Rapid Fire Book Review #7 and Giveaway Winner Announced!

To wrap up our Little Princess Read A Long Jamie and I are talking about the 90s version of the movie. Pop over and reminisce!



"The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self and Home on the Far Side of the World" by Tracy Slater

I have very few good things to say about this book. The one part that I thought was interesting was the interesting cultural aspects of Japan. The author kind of drove me crazy, and I feel a little bit bad for criticizing her life because it's hers, but I wanted to throttle her a lot. It was packed full of #richwhitepeopleproblems. Other people liked this book though so...

 

"Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler" by Mark Riebling

The Vatican STILL gets a lot of flack for not having been a louder voice against Hitler and the Nazis. This book suggests that they orchestrated a lot of spying and undercover operations, though for most (self included) a very loud, very angry "This Hitler guys is a mass murdering demon and whoever kills him first gets into heaven the fastest". Or something similar. The best part about this book was learning about a man named Wilhelm Canaris. This man was extraordinary. He joined the Nazi party early, because he thought they would stop Communism. And then once Canaris saw the Nazis for what they really were he did everything he could to destroy it from the inside. He was also close for a time with the Nazi who (possibly) makes me the angriest, Heydrich. He took a hard turn, and I think earned his redemption. He was executed the same day and the same place as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, another super compelling figure. Here's his wikipedia. I'm officially on the prowl for a biography. (Cover is not good though)

 

Strands of Gold and Bronze by Jane Nickerson

Am I a sucker for a fairy tale retelling? Yes, yes I am. This one takes the legend of Bluebeard and plops it in Mississippi in the mid-1800s. The main girl was a little bit slow to catch on, and I think there were a lot of characters that could have been expanded to make a more interesting story; but overall a good fast, fluff read.

 

Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller
I read this book because several of my book blogger friends raved about it. Were they right to rave? Indeedy. I've never zipped through a 200 page book so quickly, I really needed to know what happened next. It's tense and interesting and the end makes you choke a little.

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand our giveaway winner is.......Jamie from Books and Beverages! Thanks for participating everyone! I really appreciate it! And so do the animals at the animal shelter where they will love the box of donated goodies! (Also I appreciate that this looks totally rigged but there were only 8 entries and Jamie did 3 so odds were in her favor, haha)

Graphic Novel Review: "Pyongyang: A Journey into North Korea" by Guy Delisle

 It's graphic novel review time!

So, North Korea. I think that if we knew one half of the things that are happening in North Korea we would be terrified. The information that trickles out already is horrible. Anyway, this graphic novel is the story of our author, a French cartoonist/illustrator who has the oppurtonity to go to North Korea for a short time and work on some of their films. (There's a whole interesting thing about how North Korea has this whole film industry that I didn't really expect it to have.)

His hotel room has power for less than half the time. All the foreigners are put on one floor of the hotel. He's never without a "guide" (aka state sponsored babysitter). He sees people "volunteering" to toil in fields or fix roads on the days that they aren't at their actual jobs.  He tries to find out if his handlers truly believe that they live in the best country in the world and that the rest of the world quakes in fear at North Korea's name; or if they look so convinced so they and their families don't disappear in the middle of the night.

(Did you know that during a famine that killed at least (that we know of) 1 million North Koreans,North Korea was the biggest importer of Hennessy? It's not a strong enough word, but when I was reading this book and thinking about the Kims (Dad and Junior) I kept thinking - "What douches. For real. Kings of the Douches.)

One thing that Guy mentioned really stuck with me. He said he never saw one handicapped person the whole time he was in North Korea. He was there for at least a month. Can you imagine going for a month without seeing a person with any kind of handicap or disability? And you know it's not because, like, North Korea has cured all of these terrible diseases, or figured out how to unparalyze people, or whatever and isn't sharing it with the world. That gave me goosebumpy chills. It still is, if I'm honest.


This was such an interesting read. I learned so much and was made even more curious about what happens over there that we don't know. I also liked the approachable and not weird drawing style, as per the usual.
4 stars out of 5!

 

Book review: "Black Earth" by Tim Snyder

I've never struggled so much to write a book review about a book that was so incredibly worth while and informative to read.

