I am a person with a widely varied and seemingly unending array of annoying qualities: I talk way too fast, I finish other people’s sentences, I let clean laundry remain unfolded for days on end, I repeat myself, I’m moody, I repeat myself, I procrastinate, I’m great at starting things but not finishing them, etc.
I also repeat myself.
Anyway, over the last couple of years I bet I’ve started twenty different books that I’ve never finished. It’s not that the books haven’t been wonderful. It’s not that the books haven’t been compelling. It’s just that I have the attention span of a four year-old who’s been hooked up to an IV of sugar and caffeine, so if I don’t HUNKER DOWN with a book and physically move myself away from all possible distractions, I’ll read 20 or 25 pages, set the book down to go fix a diet Coke, and before I know it I’ve cleaned out half of a cabinet in the kitchen and started boiling water for some something that I was planning to cook but completely forgot about because I decided that it was of the utmost importance to watch 17 minutes of “America’s Next Top Model” before moving a vase from my bedroom to the table in the foyer and then deciding to eat some Goldfish.
Well.
A few weeks ago I found out (from a book review – not from a publicist or publisher) about a new book called The Help, and I read an excerpt on Amazon. I was immediately hooked. The book takes place in Mississippi, my beloved home state, and it’s set in the early 60s, a time period that’s always fascinated me. However, if you’ve been lurking around here awhile you know that my interest in a work of ficton set in the early 60s is pretty uncharacteristic because, as I’ve mentioned several times before, I don’t like to read things that take place too far in the past because the lack of air conditioning stresses me out. I don’t like to think about people being really hot. It makes me nervous.
Feel free to add those last three sentences to my list of annoying qualities.
Anyway, despite the fact that the book takes place during a time when I knew that people were going to be BURNING SLAP UP, I still wanted to read it. And over the last three or four days, that is exactly what I’ve done.
I finished it this afternoon. And I cried like a baby. I wish I could buy a copy for all my friends.
The language in the book is a little more colorful than I expected (though I can hardly blame the characters since they were in fact BURNING SLAP UP), and there were a couple of scenes where people said such hateful things that it made me squirm a little bit. But the characters in this novel got so far up under my skin that when I wasn’t reading, I missed them. I LONG for a sequel to this book because I want to check in on them and see how they’re doing. I want to make sure they’re okay.
And you know what else? As a girl who has spent her entire life in the South, I am a STICKLER for accurate Southern dialect. I cannot stand it when an author’s interpretation of Southern is “Well, mah word, dahlin’ – I think I’ve got a case of the vapahs.” A real Southern accent is just as much about the rhythm of the speech as it is the pronunciation of the words. So I was tickled to find that the dialect in The Help is DEAD ON. It’s wonderful, really. I laughed out loud more times than I can tell you because the voices in this novel are so distinct and real – they sound just like home.
So. That’s what’s been going on around here the last couple of days. I’VE BEEN READING. A WHOLE BOOK! And it was delightful.
What about y’all? You read anything good lately? Anything great? I’d love to see your suggestions.
In case, you know, I get on a bit of a reading roll.
After you commented in one of your posts about that book, I reserved it from my local library. I received it last week, and I finished it in about 3 days.
I loved everything about that book. Everything. I can’t wait for Kathryn Stockett to write another – it’s crazy to me that this was her first book.
Listen to her, people.
GO. GET. THIS. BOOK!
Soph, I saw this reviewed in EW and knew I needed to read it. Gotta get it.
I am reading the book right now and love it. I’m from MS so it’s neat that Kathyrn refers to places I know. Kathyrn’s family is actually a friend of ours, so it’s great to hear great reviews on her book!
LOVED this book!! Loved the characters. Loved the language. Loved the imagery. I still think about these characters, their lives, their futures. Can’t wait for her to write another book!
Just finished LOST IN THE MIDDLE, which I LOVED just as much for totally different reasons.
I bought this last week and was waiting to finish the book I’m currently reading, but I may now be compelled to go ahead and move on. You’ve made me even more excited about it.
