Reading (books) again.

Before I was hospitalized for three months and got my hemorrhage, almost every evening, I was reading a book.

I had read many different kinds of books.
Action, comedy, detective, and some books after a movie.

But after my hemorrhage, it took maybe a year or so, before I slowly started reading books again.
Even magazines I had to stop reading.

Because of my hemianopsia, I had great problems reading.
Sometimes I missed halve of the words.
Or did not see the end of a sentence and went already to the next.
And then wondering why it did looked right.
Go back again and then discovering that I missed a few words.

It was very frustrating and discouraging.
Especially magazines.
I lost the overview of the page and it all looked too crowded.

Slowly starting again.

I think it was the time that my wife and I had joined the church, that very slowly I started reading again.
I was using my tablet for it so I could enlarge the letters.
Somehow it made it a little bit easier for me.

I started with reading the bible verses according to a schedule they were using in the church.
You would then read most of it, in a year.
And slowly on, I also started to read other books again, on my tablet.

I had checked with the pastora of the church if she maybe could advise some books I could read.
Slowly I got more and more interested in Christianity and was wondering what I could read.

Because of my “disability”, and also because I was new to Christianity, she told me about the book of Joni Eareckson Tada.

Below I will try to give a list of the books I had read or that I am reading at the moment.
I will put a small personal review of the book.
(For me, I had read the ebook versions of the books)

The Books.

Note:
Due to legal reasons, I cannot place images of the books. The title of the books are links to other websites with some information about the books. The links will open in a new window.

Joni (An Unforgettable Story)
by Joni Eareckson Tada.

Normally, I am not really fond of reading books like this.
(True life stories with drama and maybe some romance.)
But the topic was interesting and I could relate to it.
It took me quite some time to get through this book.
I had to concentrate hard and my reading was slow.
So very often I had to stop because I was getting a headache or I was getting tired.

But to my surprise, I had finished the book.
It was inspiring and it also motivated me a bit.
She was telling about all her ups and downs but through all of this, she never gave up.
She is also telling about her relationship with God and how she grew in faith and trust.

God’s Smuggler by/from Brother Andrew.

This book is also a true-life story.
It was a bit of an action story.
Maybe a bit strange to say, but for some parts of the book, you wanted to know what would happen next.
It was a bit exciting to read.

It’s about a man who is smuggling bibles into countries where religion is a delicate topic and sometimes illegal.
Every time he had to think of new ways to get the bibles in the country and to the people who wanted to have them.

It was giving some insight into how religion is in other countries.
And to what extend some people will go for it.

The Hidding Place from Corrie ten Boom.

This book is also a biography and it took place in the second World War.
To be honest, I did not finish this book.

I had read one or two chapters, but the story could not grab me.
I could not push myself in reading it further.
Not sure what the reason for this was.
Everything I had heard and read about it, it would be a good story.

Maybe it was because of the War and what was happing to her and her family.

From Fear to Faith by Merlin R. Carothers.

This was a nice book

It is based on the writer’s personal stories and also explained by telling his own experience.
It was nice, also as a beginner in Christian faith and belief.
Especially with his own stories and visions on things.

When I was reading this, some things were made clear to me and some I was able to try to put it in practice.
Still, it is not easy to overcome fear.
But by remembering some parts of the book, it can help a little bit.

The Purpose Drive Life by Rick Warren.

From this book, there a different versions/editions available.
A book worth reading.
I got this ebook and also got the physical Journal that can go with it.

The purpose of the book is, that every day you read one chapter.
The first version of the book has 21 chapters.
The version that I got, has 42 chapters, so good for 42 days.

After reading each chapter, you can then go to the journal and answer some questions.
Well, they are not really questions.
It is asking for your insights and thoughts about what you had read for that day.
It makes you really think about things.
And with the Journal, you can keep track of your thoughts.

I did not finish this book yet.
I reached chapter 22.
But my intention is to pick this book up again and start from the beginning.

It is lucky, that the first time I read this book and filled in the journal, I did not write in the Journal itself.
But I wrote all my thoughts and insights in an online journal.
So when I start over again, I can “rethink” and maybe get a different insight into things.

And who knows, maybe in the future I will share my experience of it in a blog post.

Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer.

As you maybe can imagine, this is almost the same as the book From Fear to Faith.

This book, I only had read till halfway.
To me, it was like there was a lot of repeating things.
So after reading half of it, I lost interest in it.

Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell.

Also this book, I did not finish reading it.

It is giving some nice insights and teaches you how to turn failure into something good.
Instead of thinking of failure, it is explaining to turn those thoughts into learning moments.
You need to give the word Failing a different meaning or you need to look at it in a different way.

Miracle For Jen: A Tragic Accident, A Mother’s Desperate Prayer, And Heaven’s Extraordinary Answer by Linda Barrick.

The previous few books were self-help books, but I wanted to read a “real” story/book again.

This book was suggested to me in my ereader books app, according to my previous books.
I had seen this book passing by a few times and a few times I had read the synopses.
But I had my doubts about it.

When it was suggested again to me, I made the decision of getting it and see what it is about.

At this moment, I am halfway of the book and I am not sorry to get it.
Again, it is not really my kind of book, but so far it is a real inspiration to me.
The book is a real-life story.

It’s about a Christian family that gets involved in a very serious car accident.
The father and mother are both seriously injured but are slowly recovering.
The youngest, a son, has minor injuries.
The daughter is very seriously injured.
She has a brain injury.

During her long recovery in the hospital, she is building a relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ.
She has visions and sometimes she is also talking to Him.
But in her “real-life situation” she is recovering very slowly.
She has problems with talking, eating, and remembering things.

I am not finished with the book yet, but so far it is an inspiration to me.
If you get the change, and if you are interested in this kind of story, I encourage you to get a copy of the book.
It will be worth reading.

My reading/wish list.

In the ebook reader that I am using, I have the option to place books on a wishlist.

These are two titles I still want to read;
What on Earth Am I here for? Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.
Daily Inspiration for the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

What other books I still plan to read?
I don’t know it yet.
Maybe I will just let me be surprised by what suggestions the ebook reader comes up with.

Closing.

Reading is not everyone’s cup of tea.
It also took me some time before I started reading books again.
But I am happy that I am reading again.

It is giving me new insights, new inspiration, things to think about and time to learn new things.
Reading is still not easy for me.
And sometimes I still get frustrated or annoyed, that I miss things or have problems in getting the words or having problems in understanding what I am reading.

At moments like this, I will just put down the book, and maybe a few hours later I will pick it up again.
At this moment I am also reading a lot of articles or posts online about blogging and writing.
They are very interesting to me and I am learning a lot from them.

If you are not so much in reading books, maybe you could give it a try again and maybe read one of the books I listed in this post.
Or maybe you would like to share what book(s) you are reading and would like to give your thoughts or insights on them.
Then, please do so.

You can use the comments section for it.
And maybe, who knows, there are some books that would be nice for me to read next.

Happy readings, take care, and stay safe.
God Bless.