Abraham LIncoln and reading

I am an avid reader. I was 14 years old before we had a television in our home. My parents encouraged us to read and provided books on many subjects. We had hundreds of volumes to choose from. As an adult, I have continued to read a lot of books, on many subjects. Since Kathy, my wife, is also an avid reader, our collection of books is quite large. While one of my regrets as an adult is that I was unable to continue graduate education, books and reading have provided a wonderful source of knowledge, inspiration and enlarging my imagination. I am currently reading a book about Abraham Lincoln titled Team of Rivals by Pulitzer Prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin. The team of rivals is his presidential cabinet. Lincoln chose 3 men for his cabinet who were his rivals for the Republican nomination for president. The other 3 were former Democrats who were political rivals. One story about his early life really impressed me. He did not have access to many books. Reading was his primary source of education so he had to read books where ever he could find them. On this occasion he borrowed Parson Weem's Life of George Washington. He read it at night in the loft where he slept by candlelight. One night after he had put the book between the rafters of the loft, a severe rainstorm soaked the book, soiling the pages and warping the cover. He went to the home of the owner and volunteered to work to pay for the cost of replacing the book. The owner calculated the cost and had Lincoln work for 2 full days pulling corn. Lincoln thought this was quite unfair and excessive, but he did the work anyway. We live in a good age, sip a latte at Barnes and Noble while you look through thousands of books, pay with a coupon and a debit card...

Some other books I have read in 2008 are Never Call Retreat by Newt Gingrich and William Forstche, the third historical novel in a triology about the Civil War, Stone Cold by David Baldacci, The Appeal, John Grisham's new novel and Simply Strategic Stuff: Help for Leaders Drowning in the Details of Running a Church by Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan, a book with many reference topics for my work at our church. I like to read the Bible through every year and this year I am reading a new version titled The Daily Message by Eugene Peterson, the writer of the Message version of the Bible. Reading is a wonderful way to relax, and learn.