I’m reading RUPTURE, which is a medical thriller written by a fellow from our hometown which makes me love it even more. The author is A. Scott Pearson. He does this writing thing on the side. In “real life,” he’s a surgeon in Nashville.
In his acknowledgements he wrote, “And finally, I am inspired by the fields and fencerows nestled in the Forked Deer River basin, a slice of earth guarded by a small, country church, a place that holds my soul.”
I’d have bought the book just for something that wonderful.
Anyway, I’m about halfway through the book, and if I didn’t absolutely have to sleep, I’d be finished by now.
I’ll add your book to my list of books to read. Many thanks!
The last GOOD book I read was ‘The Shack’ by WM. Paul Young. It is the most profound piece of Fiction I have read in a long time. It totally challenges all we have grown up knowing about God, while still remaining true to the gospel. Totally worth a read. I promise you wont be able to put it down either.
Im off now to find me a copy of The Help… I need a good book.
Thanks
I second Lisa! I read “The Shack” in three days! And that’s totally unlike me! With my attention span, I’m doin’ good to finish “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” in a reasonable amount of time. But I’m warning you, when you sit down with this book and a glass of Diet Coke with tons of ice, make sure you have a box of Kleenex handy. ‘Cause I cried. Like. A. Baby!
I’m in the first few chapters of Richard Stearnes “A Hole in Our Gospel”. Not fiction, and decidedly uncomfortable, in a life-changing way. Stearns is the president of World Vision, and he challenges everything that the American church stands for (and doesn’t). I’m in chapter 2 and it already has me weeping in my car at random moments. I’ll have to check out “The Help”… after 4 years of college in Mississippi and a lifetime in the South, I think it’ll feel a little like home to me, too.
First, let me just say that I saw way too much of myself in your list of annoying qualities…you could have been describing me, in fact! Some books I’ve read and loved recently. Karen Kingsbury’s Redemption, Sunrise, and Firstborn series’…loved them…love her! Her latest book, Take One. Loved it. And Max Lucado’s Facing Your Giants. Anything by Max Lucado is hands down a pure gift. I love to read…when I have the time, or when I’m not distracted by 20 other things (as you so accurately described the way my own mind works!).
Enjoyed this post…have a great day!
You make me giggle!! :0} Thanks!
I’m reading this book RIGHT NOW, thanks to a certain tip from a certain blogger who likes linky interwebby awesomeness! It’s FAB – thanks for not putting a spoiler out there though, ’cause I’m not through.
And YES, it does make me break a sweat when I read it. Praise God from Whom All A/C Flows…
Holy Cow. We must be twins because your description of myself is exactly as I would describe myself.
No I haven’t read anything other than blogs lately.
I haven’t read a good novel in a while – The Shack is sitting on my nightstand, but I absolutely lose myself in novels – can’t focus on anything until I’m done, will stay up all night to finish it…very consuming, and I haven’t had time to be that consumed! But this sounds like a ‘must read!’ On the non-fiction front, I’m reading “The Pressure’s Off” by Larry Crabb right now, which is challenging my perspective on…well, lots of things! Let’s just say, God’s gettin’ up in my bidness!
(And I’m like Natasha, I need to get up early in the morning to get all my blog reading done! Yours is on the top of my list!)
I’m on a book kick, so I will pick this up. Your posts are perfect – I run my house just like you..I always take a break for some goldfish & sweet tea ( I’m addicted to sweet tea)…and I never finish most things I start!
I feel like I should know you!
I had this book on hold at our local library and when I got it I read it in about 3 days! I loved it! My house is a mess ya’ll! I did nothing but read that book in my spare time and it was wonderful:) This book played out like a movie in my head and I wish I had taken longer to read it – oh well back to the dishes.
I know what you mean about novels set pre-air conditioning! You know that part in TKAM where Harper Lee describes the ladies as being like “soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum”? That makes me ITCH. Just ITCH. Yerk.
