"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." ~Lin Yutang

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

been readin' anything good lately?!

well i HAVE!  besides the book about ruth and mary that i already raved about here i read two more of that lineage of grace series.  i read about tamar (unveiled) and rahab (unashamed).  the only one i have left is the one on bathsheba (unspoken).  francine rivers is such a fun author to read!  these books have really encouraged me to dig into His word and read.  all of these books in the lineage of grace series have a "seek and find" section at the back.  that section is designed to help the readers discover the story as recorded in the Bible.  it consists of six short studies that one can do on his/her own, or with a small discussion group.  i think that's an AWESOME idea and i'm glad she includes that part.
i also skimmed over the two prayer books that i'm reading, passionate prayer (by catherine martin) and praying god's word (by beth moore).  the book passionate prayer is a good devotional book.  it has really helped my passion for prayer grow, which i'm sure was the point of the book.  it also has taught me a lot in the mean time.  praying god's word is an AMAZING AMAZING book that i was tickled to find on amazon for $1.99 used.  i was tickled even pinker when i received the book and it was in brand new condition!!!  i'm excited to dig further into this book as i just started it in the past few weeks.  it is going along marvelously with the sermons we are listening to at our church.  God works in such mysterious ways.  i love it!
there are several other books that i'm flipping through.  it's so funny, i have never been a big reader.  reason #1 being that i am ssssslllllllllll...ow.  slow slow slow.  i am a bit ADD especially when it comes to reading.  i will stay on the same page for an hour, just reading, re-reading, getting sidetracked and then skimming over to find my spot that i left off, then re-reading again because i can't remember what was happening.  it's so hard for me!  a while back i realized that if the book was a good book, i didn't have that problem as much.  so, since i found that out, i've been trying to find and read good books.  there is a difference.  there are plenty of bad books!  and good for me isn't necessarily good for you. 
anyway, all this to explain the humor in me flipping through several books.  after finding i actually enjoyed reading good books, i never thought i'd get to the point where i was actually reading several books at the same time!  how insane is that?!  me, the ADD slow reader reading more than one book!!!  but it has happened for sure.  i just have to make sure the several books are nothing alike. 
so, i have my devotional reading books.  my biblical fiction books.  and then i usually have a parenting book and/or crafty-inspirational and/or cleaning/organizing type.  sometimes i also have a fertility/body/learning book too. 
my parenting book that i've been working on for a while, but not because it's not good, rather because i just got distracted with other good books, is bringing up girls, by dr. james dobson.  if you have girls, and you're bringing them up (parenting them), you should read this book!  it's very insightful!!!  in fact, i bet i pick it back up again tonight and read a few more chapters of it.  i got it for mother's day last year.  it was a great gift!!!
and speaking of parenting, i'm reading the little house in the big woods, by laura ingles wilder, with aleemay (age 6) and i'm LOVIN' IT!  i think she's likin' it (at least) too.  i really like reading to my kids, and it's nice when they get past the picture books and into some good reading.  i don't mind the picture books because they're never more than a few pages, but ... well, ya know... and if you don't, then that's ok too.
my monthly bible study (keepers of the home) started in on organization this month (yesternight), so i have those notes to fit that bill.  they are some good notes too!  i also found out last night that the leader of that group (i like to call her my mentor) is writing a book.  so that's cool.  she should.  she has lots of knowledge and experience. 
so... that's that.  i have a friend who does book reviews as she reads good books on her blog.  when i'm dry of ideas i always go through her list because she seems to like the same type of books as me.  (and now i have four links to four of her recent reviews handy-dandy on my blog!) 
so, i'm gonna sign off for the night and pick up a book to start reading (or keep reading).  happy reading, readers...
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

1 comment:

Liz said...

wow, lots of reading! lately i've been scared to start reading something. since, when i get into a good book i do NOTHING ELSE. it's sad. no self control there!