I’ve been delving into making sourdough bread and butter from local cream. I’ve been freeze-drying candy to sell. I’ve been homeschooling my kids. Every day, though, ends with my favorite activity – reading. As time passes, I come to realize more and more that reading is something I just absolutely enjoy. Here is what I read in September:
Letter to the American Church is a warning letter to today’s Christian church. The times we are currently living in require knowers of the truth to stand up and speak it loudly. I highly recommend this book to all Christians, especially those in leadership. Metaxas is today’s Bonhoeffer and he’s worth listening to.
Set in a West Virginia mining “town,” Strange as This Weather Has Been explores how nature influences people – both good and bad. The people in the story live in the shadow of mining mountains where horrific floods have taken place. The floods, however, are not necessarily nature’s fault, but the mining companies who take shortcuts. Yet, they can’t move away as the beauty that surrounds them calls to them. They can’t fight back either as their livelihood often depends on the mines. Some want to escape, but just can’t. Sometimes the ties to the land are just too strong.
The world has just 48 hours to prepare for the end of the world. The sun is about to release a flare that would act like a nuclear explosion. The government has to figure out what to tell people and to try to find ways to let some people survive. The book is fast-paced and highly realistic. It’s definitely worth reading to think about what choices you would make in the situation presented in 48 Hours.
I had high hopes for The Irish Girl, but it told a long story without completely coming to an end. It starts with a curse and a ghost story, but ends up being about a family who has both ties to England and Ireland as Ireland seeks to free itself from England’s control. Kitty has a fiery spirit, but it breaks when she loses the love of her life. The story was interesting, but it left me wondering what happened to some characters.
Cloud Cuckoo Land is a story about lost stories. There are many known books, plays and stories mentioned in antique documents that we do not have anymore. This book explores how one such story may have tied a few generations together if it had not been lost. The story is told by an ancient family, a teacher trying to help students and a girl who is on a spaceship traveling to a different planet to save civilization. I really enjoyed Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Book Lovers was a fun read and was very predictable. Nora is a literary agent who truly believes most people’s lives follow book tropes, including hers. She’s the older sister who keep falling for guys who up and leave to live in a small town instead of New York City. They decide to spend a month in a small town where she runs into a book editor who loves New York City as much as she does. Love fills the air, but her sister has a surprise that will leave her questioning everything she wants in life. There’s some graphic romance. It was a sweet book overall, though.
I saw several people reading Revealing Revelation so I checked it out as an ebook from my library. The author does a good job of breaking down the entire Biblical book of Revelation; however, he has his opinions about its interpretation. Rather than discuss the various ideas about Revelation, he is sure of what he thinks and it sets the tone for the entire book. He “knows” that the rapture will happen before the tribulation. It’s a good book to add to a study of Revelation, but it needs to be balanced with a few others.
Nana the cat didn’t want to be adopted in the first place, but after getting hit by a car, Saturo takes him in and brings him back to health. Nana agrees to stay with him and they develop a very close relationship. After several years, though, Saturo starts taking Nana on trips to visit people who might be able to adopt Nana since Saturo says he can no longer keep him. Nana can’t figure out why Saturo can’t keep him, but no person they meet is quite right for Nana. The ending is bittersweet, but The Traveling Cat Chronicles shows the true connection between people and their pets.
Hattie is a house contractor in Charleston who is minding her own business when an LA agent notices her and wants her to be featured in a TV show series about flipping houses. After reluctantly agreeing, the contractors find the wallet of a teacher who went missing twenty years ago. While trying to restore the house, Hattie has to deal with competing love interests, getting over her husband’s death from seven years ago, someone sabotaging the construction site and trying to find out if the teacher was murdered. The Homewreckers almost seems to have too much going on at once and it wasn’t my favorite book of Mary Kay Andrews. It felt more like a mystery than a chick-lit book and I predicted the ending.
So, those are the books I enjoyed (mostly) this month. What have you read lately? Share in the comments!