Tim Snyder's "Black Earth" is a slow read because there are so many things to take in. I feel like I read a higher than average amount of WWII nonfiction books and every chapter presented me with something I had never heard before, or situations that I had never thought about. I highlighted so much in my Kindle that this is going to be a weird, disjointed review as I try to share all the facts with you. Also, word of advice, if you can read this in book form. ESPECIALLY if you're of the note taking variety. I would have gotten out a highlighter for this book which is a real rarity for me.

I learned an incredible amount of Poland, which makes me want to go there even more than I already did before. (Facts: there were ten times as many Jews in Poland as there were in Germany at the start of WWII."Jews paid more than a third of the taxes in Poland, and firms owned by Jews were responsible for about half of the foreign trade".)

There was this insane plan about rounding up all of the Jews in Europe and settling them all in Madagascar. And then Hitler just decided to kill everyone instead. But it became this like, inside joke/euphemism to the higher ups about sending people to concentration camps as "sending them to Madagascar". Hitler never let logistics or feasability get in the way of his insane plans and this one was no different.

I also thought this insight was incredibly interesting, nothing went quite as the Nazi's planned: "The western allies were supposed to defend Czechoslovakia but did not; Poland was not supposed to fight but it did; France was supposed to fight longer than it did; Britain was supposed to see the logic of peace if France fell but did not".

Find out what country switched sides towards the end of the war, what army Hitler tried to get on his side, and which country lost the most Jews (even though the Jewish population was very low to being with) and more in this insightful book.

It is a long read, I'm not going to lie to you. It's not something you'll pick up and read in two days (unless you are like, the Superman of reading.) It took me and at least a few others I know, maybe 2 months to get through the whole thing. It's an investment, but one I really recommend you make. 4 stars out of 5!

I got this book in exchange for an honest review from Blogging for Books

"A Little Princess" RAL - Discussing Chapters 13-19 (Week #3)

Last book discussion day everyone! Next week is going to be movie discussion over on Jamie's blog. I'm excited to talk about how it compares to the book now that I've had a refresher on both of them. But first, today! Jamie's thoughts are in blue! (She held the quotes section down for me this week, thanks Jamie!)

Quick and Dirty Summary (including the big reveal and ending, so spoiler alert if you aren’t done): 

Sara and Becky are barely making it through the winter, occupying their attic/Bastille prison. But it won’t be that way for much longer. Melchizidek the mouse sees the visitors that come in and make big changes while the girls are at “work”.(He might be trying to get some time away from his kids. It's a lot of pressure for a dad mouse). Ram Dass and his helper transform the attic into a plush lovely oasis that has things like, you know, blankets. Sara and Becky can NOT believe their luck, but they're mostly happy that they aren't starving anymore. Sara meets the sad man from next door as she returns a stray monkey (as one is want to do) and the discovery is made! The sad man has been looking for Sara the whole time! He's the guy who Sara thought ran off with all of her Dad's money, but he didn't! (Or something! I feel like that isn't ever really explained clearly but who cares!) Happy ending! Miss Minchin is put in her place (no more money for you!), Sara and Becky don't have to stay in the attic anymore.

Quotes:

This gives me hope that all the little girl’s weren’t as bad as Miss M or Lavinia:

Jessie was not as ill-natured as she was silly. She picked up her book with a little jerk. “Well, I think it’s horrid,” she said. “They’ve no right to starve her to death.” Yes Jessie, you are correct. Starving people is bad! I think Jessie is one of those girls who gets caught up in the mean girl crowd and then it’s too late to try to really stand up for yourself because Lavinia is borderline scary, not just nasty.

“The truth is that when one is still a child—or even if one is grown up—and has been well fed, and has slept long and softly and warm; when one has gone to sleep in the midst of a fairy story, and has wakened to find it real, one cannot be unhappy or even look as if one were; and one could not, if one tried, keep a glow of joy out of one’s eyes.”  I think what makes this whole thing so sad is that the things that make Becky and Sara so happy are things that the girls "downstairs" and we, take for granted so easily. A bed that has a little bounce to it? Enough blankets to cover your toes and tuck under your chin? Enough to eat so your rumbly tumbly doesn't keep you up all night? #perspectives

Other Thoughts:

One of the things I loved from Sarah’s imaginations was the comparison to being prisoners - made for some fun stories between Sarah and Becky.

