#74 - Read 10 new "adult" books.

It's both taken longer than I hoped and not as long as I expected.  Nonetheless, the day has arrived when I can affirmatively proclaim that I have read/devoured/enjoyed ten adult books.  This means there were no crayon marks from other library borrowers on the pages.  There were no illustrations of cute little animals acting like people.  There was nary a "...and they lived happily ever after" at the end of any of them.  They were books written by adults for adults.  And they came from all different genres.  Because I'm trying to be more well-rounded like that.  (As opposed to reading 10 John Grisham novels, tempting though that was.)

Here's the list, in chronological order no less:

1.  The Time Traveler's Wife

I read this in December of 2009.  Needless to say, I can hardly remember it by now.  Long story short, I cried.  And I remember being disappointed at the end of it.  But I'm one of those who likes happy endings with nothing left to the imagination...for the most part.  Haven't seen the movie, but that was my motivation to read it...so I could be one of those people who saw the movie and said with an air of superiority, "This isn't anywhere as good as the book."

2.  Bleachers

Because I had to have one John Grisham in the list of ten.  It was completely different from any of his other books.  And I wouldn't say that's a good thing.  I happen to like his formula lawyer-centric tales.

3.  Understanding Exposure

A non-fiction book on photography.  This is the book (so I'm told) for beginning photographers.  I just wanted to understand the differences between my manual settings.  It definitely helped, but I still feel like I've just dipped my toes in.  I'm a far cry from swimming the English Channel.

4.  Chasing Superwoman

I won this book in a blog contest!  I was so pumped.  I found Susan's blog through a network of working moms in blogland.  Lo and behold, she herself had written a book about her life a Christian working mom and how she juggles it all - her family, her career as an attorney, and herself.  Definitely a great read, and one I could relate to on sooooo many levels.

5.  Parenting By the Book

This is John Rosemund's anti-postmodern "How to" parenting book.  He reminds us that we don't need a book about how to parent.  We have one - the Bible.  He rails against the current ideals of pumping our kids full of self-esteem, thereby creating self-centered monsters who put themselves before all others, in complete opposition to the teachings of the Bible.  It's definitely an eye-opener as to the errors of our post-modern parenting.  This is the description from Amazon:

In the 1960s, American parents stopped listening to their elders when it came to child rearing and began listening instead to professional experts. Since then, raising children has become fraught with anxiety, stress, and frustration. The solution, says John, lies in raising children according to biblical principles, the same principles that guided parents successfully for hundreds of years. They worked then, and they still work now!

6.  Radical:  Taking Your Faith Back from the American Dream 

Absolutely.  Amazing.  This book put me in my place by exposing my diluted, Americanized faith.  When I consider what Christians around the world risk for the Word and the Truth, it puts me on my face.

Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell. We owe Christ to the world - to the least person and to the greatest person, to the richest person and to the poorest person, to the best person and to the worst person. We are in debt to the nations. Encompassed with debt though, in our approach to missions, we have subtly taken ourselves out from the weight of a lost and dying world, wrung our hands in pious concern, and said, "I'm sorry. I'm just not called to do that." 

Romans 1:14-15 "I am in debt to the Jews and the Gentiles."

7.  The Christmas Thief

This was a fluff book given to me by my mother-in-law who is so wonderful about giving me things to read over Christmas break.  I read it in a day, I think.  And it was fun, cute, and easy...something I didn't have to think about too much.  (Think Kenny Bania on Seinfeld.)

8.  The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2011

So we went to Disney World in April.  And I read this gigundous book from cover to cover in preparation.  I can only say that it must have played a part as to why our trip was executed so expeditiously, efficiently, and (of course) magically. 

9.  When Did I Get Like This?

My sister lent me this book by Amy Wilson.  I don't generally like to make recommendations, but OH MY GOODNESS.  If you are a mom of young children (and probably if you ever have been), you have to read this book.  Stop what you're doing right now and read it.  I guarantee you'll relate to it.  I intend to write a post dedicated solely to this book, but here are a few snippets from the pages:

On learning not to yell as much:

There are certainly times when a good lung workout is called for - say, when Seamus is about to scooter into the path of a FedEx truck - but that is all the more reason to save the screaming for when I really need it.  The hardest part is recognizing, in the moment, that my kids having the effrontery to whine, "I didn't say I wanted peanut butter with grape jelly" is not an instance where utterly losing my mind is really warranted.

On weigh-ins at OB appointments during pregnancy:

If Dr. Merman was weighing me, I would take my earrings and socks off first, so as not to add to the grotesque number he would proclaim with the click of his pen.

10.  The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin



This is the first book I read to completion on my Christmas gift from Sam (aka my Kindle).  I can't believe it took me 5 months to read a book, but that's par for the course in this mom's life.  All in all, he was a pretty cool dude.  My favorite feature of the Kindle is being able to highlight my favorite quotes throughout.  You're so lucky.  I'm going to share some with you now.

Our sensations being very much fixed to the moment, we are apt to forget that more moments are to follow the first, and consequently that man should arrange his conduct so as to suit the whole of a life.

My conduct might be blameable, but I leave it, without attempting further to excuse it; my present purpose being to relate facts, and not to make apologies for them. 

(Someday when I write my own autobiography [ha!], I'll try to have half as much candor about myself.)

In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.  Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.

And that, friends, is that.
#74 -You have been checked!