I ♥ Books

Read, Read, Read

I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember. In other words, I can’t remember not being able to read nor can I remember not loving books. When I was too young to go the library alone, my sister would be charged with taking her younger siblings to the library every week or two during the summer. She wasn’t pleased to have us all tag along so she would walk very fast on her much-longer legs (we were 4, 5, and 7 years younger than her). My brothers and I were proficient in power walking long before it became popular. I would enthusiastically check out a stack of books and excitedly carry them home. Sometimes I chose more than I could carry without making my arms sore, but books were a wonderful way to keep me busy and happy all summer long.

Listed below are some of the books I enjoyed this summer:

• Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
  This book got my attention when I picked it up because it is the examination of a mother/daughter relationship. I had to read it a second time before returning it to the public library.
• The Way I See It, by Temple Grandin
  Watch the Temple Grandin Story on DVD and then read this fascinating book filled with articles written by Dr. Grandin.
• Faith and Other Flat Tires — Searching for God on the Rough Road of Doubt, by Andrea Palpant Dilley
  This memoir is the recording of a young woman’s struggle as she loses her faith and then finds that the church is where she can best wrestle with her doubt. The author’s writing is a real look at the struggles many of us have when it comes to believing in a loving God while living in a world full of circumstances that make us doubt God’s goodness and omnipotence.
• The Shape of Mercy, by Susan Meissner
  An old woman, a young woman, and a diary written during the Salem witch trials. All is not as it seems. I couldn’t put this book down!
• ‘Mater Biscuit, by Julie Cannon
  A charming Southern tale full of quirky characters = light reading to take on a trip.
• The Book of Fires, by Jane Borodale
  In 1752, a young woman from rural Sussex runs away to London, where she is shocked by squalor, poverty, and her own naiveté. I picked this book up off the clearance table at our local independent bookstore. At first I wasn’t so sure but I’ve since decided it was a good purchase.  If you enjoy historical fiction, you might like this, too.
• The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England, by Susan Higginbotham
  King Edward IV, King Richard III, and others battle over the control of England in the years surrounding 1483. It’s a tale of loyalty, power, and chivalry set during the War of Roses, told in alternating voices — Harry, Duke of Buckingham, and his wife Kate.  While I didn’t set out to focus on medieval England, it appears that historical fiction is winning a prime spot in my summer reading.
• The Blue Cotton Gown, by Patricia Harmon
  This memoir written by a nurse-midwife tells her own life stories woven in with client stories (details and/or names changed to protect privacy). I’m finding myself invested in these women’s stories and lives, all the more poignant because they are real people.