The Better Part

When I was on Amazon ordering Raising Boys, I researched Catholic books on prayer. This one really looked interesting to me. I am so thankful that I ordered it!

This book teaches you how to meditate each day. The beginning of the book teaches you how to meditate. There are even examples of what this would look like. A novice like me needs all the help she can get! Then it includes the four gospels along with insights into those gospel readings. The most powerful part of this book for me has been one of the steps of meditation: the commitment.

In the few short weeks of reading this book and beginning to meditate, I can already see a difference in my prayer life. I am so thankful that God led me to take my relationship to a deeper level with this book.

I highly recommend this one for any Catholic looking to grow. It really will help you to committing time in your super busy life to meditation and growing closer to Christ.

Pages:1024

Read: Began Beginning Sept. 2010

Raising Boys

Crazy as it may seem, I am not one to read lots of parenting books. They just stress me out. I think that some knowledge of what to expect at different ages is good, but too much stresses me out! I was interested in reading a little bit about raising a son though. Boys are just foreign to me. :)

This book really was a nice read. It discusses how boys and girls really are different. Gave some great advice for raising boys. Talk to them lots was the main piece of advice that I took from this. I already knew this, but it is always good to be reminded! Steve Biddulph gives some really interesting research that I liked reading about the research behind the advice.

This book might be a little hokey in places but overall I really did enjoy it. I would highly recommend this for boyMoms like me.

Pages: 216

Read: Beginning Sept. 2010

Lift the Flap Books

Lately James loves lift the flap sort of books. This makes perfect sense for an active little man. We like to look at the pictures and lift up all of the different flaps. Here are two of his current favorites.

1.

This is a really fun one that I think will last us a long time because it teaches numbers, colors,etc. We are not quite at that stage yet, but I always talk with him about the color, animals, and numbers. I found this one at Target.

2.I bought this one a few months ago thinking that he was not quite ready for it because it is actually a slide and find. I thought that the slides seemed a little hard for him. James has recently fallen in LOVE with cars so this one is perfect for him! We are working hard to help him realize that truck are trucks not cars... ha!

The Wednesday Sisters

The Wednesday Sister was our August book club book. This was a cute, easy read. It was fun for our book club to read because they are pretty similar to us. We are mostly 20 or 30 somethings who are newly married, newly mommied, etc.

This is the story of a group of women who met at the playground in 1968. They quickly realize that many of them love to write. So they begin their writing club. Of course being a book about a group of women there is drama that will follow. I loved the narrator because I related quite a bit to her.

This is a cute book and if you are at this stage of life you may also like it.

Read: August 2010

Pages: 304

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo

I had heard about this book when we visited Aaron's family and saw it was written by a Swedish author. Since my dad is Swedish this seemed really interesting to me! Wow! I personally loved it, but there were some pretty graphic parts {just as a disclaimer.}

This is the story of Mikael Blomkvist {how can I not love him his name is so close to my brothers, Mikael Ringqvist}, a journalist who is hired by a millionaire to figure out what happened to his niece. The catch is that the niece disappeared 40 years ago. There are many twists and turns and I loved this book. I may have liked this book as well because I recognized many of the places from my year living in Sweden. That was so fun!

I definitely recommend it! Just be prepared for some disturbing parts.

Read: July 2010

Pages: 600

A Reliable Wife

This is our July book club selection. After reading, I Am Ozzy, it was refreshing to read something that was written well. ;)

The author had me hooked from the very beginning. This is the story of a man, Ralph Truitt, who places an ad for a wife and the woman, Catherine Land who answers it. Each comes into the relationship with their own secrets from their past. As the book unfolds, you slowly learn all about their secret pasts. This book has twists that will keep you surprised all the way to the end. I loved it!

I highly recommend it. It is a pretty easy read, but felt more like quality literature than anything I have read recently.

Pages: 320

Read: July 7-10, 2010

Fish Kisses

When I saw this at Target while pregnant with James, I had images of us reading this each night and getting to give each other fish kisses before bedtime.

This is a super fun book. It is all about different ways that animals show each other love. At the end it reviews all of the ways and tells the reader to pick the one you want to do.

This is a super quick read {also known as, good for super tired nights;)}

I am sure that you will be happy to know that we are no longer just reading the book, but my little dream is coming true: James picks out one for us to do at the end. I am not really sure how much he is really picking, but I can pretend.

I would advise you to pick this one up on your next visit to Target.