What I Read this Summer

Lots of great books this summer, one of my favorites was The Pilgrim's Progress. It had been sitting at my no. 1 spot on my reading list for some years now, and I FINALLY get to cross it out. Yay for me! Here is the rest of my list some of them will get reviews some won't.

1. Pilgrim's Progress :D
2. Tempting Danger : /
3. The Rowan :D
4. Damia : /
   
5. Carpe Jugulum : x
6. The Glass Lake : x
7. Eleven on Top :)
8. Ender's Game :D

I know there may be one more but I can't think of it now.
Did you figure out the smiley face system, it is quite a complicated system of rating don't feel bad if you didn't get it a first. Happy reading folks!!

The Watchers Review

The Watchers written by Mark Andrew Olsen, is about a young woman named Abigail. She finds herself the target of an an ancient order of assassins called The Brotherhood after having a very strange, very real dream. Why, say you, is that grounds for death? Well, you see, this particular dream is the beginning of a looong journey in the fight between angels and demons, good vs. evil, myspace vs. facebook. But I digress... get ready to go on a journey around the world, because this battle is BIG. But generally unseen, unless of course you're a.... Watcher! Review anyone?

Review: This book is sort of a guilty pleasure for Christians. Not because it's trashy or excessively violent, believe me this books ranks a zero on the raunch meter. But because of the many times you will say "yeah right" when you should be saying "right on". It's action packed and suspenseful, but Innocent and sweet. I think any christian would enjoy a book like this, and hey you just know it's going to have a happy ending!! And I like that. I have some beef with all the angel stuff, but I'll unload that in the theory zone, and as always don't read beyond this if you are going to pick it up and read it for yourself.

Theory: Maybe I'm a little cynical and slightly hardened because many times throughout the book I'd mutter "whatever..." Which is marginally a testament to my unbelief, but also because of my ever-growing skepticism of most things that claim to be angelic. Let me explain; the Bible is not very clear and forthcoming on angels and their habits. To assume anything about their demeanor presence or purpose would be, dangerous. This is what I know from reading scripture, they are mostly messengers, they are watchers themselves, they do many things, they are in many places. One guards a tree, the other blocks a path. The point is that God only knows who and what they are. They shouldn't be deified or glorified because glory goes only to the Lord. There is a danger of becoming too mystical with angels and while they are a great mystery they are God's to reveal and direct. I know it may seem strange maybe even a little contradictory, but I have no problem with engaging in fantastical stories of fairies and goblins, hobbits and dragons, because they aren't real. Stories can run wild with fanciful imaginings of, what if these things were real, what would they do. But with angels and things I believe in, I try not to let my imagination roam, lest I start believing in something that isn't true.

So in conclusion, if you like these epic good vs. evil stories even if you aren't a christian I would pick it up. But take the angel stuff with a grain of salt, lest you start believing something that isn't true!

The Shack Review

The Shack was written by William P. Young. It's about a man named Mack. He loses his daughter tragically and is left with what he calls "The Great Sadness". Which ultimately leads Mack to the conclusion that God is not benevolent, God is not good. Sort of a Westerner's version of God on Trial (check that one out if you can, saw it on PBS) This book is very spiritual, very christian.

Review: This book had me blubbering like a baby. Which means it must be good because I'm not a crier! It's painful to read, not because it sucks but because it's truthful. It's unrelenting in it's full disclosure of just how evil this world can be. There were some points where I was disappointed, only because I have my very own, very strong opinions about God and hearing someone else's interpretation of Him is almost guaranteed to disappoint on some level. That being said, there is a whole lot in this book that I agree with, more than disagree.
This book is difficult to review, and even harder to theorize. It means different things to different people. And as for what it means to me, well, it really doesn't matter. When the subject is God and His relationship with you, it can't help but to be completely individualized and personal. So, yes read it. And form your own individualized and personal opinion of this book.

Theory: The book's message is this (it's not even slightly cryptic) God loves you, and he proved it by dying for you. This is what the gospel has to say about it: John 15:13 (New International Version)
13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Coming Soon.....

Jane Eyre vs. Twilight

As I've stated they are very similar books. Paralleled and yet polarized. Stephenie (author of Twilight) got a lot of inspiration from Jane Eyre, so we'll see how they stack up....

