I have been in a Book Club since January 2010. Yes, Natalie was still in the hospital, but I started reading a head. I mean, what else do you do when your child sleeps all the time after open heart surgery; you read of course.
I started out with, The Help. What a great book to start off with! I have never been an avid reader, in fact, in high school I used, just wait for it...cliff notes. My English teachers would be mad if they really knew, however, they probably did by some of my essays. I did read more of the actual books my junior and senior year, but only because I had to.
A book club, I was unsure at first, but I needed an outlet. I remember staying up until after the 2am respiratory therapist would come in. I had to make myself put down the book. And the movie, was just as good as the book, which is not sometimes the case.
I love my book club. We have read some amazing books and some not so amazing, but for the most part some great books I would have never picked up otherwise.
There is always someone asking for recommendations on books, so I thought I would give you some of my top picks, so far. Please if you have any recommendations, I would love to know.
Also, if you have not discovered this website, it is great; www.goodreads.com. You can keep track of all the books you have read and the ones you want to read. You can even rank them and make comments, if you want. You can also friend someone and check out what they have read too.
My Book Shelf (these are not order of my liking either)...
1. Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar - Can a Canaanite harlot who has made her livelihood by looking desirable to mean make a fitting wife for one of the leaders of Isreal' Shockingly, the Bible's answer is yes. Pearl in the Sand tells Rahab's untold story. Rahab lives in a wall; her house is built into the defensive walls of the City of Jericho. Other walls surround her as well--walls of fear, rejection, and unworthiness. A woman with a wrecked past; a man of success, of faith...of pride. A marriage only God would conceive! Through the heartaches of a stormy relationship, Rahab and Salmone learn the true source of one another's worth and find healing in God.
2. The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins - I probably do not need to write the summary of this one, because who has not heard of the Hunger Games by now. The Hunger Games movie, is great too!
3. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo - I posted about this several months ago, great book! This is a true story of Colton Burpo, the four year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips form consciousness and enters heaven.
4. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers - California's gold country in 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep. Angel expects nothing from men, but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leave her empty and dead inside. Then she meet Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father's heart in everything, Michael obeys God's call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel's bitter expectations, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw. But with unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away form her husband's pursing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does...the One who will never let her go.
5. Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyers - I know I am a Twi-Hard Fan. If you have only seen the movies, you are missing out. The books are so much better than the movies.
6. Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, and International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Women Who Bound Them Together by Ron Hall - Meet Denver, a man raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in the 1960s; a man who escapes, hopping a train to wander, homeless, for eighteen years on the streets of Dallas, Texas. No longer a slave, Denver's life was still hopeless-until God moved. First came a godly women who prayed, listened, and obeyed. And then came her husband, Ron, an international art dealer at home in a world of Armani-suited millionaires. And then they all came together. But slavery takes many forms. Deborah discovers that she has cancer. In the face of possible death, she charges her husband to rescue Denver. Who will be saved, and who will be lost? What is the future for these unlikely three? What is God doing?
7. The Winter's Sea by Susanna Kearsley - It is 2008 and Carrie McCleeland can't hit the right note for her next novel, but an unplanned detour in Scotland, and a stop at the castle that inspired Count Dracula, sets her on a different path; a path that took her back in time to exactly 300 years, to the same castle, and to a rebellion doomed to failure. Alternating between the contemporary setting and the past, The Winter Sea takes us at every turn into little known worlds; historical footnotes writ large, a history in Scottland and the Jacobite rebellion of 1708 and the possibility of genetic memory. Historical fiction at its best.
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - Great book and movie!
9. Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman - Mary Beth Chapman is the wife of Grammy and Dove Award winning recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman. Together they began Show Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for the world's most vulnerable children by providing financial assistance to families wishing to adopt, as well as increasing awareness of the orphan crisis and funneling resources to orphans domestically and internationally. Mary Beth serves as president of Show Hope an is a speaker for Women of Faith 2010 with her husband. She is also coauthor with Steven and Shaoey and Dot series of children's picture books. Mary Beth and Steven have six children: Emily, Caleb, Will Franklin, and adopted daughters Shaohannah Hope, Stevey Joy, and Maria Sue, who is now with Jesus.
10. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand - On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crasher into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War. (This is an amazing book!)
11. The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven; A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life Beyond this World by Kevin Malarkey - In 2004, the author and his six-year-old son, Alex, were in a horrific accident that left Alex paralyzed. When Alex awoke from a coma, not only had the most severe of his spinal injuries been healed without medical intervention, but he had an incredible story to share of entering heaven and meeting Jesus.
12. The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers - When Sierra discovers her young ancestor's handcrafted quilt and reads her journal, she finds that their lives are very similar. By following her ancestor's example, she learns to surrender to God's sovereignty and unconditional love.
13. Hotel on the Corner of Bitterness and Sweet by Jamie Ford - The overview of this is way to long to type, so please look it up and read it...great book!
14. Thirteenth Tale by Dianne Setterfield - Great book but again really long overview. Also, it takes a bit to get into, but once you do, you will love it!
15. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - An atmospheric, gritty and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. There is also a movie that starts Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. Even though the movies goes along with the book pretty good, I think the book is better.
Again, these are some of my personal favorite. I have tons more books on my to-read list, but only have so much time to actually read when I have a 5 and a 2 year old at home. I will post another Book Self, but not for probably 6 months or so, but if you have suggestions for me to read, please let me know.
Hope you enjoy some of my favorite books...happy reading!
