Books

It's been a little while since I've blogged, both on this blog and our family blog!  Life has just been busy.  I am ready to start catching up on things I enjoy...like blogging, working on creative projects and gifts, and reading.  I have read some books in the past couple of months that I wanted to share, though.

Her Mother's Hope and Her Daughter's Dream, both in the Marta's Legacy series, by Francine Rivers

I really enjoyed these two books.  They are fiction novels, however the story is based upon the author's own family story.  She wrote it after she became interested in learning more about her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother's lives, even taking a trip back to their home country of Switzerland as part of her search.  The story is about mothers and daughters and the struggles they face in life.  It is certainly a story of redemption.  I became frustrated at times with the unrealistic time lapses the author had to put in the story in order to keep it as concise as possible, but other than that, I couldn't put the books down.

Choosing to SEE, by Mary Beth Chapman

I got a recommendation to read this book from my friend Miller's blog.  Wow.  This is by far one of the best books I've ever read...mainly because of the impact it had on me.  This is Steven Curtis Chapman's wife's memoir.  The book covers her life from childhood through present day, and it includes the story of the death of their daughter, Maria.  Mary Beth writes so authentically, which is the main reason I enjoyed the book so much.  There were moments that I was laughing out loud, and there were other moments where I was weeping so hard that I had to put the book down so that I could breath and see the pages again.  Mary Beth's faith and courage to trust God encouraged me so much.  I would HIGHLY recommend this book...just be warned, you are going to go through some crazy emotions if you read it!

One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp

My discipleship group decided we would read this book together, at our own pace.  I had a love/hate relationship with this book while I was reading it.  There were times that I really struggled to get through it, and there were other times that I couldn't put it down.  The author writes extremely poetically.  Her writing is quite beautiful, but for a person like myself who thinks very concretely, it is just one more hoop to jump through in order to get her meaning.  There were points in the book, though, where the poetic writing was not quite as heavy and I was able to move a little faster and identify with her more.  I found myself wanting to live her life-the life of a farm wife and mother- as I read about her watering and picking flowers from her garden at dawn, baking several loaves of bread for dinner, donning an apron as she began the day's chores, or cleaning up floors after her 6 children and husband came in with mud-covered shoes after working the farm.  I guess I should point out, the main idea of the book is the author's journey from a life of fear toward a life of gratitude by journaling God's gifts as she sees them throughout each day.  I have begun my own gratitude journal as a result of reading this book, and I have definitely discovered the benefit of it!  I am much more aware of my attitude and how easy it is for me to be afraid, to complain, and to just be ungrateful when I am surrounded by so many gifts I don't deserve.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

While there were parts of this book that were very slow for me, I really enjoyed it and found the story to be fascinating.  The book is the true story of a woman whose cervical cancer cells were taken from her body during an exam in the 1950's without her knowledge and used in research.  The cells never died but just continued to multiply.  The cells were distributed and sold to research labs all over the world and used to develop vaccines, find cures for cancers, study AIDS, and many other medical breakthroughs.  Some labs even benefited financially from the cells.  However, the woman's family has lived in poverty for generations, not even able to go to the doctor for lack of money and insurance.  The book simply presents the facts and doesn't really seem to have an agenda, however very obviously the debate about whether or not doctors should be allowed to use a person's cells for research without consent is certainly addressed.  The story of Henrietta's family is fascinating.  I really did enjoy the book and would recommend it, especially to friends who enjoy things medical. 

I found all of these books at my local library...except for One Thousand Gifts, which I borrowed from a friend.

Happy reading, friends!



Books

I really enjoy reading.  I think I'm gonna try to regularly write a little personal "review" of what I've read.  I'm gonna write a little today about the two most recent novels I read.  Side note...I'm reading novels right now at the encouragement of my couselor who told me in so many words that it would be good for me to just enjoy some good novels for a little while instead of bombarding my head with so many different opinions and standards by reading "responsible" books.  I am REALLY enjoying it!  So, thanks Gordon!

The Passion of Mary-Margaret by Lisa Samson

I so enjoyed this book!  This is the fourth of Samson's books that I have read, and I still consider her to be such a breath of fresh air in the Christian fiction genre.  Her books are so real...everything doesn't always end up happily-ever-after, and sometimes what's broken doesn't get fixed in a way that makes you feel all bubbly inside.  Rather, what's broken gets redeemed, but not necessarily the way you would think it would...and there's a lot of struggle along the way...kinda like in life.  It's actually about a woman who is trying to fulfill her mother's dream of becoming a religious (what we would call a nun).  She falls in love with a broken man. She later finds out a lot about his childhood and the scars he has carried with him along the way, as she follows Jesus' call to love him as he is.  There are times I would find myself having a hard time feeling a connection with the main character just because her relationship with Jesus was so real that it seemed unrealistic-and I wasn't sure I agreed with some of the extreme conclusions she came to...but I loved the tenderness and closeness between Mary-Margaret and Jesus that Samson portrayed.  I also was challenged to live a life more in line with the example Jesus lived...a life that is willing to die to my own desires, comfort, and reputation in order to love all people well...not just those whose lives look like mine. Here's a few snippets from the book...all are Mary-Margaret talking:

"I confess, sometimes I still think some things are too hard for God.  I mean, deep down I think that.  But thankfully there's an even deeper down.  Unfortunately, crawling down into that well hurts like the devil because we know God can do something and yet doesn't, and we don't have many choices after that realization, and none of them are one hundred percent easy breezy." (she's talking about the hard circumstances of her life and why God allowed them to happen)

"Lord, how I need some changing. I guess I've just become stuck in a rut and for some reason ruts don't lead you down the wild pathways where you trust God in ways you don't on the beaten path."

"Most of us are under the delusion if we can simply convince somebody they're wrong, they'll turn away from their error.  But arguments cost nothing.  Only love and faith are up for such a task.  Faith I had, at least a little.  But love--who did I really love in such a manner?  Did I know how to love as Jesus loved?  Giving myself completely to one who didn't deserve a bit of it, not just because it was the right thing to do but because I was so filled with love and grace I couldn't help myself?  Can anybody love like that?"

Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

I picked this up at the libary at the recommendation of my pediatric nursing journal.  It is a book about a young girl with osteogenesis imperfecta, a very rare genetic disorder that leaves the bones so brittle that in some cases they can break with just a sneeze.  The plot centers around a lawsuit that the girl's mother is pursuing to get money so that she can provide the opportunities her daughter needs to have the best life possible.  Insurance doesn't cover most of the devices, therapies, and care that her daughter could benefit from...and their family is already struggling to make ends meet as it is.  This book deals with the controverisal issue of abortion, as well as the day-to-day struggles of the family of a child with a chronic medical condition. You see how a chronic illness can potentially tear a family apart.  While this was a secular book and did not come from a Christian perspective, I did think a lot about God and what I believe while I read it.  I saw how desperate we are for Christ in the midst of suffering...and how without him, faith in him, and commitment to His calling to value life, marriage, and children we are only left to ourselves and most likely brokenness and misery.  I'm sure not everyone would take away from this book what I did, however I do think it was a great book that allowed you to come away from it with your own thoughts and conclusions.  I didn't really feel that the author had a pushy agenda to get a message across about a subject that is certainly controversial.  While it wasn't one of my all time favorites, it is definitely one that I would recommend to someone who is certain about what they believe and is looking for a good page-turner to enjoy.