Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Tuesday Top Ten . . .Books That Made Me Think


Usually when we think of reading we think of entertainment, and escape, thinking usually isn't apart of the thought process. Even reading fiction there are books out there that make me think and stay with me long after I read the last page. While I love being transported to a different place and time, I also want to be challenged and think. These books did that.

This book is about Jake Palmer being true to himself, and it made me think am I being my true authentic self.

About the book:

Corporate trainer Jake Palmer coaches people to see deeper into themselves—yet he barely knows himself anymore. Recently divorced and weary of the business life, Jake reluctantly agrees to a lake-house vacation with friends, hoping to escape for ten days.
When he arrives, Jake hears the legend of Willow Lake—about a lost corridor that leads to a place where one’s deepest longings will be fulfilled.
Jake scoffs at the idea, but can’t shake a sliver of hope that the corridor is real. And when he meets a man who mutters cryptic speculations about the corridor, Jake is determined to find the path, find himself, and fix his crumbling life.
But the journey will become more treacherous with each step Jake takes.
My Review


I wrote a paper about Judas Iscariot in college and Tosca Lee's book not only confirmed my thoughts about him, it opened up thoughts I hadn't even considered.

About the book:

In Jesus, Judas believes he has found the One—a miracle-worker. The promised Messiah and future king of the Jews, destined to overthrow Roman rule. Galvanized, Judas joins the Nazarene’s followers, ready to enact the change he has waited for all his life.
But Judas’ vision of a nation free from Roman rule is crushed by the inexplicable actions of the Nazarene himself, who will not bow to social or religious convention—who seems in the end to even turn against his own people. At last, Judas must confront the fact that the master he loves is not the liberator he hoped for, but a man bent on a drastically different agenda.
Iscariot is the story of Judas—from his tumultuous childhood and tenuous entry into a career and family life as a devout Jew, to a man known to the world as the betrayer of Jesus. But even more, it is a singular and surprising view into the life of Jesus himself that forces us all to reexamine everything we thought we knew about the most famous—and infamous—religious icons in history.
My Review

Titus 2:3-5 Talks about the older women teaching the younger women and live their life above reproach.
As a mother of daughter's this book made me think about the legacy I am leaving them and after reading it I began writing letters to them for them to have when I'm gone.

About the book:

When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola's rambling Victorian house.Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola's walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola's youth to her last days. Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper--the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything for Tandi.


Ever since I read Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness and Piercing the darkness I found that some of my favorite books deal with the spiritual realm. Angels and demons. This is real and daily battles are waged for our soul. In Mr. Lattimore's first book I became quite aware of what our children are exposed to in games that we may think are harmless.

About the book:
Brent Lawton's entrance into the occult was an accident; a combination of ignorance and naïveté. He is drawn into a life-paralyzing darkness that threatens to destroy him. Brent tries desperately to escape, even to the point of attempting suicide. However, his deadly deliberations are temporarily stalled by the thought of two possible after-life destinations—one of them probable—planted in his mind by his grandmother.
Tara Baker's involvement in the occult was no accident. Painful secrets from her past prompt her to push forward to acquire more dark power. Motivated by a malevolent intent to destroy the walk of two "Christlings," she leverages both physical and spiritual influences to again prove her worthiness to an angry mentor who no longer trusts her emotional stability.
Brent's and Tara's paths will cross. Two different powers will compete for their lives and reputations. Neither Brent nor Tara will come out of the experience without scars, but one will encounter an ancient power so boundless that he ... or she ... will come face-to-face with eternity.
My Review


I'm sure we all know the power that a secret can have over us and those we love. It reminded me once again how honesty are important not only with others but with ourselves.

About the book:

Will the revelation of a 16-year-old secret shatter--or mend--a fragile marriage?Like all marriages, Elle and Logan Butler's has its ups and downs. Yet they hang together, even as his political campaign escalates. But Elle has a secret that haunts her, one that she never thought would be revealed. It's a secret that has driven her from God and kept her from sharing her whole heart with the man she loves.
But now the secret must be told.
The news rips Elle's world apart as she struggles with painful memories and paralyzing fear of what will happen when she tells Logan. Every secret has consequences, and this one could destroy everything they've built.
My Review


I adore biblical fiction, I know the stories from growing up in the church but the story takes on a completely different meaning when a character such as Rahab has skin on. I have thought about the faith she had to have saving the Israel spies, believing that they would save her and her family.

