Most of you know that I’m an avid reader…and by avid, I mean that you can pretty much rest assured that I have a book that I’m reading at any given moment throughout the week. Normally, I get so into books that I stay up until 1-2 in the morning to finish it…thus being dead to reality first thing in the morning, but that, my friend, may be one of the reasons that I enjoy reading fiction so much? J
Another thing you may know about me is that books tend to “get inside me”…it’s not that way with movies. If I watch a movie, I think of it maybe once or twice throughout the following week, but then I pretty much forget about it…except for the occasional, “oh, Meg Ryan looked adorable in that little outfit…wish I could find one like that” sort of thought that randomly will go through my head. Books on the other hand are almost like real life experiences for me…I conjure up the entire scene in my head and I LIVE it. Because of this, I have to be careful what I put before my eyes. There have been times that I have been so engrossed in a book, and then I will get to a part that, even as a married woman, I know that if I read any further, it will be as though I’m “watching or living” the scene…and in those cases, I have shut the book and returned it to the library as fast as my minivan can carry me.
I also tend to keep to inspirational fiction…I don’t go near the nonfiction section unless 1) something has been highly recommended to me, 2)I want to learn something particular or 3) I’m punishing myself and therefore force myself to read pentameter until I gag.
I wanted to preface with all that because recently I’ve read 2 nonfiction books…WHOA HORSEY…yep…now, I won’t say that I haven’t read about 3 inspirational fiction books on the side, just to keep me satisfied, but these 2 books are so far away from each other in dynamic and purpose…and I came away feeling something different with both…
The first was Mennonite in a Little Black Dress . I really enjoyed the humor of this autobiography. The author is hilarious. Infact, my darling Italian Stallion told me that I had to quit reading the book while he was in the same room because he couldn’t take my cackling…CACKLING…I cackled because I was trying not to bust out in outrageous laughter after every other page. This is sad to admit considering the life this woman has led and the choices that she has made along the way. However, she has a way of portraying her life that allows us, the reader, to set ourselves outside of her life and just watch…which is what I need considering my tendency to BECOME ONE with books. And yet, after finishing the book, I felt rather empty and sad…like, I wasn’t sure whether she actually “got it”…she goes backs to her roots, but I felt like she missed the relationship that was waiting for her not in religion or faith, but in Jesus…
The next book is So Long, Insecurity by Beth Moore. I’ve always been a fan of Beth Moore. She has a way with words…she can take the ordinary and Texas drawl them out to get your attention…which never wavers even after you put the book down. I have just a few things to say about what I’m learning in this book…but, I’m going to save that for tomorrow…or maybe the next day…depending on when I can put a book down and stay away from the computer long enough to actually get my house in order…
So, stay tuned if you want a little “trailer” for the book…or just come back next week sometime and I’m sure I”ll have some lovely pictures of sprouting lettuce or blind your eyes white legs as I may be able to get into shorts this week with the coming weather…but again, it snowed 2 inches yesterday, what do the weathermen know?
