I am somewhat late to the party. I have been an avid reader since the age of 8. Somewhere around the time I was 12, my mom had to limit me to one book a day! Especially in the summer, I would read and read and read and read. I loved reading just about anything I could get my hands on, from our personal library and the local library. However, for whatever reason, I have never really read anything by C.S. Lewis.
I still love to read. It has come and gone, and ebbed and flowed over the years of motherhood. I remember when I had three kids under the age of 4—I never even thought about reading. Now that I have three children in their 20s (moment of silence), and one child left at home who is 17 and very self-sustaining, I have a LOT more time to think about reading.
And yet, without intentionality, I can go through 365 days without reading anything of real value. A few years ago, a friend and I started reading non-fiction books together and then having a Zoom meeting once a week—a virtual book chat. It kept both of us accountable to keep going. Sometimes, when you are reading non-fiction, it is easy to get bogged down, or too busy to find the time. But having a date on the calendar, already set up in advance, helps motivate me to stay on track.
We were both in a coaching program for a few years and heard a lot about C.S. Lewis. We decided to make 2026 the year of reading 12 of his books. Which, by no means, covers all of his books, but I tried to make up a list of some of his more well-known works, as well as some of his lesser-known titles. January started off with The Screwtape Letters, which was a challenge because it makes you think in reverse, often trying to keep track of which side is good and which is evil. In February, we read Mere Christianity, and now we are reading A Grief Observed.
There is a learning curve to reading C.S. Lewis, and I am actually listening to the audiobook while reading to help my comprehension! However, in the latest book we are reading, A Grief Observed—which comes from his journal following his wife’s death—you see more of the emotional side of Clive’s mind, not just the intellectual! I took lots of notes, underlined in the book itself, and will definitely read it again in the future! So much to absorb into my mind and heart. Have you read Mere Christianity? What impacted you the most? I’ll list some of my takeaways below.
“Human history…the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
“You cannot make men good by law; and without good men you cannot have a good society. That is why we must go on to thin of the second thing: morality inside the individual.”
“Before we can be cured, we must want to be cured.”
“Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”
“Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
“When you find yourself wanting to turn your children or even your neighbors into people exactly like yourself, remember that God probably never meant them to be that.
“The question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what He intended us to be when He made us.”
“The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God. What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose.”