The Bastille had melted away, the prisoners no longer existed. Two comforted children sat in the midst of delights.

People are such horrid human beings. I don’t understand why they all turned on Sarah so quickly - especially the adults, who were supposed to be, you know, adults. Like the book? Just as bad as Miss M. Geez, no kidding! It’s not like she was a terrible, spoiled kid who everyone hated and then got her comeuppance. She was just this little girl who had no control of her circumstances and yeah, the adults went the unfriendly/abuse route pretty quickly!

I also really want to read more about the French Revolution now. :) I kept thinking about "Man in the Iron Mask". Maybe we should go to Paris...for you know...blog stuff.

When the girls get busted that’s legitimately heart breaking. They aren’t hurting anyone! Sob! They're just happy they have enough food to share with her little mouse buddy and aren't freezing. Sniffle!

Overall I love the theme of kindness and how that has such a beautiful ripple effect. It gives me hope for humanity! I love that they end with the little girl in the bun shop. She was barely human and just a couple of small acts of kindness saved her life.


Discussion questions: 

If you are just finishing reading this for the first time, what did you think? If you're re-reading did you catch anything new that you didn't catch before?

One thing that really grinds at me with this book is how it ends with Becky. She doesn't get elevated up to "family member" with Sara and her new guardian. Sara immediately calls her over from the attic but when they're leaving there's definitely a "Becky is along for the ride" feeling. I understand that Becky is probably a different "class of person" - she's always been poor while Sara was for a shorter time- but after all they had been through? And when you're a total orphan wouldn't you like a sister? What do you think? Class thing? Me reading too much into it thing?

This is, essentially, a fairytale. Modern fairytale retellings are so "in" right now. Do you think that this one could be re-tooled? (It's a whole other question whether it SHOULD be or not, of course). Or is it already too modern being in the 1900s and not the middle ages or the like?

Book review: "Resilient" by Sheridan Voysey

So, back in August I saw something interesting in my twitter feed from Sheridan Voysey. If you don’t know Sheridan, he’s a Christian author, from Australia though now living in England. I first came to know Sheridan through his book “Resurrection Year: Turning Broken Dreams into New Beginnings.” It’s about how he and his wife had this great dream to have children and that it just didn’t happen. Through infertility treatments and an incredibly long wait on an adoption list they decided that maybe this wasn’t what God had intended for them. Resurrection Year talks about their struggle, their acceptance, their lives together and their move to England. I liked Sheridan’s open and honest writing style so when I saw that he was writing a new book and that he was looking for people for a launch team for his latest book “Resilient” I raised my hand and said “pick me, pick me!”. (I actually just filled out a form.)

         
The book is made up of short little bites, usually no more than a very few pages long. They each start with a Bible passage, and end with a questions and different Bible passage. Each chapter focuses on something different, so it doesn’t necessarily need to be read chronologically. Sheridan suggested that it might work well for a short devotional, and I think he’s right. (I’m notoriously bad with devotionals though. My parents gave me a yearlong devotional based on CS Lewis’ writings and I just sat down and read it straight through!) I read it just chronologically in a few sittings. It will work either ways!

The book’s central theme is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, specifically the Beatitudes. Even if you aren’t religious you’ve probably heard these:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

When reading and taking notes for this review I wrote down a lot of quotes. I’ll try to only pick a few and talk about those!

“Love God. Love others. The rest are details”. Boom. Sounds easy. Not easy. It’s easy to love our friends and family. What about others? Axe murderers, people who rant on Facebook or that coworker who horks their snot instead of blowing their nose… (Also on a side note, some “details” are very important. But let’s start with love, and then get to the details).

There is a section on being single and the pressure that some people might feel that they have “failed” in not being married. (Side note, I have -and I’m sure you do to- single friends who are hilarious and smart and in all ways awesome and in no ways failures. But they might have dark days when reminders are needed). “Singleness is not some valley to be endured until the pinnacle of marriage. Singleness can be a calling, a gift, and a powerful witness to the LORD”. 

One thing that I struggle with, and I think others do too, is when you’re on the verge of a big decision and you think “What if I decide to do this and it ruins my life?” A big move, a new job, a life choice whatever it is this can be a scary thought. I find this quote super comforting “If we love him, God can work even a poor choice into the tapestry of our lives”.

