underneath. {Project 52}

I love to read, but I don't own a lot of books. For the most part, I like to read books once. I like to borrow books. I like to pass books on when I'm done.

But I've noticed a trend lately. I've started to accumulate books. Pretty books. Inspiring books. Books that are both pretty and inspiring.

I'm enjoying creating an office space for myself, carved out in the corner of the basement. I threw sensibility to the wind and bought myself a pretty blue desk. I hung some favorite words on the wall. I found a comfy office chair from Costco. I cleared a space of honor for my pot of colorful pens. And I started stacking up my pretty + inspiring books on the shelf right where I could see them.

Oh, and I bought myself an owl. (If you must know, he spoke to me, straight from the shelf in the garden section at Target, and asked if he could come home.)

So now he sits. And underneath him sit my books.

I've either read these books or plan to read them soon. I like the people who wrote them. I respect them. I admire them. The books themselves -- the words inside them -- are game-changers. Life-changers. They inspire me. I hope they will inspire you too.

A Field Guide to Now: Notes on Mindfulness and Life in the Present Tense, by Christina Rosalie

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, by Ann Voskamp

Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World, by Bob Goff

Interrupted: An Adventure in Relearning the Essentials of Faith, by Jen Hatmaker

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, by Jen Hatmaker

Breathe: Creating Space for God in a Hectic Life, by Keri Wyatt Kent

What We Talk About When We Talk About God, by Rob Bell

Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way, by Shauna Niequist

Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life, by Shauna Niequist

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, 
by Brene Brown

Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed, by Glennon Doyle Melton

Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table, by Shauna Niequist

P.S. They're not just for show - I'd love to lend you my copy :)

P.P.S. What's on your bookshelf right now??