I had to read this chapter a second time for two reasons. First, it took me a while to get past my jealousy. Ortlund begins the chapter by describing her surroundings: Honolulu, watching yachts. Second, she told me to buy more books. That sounds too good to be true–no one, gentle reader, thinks I need to buy more books–so I had to re-read. Just to be sure.

Describing the yachts does have a material point: the importance of the invisible in keeping the boat (one’s life) steady. A key part of this is what we do in our quiet times–and this is why she says to buy books. The goal is to buy those books that reflect something we really and truly care about: “Begin to build a personal library which is truly meaningful to you” (Ortlund, Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, 70). I am here for that. She also relates it back to the “eliminate and concentrate” idea introduced in an earlier chapter. Now, I don’t know if I can get rid of books–Marie Kondo would not be pleased with the number of books in my library. That said, maybe I do need to think about it in different terms. Maybe. Someday.

As you might expect, Ortlund writes that the other key section of the library should relate to one’s faith, and that there should be time devoted daily to studying scripture. A good half of the chapter focuses on this and includes some personal anecdotes.

For me, the key take away of this chapter is this idea of “submerg[ing] as much of your day as you can, to make it your invisible keel, by eliminating less important things” (Ortlund, Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, 71).

And now for the most important question: What’s in your library?