"Book Girl" by Sarah Clarkson

Book Girl A Journey through the Treasures and Transforming Power of a Reading Life 

When you hear a riveting story, does it thrill your heart and stir your soul? Do you hunger for truth and goodness? Do you secretly relate to Belle’s delight in the library in Beauty and the Beast? Then you might be well on your way to being a book girl.

Books were always Sarah Clarkson’s delight. Raised in the company of the lively Anne of Green Gables, the brave Pevensie children of Narnia, or the wise Austen heroines, she discovered reading early on as a daily gift, a way of encountering the world in all its wonder. But what she came to realize as an adult was just how powerfully books had shaped her as a woman to live a story within that world, to be a lifelong learner, to grasp hope in struggle, and to create and act with courage.

She’s convinced that books can do the same for you. Join Sarah in exploring the reading life as a gift and adventure, one meant to enrich, broaden, and delight you in each season of your life as a woman.

In Book Girl, you’ll discover:

• How reading can strengthen your spiritual life and deepen your faith
• Why a journey through classic literature might be just what you need (and where to begin)
• How stories form your sense of identity 
• How Sarah’s parents raised her to be a reader—and what you can do to cultivate a love of reading in the growing readers around you
• 20+ annotated book lists, including some old favorites and many new discoveries. 

Whether you’ve long considered yourself a reader or have dreams of becoming one, Book Girl will draw you into the lifegiving journey of becoming a woman who reads and lives well.

My review...

I’ve been a reader and book lover for as long as I can remember, so I was excited to check out this book. And if you are (or want to be) a bookworm, this is something you should read, too.

The book is a nice guide in how to grow your love of reading by reading books that will change your life, or at least your heart. There are numerous book lists and recommendations, as well as the author’s personal memories associated with the books, including how they shaped her life. The books are quite diverse, so there is likely something of interest to everyone. I have read MANY books in my lifetime, and there were numerous books on these lists that I’ve never read, and some I’ve never even heard of. My TBR list has grown since finishing this book 😊  

Some of the lists include:

·        The Beloved Dozen: The Novels that Taught Me How to Live (which includes books such as Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

·        Girlhood Classics: The Books that Began it All for Me (which includes books such as Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter and Heidi by Johanna Spyri)

·        Girl Power: My Favorite Novels about Brave and Faithful Women (which includes books such as The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen)

·        “Courage, Dear Heart”: The Spiritual Classics that Made My Heart Strong (which includes books such as Against Heresies by Irenaeus and The Genesis Trilogy by Madeleine L’Engle)

·        The Books We Shared: My Family’s Favorite Read-Alouds (which includes books such as Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and The Giver by Lois Lowry)

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher. I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

Amazon purchase link

About Sarah...

Sarah Clarkson is an author, a blogger, and a student of theology. She graduated from Wycliffe Hall, in Oxford, with a bachelor's degree in theology, where she also spent a proud year as president of the Oxford University C. S. Lewis Society. She's the author of Read for the Heart (a guide to children's literature), Caught Up in a Story (on the formative power of story), and Journeys of Faithfulness (a creative, contemplative devotional for young women), as well as the upcoming Book Girl (a woman's guide to the reading life). Through blogs, books, and her current research, she explores the theological significance of story, the intersection of theology and imagination, and the formative power of beauty. She writes regularly about her adventures at sarahclarkson.com and is at slow work on a novel. She can often be found with a cup of good coffee in one of the many quaint corners amid Oxford's "dreaming spires," where she lives in a red-doored cottage with her husband, Thomas.