I am reading a book called “Pemberley Manor.” It’s a sequel to “Pride and Prejudice” that I won off of a blog a couple days ago. I wouldn’t normally choose Regency sequel fiction (she didn’t even have to come up with her own characters!), but this is pretty good. It’s enjoyable and true to the rhythm of Jane Austen’s prose. And even though she didn’t come up with her own characters, she’s doing a good job of fleshing out the ones I know and love from P&P, as well as introducing some new ones. I’m hooked.
I read “Amazing Love” by Francine Rivers when I was at the beach last month. Pretty good. My favorite book by her is the Last SinEater”, awesome! I also read “The Last Jew of Rotterdam” by Ernest Casutto about a month ago. My favorite time period/theme is WWII jews. I’m not sure why that is. I have been into that ever since I went to the Ann Frank Museum/house in Amsterdam. Just some ideas….
Well, add me to “The Shack” wagon. It is different, but very good. Also, I gotta say it again, I read my daughter’s complete “Twilight” series (all 4) books in ONE WEEK! I could not, repeat, could not put them down. Now I may or may not have a secret crush on a certain boy vampire, who does not exist.
Do you suffer from novel hangover? ou know, when you get so lost in a book that the rest of the world grows strangely dim and fuzzy? Your children’s voices asking you for food don’t register. And then… well you finish and it takes time to decompress and enter your own life again. That is the hangover part!!
I just read proof by Bill Bright & John Cavanaugh – a historical fiction about a revival that happened in the 1800s in New York City and a lawyer who decided to take on the Holy Spirit. Suprisingly clever book.
Hands down, the best book I have ever read is “Same Kind of Different As Me”. It’s a true story and written in the authors’ own words. The authors of the book are Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It’s the story about an affluent art dealer in Dallas, TX and a homeless man that was basically a slave until the 60’s. You will laugh and cry. It’s amazing how their lives intertwined and I could not put the book down, nor did I want to. They travel the country for speaking engagements now. You must read this book. It is truly inspiring and will stay with you.
Have you read “The Secret Life of Bees”? I feel the same way about it as you do “The Help”…I’m ready for a sequel so I can see what the Boatwright ladies have been up to! It’s soooo good.
I am reading The Help, because you mentioned it recently. I am like you, I read 25 pages and go do something else. My best reading is during the middle of the night, on nights I can’t sleep. Lately I’ve been sleeping so haven’t finished it yet! I love books so much more when I finish them in a day or two and not drag them out! I love getting ideas of what to read from your comments! I to LOVED The Shack!!! Also loved The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes.
Just read Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover. It has been staring me in the face every time I check out at Wal-Mart, so I finally broke down. Not exactly enjoyable reading, but definitely eye-opening and likely to be life-changing for our family.
First of all, may I just say as someone who has a birthday next week that the early ’60s weren’t THAT long ago?! Puh-lease!
Now, on to the books. I was a literature major and a writing teacher, so I love, love, love books. (But don’t tell anyone . . . I don’t usually love Christian fiction.) That said, the person above who said “Same Kind of Different As Me” was absolutely right–great book! In the past month I’ve read these books: “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger (WOW! Loved it! I blogged about it.); “Daisy Chain” by Mary DeMuth (very good for Christian fiction–a compelling story, that’s for sure); and “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows (loved it so much!).
So there. Hopefully that will give you something to start on! :)
Lurker here … I have to say that this one is on my list. And I just finished The Shack late last night. I am not a fan of reading the latest thing that everyone is talking about and I put it off for quite awhile.
I went into it skeptical. Imagine that!! But I loved it.
I won’t give anything away, but I loved the way God taught me about evil in the world, the right and wrong of it, unconditional love, forgiveness, and healing.
It is a powerful work of fiction which God can use to teach us more about Himself. And draw us closer.
Bottom line … I loved it. Imagine that too!!
I just love you. That is all.
Now Sophie, I share your “talent” for beginning books, then pouring a diet coke, taking the laundry out of the washer (who knows if it will actually make it to the dryer), and organizing my body sprays in the bathroom…all the while leaving my book half finished and the only thing complete being the completely empty glass of diet coke.
