Day 81

When I was much younger than today, I used to eat books. Not literally, of course, but I basically read a lot. My parents (my father, especially) loved books so much, they always took us to bookstores and libraries or brought home piles of books for us. From children's science and knowledge books to world leaders series to comic books to children novels (Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Laura Ingalls Wilder) to fictions, suspense and fantasy books (Elspeth Campbell Murphy, Meg Cabot, Mary Higgins Clark, JK Rowling, Trenton Lee Stewart, CS Lewis), and—needless to say—the Bible and devotionals. We had small library. Everyone in the family, except my brother, loves reading.

Growing up as a bookworm, I still wonder why I am the only one who doesn't need to wear eye-glasses until now (hallelujah!). Books feed my imagination. Books also made me want to write. In my younger years, I used my father's computer to type my own children adventure stories—mostly about friendship and simple cases like getting lost or being kidnapped (LOL!). My favourite part of writing children stories was making up names for the characters. I remember I created fictional names for me and my siblings: Karen Haibara Chamberlain (that's me), Ryan Franklin Chamberlain (my brother), and Sarah Pilica Chamberlain (my sister). I couldn't recall how I got those names; but my brother loved his 'alternate' name a lot, he still uses it as his usernames. Little did they know I actually visualised those fictional versions of us as more of mixed-race twenty-somethings, like these:

Anyway, as I got older, I think my interest in fictional books grew less. I've become more intrigued by non-fictions, especially since I discovered Donald Miller's books. His writings taught me that the best stories are not always spectacular, like those in the blockbuster movies. Stories, however simple, become incredible if told in a great way. It is called the art of storytelling. Reading Don's writings enhanced my love for storytelling—whatever format it uses (books, movies, songs, talks). I learned that stories not only expand our knowledge and imagination, they also connect people. That is why Jesus told a lot of parables to His audience. He was fully aware that stories can be a powerful tool to change people's lives.

These past few years I haven't been a bookworm. My mind gets easily distracted (perhaps I should get a copy of 'The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction' by Alan Jacobs and see if I can finish it at once, or else it would be a great irony! Ha-ha). But, today, I am proud to announce my 'accomplishment' in finishing another book titled 'Love Does' by Bob Goff.

((Normally, when I discovered something really really good, I would promote and recommend it as much as possible. But I'm going to save that for another post because my writing is about to exceed my usual limit.))

I am ending this post by sharing my 5 favourite books besides the Bible:

• The Last Battle by CS Lewis
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (a "bible" for every creative worker)
• Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
• Crazy Love by Francis Chan
• The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer

Honourable mentions:

• My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers (devotional)
• Streams in The Desert by LB Cowman (devotional)

Books I can't wait to read:

• Scary Close by Donald Miller
• If You Feel Too Much by Jamie Tworkowski