So, as I was searching for the link to Nora Ephron's book Thursday afternoon, I realized how long it has been since I told you about the books I have been reading. I do not pretend to be a book reviewer by any stretch of the imagination. But I do like looking back to read my favorite quotes or how the story worked into the framework of my life situations.
So, today I am challenging myself to take 5 minutes to recall what I can from each book on the reading list that I have completed.
Ready, set, go...
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I read this book over the period of a weekend so that I could go see the movie on opening weekend. The book had been recommended to me last year. I bought it at once but it had been sitting in Will's room for months untouched. I thought I would wait until after he had read it...but I ended up stealing it from him so that I could meet my deadline. I LOVED IT! As usual, the movie was good...but the book was so much better. As the book is totally in the voice of Katniss, you think like she thinks. You feel what she feels. And your only basis for interpreting life's events is through her eyes. It made the scenes from the Games so much more intense that the movie could portray. I haven't read the other two YET! But neither have I forgotten how this story moved me. This one may well be my favorite young adult fiction since Harry Potter.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
This was my Classics read for the year. I have heard so much about it through the years but it still did not disappoint. Even though the beans had been spilled (many times over) about the plot twist, it was worth the time it took me to read it. Honestly, I had a bit of a hard time getting into the lyrical writing at first. But just as was true with other classics I have read, once I got into the flow of the writing style, the story swept me away. I have recorded the latest movie version on the DVR but haven't had an opportunity to watch it yet. Since, you know, my house if filled with guys who have been watching the NBA playoffs and the Masters and Sports Center and....well, you get the drift.
Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs
As I noted on my reading page, I technically did not read this -- but listened to the author read it as I drove into and out of Houston for a week. I really enjoy AJ Jacobs 'voice' as he attempts to become the healthiest man in the world over the matter of two years. (I think it was a little short of that time frame, but it was definitely over a year.) This audio book inspired me to make changes to my own life. Not as drastic a change as the author subjected himself to, but changes nonetheless. Oh, and I felt so hip after listening to this. It seemed like every magazine I opened or news program I watched mentioned one of the diets or exercises or studies that Jacobs mentioned in the book. It has peaked my interest to read his other books.
Bossypants by Tina Fey
I enjoyed Drop Dead Healthy so much that I ran to Half Price Books and scoured their audio book section. When I saw Tina Fey's book sitting on the shelf and noticed that she was reading it herself, I knew I had to have it. Tina does not disappoint. What a sense of humor...and yet she remains so believable and likable. When she began the chapter about her dad, "That's Don Fey", I laughed out loud! It was great! I honestly did not want this audiobook to end. And, I will probably listen to it again.
Made To Crave by Lysa TerKuerst
This wasn't a fun read, but it has certainly helped me to look at some things in my life differently. I have seen the book around the blogosphere for some time. I actually picked it up just after Jim's accident last year at the recommendation of a friend. But I knew that the time was not quite right to begin reading it. So, it sat on my bookshelf with the accompanying devotional until I was ready. I have so many quotes that float around in my head from this book. I am reading the devotional now along with also visiting Lysa's blog. It helps to keep me focused and to remind me of where this battle really resides.
I have put Mike Huckabee's audiobook aside for now. I think I have hit my capacity of nonfiction reading until after the lake house vacation. With the garden and the constant ESPN on the television, I need a little bit of escape reading in my life about now.
I am about halfway through the Charles Stanley book on forgiveness. I have been marking it with a pink highlighter and, boy is that thing looking pretty pink! I know it is nonfiction too, but I have been feeling the Lord calling me to take a look at this area of my life...so He gives me strength to keep going. Plus, I love Charles Stanley and the wonderfully simple way he can explain the most complicated of matters. His writing has helped me to understand several Biblical big picture items over the years and I am enjoying this read very much even though it hurts at times.
Okay, so some of these took me a little longer than five minutes...but I am not a very efficient mini-keyboardist!
What have you been reading this summer?
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1 comment:
Ahh I didn't know there was a Hunger Games movie! How along was it that you saw it? Hunger Games touched my life in 1 particular way. I keep reading about how she had to hunt and gather. The details of the things she ate so vivid. I now find myself eating raw spinache, which Colton calls "leaves". I think of Katniss and people in the olden days and the things they must have had to eaten. Reminds me of a friend telling me about a "caveman diet" she is doing. Somehow reading this book has made it easier to eat "clean." :) I just finished book #2, Catching Fire (read it in 1 day!) And now I am on to Mockingjay. The next book I will be reading is book #1 from the Delirium series. I read the info. and basically it's a love story within a tightly confined government. I chose it for 2 reasons... seems similar to Hunger Games, which I loved. It is a series. I really like the idea of being able to continue a story once the books ends.
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