And, I like run-on sentences, too. And your blog.
I absolutely LOVED The Help! I got so into it that occasionally my husband would have to remind me that we, in fact, do not talk like that ’round these parts.
boomama,
i absolutely love me some mary kay andrews…anything she’s written is absolutely wonderful, and she even has been “interviewed” for paula deen’s cooking magazine!
The last series I read was Twilight. I finished all four books in two weeks! I was so ready for a fifth and a little let down, I had been reading about them for two weeks and when it was over I was sad. So sad that I haven’t been able to pick up another book.
I love Karen Kingsbury books! If you like mysteries, you would like Margaret Maron books. Her Deborah Knott series is set in North Carolina.
BooMama you’re such a blast!
I live with an ADHD hubby…..and I gotta say….girl, you might be…OH nevermind!
I loved reading The Same Kind of Different As Me! I cried, I laughed…..I was different after reading it. It blessed me bigtime!
come may 8 i’ll have three under the age of four (what? did i just say that?!), so i pretty much don’t deviate from child development/parenting fare these days.
i did start “julie and julia” (as in julia child) or something like that recently, but i only got a few chapters in because i had a kevin leman book too and figured it needed to take precedence. but i’m taking leman back to the library today and hope to find “julie and julie” again so i can start it over!
my resolution this year is simply to read more. i don’t care what it is–parenting, Christian, reading-for-pleasure, whatever. i just love to read, but have let it go since kids came. i want to reestablish it as a priority!
I love to read. I will have to check out that book. I recently read So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger. It is not as haunting as Peace Like a River, but it was still good and thought-provoking.
Now I’m going to read the other comments so I can see what I need to look for at the library.
I just finished The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. The story is told by the four daughters of a Baptist preacher from Alabama who takes his family to be missionaries in the Congo. It’s sad to see the family “lose its religion” while watching their overzealous father alienate everyone around him. But the storytelling from four different voices was amazing.
We could almost be separated at birth (I talk too much, interrupt, etc) except for the not finishing fiction books part; that’s the one thing I do finish. And also the Southern part, although I guess that’s the separated at birth part.
I want to read “The Help”! I think it sounds great. Yesterday I got a book in the mail and it was so good that I stayed up till midnight and finished it. I think you might like it too. It takes place even further south than you are, and gives a fascinating glimpse into a place where people are very very hot in spite of the AC, PLUS it’s a murder mystery. It’s called “Finding Nouf” and I highly recommend it. Highly! Read this one next!
Thanks for the suggestion — I love good Southern fiction. Anne River Siddons is a fave author. Recent good books? Hmmm, I read Lisa Samson’s Quaker Summer recently and loved it. Made me think. I also like Kristen Billerbeck’s Split Ends and Trophy Wives Club for a fun, light read.
I find myself reading mostly nonfiction — just read John Piper’s Spectacular Sins. Oh, my word. Great book.
Another great book – Mad Church Disease by Anne Jackson.
I love to read but can’t seem to find the time or really, the focus to read. I think I’ll take a one month reading vacation. Just me, the family, and the dog on an island with books…..oh and the laptop. I can’t be disconnected that long without some sort of long term effect.
I’m so glad for all of these book suggestions, because I need SOMETHING to get me to stop reading Twilight. I’m on my 4th trip through. Why? And why aren’t there more? And curse the person who leaked Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edward’s perspective) to the internet and made Stephenie lose her love for it.
I feel like I need to read some books that I won’t have to elbow a 13 yr old to get a copy of it.
And yet, I won’t loan out my copies. What if I need them?
I need Twilight rehab. The Help sounds like a good place to start.
Okay, I have to go get this book! I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. I can’t have a book in my house that I haven’t read because I will go pure crazy until I read it!
Your explanation of trying to read and then boiling water and then rearranging stuff and then eating had me in stitches I was laughing so hard. Seriously, were you and I somehow separated at birth? I have MOUNTAINS of clean laundry covering the bed in our spare bedroom because I can’t get around to folding it and putting it away. My husband knows to just use that bed as his closet. Hey, the clothes are a little wrinkled, but it works!
