Mary Lee DeWitt is a Regional Coach and is part of the Ministerial Education, Guidance and Placement (MEGaP) Committee. “You could say my motto is “So many books, so little time,” but I have become a bit more selective in what I read. My book choices are often influenced by recommendations from others that get picked up in conversation, or by John Vlainic’s teasers on listserv. Some I stumbled on in a bookstore. Regardless, I’m always up for a good read! I think we are indelibly changed to some degree with every book we read, and have always been thankful for people who are willing to share with others through books.”
Mary Lee’s non-fiction reading list includes several job development books. To further develop her coaching and conflict resolution skills, The Preaching Life by Barbara Brown Taylor and Letters to a Future Church, a collection of prophetic and encouraging letters by different authors and edited by Chris Lewis. To feed her need for theological mind expansion, Mary Lee is planning to read Reading Backwards by Richard B. Hays and finish Salvation Means Creation Healed by Howard Snyders. To encourage and challenge her personal walk with God she has been reading Run with the Horses by Eugene Peterson, Everyday Grace (Spiritual Refreshment for Women) by Ellyn Sanna is on her nightstand, and Renew My Heart, a daily devotional of themed excerpts from John Wesley’s sermons, sits on her desk.
Mary Lee is a Louise Penny fan. “She’s my new “look-for” Canadian author of mystery fiction. The stories are based in a small village in Quebec, and I really enjoy her writing style, how she develops her characters, and the challenges they face. On the weekend I was tickled to hear a gentleman at one of our churches quoting a passage from her book that I remembered. The books are in series, so it’s better that you start with the first one and work your way through.”
Clive Cussler books are also on Mary Lee’s list, “The books are full of mayhem, adventure, and the hero wins, but they are set in different parts of the world and highlight real-time global themes from a maritime/scientific/political perspective. I have also just finished At Home in Mitford by another new to me author, Jan Karon, that chronicles the life, trials and joys of a sixty-ish small town parish pastor.
Mary Lee is also an avid gardener so it is no surprise to find a couple of gardening books on her list. “I received two books for Christmas Garden Pests and Diseases in Canada…the Good, the Bad and the Slimy by Rob Sproule, and Small Space Gardening for Canada by Laura Peters. I will read and dream of bare hands in warm dirt.”
By Alison McKinnon
FMCiC Writer