There was one quote that I highlighted that I would have liked Sheridan to expand on. “Are you focusing on being good then letting Jesus change you?”

I enjoyed this book. This book is like a reassuring pat on the back from a good friend. Like “hey, sometimes things are hard. And I can’t guarantee everything is going to go the way you want it too. But Jesus loves you and thinks you’re worth sacrificing his most precious Son for your salvation. You can do this!” And this book can help.




*There's also a special offer on the website. by November 1st and you get THREE bonuses. Click here for more info!*

"A Little Princess" RAL - This Week's Reading (Week #3)

Today's post is to let you know the reading "assignment" of the week, this week's is chapters 13-19! We're finishing up the book this week!

We will be discussing chapters 13-19 right here on Library Educated on Friday.

Even if you don't get it all read, stop by and chat with us! Tell us your favorite quotes! Tell us what you loved or what irked you!

And just because the book will be over, it doesn't mean that the fun is! Next week, we will be watching and discussing the movie!

See you Friday!

Here's last week's discussion.
Here's the first week's discussion.
Here's my blogiversary giveaway from Friday :)

2 Year Anniversary and Giveaway!

As a happy reminder, the Little Princess Read Along action is at Jamie's blog today - here.


So, 2 years! What a blessing you all are. The fact that anyone cares enough to peak into my tiny corner of the internet at all is still such a surprise to me. But it makes me all warm and fuzzy and gooey inside that you are here. So thank you. Thanks for the encouragement, the funny tweets, the "hey we should do this together!" talks. Though would some of you stop reccomending such good books? I already had a TBR I would never finish before I started blogging and now it's gotten much much bigger! So from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, thank you.

Let's talk about prizes!

For some of you, fall is here. For you Texans it's still almost 100 degrees and that's madness, but I digress. First part of the prize is a scarf lovingly hand crochet by me. The yarn is a mix of cream and oatmeal colors. It will go with lots of things! Next is a blank lined notebook featuring the cover of Moby Dick from Out of Print. I may have gone overboard on a recent shopping moment online. Also and lastly, is one of those cute cup sleeves that laces up in the back so it looks like your coffee is wearing a sexy corset. They crack me up. This one, which you can't tell from the picture, is light blue and green and very springy looking.

The second part of the gift is a donation of supplies to a local animal shelter. Hopefully my dogless days are coming to an end soon, and I'd really like to be a home for a doggerdo that really needs it. Shelters and rescue groups work tirelessly and I just to give something back. So I will make a up a box of donations (they always seem to need paper towels...) and donate it to a local animal shelter in your name.

Just enter the rafflecopter giveaway below! Giveaway open to USA and Canada residents only. Lo siento.

Again, thank you. Have a great weekend, and hopefully I'll see some of you around at #readathon!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book review: "Port of No Return" by Michelle Saftich (Italy Tours)

"Port of No Return" focuses on Contessa and Ettore Saforo and their (growing) family. They live in occupied Italy, Ettore forces to work for the Germans in the port and Contessa doing her best to feed, cloth, and keep safe her family in an unsettled city with dwindling supplies. Tragedy strikes and they are forces from their beloved Fiume and into the life of refugees.



There is political conflict galore, tales of compassion, great escapes, true love,kittens and Australia all neatly packed into stories that are woven together through the stories of the Saforo family and the other families that they meet on their journey. It's a lot of dramatic events in a pretty small book!

On a sad note, this book is also incredibly timely. The biggest refugee crisis since WWII is happening in Europe right now. You've probably seen the news and pictures on the news or on your social media. It's  a good reminder that all of these people who need homes are not numbers or nuisances but people and families who have suffered greatly and need help.


WWII is a pretty popular background for books, but this book felt pretty unique. First, it was set in Italy (German occupied), and it didn't focus on the war and soldiers so much as the people that were left behind. Also, the Yugoslavian connection was something that I had never read about before in fiction. I've just recently became acquainted with some of Yugoslavia's super turbulent history and the blight on their country: Tito. After the war everything was just such chaos you feel like it was a miracle that separated families ever found each other again.I give it a 3.5 stars out of 5!