This is my first comment (I just recently “discovered” you, but rest assured you will be hearing more from me in the future. Especially since you love all things Southern. I’m a Carolina Girl that has been living in a Canadian world for the past 7 years… I long for EVERYTHING southern!
Bless your heart…
I read The Help after seeing it on your links a couple of weeks ago. I will be hosting it for my May book club and plan on cooking a very southern dinner to go along with the theme!! Love it. You would
love Same Kind of Different As Me and the Swan House.
Nothing beats a good book, my friend :)
I just finished reading “All Quiet on the Western Front” mostly because I’m kind of on a mission to read as much as I can from the books that Hitler banned in Germany during WWII. I want to do anything opposite of him. And I’m on this kick thanks to a book by Andy Andrews (my fave lately!) called “Island of Saints” which I read because I’m so hooked to him because of “The Lost Choice” and “The Traveler’s Gift” (which are MUST reads!!!!!!) Also love Philip Gulley and “The Shack” by William Young(?).
Well, let’s see…
I’ve been trying to stay current on my blog reading. Which going much better than my blog writing. Haven’t even stopped to blog about meeting a certain couple of blog women I LOVE! ;)
I have a few books going as well. But maybe for different reasons.
I have like literally a couple of pages left of Pilgrim’s Progress. WHY haven’t I finished it? I cannot figure this out.
I’m reading The Christian Husband by Bob Lepine. I KNOW! I’m NOT a husband. And, no, I’m not reading it to whoop up on my man. I’ve been reading it…slllloowwwlly, to get some insight into what our men battle as Christian husbands. It’s been very informative.
I just finished Dead Heat which is the last book in a series by Joel Rosenberg. It’s fiction. Kinda’ like the Left Behind series (which I LOVED) but they cover the events BEFORE the Rapture. I did not read any of the other books in this series. My brother-in-law let me borrow this one. FASCINATING. Quick read. I’d say even for a woman with the attention span of a four-year-old. ;)
Other than that…trying to focus on writing an article for our local newspaper. I say that with much fear and trembling and well, since I put it out there… PLEASE pray for me!
Oh…if that wasn’t ENOUGH information for you… (I come from a line of people who TALKVERYFASTOHMYGOSH! But that wasn’t what I was going to say. I ramble, too. But that’s not it either….)…
what I was going to add would be the other books I read…at night…you know? Before someone’s bedtime….
lots of Dr. Seuss and some Christian Parable books for kids that I bought for my oldest daughter…almost 19, sniff, sniff…OKAY I know this is YOUR blog…
BUt you asked…and I suppose if I had to list annoying habits of my own, TMI would be at the top.
:)
WHEW…just scrolled up to all of those comments that are NOT LONG!
Guess I wanted you to have another “book” to read. HAHAHAHHA…
So I’m a comment hogger…
“Blue Hole Back Home” by Joy Jordan-Lake is incredible in every way. Read the reviews on Amazon, which describe it much better than I can, but I guarantee you won’t be able to put it down.
Another daily lurker but since you mentioned my favorite subject in the entire world — BOOKS — I am coming out of the closet. My first thought was “Oh my which to mention?” until I got to the poster who said words straight from my heart. Hands down this is the gospel truth. Run, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore and buy “Same Kind of Different as Me”. Order it on Amazon and pay for overnight shipping. Whatever it takes, get this book while you are on a reading roll. It is a forget-to-eat book and girl, that is saying more in a short sentence than I could ever make you understand.
I love that feeling you mentioned…of connecting with a character so much that you miss them when you’re not reading. Then there’s sort of a hole left inside you, like losing a friend, once you’ve finished the book. You can’t just read it again. You want the story to go ON.
I am a big fan of the library, so I’ll see in The Help is at mine.
LOVED the “Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingslover. AWESOME! For someone who also sounds like your twin with attention spans/distractions, this one I could hardly put down! Read it before children though, so there’s that…
Uncanny.
