This isn’t a book review.

Many people stopped me after church last week to ask for the title and author of the writing book I mentioned, so I thought I’d link it here as the inaugural post for the new category “reading matters.”

What’s this category for?

Well, it can be used for links to books that are mentioned at church, during religious education, etc.

Or it can be for brief reviews of the books any of us are reading, so that we can share them with each other.

Also, if there’s a book mentioned that strikes your fancy, following the link to Amazon to purchase it helps generate tiny amounts of revenue for the church.

Book reviews should be capsule reviews, no more than 300 words. Don’t go through the entire plot, just give a brief sketch and tell us if you liked it. Here’s a sample:

When I first encountered the book Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, I was working in a bookstore/cafe. It was the summer after my freshman year of college, and I was crushing on a poet who would come in and nurse a latte while he wrote in a battered notebook.

He didn’t recommend this book, it just jumped out at me one slow afternoon. I began reading it during my shift, and had to buy it and take it home so I could finish it. I learned about writing as a form of meditation, and that it’s okay to write just for yourself, sometimes.

I also learned that it’s important to give yourself permission to write drivel, as long as you keep writing.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes the written word, whether or not they write professionally, but especially to people interested in memoirs, or in keeping a journal.

Okay. Your turn.