Author's Bio:

Michelle Saftich is a first-time author who resides in Brisbane, Australia.  She holds a Bachelor of Business/Communications Degree, majoring in journalism, from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

For the past 20 years, she has worked in communications, including print journalism, sub-editing, communications management and media relations. She is married with two children.

Announcements and Excitements!

Jamie's blog has the Read Along fun happening on her blog today, head over and see what we'll be talking about on Friday! Here's what we talked about last Friday!

Next, happy wedding week to my Aunt Meredith! She is walking down the aisle Friday evening to her George and I'm excited to see her "happily ever after" start! Aunt Meredith was one of my first blog readers and a big encourager of it, so hooray!

Nextly, do you guys know what Saturday is? Only one of my most favorite days of the year! Dewey's readathon! I'm cheering this year, so I will be very active on the twitter on Saturday evening. That is your warning, take the necessary steps!

Lastly, today is the 2 year bloggiversary. There was supposed to be a giveaway post here....


via GIPHY


(Whooooooooooooops)


Buuuut I was camping all weekend and forgot about it. Good news, giveaway on Friday!!!!

"A Little Princess" RAL - Discussing Chapters 1-6

Welcome to the first discussion for Little Princess! I don't know if the format will change between me and Jamie, or even amongst ourselves from week to week, but I'm starting us off, so let's get to London, shall we!(Jamie's thoughts are in blue!)



Quick Summary:
A little girl names Sara lives in India with her dad. Her mother died when she was little (so pretty little, considering she's 7) and her dad wants her to grow up to be a good English lady so he brings her to London to a boarding school for education. The two of them are incredibly close so this is a hearbreaking thing for both of them, but Sara is a brave girl and does the best she can. She is much beloved by many of the students at Miss Minchin's for her kindness and willingness to share the very nice things that she has. She especially bonds with a girl named Ermengarde who struggles with her studies and well, a lot of things. Miss Minchin has a deep seated dislike for Sara, through no fault of Sara's. Miss Minchin is naturally unpleasant.


Vocabulary Lesson!:

Missie Sahib -  Sahib is “a polite title or form of address for a man”. So Missie Sahib is like “little lady?”

Ayah- a nanny employed by Europeans in India or another former British territory

Quotes:
I feel like a lot of these quotes could be on walls of libraries. Luckily Jamie and I had similar favorites!

“My mamma!” said Sara, looking odd. “I don’t believe she would mind in the least. She knows that stories belong to everybody.”

This was one of my favorite quotes too and I think I would have been friends with her mother!

Agreed! She sounds like good people!

“If nature has made you a giver your hands are born open;  and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty but your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that—warm things, kind things, sweet things,—help and comfort and laughter,—and sometimes gay, kind laughter is the best help of all.”

So there's some solid advice!


"She did not much care for other little girls, but if she had plenty of books she could console herself". 

Someone’s an introvert bookworm! Woot wooooot!

Favorite quote from this chapter group for me comes from Lavinia (in re: to Sarah): “My Mom says she will grow up to be eccentric!” It was great! They say that like it’s a bad thing :). Eccentric is better than being a brat like Lavinia!

“Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temptation to be unreasonable and snappish is one not easy to manage.” This is another shout out to all the book nerds out there!

Other thoughts:

They used the word supple to describe her and I thought that was weird because she is 7. Also, 7 is mighty young to be at a)boarding school b) boarding school thousands of miles away from her family

This made me sad too, especially when they said the youngest one was four years old.

Why is Miss Minchin in the education business? People who have no tolerance for children (even well behaved, polite rich, children!) should probably not be in that line of work.I kept thinking about this too - I think she was “forced” into it. Like she never married or it was a family business. What happened to her that turned her into a bitter and angry woman? Ok, back story for Miss Minchin. Happy, carefree young woman who was engaged and then her fiancee dies at sea? in a foreign war? and then she never recovers. How's that? 

I also add, that I love little Sara’s heart from the beginning. Such a sweet girl and example of loving other people. 

Also whenever I see Ermengarde I think of this. That’s how I say it in my head. I thought the exact same thing!! haha! Glad I wasn’t the only one. :)

Discussion Questions:

Who here is re-reading this book or reading for the first time?

Do you often re-read books? Sometimes I don't re-read favorite books from childhood because I'm scared that now I'm a cynical adult I might feel differently about the story.

