Title Tuesday: #Bibliophile

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Today I want to talk about the phrase, "I love to read". I hear this all the time, especially from people asking me for book recommendations. 

I see people use the hashtag #bibliophile in their posts and bios and it really irks me. 

Just because you read a lot doesn't mean you are a bibliophile. 

Let me give you an example. 

If I eat a lot of potato chips can I call myself a foodie? 

NO! 

You aren't a foodie, you just like chips. 

You may be chip expert, but you are not a foodie. 

By the same token, if you are only reading one genre of books (especially if the target of that genre isn't your age bracket) I would say you are not a bibliophile. You may have an emotional attachment to that genre, but that is about it. I would also say you should evaluate the emotional response you have to those books and why you have it. I would submit that grown women often times read things because of the emotional appeal, not for the challenge of learning or growing. 

In my opinion a Christian women shouldn't be reading: 

• young adult fiction (most young adult fiction isn't suitable for young adults!) 
• romance ("Christian" or otherwise!)
• horror (tell me how this brings ANY honor to God?)
• erotica (It is just written pornography and you know it.)
• anything that pollutes their mind 
• anything that fails to bring glory to God.  

If you are reading trash you aren't a bibliophile you are a garbage disposal. 

God calls us to honor him in everything that we do. That means what we read needs to be a testament to our Christian faith. If it isn't I would search your heart carefully, ask pastors and mentors, and pray to God for discernment to see if it is really something that you should be doing. Reading a bunch of junk doesn't mean you love books, it means you love the emotional pull of something that probably doesn't bring glory to God. At best it is neutral and does nothing, at worst it damages your walk and your voice for Christ.