Recent Reads

I love to read.  Reading, much like writing, inspires me.  I get so engrossed in other peoples stories.  Maybe my love of reading is a reason that I love the theory of narrative therapy so much at work.  Everyone's story is their own and there is such power in sharing our stories.

I often have to consciously not read when life is really busy because I get sucked in and won't do anything else until the story is complete.  I love how reading can take you to other places, people, lands, stories, time periods, etc.  The possibilities are endless in books.  I love stories that evoke feeling and thought.  The ones that leave you in a daze after reading because it's sometimes hard to come back to reality are those that I think about over and over.

One of the reasons I love my breaks from school so much is that I get a chance to read.  Funny aside one beach trip we took as a family - we all literally sat on the beach and read until dark then would walk to the house shower and eat then go back to our books - we counted and among the 5 of us for one beach trip we must have read over 20 books.

Over spring break I got the chance to read two new books that I thought I would share with you all:

The Magnolia Story
by Chip and Joanna Gaines

I mean I am a huge fixer upper fan so this one was a must read on my list.  [Can I just get Joanna to come decorate my apartment/ houses for life?!!?!] I love how real and authentic they are on TV and the book goes so much deeper than that.  They talk about their lives and their journey to fixer upper.  What we see on TV is the glamorous houses they decorate and the empire they have built in Waco but the book goes through the struggles that they experienced to get there.  One of my favorite parts about their story was how, even in the tough times, Joanna trusted in God's will.  Her life is a testimony of surrendering.  Chip is just a genuine caring person, not afraid to work hard, get his hands dirty, and truly serve other people.  No matter what.  This book is a must read for sure.

Two by Two
by Nicholas Sparks

I have read all Nicholas Sparks books and seen all the movies.  Every time a new one comes out I get my hands on it and read it.  I don't care that most of his stuff is super romantic.  I love love and the whimsical way he writes about it.   This book though was very different.  You are not sucked into a super intense romance the way that you are almost all of his other stories.  I will have to admit this one took me a while to read - something that is not my norm as an all in one sitting fast reader.  I was very aggravated by the wife in the story.  Once I got that this novel was not a romance of how the husband and wife met, fell in love, and are rekindling that I actually started to like the story.  The story is really about a dad and his relationship with is young daughter.  I would recommend it if you are a Nicholas Sparks fan and interested in seeing another angle of his stories but be prepared for it not having a love story.

And for a bonus I thought I would list some all time favorites [pictured]:  Jesus Calling / Eat, Pray, Love / Little Women / One Thousand Gifts / LC Celebrate / Safe Haven / Surprised by Joy

Also PS please excuse the dog hair on my pants.  That's the life of black pants with a dog who jumps on the bed! #real

If you have any book recommendations I would love to hear it! I plan on doing more of these book review and round up posts in the future so if you have something to share let me know.