Reading...

I've been sick the past few days, with...I don't know what? It started out as a cough, then I got dizzy and tired, and cramps- so I assumed it was just a cold combined with PMS...until I threw up 5 times yesterday. NOT fun. Right now I just have a headache and I'm really tired. But, over the past few days it gave me a chance to finish all the books on my reading list! So, I need suggestions people, what are your favourite books? What should I read next??

Here are some (honest) thoughts/opinions on the ones I've read so far in 2008-
Chicken Soup For The American Idol Soul- Ok, so I don't watch the show anymore (for reasons obvious to anyone who knows me) but I started the book so I wanted to finish. There are some good stories in there, I particularly liked Jordin's!

Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky- It has never in my life taken me so long to finish a book! It's really interesting, the circumstances under which the book was written, and I can even tell that it's a good book...just not one for me! If you have an interest in history and fiction, seriously, read it! I, however, practically failed history in school and struggled to understand the background (world war 2) behind the stories, so it was just really confusing for me. Also confusing was the fact that there were so many main characters- it made it kind of hard to follow, and difficult to get emotionally involved in any of the characters...

The Choice, by Nicholas Sparks- I like pretty much all his books. This one was not my favourite, but it was still good! I won't ruin the ending, but I will say I think Travis made the right choice :)

The Unbearable Lightness Of Being, by Milan Kundera- I read this one with the idea of being open minded. It was interesting, but what on Earth is the point of this book? To portray life as if it has no meaning? To state that it's not necessary to have any values, just have lots of casual sex, and talk about explicit things? This one is definitely not for kids... There was one part I did like though: "True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test, consists in its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals." I think that bit is true!

The Problem Of Pain, C.S. Lewis- I've heard so much about his books, and this one is supposed to answer the question we all want answered: Why do good people suffer? Why does it seem God does nothing about it? It offered some answers, which is great. But I'll be honest; I found it very hard to read. Maybe it's the language of the time it was written, maybe he was just a very smart man who knew a lot of big words, but I had to read every page twice, and really think about it, before it even made sense.

The Bondage Breaker, Neil T Anderson- I'm not sure what to say about this one. It's wonderful that faith in Jesus can help us through our problems. But blaming all our illnesses, weaknesses, and problems on Satan is not something I had ever considered before. I never even thought about how Satan even affects our lives. It's not something that's really discussed at length in schools or even in most churches I've been to. I believe he's responsible for some of it, but it bothered me to think that God sees our struggles as us being "sinful." There was one part that really affected me though- a chapter about forgiveness. I actually ended up bawling reading that- there are some people in my past that I thought I had forgiven for what they did, but for some reason I still felt a lot of pain whenever I thought of them. It seems forgiveness doesn't mean you're going to forget what they did, or ever think that what they did was ok. But it means letting go, not holding negative feelings against them anymore, and moving on. Being free from the hate and anger, because it's only continuing to hurt you.

Stories Of Strength- A whole lot of inspiring short stories, about survival, faith, love etc. It was put together by Jenna Glatzer who wrote Celine's book, For Keeps.

The Bridges Of Madison County, by Robert James Waller- I liked this one! Ok, I don't think it's alright to cheat on your husband. But to give up your true love to stand by your responsibilities to your family and husband, that would be painful...it was a good story anyway :)