The Girl Who Could Fly (sigh)

I wish this girl could fly. But mostly I wish I could read minds... but enough about me, onto the book. This book is about little Miss Piper McCloud, written by Victoria Forester. I learned about this book from Stephenie Meyer's website, after she gave it such an awesome review. She said something about it being sort of X-Men-ish. I just so happen to love the X-Men, so I decided to pick this one up. And I'm glad I did.

Yes Piper can fly, and she does, which earns her all the wrong kind of attention: gossip, headlines, government interference, and the invisible man, Mr. J.
Mr. and Mrs. McCloud are confused, Piper is confused , and so they reach out to the first available hand of help in the form of Dr. Hellion (he he), who runs an institute for kids just like Piper who have special talents. Not to mention a certain cricket.... This is really where the story begins, so without giving anymore away, Let's review it.

I love this book, on a scale from 1 to 10 , 1 being raunchy and violent, 10 being the cutest fluffiest thing you've ever read, I'd give this book an 8. It's cute but smart. It also provides wonderful imagery so the characters and the actions really come alive, and you can see it playing out in your mind relatively clearly. This is definitely something I want to read again, read to my kids, and I'm definitely buying this one. I'm going into the deep recesses of theory here so don't read on until you've read the book. I mean it this time, READ THIS BOOK BEFORE YOU READ ON!!!








Theory: This on the surface is about being yourself. As Piper's phrase goes: "You just can't keep a good girl down." But I think the real meaning is that appearances can be oh so deceiving. A person can feel comfortable and excepting and nice and warm, but in reality their true motives are to create apathy and complacency and really drown out your spirit and snuff out your light. Such people create a world where nothing else matters but acceptance. This kind of person is is embodied in one Dr. Letitia Hellion. Everything about her surface appearance says warmth and love and comfort. But all she is doing is going around snuffing out lights, gathering up the children with special gifts and drugging them and conditioning them for a life of normalcy. You see Dr. Hellion hates anything abnormal, and wants everything to be in it's place and act accordingly. To me this feels a lot like the church system and certain cults that create that all alluring community feeling. This is the way I see it, a person gets born again, and the Holy Spirit comes to fill them up with a love for Christ and an outpouring of revelation and gifts, and then the young christian says, "I need to go to church!" (and naturally, when Jesus is the theme) so off he/she goes in search of like-minded folk who share his/her love. Unfortunately most churches are ruled by an oligarchy, a select few who dictate what where who and how the Holy Spirit gets to move. So if said young christian decides to bless his/her new found Spirit on an undeserving strictly run church, the Spirit and light will surely begin fade (unless he/ she runs for their spiritual life!) Moral of the story: If you can fly then by golly don't let ANYONE keep you down! There are plenty of wolves in sheep's clothing lying in wait to snatch away your gift, because they themselves are too afraid to use their own.

Dropping a Line... Evangeline, by Longfellow

I really love this part of Evangeline. I'm not finished with the whole thing but I wanted to share this with some people that I know will appreciate it.

"Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient,
Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of a woman's devotion,
List to the mournful tradition, still sung by the pines of the forest;
List to a tale of Love in Acadie, home of the happy."

I'm sure there will be more quotes when I'm done. Here's a tidbit of info though: Longfellow and Hawthorne went to the same college! Must be some strain of awesome writing bacteria floatin in that water.

What I'm Reading....

House of Seven Gables - A Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne, yeah, the guy who also wrote The Scarlet Letter. I've got to admit his stuff is hard to get into. It seems every sentence is charged with spirituality. So beautiful and poetically done that I find myself reading sentences over and over again. Here is a quote from the man himself on why he writes this way. It can be found in his biography written by Norman Holmes Pearson, Associate Professor of English, Yale University.
" "Everything," Hawthorne said, "has spiritual meaning, which to the literal meaning is what the soul is to the body." " I agree completely Mr. Hawthorne.
Folks this is no light read. If you want to edify both mind and spirit, pick up one of his books.
Once I get into the feel of his books though, I can usual start to read them pretty fast. It's like getting into the rhythm of a poet. Once you find it, it comes to life and becomes almost melodic.
I say this because usually I can read a book and my mind will start to wander then I'll snap back to what I was reading and realize that I had just read an entire paragraph but couldn't tell you what it's about. I'll usually just read it over again quickly and move on. But with Hawthorne's stuff I find that if my mind isn't focused I'll end up reading certain paragraphs over and over again. My mind has to be clear. No distractions. Can't sit in the same room while my husband plays video games or watches tv. No TMZ on in the background. So that's what I'm reading. Review coming soon to a blog-of-the-millennium near you.