08/18/2026
Building my personal library is a different hobby altogether than reading. It’s building a mosaic of ideas, stories, philosophies to learn from or wrestle with unique to the collector. I’m always on the hunt because the potentiality of the untold stories on the shelf brings me life.
I would consider myself an eternal optimist in this way. And I learn this from my faith where I believe at any moment God can do anything. Because of the resurrection of Christ, we live in the untold potentiality of the Kingdom of God where He can do above and beyond what we can ask, think, or imagine. Redemption beyond measure. Hope and potential is a bastion against the nihilism and pessimism of our current society.
Anyway that’s the long way to say I love books.
S/O the used bookstore at the Georgetown Public Library.
Elizabeth Keckley was born a slave, bought her freedom, and became a dressmaker in Washington DC. A friend to Mary Todd Lincoln, Keckley gives us an intimate account of the Lincoln White House.
S/O Isaac Elliott for recommending this one. A woman unexpectedly finds herself caring for a huge Great Dane left to her by the death of her friend.
A classic story of a grumpy old man who’s lost his wife and a 6 year old boy who is struggling to navigate a new school and the separation of his parents. Giving UP vibes in the best possible way.
Originally written in Swedish, this story is about Bo, whose only real comfort as he ages are the daily visits from a home care team and his dog Sixten. His son wants to take the dog away insisting he’s too old to care for him, stirring in Bo a whirlwind of emotion, and leading him to take stock of his life and relationships.
“Phillip Marlowe searches for a priceless gold coin and finds himself deep in the tangled affairs of a dead coin collector” dope.
Elizabeth Stout was listed for the Booker Prize this year for her book The Things We Never Say. Tell Me Everything is a “hopeful, healing novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world”.
