One of the banes of aging is losing basic functions like hearing. But there are always hearing aids. I got my first pair in 2014 and have loved them from day one. My current pair has Bluetooth connectivity. What a world that has opened up.
A favourite way to enjoy the BT ability of my aids is to listen to music and books while I walk, with my headphones hidden inside my ears. My hour-long walks slip by quickly when I’m engrossed in a story. Favourite genres are memoir, biography. and autobiography. Here are a few books of this genre I’ve “read” audibly in the last while.
- In My Father’s House: The Years Before the Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.
Corrie’s pre-WWII story illustrates how God prepared her for the war years ahead. I was amazed at how active she was in her community working with young people
- The Five Silent Years of Corrie Ten Boom by Pam Rosewell Moore.
Pam Moore was Corrie’s hired companion during her last years of ministry and cared for her after she suffered a stroke, when she was in her 80s. This account is a beautiful example of how one can finish well.
- These Strange Ashes: A Deeply Personal Account of Elisabeth Elliot’s First Year as a Missionary by Elisabeth Elliot.
Fascinating stories, well-written, gripping, and often stranger than fiction.
Jim Elliot kept a journal through much of his time at Wheaton College and beyond. In the book Under the Shadow of the Almighty Elisabeth shared his writings with the world in a curated biographical way. The Journals of Jim Elliot contains the raw collection of his writings. They reveal a deeply spiritual, committed, and disciplined young man and, in the context of his martyrdom in 1956, make fascinating reading. I remember the impact the first book had on me when I read it as an idealistic teen.
- Becoming Elizabeth Elliot and Being Elisabeth Elliot both by Ellen Vaughn
For those of us who loved Elisabeth’s books Under the Shadow of the Almighty and Through Gates of Splendor, Vaughn’s biographies fill in many gaps of what was happening before and after the 1956 day when Elisabeth’s husband and four other missionaries were killed by Huaorani (Auca) tribespeople. These books are a revealing account of the life of this modern giant of the Christian faith
- Strangers: The Memoir of a Marriage by Belle Burden
I read one chapter of this book on Apple News and knew I wanted to read the whole story. Moving and well-written
- Surviving an Unwanted Divorce: A Biblical, Practical Guide to Letting go While Holding Yourself Together by Lysa Terkeurst.*
In Surviving, Lysa tells of how it felt to have her marriage fall apart while in public ministry and how she navigated through that time keeping her faith intact.
There are many more I could tell you about. But they will keep for another time. If you’re at loose ends looking for the next read, maybe one of these will fit the bill!
Till next month – Happy Listening (or Reading)!