I’ve thought for awhile now that someone at BooMama HQ had placed a wiretap on my phone, bugged my house. This post confirms my suspicions.
After getting a call last night from a hospital ICU waiting room, I knew I had to get my priorities straight and act *fast*.
So, I prayed.
And then I downloaded “The Help” onto my Kindle.
I’ll be driving from Indiana to Birmingham to join my sweet family at the hospital now. And as we sit together and laugh and pray and cry and swap stories from our Mississippi childhood, I’ll bet we’ll be passing that Kindle around, too.
I made a list while reading the comments. I may have to cut back on my blog reading and get back to good old fashion papery books… What a concept… huh.
Same Kind of Different As Me will be first on my list. I’m resisting the Twilight thing, because I’m barely over my Harry Potter obsession, and we would all be hungry, naked and surrounded by dust bunnies the size of Rhode Island if I start on that course…
It’s good to know your weakness…
The Shack would be first on my list, had I not already read it. It was phenomenal, life changing, etc. etc. Definitely read it.
I’ve also heard great things about My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I’ve been wanting to pick that one up.
Lots of hammock worthy reading…. If only we could get past 40 degrees up here in the Midwest… Honestly.
I will have to check this book out!
As far as the book I last read–I won’t be able to add anything new to your list because you’ve read them too. The Twilight Series. : )
I just ordered that book :-) thanks for the recommendation! (as a side note – this post made me laugh out loud thanks for that too!)
I AM a reader — always have been and always will be – I love books . . . it’s often been a source of ridicule for me (and by often I mean during middle school which apparently I am still not over) because I would choose to read during recess over playing truth or dare or hockey (i lived in Canada – they play hockey at recess)
Anyhow, as a reader, I would highly recommend you read Redeeming Love (which I know you’ve already heard because most Christian woman would say it’s their fAVORITE book – with good reason) but Francine Rivers series The Mark of The Lion is actually my favorite of all time . . . totally will make you sad when you finish! :-)
Oh and Same Kind of Different As Me. SO good :-)
OMG, you’re so funny. I have a problem with people being cold and/or wet for long periods of time. That’s why I didn’t like the movie Titanic and alsoanything about blizzards and snowstorms. We are same kind of different, me thinks. Also, I am rather ADD, lacking in skills to finish if distracted, so I read when no one is around. Like at night when everyone is in bed, drives hubs crazy. He wakes up & thinks a UFO is over our bed because of my book light.
I just bought The Directors Notebook on Twilight (or something like that) by Katherine Hardwicke. Really neat, not really a read but educational & entertaining.
Just finished Still Alice…I forget who it’s by,and I would need to get up to get it. but it is about a woman with early onset alzheimers. I know it doesn’t exactly sound cheery, but the story is riveting it really is…and it wasn’t depressing like you might think it would be…I loved it so much I read it in 10 hours straight.
So I have a thing for historical mysteries. Nothing heightens the suspense like women with decolletage and men in top hats. I ran across an author (Georgette Heyer) who had written 50 some books and was touted as “historically accurate” and “The Queen of Regency Fiction” (I mean, besides Jane Austen, because, well, duh).
At any rate, I started reading one of her books lately. And the story is okay, I guess, but I can’t get past the language. It ain’t Jane Austen. So I’ve spent my time picking my way through the dialogue (Wikipedia is my friend for some of these phrases) and reading some of the more zany ones out loud to Andrew. Here’s my favorite: “C., I’m in the devil of a hank!” “That’s all right, sir: you’ll never be bum squabbled! Not but what things are in a rare hubble-bubble… But don’t you fall into the hips! I’ll lay my life you’ll get there with both feet.”
I would give anything to figure out how to work ‘bum squabbled’ into my daily conversation.
I loved your blog today (well, I love it most days) and was pleasantly surprised when I realized that you were talking about a book (The Help) that I had just pruchased from Amazon myself. I will hurry to finish the book that I am currently reading and get started right away on the The Help. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the book.
