Off the Bookshelf

I feel a little bad about not writing about Easter yet. I will, eventually. The thing is, sometimes I get tired of my blog being "and then we did this and then we did that and life is grand!" But Easter was great and I totally need to write something about it because I'm beginning to realize I don't remember things. The everyday tasks seem to take my brain space up and I have to seriously stop and think 'what did we do for Thanksgiving? Easter? Were we in town? Did we go away?' I love going back to old posts and seeing how life has happened, so I will write it down.

I'm on a reading binge again. Big time. I just put a bunch of books on hold at the library, so I wanted to update my "Off the Bookshelf." You may not give 2 cents about all this, but if you like reading, here are some suggestions.

First of all:

Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham

Yes, the Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood. Ya'll, I loved this book. It's so very much Lauren Graham. She writes the same way you would imagine her personality would be if you could be her friend (in my dreams...). The novel is hilarious and clever. It's about a young woman trying to make the acting business in NYC. I'm not very interested in acting, but nonetheless loved this book.

Next up:

Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle

This was a short, easy to read parenting memoir by a Christian blogger that I had not previously heard of. It was pretty funny at times, and I appreciated her honesty about raising a child. It's good for some laughs and encouragement if you're a mama. The only thing I thought was odd was that she was writing a memoir about parenting while her child was still only 8 years old. She'll have to write a follow-up about the pre-teen and adolescent years.

On to deeper stuff:

King's Cross by Timothy Keller

I know I said I was reading this 2 years ago, and I was. I just never finished it. Behn gave it to me for Christmas in 2012 and I did not pick it up again until recently. Now, I am blasting through it. I love it. I love Keller's writing. I love learning about Jesus. I love understanding the book of Mark, which is the text the book studies. I read it in the mornings during my devotions. If you are wishing to know Jesus more intimately, and learn about how much He loves you- read this book.

Next:

The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi

Since I loved this movie, I thought I'd better read the book. The book was wonderful, very satisfying. It's a biography of Logue's life as a whole, but of course focuses on his relationship with the King as his speech therapist. The most interesting part, to me, were the wartime chapters. I learned a lot about World War II from my reading and it was sobering. I recommend this to history lovers.

These last 2 books that I am listing are polar opposites. I have some thoughts about what it's like to read The Locust Effect and A Walk in the Woods simultaneously, which I will include below.

But first:

A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson

This is at least my 3rd time reading this book, although it's been several years since my last read. Whenever I get the "I wish I could go hiking but I'm trapped at home!" itch, I read this. Bryson's account of his hiking the Appalachian Trail is hilarious. It's also enlightening, as he spends time writing about the history and ecosystems of the trail. But seriously, I about died laughing at his descriptions of the American hillbilly stereotypes or about his fear of bear attacks. Tears rolling down my face.

And lastly:

The Locust Effect by Gary A. Haugen

I'm only 1/5 of the way through this book. It's not an easy read, but so necessary. Each time I pick it up, I'm intrigued, sobered. The book is written by International Justice Mission founder Gary Haugen and describes how the trap of poverty is effected by violence, especially in developing countries. It's astounding to read the facts that millions of vulnerable people are enslaved, beaten, killed, raped, and other horrors and that there's simply no reliable protection for them. I'm still at the beginning of the book, and Haugen warns that the first bit is hard to read...it can seem hopeless. He asks his readers to stick with the book, because there is hope and there can be justice. I'll post again once I've finished the book.

I have a hard time processing it all; one minute I'm guffawing at Bryson's silly anecdotes about climbing a mountain and the next I'm reading about little girls being kidnapped and sold to brothels. It's hard- how can we live in a world and appreciate the beautiful, laugh at jokes, etc, when all this madness is going on? And all the while, I'm sipping clean water in my middle-class American home in relative safety. It would be easy to stick to silly books, funny and amusing books. But I'm glad I'm reading The Locust Effect and I hope it makes an eternal impact on my heart and lifestyle.