When a friend asked online if any of the rest of us tend to read six books at a time, I instantly raised my virtual hand and added “and then some.” 

Six books at a time is a minimum for me. With topics splayed across a diverse territory. Picking titles is a mental scavenger hunt for me, like I’m meandering through a packed dusty antique shop. 

I’m not sure what I’m looking for, but I’ll know it when I find it.

Right now, I’m at various stages of reading twelve books. People always want to know what’s it about when someone mentions a book they’re reading. I’m more interested in why a person decides to give a book their time. Here’s what’s taking up space in my reading realm, and why:

  1. Out of the Dog House: Turning a $1,100 Investment into A Billion-Dollar Profit, Dick Portillo. I’m a Chicagoland girl, so the opportunity to read about my favorite Italian beef sandwich shop and Portillo’s rags-to-riches story was a combo too good to pass up.
  2. I Heard That Song Before, Mary Higgins Clark. I worked my way through Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series, then the Tess Monaghan series from Laura Lippman. Thought I’d try some murder mysteries by Mary Higgins Clark after her death in January. Finished three of them already. This one is the latest.
  3. Rudy: My Story, Rudy Ruettiger. My son is on a “sports movie” kick. The ones inspired by true stories are his favorites. He loved Rudy. So I decided to track whatever happened to the real Rudy and came across his autobiography.
  4. Inspired, Rachel Held Evans. After Held Evans’ death a year ago, I put her books on my reading list. I started with Faith Unraveled, and then Searching For Sunday so I’d have something to engage my inquisitive brain on my morning walks.
  5. Great Again: How to Fix our Crippled America, Donald Trump. I listened to The Art of the Deal to learn more about our president and the way he approaches contract negotiations, which is what treaties and legislation are, when you come down to it. I decided to listen to this one to learn more about his positions and strategies.
  6.  Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption, Jules Witcover. With Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee I wanted to learn more about his life, so I chose this biography as my starting point.
  7. The Art of Abundance, Dennis Merritt Jones. Dennis and I were talking about his new book and he graciously sent me a copy. This is one of my “slow read” books that I’m savoring. (Slow and steady tends to be the commonality for all physical books I’m reading. I generally read most books through Scribd.)
  8. Science of Successful Living, Raymond Charles Barker. I love reading classics I haven’t read before. This is my current one. I picked it up at the International New Thought Alliance’s (INTA) conference bookstore a few years ago.
  9. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, Jeanette Winterson. I love Winterson’s novels and I’m on a memoir kick, so I decided it would be fun to pull the curtain back and take a peek at the author’s life.
  10. Get unPHuckeD, Irene M. Taylor. This is an unpublished manuscript by a friend. I offered to read it because I like her approach to life of stripping off all her masks; she’s truly earned a PhD in authenticity.
  11. The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament: A Course in Understanding and Acceptance, Foundation for the Holy Spirit. I’m re-reading this one as The Village Gathering starts its new weekly study group. It took us five years to amble through the transformation path shared in A Course in Miracles. Maybe I should take bets on how long it will take us to get through this book?
  12. Credit Card Nation, Robert D. Manning. This is my second time around with this book. I’m investigating the financial impact the closed-down economy will have on individuals. Reacquainting myself with Manning’s work seemed like a good starting point. 

My active reading list is usually this long, or even a baker’s dozen. I just finished reading Hardly Knew Her (a short-story collection) by Laura Lippman and listening to Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. I’m grazing on a few other writing-related titles but haven’t yet sunk my teeth into a particular one. 

Your turn. Tell me what you’re reading right now, and why.