Library Catalogued!

Well, I felt 1/2 way decent for the first time yesterday... well enough to want to stay standing long enough to vacuum or do laundry or dishes, or even dusting! I still can't do much for long, so I worked in spurts to tidy up first the living room, then the library, and the kitchen intermittently. I still haven't tackled any hard cleaning-- not quite ready to handle the chemicals, I don't think, but it's a start! The perfect "go-to" for me was our bookshelves, because in between standing-up-chores, I could sit down and work with our books. Ryan & I love books. We've already got a two-bookshelf library started for our children, and they don't even have working lungs yet!

So, what did I do, you may ask? Ryan had gotten a slew of books as part of his work for Zondervan (they were VERY generous!!), and the time to proudly display them (on our floor) was past. Care Group had sufficiently oohed and aahed over them. He's also aquired several tomes through his class at seminary, and I've procured books here and there for Book Club, or just whatever. It was time to re-organize. I had to re-do some of the displays to make room for everything new, and found to my chagrin, that I couldn't remember all my categories! I also did NOT want to commit the egregious sin of putting one of Ryan's books somewhere he might not be able to quickly find... so... a little fiddling with a database program, and...

TA-DA: the Complete Electronic Szrama Library Catalogue!! We now can access books by authorial name, by title, by keyword, by category, even binding type if we feel so inclined. There's a little spot telling me where each book is (ex. "Coffee Table" or "Binder Shelf," or the more boring "Literary Classics"...quite a few have people's names by them, showing we've lent them out) and how many copies we have. Can you tell I'm a little proud of my work? It was so fun handling each volume-- like visiting with old friends. I've been motivated to re-read or finish several books now, such as Margaret Paton's Letters from the South Seas (so good!!!).

So why am I blogging about this? Because I've been reminded of how helpful and delightful so many of these books have been to us, and would be to most anyone. So I came up with a "If you liked ___, then you'll love ____" mini-list for you. Feel free to comment or email me with your own additions.

To help with categories, I gave one mainstream book of the same catalogue, sort of by way of comparison:

How does this list work again? If you liked ___ (and/or found it lacking), then read:
- _____:

1. Parenting-If you liked Growing Kids God's Way, Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo (and/or found it lacking), then read:
-Shepherding a Child's Heart (Tedd Tripp)... I just re-read this before lending it out, and want to give it to every parent at my school!

2. Marriage: not really sure of a "mainstream" marriage book... :) So many of them have their place and their own helpful niche... but the best I've read so far is:
- When Sinners Say 'I Do' (Dave Harvey)

3. Church: If you liked The Purpose-Driven Church, Rick Warren (and/or found it lacking), then read:
- Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Mark Dever) or
- The Enduring Community (Brian Habig/ Les Newsom)

4. Life Motivation: If you liked The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren (and/or found it lacking), then read:
- Don't Waste Your Life (John Piper) or
- The Cross-Centered Life (C.J. Maheney)

5. Revalation Fiction: If you liked The Left Behind Series, Tim LaHaye (and/or found it lacking), then read:
- The Last Disciple Series (Hank Hanegraaf w/ Sigmund Brouwer)

6. Fighting Lust: If you liked Every Man's Battle, Steven Arterburn (and/or found it lacking), then read:
- Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is) (Joshua Harris)

Enjoy!