On my bookshelf...

I've been reading...o yeah...it was a summer goal and I will fulfill it.

Cocktails for Three by Madeleine Wickham

I really enjoyed this light, fun summer read. I read it while having my toes dipped in the ocean at Hilton Head. It's about 3 distinct women who meet once a month to have cocktails. As their personalities and lives draw them apart, their friendship continually draws them back to one another for support. Despite being in different parts of life, they find a way to relate and identify with one another.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

I read this book...ok, I listened to this book. I downloaded this book onto my iPhone (helping to meet summer goal #3) and listened to it while on the planes this past weekend. I'd been eyeing this book for about a year. This book encourages us to live crazy for God. While many of his thoughts didn't touch me fully, many did leave me ruminating or pondering over. Here are a few things that I noted (on my iPhone, go summer goal #3): on average Christians spend 10 minutes a day with God, life is fragile and thus by turning inward or by acknowledging lack of control we reach out to God so I should be thankful for unknowns because they make me run to God (drawing closer), and that one can take joy in loving God by loving his people (so true!).

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Okie dokie...I read recently in O magazine that I have the right NOT to finish a book. Well, The Help is about to not be finished by me. I'm easily half way through and have to make myself read it...drudging 5 pages at a time before I want to check Twitter or Fbook or doing anything but read. The book follows different women during the Civil Rights movement. The book examines racism, sexism, and the Southern way of things during that time period in American history. Many people recommended this to me. Maybe it's because Addy was one of my favorite American Girl dolls or I always read the Dear America slave diaries but nothing in the book surprises me. And, unfortunately, I find many threads are still an undercurrent in today's society.

Moral of the Story: My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm I felt this way about Cocktails for Three.