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I'm hooked again

I picked a Bess Streeter Aldrich book off my bookshelf today - A White Bird Flying - and quickly remembered what a great book it is! I judge fiction by how many tears I shed, and I cried solidly through the first two chapters!

I may just have to allot some time to re-read all of her books! Forget the self help books: just give me a few touching stories!

Note: if you've never read any of Bess' books, start with A Lantern in Her Hand, which is actually the prequel to A White Bird Flying.

The Lieutenant's Lady

Thanks to my friend Sue's blog, who lists books in her library, I discovered a Bess Streeter Aldrich book that I hadn't read: The Lieutenant's Lady, so I ordered it as fast as I could from Amazon! It was a good book, not my favorite of Bess, however, but even a good book of hers is far superior to most of the garbage that comes out today. Miss Bishop is my favorite book of Bess Streeter Aldrich. I owe a big thanks to my sister-in-law Ellen who introduced me to Aldrich, and my other favorite author, Jamie Langsdon Turner.

Ok, back to the book at hand: The Lieutenant's Lady is about a young lady in the late 1860's who is compelled to travel way upstream the Missouri River into dangerous and  Indian-occupied land simply to tell a lieutenant in the army that her flighty cousin has dumped him! You can imagine the love story that ensues. However, it's a love story that begins in a very rocky and even harsh way. I honestly didn't know how it would end until the last page of the book!

I'm glad I discovered it! Thanks Ellen and Sue!

What book are you?

I'm Catch-22. Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid to find out what book you are!

You're Catch-22!
by Joseph Heller
Incredibly witty and funny, you have a taste for irony in all that you see. It seems that life has put you in perpetually untenable situations, and your sense of humor is all that gets you through them. These experiences have also made you an ardent pacifist, though you present your message with tongue sewn into cheek. You could coin a phrase that replaces the word "paradox" for millions of people.

Just finished a good book

I couldn't put Within This Circle down, although I read it entirely too fast and probably missed a few details. Jana, the lady in the book going through the crisis, was very believable. In fact, Deborah Raney makes all her characters so human; they say things that real families who are stressed out would say. In fact, there are some good arguments in the book! My one critique, however is that Deborah really wrapped up the story quickly... a little too quickly. However, maybe it's just me, because I think that about a lot of books!

Just started a good book

Deborah Raney just came out with a sequel (of sorts) to A Vow to Cherish, entitled Within This Circle. I just started it a few hours ago and am already half way through. Her characters are so human and have so many flaws; I can truly relate!

A great book!

I just finished a book that I hated to see end: Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp. My sister-in-law Ellen recommended it, and she's a smart cookie about books!

The premise of the book, which is grounded in Christianity with lots of Bible scripture to make the points, is that relationships in life are going to be challenging and that it's the challenging relationships that draw us nearer to God. It's not to say that we should go out and seek difficult friendships or kinships; it's rather that we should embrace the challenges that our loved ones and friends pose to us and realize that God is at work in them for our benefit. The benefits are numerous: 1) we are drawn closer to Him amidst relationship difficulties; 2) we become dependent on Him to get us through; 3) we realize that by showing mercy, forgiveness, kindness, hope in a relationship, we have the opportunity to do to others exactly what God has so lovingly done to us. In a very ironic way, I believe God knew that if all our relationships were hunky-dory, we would probably not see so clearly the need for God to reign in our lives.

The book has so much scripture that you could almost consider it a devotional! Every chapter of the book references several verses from the Bible. There are a lot of verses from the Psalms, the Gospels and the Epistles. Ephesians 4 (Be kind-hearted, compassionate, tender-hearted) is a big one, as is Mark 10 (Jesus came to serve, not to be served) and Psalm 121 (The Lord watches over us). But the one verse that best sums up the book is from Matthew 25:40 - Whatsoever you do unto the least of these my brother, you do unto me.

Some may consider the book dark and gloomy. It was a ray of hope for me, however. Not that I have many difficult relationships at all; in fact I'm very lucky to have so many positive connections in life. My husband, my family and my friends are the best. The book has spurred me on to reach out to people in need and to be more of a compassionate and caring person. It taught me that horizontal relationships on earth are one of God's ways of strengthening our vertical relationship with Him. If the relationships get messy, so be it! We get a chance to draw nearer to God, for in our weaknesses, He is strong!

Relationships: A Mess worth Making

Upon Ellen's recommendation, I picked up Relationships: A Mess worth Making this past week and have  read the first few chapters. Already, it's been eye-opening! The authors stress over and over that God uses relationships on earth to bring us closer to Him. In fact, they imply that the more broken or challenging a relationship, the more opportunity God has to draw us closer to Him. This thought gives me a newfound desire to work on the few relationships in my life that are difficult. (I guess I'm thankful that there are only a few!)

And, what a coincidence that today I actually noticed the little banner that was a favorite of my mother and hangs outside my closet. It has the prayer of St Francis stamped on it. The banner has hung there for years, but rarely do I pay it any attention. Noticing and reading it gave me a renewed desire to connect my relationships on earth to my relationship to God: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace that where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, let me sow pardon... for it is in giving that we receive; it is in forgetting that we find; it is in forgiving that we are forgiven; and it is in dying that we awaken to eternal life.

And, speaking of my mother reminds me of my sweet Aunt Mary who so often says that it's the hard times in life that draw us nearer to God. And my Aunt Ora who has a lovely story of forgiveness that saved a friendship.

Lord, make me better at relationships!

Much ado about Harry

I just finished the last Harry Potter book. Talk about not wanting a book to end! Before I started the last chapter, I deliberately put the book down and went out for a run so that I could ponder the whole saga while there was still a little mystery to it. Without giving any of the plot away, here's what I liked about the seventh and last book in the series, and what are my take-aways:

1) Harry was most effective when he did his own thinking; and when he did his own thinking he was most confident. This is a good lesson!
2) The Voldemort squad was its own worst enemy! They were so selfish and fearful that it caused them to make self-defeating if not fatal mistakes.
3) Once Harry knew an event was inevitable, he made his decision and faced it courageously. Even if he didn't know the outcome or what the next step in the plan was, he forged ahead with purpose.

And how much more would I have gotten out of the series if I'd read it more carefully and inquisitively!

Little ado about Harry

I just picked up the last Harry Potter book and am flying through it. Believe it or not, I haven't heard who dies or how it ends! Much appreciation to the media as well as my friends, family and husband who have read it who have not divulged the plot!

Beauty for Ashes

One of my favorite Bible verses was the theme of a book by Deborah Raney that I just put down: In the Still of Night. In Isaiah 61:3, Jesus has been appointed to comfort all who mourn.. "To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of dispair" and the verse ends by saying that all this so that "God may be glorified." Yes, Jesus will comfort us out of our misery and replace all the bad with something beautiful and joyful. In this book, the couple has to deal with something almost statistically impossible that befalls them, and though it's not easy, they lay out all the options and do a remarkable job of letting God lead them to one good decision after another. Not that it's easy, but even in the difficult circumstances they grow closer to God and each other. And by the time we get to the end, everything has seemed to fallen in place. (OK, so it's fiction... but In the Still of Night is a good illustration of the magnitude of the goodness and all-knowingness of God.) May God be glorified!