I just finished reading “Yes Man” by Danny Wallace. I usually end up buying the books rather than seeing the movies when they come out. It was a really good read. Sometimes I even forgot that it was a true story b/c it was so entertaining.
I am from MS also(Greenville). I now live in Louisville,KY. If you liked that book you would probably also like “Same kind of Different as Me”. I can’t remember the author at the moment. Awesome, I promise. I am not a book reader unless it has lots of pictures and how to make something in it. So for me to sit down and read, it must have been good.
OOOH-OOOH! I forgot to add: ANYTHING written by NICHOLAS SPARKS! That actually means “anything”, not the name of the book! But surely you already know that!
OR- The books by Dave Pelzer! ‘A Child Called “It”‘, ‘The Lost Boy’ and ‘A Man Named Dave’. In that order!
I LOVE to read. I’m always reading at least one book. Right now I’m reading Randy Alcorn’s Safely Home. Great book! Most of the story is set in China and reveals what the lives of Chinese Christians are really like. It’s powerful, sad, and convicting to this spoiled westerner.
This post cracked me UP!
I also leave clean laundry unfolded for, well, ever.
And now I have to put this book on my to-read list. Which is altogether too long, but that’s what a list is for, I suppose.
Sophie–you gotta get the “Savannanh Series” by Denise Hildreth Savannah from Savannah is 1st then 2 more: Savannah comes Undone and Savannah by the Sea(my personal fave) btw you would L O V E denise. Loves Jesus lives in Nashville and she answered my email personally when I asked her the name of the nail polish on the cover of one of her books. Google her . . find her . . be her friend on fb. Seriously. Don’t make me repeat myself.
I echo all the people who loved Same Kind of Different as Me; it gave me SO much to think about and was the best book I’ve read in a long time.
The Shack, however, I wish I hadn’t wasted my time on. I appear to be in the minority with that opinion, though.
I also recently read a little book (it really is little in size and lenght) called The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller. It’s an analysis of the story of the prodigal son in Luke, and it’s amazing. It totally changed the way I looked at the parable and made me appreciate the gospel even more. It’s a great, relatively quick read that is more than worth your time.
This book sounds GREAT!! I’m gonna have to look for it!! I’m a sucker for a good book….Right now, I am hooked on anything Karen Kingsbury has written…I’m working my way through all her books!!
I think I have bi-polar book disease…I am in the middle of several books at the same time. I’ve read The Shack and loved it. I also love “self-help” books–love Joyce Meyer. I’m currently reading the second Twlight book, New Moon, and “I Dare You” plus “Battlefiend of the Mind” by Joyce, and just finished “The Red Tent” and also glancing at “A Marriage without regrets” by Kay Arthur.
Sophie–that’s one of the best books I’ve read all year. Not just 2009, but in the last 12 months, and I’ve read a lot of books.
I loved it, and felt the same way as you — I wish I could buy all my friends a copy.
Here’s my review: http://www.5minutesforbooks.com/866/the-help/
I just got this on audiobook from the library. It’s been a migraine day for me, so I’m sure I’ll get through another few chapters before bed! I’m really enjoying it so far.
I would choose being too cold over being too hot ANY day of the week.
Living in 1970’s married housing college apartment in Phoenix cured me of my want to be warm inside a house. Goosebumps? Yes please and thank you.
I just got through reading The Help and really loved it! I grew up in Jackson MS and thought the dialect was dead on too.
A few other books I’ve enjoyed: Redemption, Firstborn and Sunrise series by Karen Kingsbury, Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Wish You Well by David Baldacci and Uncharted by Angela Hunt really rocked me!
Okay. First of all, I think the name of the sequel to this book should be “Burning Slap Up.”
Secondly, I ditto your southern language thing. I am SUH-THERN and you can’t fake that.
Third, today I cracked a Yankee UP when I said, “And I, by cracky, am an adult.” And she said, “I’m sorry. Did you say ‘by cracky?'” Then began to laugh hysterically.
