Summer is for reading.

I have been reading some awesome books lately and thought I'd share them with you! I have a bad habit of needing to finish a book in one sitting...my friends tease me about this, but I read books reeeally fast. It's kind of like rushing your way through a big Thanksgiving dinner...afterwards, you feel a little queasy and wonder, "why didn't I just slow down and enjoy all of that good food a little more?", and then you lie around listlessly while all of the blood in your body goes to your stomach to digest what you've just eaten. Only in my case,I lie around listlessly while all the blood in my body goes to my brain to help it digest what I've just read. I wish I could stop and smell the literary roses a little, I do! But it kills me to be so caught up in a story and have to leave it without knowing the ending. Usually what I do is read it through once in my big tearing rush, and then once I know what happens at the end (again, my friends think this is hilarious for some reason) I go back and re-read the best parts. I could recite you pages of my favorite books because I've re-read them so many times.

So here was this last week's reading!


Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
This is about a 9 year old boy named Oskar whose father died in 9/11, and who goes on a sort of quest through NYC. I thought it was a very insightful look at the journey of grief, albeit a chaotic one. It's told from the perspective of Oskar, although when I first started reading it I thought, "no way is this a 9 year old speaking." But once I knew the character better it made more sense. Foer weaves in the story of Oskar's grandparents as well, which adds another layer of human suffering and interest to the story. After reading this, I sat around thinking about how much sheer pain people are able to live through, and about how little I know of it. So if you want some good food for introspection, and some really clever and beautifully written prose, check this book out.







The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
This is one of those books that deals with a terrible reality of life by wrapping it up in a sweet story, so you get the bitterness mixed with the honey. This book illustrates the racism and turbulence during the Civil Rights movement in North and South Carolina, from the viewpoint of a 14-year-old white girl taken in by 3 black beekeeping sisters. This could have easily been a very cookie cutter story, but I appreciated how the author didn't attempt to make Lily (the main character) perfect; although she is by no means racist like many of the other characters in this story, she realizes and has to come to terms with her own small forms of racism in herself. It's a very woman-power-hear-me-roar kind of book and one of those that makes you wish the characters were real people, so you could befriend them and make them like you.








Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle by Kent Annan
Whew. This book is challenging. If you feel like reading something lighthearted as you lounge by the pool with a cold drink, this is not it. I would call this "inspiring," but it's only inspiring if I am willing to leave my comfort zone and give up the things that are most important to me to love and serve others. If I'm not, then this book is merely frustrating and convicting. It's basically a memoir of Kent Annan's first year or two living in Haiti with his wife. Brutally honest, it does not let you escape with an idealized version of being "on the mission field."










The first two books were recommended to me by my friend Catherine and the last by my friend Melanie. See the pattern here? I'm kind of wary about reading new books; it's like a blind date. I'm a lot more likely to go on one if my friends say "oh yes, I know him, you guys would be great together." All that to say, give me new books to read! Leave a comment and let me know what you are reading this summer! :)