Lizzie's War

It's been so long since I posted... but yesterday I felt like it was time to add to the blog.  I joined a new book club that I love.  I've been really trying to read a lot again lately.

This book was the book that started the whole book club.  Our organizer read this book and really needed someone to talk to about it.  Many  new people have joined the group and Lauren wanted to share this book with us.  I'm so glad that she did!

It's the story of Lizzie, a military wife, in the 60s.  She has 4 children and has one on the way with her husband in Vietnam.  This is the story of how she copes.  I also love that every other chapter in written from Lizzie's point of view and the others are from her husband's.

This was just a timeless story to me.  Although it's many years later, there are so many ways that I can relate to Lizzie.

Vision in White

Do y'all have one of those friends where years go by without seeing or talking to them, but as soon as you see each other it's like you pick up right where you left off?  I totally do....  And reading Nora Roberts again after many, many years, it really felt like that!  Nora Roberts just write fun, easy to read books. I adore her trilogies (in this case quartet).

This is the story of a group of four friends who find love while running their wedding business. This story was about the photographer in the group. It was a sweet story. It took me back to my dating days with Aaron. Always fun!

Read: May 2013
Pages:  336

Sparkly Green Earrings

Oh my goodness y'all this one is a must read. If you have kiddos of your own you will laugh.out.loud!  Big Mama is amazing and I felt like I was sitting out by the kiddie pool with my BFF comparing parenting notes. Total bonus the author is also an Ag. :)

Y'all seriously I loved this book. It is a quick and easy read. I feel like you will appreciate it more if you are a parent. And you gotta love a memoir if you are going to like this one... (KV that means you probably won't like it.  ;))  and you know I am a sucker for a memoir!

Read:  March 2013
Pages:  221

The Power of a Praying Parent

A sweet lady at church gave this book to me when I had Rachel. I have been reading it ever since. Y'all this book is awesome awesome awesome!!!  It gave me so many ideas about things to pray for for James and Rachel. I never thought about praying about their relationship. Now I totally am. I also pray for their faith and anything I feel led by God to pray about. I also love how she talked about having God reveal what is troubling your children when they are troubled.  After I finished this book, I read that the one thing we will regret the most after we die will be not praying enough. I'm determined to pray more...

Y'all this book is a keeper!  I suggest getting this book quick!

Read: November 2012-March 2013

Pages: 224

Surrender!

Y'all I loved this book. It was another one that I made myself savor; I read about a chapter a week so that I could really let what he was writing sink in. I hope that some of it did. I am a big sharer of books. But this one will not be leaving my grubby paws. I want to be able to read and reread it!

On to what it's all about. This was written by Fr  Larry Richards. He is a tell it to you like it is sorta guy. This book is all about trying to live God's will for your life. He discusses loving your neighbor and helps give some feedback on how to do this. {Doesn't it seem like there is always one person in your life who just gets under your skin. Boy did I need this. :).} Anyway he always gives "homework" to practice putting these new practices into your everyday life. I think that's a lot of the reason I loved it.   In the end he gets to how to listen for Gods will and doing it!

Y'all this was good!  I definitely recommend it!

Read: August/September 2012
Pages: 144

bittersweet

As soon as I finished 11/22/63, I picked up this book and it was really, really hard for me to put down.  When I read Shauna Niequist's other book, Cold Tangerines, I wanted to savor the book.  Because the last book I read took for.ever, I wanted to read this one as quickly as I could.  Each chapter was a short sweet little vignette so it made reading it quickly super easy.

Shauna's {do you like how I address her by first name, as if we are bff...} books are kinda like little memoirs.  Which are one of my favorite sorts of books {Krissy, you most likely won't enjoy her books  ;)}.

This particular book is about a difficult season in her life and what she has learned from it.  She says that a friend once told her that Christianity is a story of death and rebirth, over and over again.  At that time she had not had big heartbreak, so it didn't really resonate with her.  But after the events that happen in her life which she shares in this story, she wholeheartedly agrees.  As do I.