And as I perused your comments, I noticed one from a gal who was from Greenville, MS. I wondered how many people know that it’s pronounced “GREEN-vool” and not “green-vill.” It’s all about the accent.
I JUST finished this book last week and also LOVED it.
Hey, speaking of books from publishers and authors and such, would you make a promise to COME AND STRANGLE ME if I ever agree to review another book like that? I’ve got three sitting on my shelf calling out hateful reminders to write. something. about. them.
And now I’ve got to get my kids to bed so I can sit in front of the TV for 90 minutes and not move AN INCH. And I’m going to avoid your newest post for a couple of hours. Can’t…read…ahead…
There are times when I read what you wrote and I think I’m reading myself. Except that I’ve never said BURNING SLAP UP! And I grew up in Arkansas and I consider myself a Southern girl and I’ve been really hot, but never have I said “BURNING SLAP UP!” Now it’s so fun I think I can’t stop.
Anyway…your ADD description of yourself. Totally me. Totally. But a week ago I started taking ADD medicine b/c honestly I’d be in mid-sentence and lose my train of thought. And I told my dr. I either had early Alzheimers or ADD and I kinda wanted to rule out ADD first.
And so far so good. Although I’m realizing that the medicine still doesn’t make me want to go do things like clean out closets or something that’s gotten messy b/c I’m too ADD to keep up with it. But I’m going to try this awhile.
And every now and then I’m going to say…”BURNING SLAP UP!”
Because I want to. It’s my new favorite thing to say.
Just started reading your blog not that long ago…and I’m in love. :) Mmmkay, that sounded really stalkerish, but I get such a kick outta you, sister!
And I’m pretty sure we have all the same annoying qualities. We should be friends.
Must Reads:
1. Same Kind of Different as Me (an all-time favorite)
2. Peace Like a River
3. The Poisonwood Bible (in just in the middle of it, but it is amazing)
4. The Shadow of the Wind (I’ve never read it…ha ha! But I’ve read review after review that it is a favorite, and it is sitting next to my bed waiting for me to read it)
P.S. Discover Shelfari.com! Lots of book recommendations and reviews from people like you and me.
I read it because you mentioned it and LOVED it. I didn’t want it to end. I sure hope the author is working on another!
Also read Richard Paul Evans’ “The Choice.” I always love his writing! Cried and cried.
I am laughing my head off…. My friend, Leslie, told me that she had read your blog & I needed to get the book you wrote about & I asked her what it was… she said “The Hard.” Well… for obvious reasons…. we both started laughing. I’m glad to know the book has a different title!
What up?
Any chance you’ve got “The Hole in our Gospel” on your reading list? It’s received quite a bit of hype in the World Vision circles. I’m reading it now. Not exactly any new revelations so far, but it is definitely making me think. If you read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I recently read “Once an Arafat Man” which I enjoyed… thinking you may have read that one. Also liked “The Lemon Tree.”
oh my word! I can’t believe you have the same worries I do about a/c…. I don’t like movies or books set in times past for the same reason!!! I’m going to order the book… I am also from MS and still wonder how I survived high school because we only had one bld that had a/c…it’s a wonder I didnt’ kill someone.
Love books, love the suggestions. I have to second, third, whatever the folks who suggested The Poisonwood Bible. It is one of my top 5 books, and I’ve read A LOT of books. Also loved The Secret Life of Bees. Don’t even get me started on Twilight. I completely agree that whoever leaked Midnight sun should be promptly beaten to death with a handbag. Oh, and for a completely different type of book, try The Hunger Games. Very interesting.
The characters I know, love and Miss.So.Much. are Jan Karon’s from The Mitford Series. I NEVER reread a book (knowingly..can’t remember anything lately), but I will , one day, reread these. I treasure the characters, the gentle and profound truths, and the companionship. How I wish she had continued the series (even though she has started a new series…’cause I’ll still miss Esther, Uncle Billy, Aunt Rose, etc.). And I don’t rec. that one start with the first in the series…I think it’s better to start with the second one.