Skip to main content

From My Bookshelf...

So ... I know that I've  really fallen off the blogging world lately.  I hate that because I miss being here.  But life has been happening at break-neck speed lately and I've just been hanging on!  It happens like that sometimes, ya know.  

But I'm popping in to say "hi" today and share about some books I've read recently.     

Some of you may remember that I posted my personal summer reading list.  You know ...way back in the summer.  I did pretty good with that.  Summer is my favorite reading time.  I got in 8 out of 13 on my list.  Still knocking a few out.  Some I've just decided to postpone until ...maybe next summer;)

There are a couple of books I'd like to share with you today. You may have already heard of them.  You might have actually read them.  If not though, you just might want to check these out.  

***


The first one that I wanted to tell you guys about, that was like a nice, cool drink of water on a hot day, was Soul Friends by Dr. Leslie Parrott.  

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!  The chapters were short, so insightful, and very inspiring, leaving me with new thoughts to ponder.  

Leslie divides her book into four sections: quest, calling, crisis, and communion.  Each quadrant progresses into the next--sort of stages in our lives, if you will.  In each section's chapters Leslie shares snapshots of her and her family's lives and snapshots of people who have directly--or indirectly--impacted her life.  

I absolutely loved these!  Each one brought insight, challenges, questions, and, sometimes, soul-searching.  Which is exactly what they are designed to do.  And at the end of each one there are 'soul souvenirs' where Leslie asks her readers a couple of questions.  Questions that are well-thought out and created to help you meditate on the biblical principles and nuggets tucked into each passage.  

Like I said: a cool drink of water on a hot day.  Very good stuff.  This is not a deep, theological Bible study, even though there are a lot of deep, theological thoughts tucked in here.  It is a great book to read a chapter in each day during your personal quiet time, however.  That is what I did through this past summer and it was perfect.  

***


More recently I've had the opportunity to read For the Love by Jen Hatmaker.  Whew.  What breath of fresh air!  

I had an international trip scheduled the last week of October so I had saved this book for reading on my flights.  I'm pretty sure I nearly made a scene a few times I was laughing so hard.  I was travelling with my sister and she just kept looking at me all like "what in the world is wrong with you?!".  

Jen is just so funny.  I mean she is seriously gifted with humor.  

Don't get me wrong.  This book deals with some serious and even heavy topics.  But she just seasons it with such grace and humor that it helps the big pill of hard truth go down a tad easier.  

Plus she has several sections that spin-off of Jimmy Fallon's 'Thank You' notes.  Enough said on that ...I'm already laughing again.  

Jen also has four parts to her book:
  • Your Very Own Self 
  • All These People Who Live in Your House
  • Friends, Neighbors, Strangers, and Enemies
  • Church, Church People, Not-Church People, and God
I think all of those speak clearly as to what they are about.  

This was my first time to read one of Jen's books.  I've some of her blog posts and about her before but I really enjoyed finally sitting down with one of her books and getting a glimpse of her heart.  She really, truly loves Jesus and it shows.  

***

So there you have it: a couple of great book recommendations for you to add to your own reading list!  You won't regret it!


Disclaimer: Both of these books were provided to me free of charge from Book Look Bloggers in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.  No other compensation was given and all thoughts expressed here are my own.  







Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while.  It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it.  However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it.  Plus it's a little bulky.   When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it!  It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make.   I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course.  They  have these little wooden door hangers for .79.  I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each.  I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing.   I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had).  Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will clip on the right direction.   The left

1st Day Back to {home}School, Among Other Things

We did it! We finally got unpacked enough and got our new learning room organized enough to start back to school! Frankly, I was starting to get worried...ha Today went very well though. So far I am extremely pleased with our new curriculum choices for math and language arts. Now, if I could just actually get some lesson planning done... And get the finishing touches done in the learning room, so I can blog it! In other news, it has been a bit of a traumatic week...pet-wise. Last weekend a sweet friend (who had asked my permission beforehand) brought the kiddos their very own little fish tank with two goldfish. Well, on Sunday we noticed that The Princess' fish was pretty lethargic...dead, actually. She was sad, but she handled it fairly well. And we went to the store that evening and let her pick out a new goldfish. Well, today during our school time~the fish tank is in our learning room~we noticed Mr. B's fish was acting funny. And then he was dead. It was a