Monday, October 24, 2011

Plus One

I'm a little behind on my posting...

I read Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister about a month ago and was so glad I did. It was a good book and a great message, one of hope and joy (as evidenced in the title). Briefly, the book begins with a celebration of one woman's victory over cancer. Her daughter has asked her to do something outside of her comfort zone in the coming year (I won't give away what) and in turn, she challenges each of the women celebrating with her to do the same. The book is divided into their individual stories. It was fun and quick read.

Now, while I was at the library picking up that book, I read some of the reviews on the back for Bauermeister's first book The School of Essential Ingredients. Here's what it said:
"A delicate meltingly lovely hymn to food and friendship. Lillian's kitchen is a place where the world works the way it should. You'll want to tuck yourself into one warm corner of it and stay all day."

Well, with a review like that, how could I not check it out as well when it was sitting there on the shelf??? So, I paused on my FIR list very briefly (like, one afternoon) to read The School of Essential Ingredients. And, it was just as delightful as Joy for Beginners and arranged the same way, each section/chapter of the book telling someone else's story. Just lovely.

I highly recommend either one if you're looking for a light, easy, and for the most part, happy, read.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Making Progress

Okay, two more books can be crossed off my Fall into Reading list. Run Like A Girl, this month's book club selection and another non-fiction book, was finished last night. This book could have been better, though I think it will make for a great book club discussion, as long as some of the book club members have read it...Come on girls! :) You can do it. Mina (the author) says so.

And, One Dog Night, the next installment in a fun fiction series about a dog-loving lawyer, was a fast, easy read. I like Andy Carpenter (the character), and Dave Rosenfelt writes with a lot of humor. I enjoy some LOL when reading.

So, next up...I just picked up Joy for Beginners at the library. I'm still plugging away at The Good and Beautiful Life. I'm thinking the next non-fiction book I'll tackle is Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller. And, well, we'll see what next week's book club pick is for November.

Happy Reading!

Monday, October 3, 2011

On my way

Well, I've finished two of the books on my Fall into Reading list, both non-fiction. That might be the most non-fiction I've ever managed to read in a challenge.

Unbroken was excellent. It read like a novel, even with all the airplane/bomb/ammunition/stuff I really didn't understand in it. It was such a story of survival and resiliency and miracles. Briefly, it's the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner, expected to break the 4-minute mile. His life takes a drastic turn with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America's involvement in the Second World War. Read it. It's worth it. (I kept reminding myself as I read it that it was a true story...gut-wrenching at times, eye-opening, for sure. So good.)

I will definitely be reading Hillenbrand's first book, "Seabiscuit" (even though I have seen the movie). Her writing was excellent. Of course, it will have to wait until winter.

The second book I finished on my list was even better. Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts is worth reading again. And I will. Her writing style is different from anything I've read before. And, in the beginning, I wasn't sure I liked it. By the end, there's no doubt, she's a gifted writer and a woman who really pursues God. To say the book is about gratitude sounds trite. It is indeed about gratitude but so much more than that as well. I had already read a chunk of it before the challenge started. And I may very well read it again before it's over.

What's next? I'm not sure really...maybe the first Game of Thrones book. I also have Run Like a Girl to read for book club. Whatever else I read, the first two will certainly remain two of the best.