I have this odd habit of reading more than one book at a time, I’ve always been able to do that, perhaps a part of being Dyslexic, I am told.

I can go back and forth without losing the thread, sometimes I stay with one book all the way. I’m not an especially fast reader, unless I really get hooked, then I’ll sit up all night reading.

People always thank me for sharing the books I’m reading, so I’ll list these four that I’m reading on and off.

The first is Border Districts, a novel by the writer Gerald Murnane of Australia,  a perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize.

The second is the Eternal Now, by the late spiritual philosopher Paul Tillich.

The Third is The Sound Of A Wild Snail Eating, a beautifully written, touching book by the writer Elisabeth Tova Bailey, in which she describes how a terrestrial snail accompanied her on a long and debilitating illness.

Maria and I are both fascinated by snails, mysterious and surprisingly complex creatures, gliding through their nights.

I love this story, yet another tale in the hands of a gifted and disciplined writer,  her story reminds us in a powerful and graceful way just s how much an animal can mean to us  during critical points in our lives.

And then, one of my favorite novelists, The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler, which I’ve read at least 100 times and love more each time I read it.

My last two books before these were Almost Everything, Notes On Hope, by Anne Lamott, and Henri Nouwen’s Discernment: Reading The Signs Of Daily Life.

(P.S. If you get a chance, check out Derry Girls, a six-part series on Netflix about a group of teenage girls and their hilarious families, and a strange English boy, living and surviving in Derry, an impoverished Northern Ireland city at the heart of the Troubles between the Irish and the British.

It is wonderfully written, witty and deep,  and very funny. Every actor in it is wonderful. I was so sorry when I got through all six episodes.)