Sara is a pretty mature 7 year old. I'm sure I wasn't like that when I was 7! Do you think that makes her special or maybe a little unrealistic? (Well, hello cynical adult!)

Did you have any favorite quotes from this section? Jamie and I obviously did!

If you're reading for the first time, any predictions so far?

Next week all the action is over at Jamie's blog!

Things I need to read more about (Volume 2...I'm almost positive I did a Volume 1)

Just in case you missed it on Monday, we'll discuss chapters 1-6 of A Little Princess on Friday!


Ukraine. Everyone wants a piece of this country. Putin most recently. In the dense but informative and well written  book I'm reviewing soon  (Black Earth) they said that Hitler wanted to take it over and use it as a bread basket/food source for when the Nazis took over the Soviet Union. Everyone wants a piece of the Ukraine. I think Poland is kind of like that too.


Comparing the Gospels. So the four gospels cover a lot of the same ground but in different ways. Like, Luke is more detailed then the others. I want a book that compares all the writing styles and nuances of all of them.


Rape of Nanking. I know basically nothing about this except that it was terrible. I also should also read a book about how this long standing distrust/not good feelings started between the Chinese and Japanese.I have questions, mostly because I'm clueless and did not take Modern Asian History in college because it was a night class. Night classes, eek.


Mass Hysteria. The amount of instances of mass hysteria is weirdly high, and man are there some doozies. A lot of them have to do with nuns, like a group of nuns in Austria who couldn't stop meowing. Or groups of school girls who all start fainting, or have pregnancy scares or any other huge range of things. Of course if you were apart of a mass hysteria thing in the Middle Ages you probably were going to get in trouble for being a witch... I really want to know more about the meowing nuns.




Cute on cats, alarming in a large group of nuns...

"A Little Princess" RAL - This Week's Reading (Week #1)

Welcome to the first official day of the RAL!

Today's post is to let you know the reading "assignment" of the week, this week's is chapters 1-6!

We will be discussing chapters 1-6 right here on Library Educated on Friday.

Even if you don't get it all read, stop by and chat with us! Tell us your favorite quotes! Tell us what you loved or what irked you!

And if you tweet and read,you can use the hashtag #Princessread !

See you Friday!

My favorite Christian Non-Fiction Authors

 Sometimes (most of the time, if I'm being honest) I struggle to find Christian fiction work that I enjoy. I have much better luck with the nonfiction side of things. Today I thought I would highlight some nonfiction writers I enjoy.

Footnote: CS Lewis should be on the top of this list, but since he does fiction and nonfiction he was disqualified for this list. Sorry Jack.

Speaking of CS Lewis, let's start with Ryan Pemberton. He wrote one of my favorite books that I've read this year. It was honest and heartfelt and I enjoyed it greatly. And I will never get over how much I love this cover.




 Our next writer also has an England connection, Sheridan Voysey. I read a book by Sheridan called Resurrection Year which was sincere and heartbreaking and all kinds of things. When I heard that he had a new book coming out this year I jumped to be on the launch team. Resilient comes out October 21st, as does my review of it. Spoiler, I liked it. Though I'm still kind of trying to figure out the cover. Is it like an inkblot test? Sometimes I think it's Jesus with a crown of thorns, sometimes I think it's a blue bleeding heart...

 


I've talked about Jen Hatmaker at length on this blog before. She recently made a joke about the struggle of people wearing leggings as pants, and how "this is probably something that CS Lewis talked about too" and I laughed pretty hard. She also has a new book out recently, and while it's not my most most favorite of her books it was a great read and very worthwhile. I feel like after I read Jen's books I get "shored up" spiritually.


 


Last but in no ways least, Brennan Manning. Brennan had an interesting life, and by interesting I mean hard, devastating, redemptive and about 15 other words. (Side note, when I was reading a book by him earlier this year I was like "Hmm I wonder if he does book tours or anything". I kind of figured he didn't because it didn't seem like his style. And then I saw that he had died in 2013 and was INCREDIBLY sad). The only good news is that he has many books out there and I can't wait to read my way through them all. Here is my review of Ruthless Trust and a mini biography. (The tumbling monk story chokes me up EVERY TIME.) Many people, including myself, started with Brennan's work The Ragamuffin's Gospel.