"Walking a Literary Labyrinth" by Nancy M. Malone

"Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading" by Nancy M. Malone
Riverhead : 2003

I bought this book when it came out, read a chapter or two and put it down. It just did not interest me. Maybe it was because she was so Christian and a nun. I am not sure. Then as I was getting ready to make a trip to Los Angeles and then to Korea I happened to come across it and gave it one last look. I never put it down. It was an example of the best book at the best time. The Christian aspect of the book became just a side issue. The most important aspect of the book was how Malone used reading to grow spiritually and I could well understand her quest to do that.

I would think if the reader was a Christian, the references would be even more valuable. I read her reasons for including them but not enough for reading them myself although they were not a distraction. She did include many books that were not Christian and a few that were Buddhist. Make no mistake, the author is a Christian with a very Christian point of view but it does not take away her message that one can strength one's spiritual journey by reading. She tells the reader how to do it on the level that does not make the reader feel she or he is being talked down to.

Her credentials as an intellectual are impressive and they are sprinkled throughout the book and they are there not to impress but to show the method of reading for spirituality is one for everyone no matter what level the reader happens to be residing on. She is not uncritual towards her own church although she does not tear appart its basic tenents. She is a nun and is determine to stay one.

This book is for everyone, Christian and non-Christian, religious or non-religious but one who is looking at the spiritual side of things. Books can lead you in this direction. It certainly lead me in this direction and many of the things she discovered, I discovered as well. She also showed me new directions to explore. The book list at the end of the book is well worth the price of the book and the reading .

I looked to see if there is a biography of the author and other books. They aren't. You will get a liberal view of her life and of her reading tastes by reading the book.