Please Stay Tuned

I'll be away for several days, so there will be about a two week gap before I'm back to blogging book reviews.  I've got some good reading material packed, so hopefully I'll come back with some good suggestions.  Hopefully, you'll come back to the blog to read them. 

Jesus as the Ultimate Man

BE A MAN! Becoming the Man God Created You to Be  by Fr. Larry Richards

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Father Larry Richards' book was the handout at this year's local Catholic Men's Conference.  Fr. Richards is the Keynote Speaker at the 2012 conference, and if his book is any indication, he is going to let us men have it!

Be a Man is a very challenging read.  All throughout the book Fr. Richards uses very straightforward language to get the reader to face the fact that he is most likely not living the life that God intended him to be living.  From a man's relationship to Jesus, to his role as spiritual leader of the family, to his duty to change the world, Be a Man covers it all.

I really enjoyed this book and was challenged by it.  Fr. Richards starts off the book by telling us that we're all going to die...it ends the same way for all of us.  When we die, we have 2 options for eternity, and the good news is, we get to choose where we spend it (unless you believe in Predestination, but that's a topic for a different blog).  The problem is, too many men are leading lives that indicate that they are choosing the wrong option. 

Fr. Richards makes the case for Jesus being the ultimate man, and then spends the rest of the book providing ways to live out the life God intends for you.  Each chapter focuses on a new area to work on, and contains practical tips.  Some of the tips are very challenging, such as devoting 1 hour every day for the rest of your life to prayer...I find that one very challenging, but one that I'm also going to pray that I can someday commit to. 

At the end of each chapter, there are study questions, so I think this would be a great book for men's groups looking for something to study.  I highly recommend this book for all men, not just Catholic men.  I think it has the potential to change your life.  I look forward to hearing Fr. Richards speak more on the topics in Be a Man! and next year's conference.

Two Books from Down South that Will Bring Your Spirits Up High

SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT by Beth Hoffman
SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kidd

These are wonderful stories.  Critics claimed Saving CeeCee Honeycutt  to be a cross between The Secret Life of Bees and The Help (by Kathryn Stockett).  This time, I agree with them.  I loved The Secret Life of Bees!  I have not yet read The Help.  (I know it's really really good and I need to read it.  It's on my list.) 

I can say of both Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and The Secret Life of Bees that they are about a young girl in a bad situation who finds comfort and love from a Southern black woman.  They are both engaging and uplifting and thoroughly enjoyable.  When you need a good story that's not heavy and will leave you happy, pick up either one of these books. 

In The Secret Life of Bees, South Carolinan Lily Melissa Owens has lost her mother and lives in misery with her father.  Rosaleen, who cooks and cleans in the house, acts as a stand-in mother for Lily.  But, they a forced to flee and go to Rosaleen's relations to live.  With these caring women and the new culture she comes to love, Lily begins to heal.

In Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, Cecelia Rose Honeycutt has not yet lost her mother to death, but she has lost her to mental illness, forced to be the caretaker for her mother while her father disengages from the family.  Eventually, CeeCee goes to live with relatives in Savannah, Georgia.  Her Aunt Tootie's cook, Oletta, brings CeeCee love and wisdom and helps her mend the cracks in her heart.

I read the Life of Bees many years ago when it first came out, so I don't remember it with the detailed recall I have of Saving CeeCee, which I just finished today, but I think Secret Life of Bees is a little more serious/darker than Saving CeeCee.  But I liked them both.  I love books that are great stories and leave me happy!!

                         

Finally.....I Read It

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen

I might have been the only English-speaking female old enough to read it that hadn't read it, but now I can say I read it.   And, I liked it.

At work I see so many take-offs of this book and other Austen stories and books based on Austen.  One of my favorite authors (Shannon Hale) has a series of books about Austen fans, so I thought I really needed to read this, and I'm glad I did.

Austen is much easier to read than the Brontes.  I was expecting a book that would take a long time to decipher, but that was completely wrong.  I also read the Barnes and Noble Classic version which has good footnotes and definitions for unusual words.  I'm looking forward to reading some of the extrapolated works of other authors.  One of my co-workers said many of them she has read have not been great but she does like Amanda Grange's books.

In case you may have been like me and have not read Pride and Prejudice, it is about the development of two relationships and a comedy of errors or misassumptions.  To say much more would ruin the suspense of the book.  It almost reminded me of Shakespeare, where there isn't much happening but at the same time you can't wait to find out more and there are several misunderstandings which makes finding the truth much harder for the characters.

I really enjoyed the book.  Now, I'm anxious to watch the BBC production with Colin Ferth.  Another co-worker told me it's outstanding.

(Yes, I made the word misassumptions up.  But, maybe it will eventually make the dictionary.  Truthiness did.)

Everyone Should Read This Book

THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak

I read this book several years ago now, but I think it should become required reading in high school.  This story, narrated by Death, takes place in Germany at the rise of Hitler's power.  It is a supremely good book, and I think everybody should read it.  Before I read this book, I had little interest in history.  After I read this book, I wanted to learn much more about WW II and I began to see the importance of understanding history.  Aspects of this book are based on experiences of the author's relatives in Germany during WW II.

The Book Thief is the story of a young girl who comes to live in a foster home and the people she meets in this new place.  But there is much more than an interesting plot to this book.  The story considers the power of words to inspire good as well as to destroy. 

It's hard for me to do justice to this book in a simple review, and I don't want to ruin the story by giving too much away.  I can only emphatically recommend you sit down and read this book.

 

Technical Report

Blogspot was down for a while and I noticed some comments were gone when it was back online.  Sorry to those who left a comment that was deleted.

THE Book

EVA by Peter Dickinson

At a gathering of fellow booksellers, we talked about recent books we'd read, and I mentioned Cat's Cradle.  One bookseller said that was one of three books that really got them into reading.  They would stay up late at night with the lights on to read and they were hooked and inspired by Cat's Cradle, and two other books, which I can't remember now.

It made me think of the first book that really hooked me on reading.  It was Eva by award-winning author Peter Dickinson.  Reading that book was the first time I hid under my covers with a flashlight so I could keep reading into the wee hours of the night.  The story just blew me away.

Eva's parents are scientists, who work with chimpanzees.  After a terrible car accident, they decide to save Eva by placing her brain in the body of a chimpanzee.  Eva doesn't know what has happened when she first awakes.  How she discovers the truth, copes with it, and eventually decides what to do with her life is a fantasic story.  I highly recommend it.  It is a great book for discussion!

I have to give credit to my junior high librarian for introducing me to this book.  Every so often, she would read part of a book to us over the intercom system and end at a suspenseful part of the book.  This was one of the books she read.  I don't know that I would have ever discovered this book without her introduction.