“We don’t turn to story to escape reality. We turn to story to navigate reality.”

-Lisa Cron

I hear people say, “I’m a mood reader.” I say this myself!

I wonder if what we mean is that we gravitate toward books that speak to where we are at in the moment. And I wonder if much of this happens deep in our subconscious.

Maybe subconsciously we need to cultivate courage. So we pick up a WWII novel.

Or we feel unequal to life’s hard decisions so we’re drawn to a story with a confident, decisive heroine.

Wanting to approach our circumstances with a better sense of humor? We grab a rom-com.

Or maybe, desperate for hope for our own imperfect family, we read about how a far-from-perfect fictional family navigates trouble and heals.

And let’s not exclude the possibility that the Spirit points us to a certain kind of story in order to help prepare us for some bumping and bruising in the road ahead.

Being so entrenched in my first-world lifestyle, satiated with food and freedom aplenty, can leave my spirit surprisingly dry. But my heart is revived through reading a story that stirs my compassion, reminding me of what matters and bathing me in gratitude.

Most often, and without thinking about it, I’m drawn to books that reinforce the reality of hope. Because when God co-authors each of our individual stories, yours and mine, redemption is the ink in his pen—if we’re open to it.

Ever feel like a book chooses you?