Books for Breakfast

I'm catching up!  If you create a goal in Goodreads, they keep you updated on your progress. They'll tell you how many books you've read towards that goal, and how many books you are behind or ahead of schedule. I've been behind schedule for a few months now, but I'm catching back up :) All in all I read 6 books in June; not bad. My genres varied as expected: mostly mystery, with non-fiction, contemporary, and romance thrown in.  Cotillion by Georgette Heyer was my last read of the month. This was my second novel by her, and while it didn't end up being what I expected, I enjoyed it nonetheless. I was expecting a regency romance characteristic of Heyer. What I got instead was a humorous narrative of 1800's London, with a dash of romance. I'm looking forward to my next read by this author! The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie is written in the style of my favorite mysteries: a whodunnit. A review I read of this title claimed that you would never...

(Just a warning, reader, this review might be a little disorganized)... I am not even sure how to efficiently review this book that took me over a month to read! Mere Christianity turned out to be different than I was expecting; I am so glad I buddy-read this with my friend because I don't know that I would have pushed myself to finish it otherwise. Her being a highly intelligent and extremely wise woman of the Lord was the added benefit because I was able to discuss certain aspects of the book with her. I realize I have started off with a clearly negative tone, so I think I should make it clear that I didn't dislike this book; on the contrary, Lewis delivered quite a few "mic-drops" that really hit me hard. However, there was quite a few parts of the book that made me shake my head in disagreement, and in the end, I found his general non-fiction writing style to be a bit grating (more on that later). As a side-note, I think it was perfectly acceptable that I dis...

I have a bit of catching up to do so I will be posting several short reviews. First up is If by Amy Carmichael. This little book was gifted to me by a dear friend and I finally got around to reading it. This friend was the same that recommended Georgette Heyer to me; I now trust all her suggestions implicitly :) This small book is unassuming in its size but it packs a powerful punch. Included in these 94 pages are short poems about Calvary Love. All are based on Biblical and theological truth, worded in such a convicting and powerful way. Many of them I had to re-read quite a few times before moving on to truly let the words sink in. I know that I will read this many more times because one cannot absorb all the truth in these pages with one pass through. I will share one of the poems, perhaps one of the entries I find most convicting; most heart-stirring and causing of growth in me. I'm not kidding when I say this book stirred my heart in all the right place and encouraged ...

I am officially one-tenth of the way finished with my reading goal! That's exciting to say. My tenth book was A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz. I discovered this title after re-reading parts of Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson. There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed. I found the author's reviews of each of the six novels Austen is most famous for ( Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and Emma ) to be illuminating. As someone who has struggled with reading Austen, I was grateful to have a modernized recap of each novel; I feel a little more comfortable going into reading the novels now because I have a better grasp of what's going on. Deresiewicz consistently connects his experiences with Austen's novels to his personal life, which I surprisingly enjoyed. His main purpose in the novel was illustrating how an unlikely guy can find connection and meaning with 18th century English literature a...

This one is a little different from the other books I've read so far. For one thing, Death's Acre by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson is a non-fiction book. (I've already read one non-fiction, Let Me Be a Woman , but this is an entirely different kind of subject). Death's Acre  is part autobiography, part true-crime, and part scientific journalism. It chronicles the humble beginnings of the Body Farm, a research outdoor "facility" located in Tennessee. Dr. Bill Bass takes the reader through an account of his career, how he came to create the Body Farm, and how it has helped to further not only scientific discoveries, but also criminal investigations. Just as a fun fact, one of my possible career paths before deciding on teaching was to become a forensic anthropologist. I admit, I was influenced more by TV shows like "Bones" than a good and honest interest in the human skeleton. Even though that is not my path anymore, I still possess a fascinati...

Two books in one week!!! My second finished book of the year is Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot. This was gifted to me by a friend for my birthday, and I'm sad to admit that it took me six months to finish it. It's very small and compact, less than 200 pages. But don't let the size fool you: this book packs a whole lot of theological truth into a pocket-size. Elliot really simmered things down to the basics for me in terms of what it means to be a Christian woman. I can't really say much in terms of review because I found this book to be so extensive. She writes in the form of letters to her daughter Valerie, and while most of the book is told through the lens of marriage, any woman regardless of relationship status, can find answers and clarification as to what our roles are as women of God. I plan to read this one again at some point so I can go through and underline my favorite parts and also be able to digest the content more. Stats: Completed: January ...