buy Christian romance at Walmart, and passes them on to my sister, who in turn passes them on to me. Yes, just about every visit brings about 2 HUGE bags of books, which go down in my basement after they are read. You would not believe how fast those kind of books go at a garage sale! I once sold a huge box of Christian romance books for $5. The poor husband looked sick as he lugged the box to his car. Poor guy :) 

Here are some of my favorite books and Authors:

Anne of Green Gables

Grace Livingston Hill (My mom had just about EVERY book the woman ever wrote)

Ted Dekker - Red, White, Black and Green

Jannette Oak

The Sadie Rose Series 

The Cooper Kids Adventures

The Bobbsey Twins

The Hardy Boys

Sherlock Holmes

Gilbert Morris - The House of Winslow Books

Elizabeth Elliott 

The Biography of Missionaries John and Betty Stam

Biography of Gladys Ailward, Missionary to China

I cant remember the name, but it was a book put out by Bob Jones Press about a Polish boy who escaped the Nazi's during WWII and lived in the woods with the resistance,,, it was a big favorite of mine.

The Secret Holocaust Diaries - by Nonnie Bannister (VERY good book!)

The Diary of Anne Frank

I remember quite clearly a book I used to check out ALL the time at the Library when I was 7 or so, it was about a swimming pool :) 

Amelia Bedelia 

The Babysitters Club (the old ones) 

The Christy Series (not the one about the school teacher,, the one about the teenager seeking Christ)

The Christy Book - about the school teacher in the Appalachian Mountains 

Corrie Belle Hollister Series

and I could go on and on!

So if you have little ones and haven't started reading to them, make sure you start soon and do it often. A love of reading and books is a wonderful tool to help them better understand the Bible!