Titles and Authors

Today I drove down to Miller Park to purchase baseball tickets for a Hagen Family Reunion this summer. On the way I listened to a Wisconsin Public Radio talk show. The guest said that statistics show young adults under 35, on average, read one book a year. That's pretty sad ~ and would indicate that most don't read any. Our two daughters and sons in law read a lot, so they would make up for the one book dozens of others are not reading. Me, I read at least a book a week...I enjoy it, generally have the time, and don't always sleep well. You will see in this post, I am not a very creative critic. But, I will offer you a variety of books I have enjoyed so far this year.

One of my goals in 2008 is to read more biographies or at least stories about real people and their experiences, challenges, and how they overcame hardship. I sort of wondered how I would find good ones. Our library here in Delafield is very small and crowded so I generally put books on hold over the Internet so I can just stop by and pick them up. I have been pleasantly surprised at how interesting biographies have come my way ~ recommendations from guests, references to them in blogs, and even a in a Christmas letter. Then, of course, there are my 11 Heart Friends around the country ~ they always have great suggestions. The more I read them, the more I seem to find...one boook leads to another.

QUIET STRENGTH (Tony Dungy)
THE MAN BEHIND NARNIA (C.S. Lewis)
DON'T BET AGAINST ME (Deanna Favre)
THREE CUPS OF TEA (Greg Mortensen)
LEAVING MICROSOFT TO CHANGE THE WORLD (John Woods)

These are the ones I have read so far ~ each one unique and quite different. Each individual facing a wide variety of hard things in their lives and each one with a different sphere of influence. I'm just about to start a 500+ page book called ABUNDANCE ~ a novel of Marie Antoinette. Care to join me?

I can't seem to stay away from novels tho, and have been introduced to three new authors in the new year. Angela Hunt helped Deanna Favre write her story and I decided to read one of Angela's novels. I'm hooked. So far I've read THE NOTE, THE NOVELEST, THE ELEVATOR, and UNCHARTERED. Hunt is very creative ~ there is nothing predicitable, there is no pattern, each one is completely different. I like her ~ can you tell?

Then I read HIDDEN IN TIME and A RIFT IN TIME by Michael Philllips. Wow, they were great. What's the impact on the world in finding Noah's Ark or the Garden of Eden? You, too, can find out. Philllips also wrote a series of books about two young girls, one white and one black, who survive the Civil War all alone ~ with a plantation to run, bills to pay, and maurauders to worry about.

And finally I got around to reading THE KITE RUNNER and A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini. Oh, my...what a learning experience! Sections were hard to read ~ my life is so protected and so comfortable.