Maybe I really liked this because I have had some experiences very, very similar to hers.  Maybe it's because I too was in a dark season recently and I had to do what she did.  Learn that life is bittersweet.  Even in struggle, there are moments of sweetness.  That is what gets us through.

If you have ever been heartbroken for whatever reason, you may enjoy this book.  I feel like you need to have lived a little life to appreciate her stories.  A young one just starting out may not connect to it yet.

Read: September 2012
Pages:  256

Cold Tangerines

I felt like One Thousand Gifts was a book that really got me in a good state of mind.  So I had heard about this book on a few blogs and was interested in it.  So I ordered it from Amazon and it did not disappoint!

This is a book about finding God in the little parts of your daily life... in the good and the bad.  I felt like I was talking to a good friend when I was reading this book.  It's like Shauna Niequist has been inside me head.  I think that I loved this book so much because living in the present and finding God in the good as well as the bad, has been a theme for me this past year.

If you like the themes from One Thousand Gifts, but were not a fan of the prose, this may be just the book for you.  This book was like having a good chat with a girlfriend.  I even loved the font of the book...  totally random, but it just seemed to clean.

I recommend reading this one!  It is a fast read and just good.  I even have her second book which I cannot wait to read soon!

Read: July 2012
Pages:  235

The Secret of the Rosary

I bought this book forever ago when I needed a few more dollars spent to get my free shipping at Amazon.  It sat in my nightstand for a long, long time.  A lady at church mentioned this book and my interest was piqued.

So a few months (like March!) ago I started reading it at my weekly adoration time.  I loved it so much that I didn't want to finish it too fast!  I wanted to savor it.  That is unheard of for me.  This book was written a long time ago and I just loved what it said about the rosary.

I have always been interested in the rosary and just recently (the last 9 months) began to say it with regularity.  Wow is it a powerful prayer!  This book just really reaffirmed my love of the rosary.  It also gives some different ways to say it.  Which I know will be very helpful because I don't want to just say the words...  I want my prayer life and meditations to always grow.  I often use the Scriptural Rosary, which is also awesome, but I am excited to try these new meditation aids!

If you are Catholic or just interested in learning more about the rosary check this book out, you will not regret it!

Read: March-June 2012
Pages: 240

The Hunger Games, Part 2

Y'all I just finished reading this book for the 2nd time in preparation for the movie that comes out TODAY!  What, what!!  I can't wait!  I am planning on seeing this movie on Tuesday!

Anyway... back to the book...  I never, never, never, ever read books twice.  And I just finished this for the 2nd time.  I loved it every bit as much as I did the first time.  Maybe even a little more since I didn't have to read it all in one sitting.  Y'all this is seriously the best book I have read in ages.

I am on a personal mission to get every person in the world to read these books!  I.mean.get.a.copy.of.this.book.NOW!

Reread: March 2012
Read: September 2011
Pages: 384

A Separate Country

I was ready for a good non-fiction book since I just finished Love & Respect.  I knew that I wanted one I couldn't put down...  well this was a good one!  I grabbed it at Target one day because I love Civil War area books about the South.

This is the story of General John Hood and his life with his wife Anna Marie in New Orleans after the war.  It was a story about love and redemption.  I had to make myself get through the first chapter, but after that I was hooked!  The story is told from the view of 3 people:  Eli Griffin, General Hood, and Anna Marie.  It was such a neat way to write the book.  I would highly recommend this book if you like books from this era.  I will say that I am not sure how historically accurate it is, but I never really care about that.

If you read and liked The Reliable Wife you may enjoy this one as well.  It had really similar themes.  I thought a lot about it while reading this one.

Read: end of December 2011
Pages:  448

Favorites of 2011

I think that 2011 was a pretty good reading year for me!  It was really, really hard for me to decide...  I could have added a couple more...  There are way worse things!!  Number one was far and away the #1 though!

Here are my top 5 favorites!

Honorable Mention:  Reason to Believe

5.  The Help

4.  Heaven is for Real

3.  Water for Elephants

2.   Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

1.  The Hunger Games series