Current Reading List

I thought I'd share my current book list.  For some reason, when I have very little to do, I don't read.  But when I have about a zillion things going on, I reach for a book.  Go figure.  My college roomies can attest to this, that when I got stressed, I would read.  Yet again, another reason I perplexed them, I am sure.  :-)  But I think I just like to have a little escape.  So this is what I've read recently...

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist
Anna got me hooked on this book, full of short-story memoirs about celebrating life.  Her blog is similar, and Anna and I have both read through the entire thing a few times.  Seriously, her writing is just that good.

Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist
Yes, I'm hooked on this author and anxiously awaiting her third book.  This one is more about change and how it shapes us.  It's not quite as "happy" as her first book, but it is so good.  I can really resonate with this at the moment because my life is all about...change.

Found Art by Leeana Tankersly
I discovered this through Shauna Niequist, and I really enjoyed it.  This is her story of marrying a Navy Seal and the first year they were married and lived in the Middle East.  She talks about what she learned living over there and about re-entry into the "real world" when they came back. This resonated with me because I think she was incredibly brave to go around the world and live in a new place with a new husband and a new life, totally away from anything comfortable. 

Next up on my list are the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear.  Maisie is a British psycologist and detective in the 1940s.  I love a series, and I've read the first three.  I need to do a little searching to make sure I read them in order, but it looks like she has about five in this series.  So good.

Ok, your turn.  What's on your reading list??

Some Good Reads

Well it's been almost a solid year since I got lost in a book.  (It's probably just a coincidence that this occured just a week before meeting a particular guy, right??)  And when I say lost, I mean can't-put-it-down-must-read-it-all-in-one-sitting, lost.  In college, this used to be a typical occurrence for me. Now, not so much.  I've realized, though, that reading was often my form of escape from the real world.  There are worse things, I suppose!

For example, the Summer of 2009, after college when I had a degree and no job, I read 20 books.  Not kidding.  Twenty.  And that was in between looking for jobs, which at one point, my mom looked at me and said, "I think you've done enough applying.  You should take a break."  Most of my friends were not in town, either, so I had a ton of free time.  Too much, probably.  Let's just say it was a challenging summer.

Since this past December, I've slowly incorporated books back into my world, and let me just say it feels nice.  I didn't cut reading out completely--I will always be a reader, but now I read a ton of blogs.  It fits my life right now.  I can read a blog post in two minutes and move on.  Plus, people fascinate me.  Why not read what they're willing to write?  And I've learned about all kinds of topics from decorating, budgeting, cooking, and new books, to name a few.  I've been exposed to Haiti and Africa, places that weren't even on my radar very long ago.  (And I've also learned that you can't believe everything you read.)

My parents have both moved on to the world of the iPad, which left a Kindle sitting all alone.  Poor thing.  My Dad offered to upload it with some books, and he even added this one for me...

And as opposed as I am to "clicking" my way through a book, (I'd much prefer to hold the real thing in my hands), I'm enjoying the compact Kindle and its contents.  The Pioneer Woman began writing the story of her and Marlboro Man's romance on her blog.  {Click here to read the story.}  Readers loved it so much that she kept writing and put it into a book.  Rumor has it there might be a movie coming soon with Reese Witherspoon as the main character.  Last Sunday, it was number three on the New York Times' best seller list.  That's sayin' something.  That, and the fact that I can't put it down.  I read it during my lunch breaks and any extra time that I have. 

Next on my list, thanks to blogworld, is this book...

To fight a season where getting out of bed was nearly impossible, author Ann Voskamp began writing a list of one thousand things she was thankful for.  Unsurprisingly, it changed her life and spurred this book.  I've been mustering up the courage to read it (it kind of frightens me...in a good way). 

And lastly, just to round things out and add one more thing I've learned from a blog, I thought I'd share this post for those "Looking for Thicker Skin" from Amanda Moore. I definitely could use more of that in my life.   

Book Recommendation: Crossing to Safety

I'm sitting in my "rainy day clothes:" a faded pair of jeans and a Baylor t-shirt that smells freshly of laundry detergent.  I'm feeling quite cozy on this rainy Wednesday afternoon, and I thought it would be a good time to recommend a book that I just finished called Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner.  {And sorry, you can't really "look inside," but it's the only photo of the cover I could find on Amazon.}

Someone else recommended this book to me, and I'll just take a snippet from the back cover to tell you about it.  "Tracing the lives, loves, and aspirations of two couples who move between Vermont and Wisconsin, it is a work of quiet majesty, deep compassion, and powerful insight into the alchemy of friendship and marriage."   

I've been so busy lately that it's been difficult to find a book that would hold my attention, and I also find it difficult to read regular fiction (as opposed to Christian fiction) that is not, um...dirty.  But I had a chance to read on vacation, and I would highly recommend it.  

The part that stuck with me was the couples' friendship that lasted their entire adult lives.  It reminded me of our Baylor Summer Bunch, and how my parents and their friends have been friends through thick and thin.  

I'll leave you with a quote.  This was as the narrator, Larry, and his wife, were leaving their good friends.    

"Our hands were out the windows, our necks craned for a last look at the people who above any other two on earth made us feel good, wanted, loved, important, and happy."  (p. 215)