Room

Every once in a while, a book comes along that you immediately want to pass on.  Room is one of those books.  This story is so compelling.  I'll be honest, I have no desire to read Jaycee Dugard's memior.  Yes, I know these horrific acts happen in our world, but sometimes the more we know, the more scared we live our lives. I don't want to be naive, but I'd rather live life optimistically. Now that I'm through with my rant, you might be wondering what the two have to do with each other.  Room is about a girl who is captured and kept locked in a room for 7 years at the age of 19.  During this time, she has a son, who is the narrator of this book.  Room lets you see the horrible consequences and psychological aspects of abduction.  It's interesting to read not only about how the mother copes with her abuse, but also how she tries as hard as she can to give her son a normal life.  I mean, how normal can a life be having never been outside of one room?  I am thankful that Room is more focused on the consequences of living in a room for 5 years instead of the abuse itself.  You still learn from it, but it isn't haunting.  I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone.  It gives you a lot to think about and the story goes way beyond the obvious.

Books

I've been meaning to blog about some of the books I've been reading.  These are books I have actually gotten something out of, not my "beach" reads.

First, Time of My Life
This is a book about what ifs.  A woman is looking at her life and wondering how it got that way.  She has become a stay-at-home mom who has lost herself.  Around this time she hears her ex-boyfriend is getting married.  She begins to wonder what happened with them.  Would life be better if they'd never broken up?  Magically, she goes back in time to learn the grass isn't always greener.  It made me think a lot about my life.  No matter how long you are with one person there are going to be some kinds of problems.  Whether it is over an unbudgeted shopping trip (not that I would ever do that) or leaving the tube off the toothpaste or whose turn it is to do the dishes.  Being married is about compromise and making it work no matter what.

Second, The Girl Who Chased the Moon

I absolutely love Sarah Addison Allen!  Her books have just enough magic mixed in to make them fantasy, but it's mostly a simply good story about real, normal people.  17-year old Emily goes to live with her grandfather after her mother passes away.  The strange thing is until her mother died she didn't even realize she had a grandfather.  Emily soon learns the reasons her mother didn't talk about her hometown and why the people there still talk about what happened with her mother.  Even more enjoyable than that is the side story of Julia and Sawyer.  Julia, a girl Emily's mom use to torture, is a baker at her dad's old restaurant and is trying to save enough money to get out of town as soon as possible.  She is also running from a high-school fling with a surprising twist!


Next, Saving CeeCee Honeycut
The best way I can describe this book is that it is very similar to The Secret Life of Bees.   It's about a girl whose mentally disabled mother dies and therefore she is sent to live in Savannah, GA with her great-aunt.  I loved the characters here and all of CeeCee's adventures.






Then, Divergent
I predict this series of books is going to be the next big thing.  Move over Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games!  When teenagers in this book turn 16, they must choose what faction they are going to live in for the rest of their lives.  Factions are divided by what character trait the members value most.  Tris leaves her faction of selflessness and joins the faction that values bravery.  And of course that's when both the excitement and romance begin.




Finally, Heaven is for Real
This book has changed me forever.  This is the amazing story of a boy, Colton, who claims to have gone to Heaven while being operated on at the age of 3.  When first hearing about this book, I have to admit I thought it was some crazy person just trying to get attention.  It's not that I don't believe in Heaven, I truly do, but I've personally never met anyone who claims to have been there.  It's amazing that the boy's description matches up so much with that Jesus promises us of Heaven in the Bible.  I honestly think this book could make a believer out of anyone.  All you need is a little faith.  I was amazed over and over again!

My New Genres

I know this sounds sort of strange, but since Ryder has been born, I've actually had more time to read than ever before.  I've been really into both nonfiction and historical fiction here lately.  And every book I've read I've loved.  Currently, I'm reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

It was a little hard to get into, mainly because it was confusing, but I just love learning about WWII and how the world was during that time.  Most of the books I've been reading are about this time period.  I'm loving it!  Below are some of the other nonfiction and historical fiction books I've recently read.

Typically, I'm an easy romantic comedy type girl.  Now, I'm not saying that I don't still love those books, especially the higher quality ones, but the books I'm reading more of now have much more of a story to them.  They are so much more real and more applicable to my life.  I feel like I'm growing from learning about others.