About the book:

Wife to a gambler who took one too many risks, Rahab finds herself sold as a slave to cover her husband's debt. Forced into prostitution by Dabir, counselor to the Syrian king, Rahab despairs of ever regaining her freedom and her self-respect. But when Israelite spies enter Jericho and come to lodge at her house, Rahab sees a glimmer of hope and the opportunity of a lifetime. In one risky moment, she takes a leap of faith, puts her trust in a God she does not know, and vows to protect the spies from the authorities. When the armies of Israel arrive weeks later, Rahab hopes they will keep their promise, but she has no idea what kind of challenges await her outside Jericho's walls--or if she will ever know the meaning of love.
My Review


As someone who has a chronic illness I was thrilled to have a book with characters who also have a chronic illness.

About the book:

Twenty-one-year-old Claire Murray has suffered from a mysterious disease for years. Her social circle has shrunk to a small support group for people with chronic illness and disability. But what if life could be about more than doctors, pain, and medications?
Claire and three others—old grouch Tom, hippy-holdout Willow, and moody Taylor—hatch plans for a cross-country trip to swim with the dolphins in Florida. Only a day into the trip, they unexpectedly need help. And who happens to be hitchhiking along the highway but a young, good-looking loner named Sean Sullivan? However, the last thing he wants is to be harnessed to a bunch of ailing travelers.
Though the journey proves difficult, following God’s plan might be even harder. Will they find the courage to follow their dreams                                                             and dare to live again?
                                                          My Review



 I just read this book this year and WOW! Every time I stare at myself in the mirror too long I think about Shame on Shanty. It's such a powerful book on how we as women see ourselves.

About the book:
A poignant and relatable novel, Looking Glass Lies captures the war women wage against themselves, and the struggle to see beauty reflected in a mirror not distorted by society’s unrelenting expectations.
For most of her adult life, Cecily Ross has compared herself to other women—and come up short. After a painful divorce from her emotionally abusive husband, Cecily returns to her hometown of Canyon, Texas, looking to heal.
But coming home isn’t what she expects. In a town as small as Canyon, her pain is difficult to escape—especially with her model-perfect ex–sister-in-law working at the town’s popular coffee-shop hangout. With help from her father, a support group, and an old friend who guides her to see her own strengths, Cecily may have a shot at overcoming her insecurities and learning to love again.
The true test comes when tragedy strikes, opening Cecily’s eyes to the harmfulness of her distorted views on beauty—and giving her the perfect opportunity to find peace at last.


Have you ever thought about what you were before Christ became your Savior? I have. I grew up in the church, gave my life to Christ when I was 10 but didn't realize what a broken vessel I was until I went through my divorce and saw how broken I really was.

About the book:
Hosea has been charged by God with a difficult task--marry a prostitute in order to show God's people the nature and depth of his love for Israel. When Hosea goes to Israel to proclaim God's message, the prostitute God tells him to marry turns out to be his childhood friend Gomer. He finds her broken and abused, unwilling to trust Hosea or his God. But when marrying Hosea becomes her only choice, Gomer does what she's good at--she survives. Can Hosea's love for God and God's love for Israel heal Gomer's broken spirit?
With her potent combination of in-depth research and masterful storytelling, Mesu Andrews brings to life a complex and fascinating biblical story of the power of love and forgiveness in                                                            the face of utter betrayal.
                                                       My Review


I am still reading this one, almost done and I can already tell that the characters and story will stay with me for a long time. When we think of fragile we think of delicate, breakable, even flimsy. This book is about anything but delicate, breakable or flimsy hope and it makes me question how durable is my hope,

About the book:
Josiah Chamberlain's life's work revolves around repairing other people's marriages. When his own is threatened by his wife's unexplained distance, and then threatened further when she's unexpectedly plunged into an unending fog, Josiah finds his expertise, quick wit and clever quips are no match for a relationship that is clearly broken.
Feeling betrayed, confused, and ill-equipped for a crisis this crippling, he reexamines everything he knows about the fragility of hope and the strength of his faith and love. Love seems to have failed him. Will what's left of his faith fail him, too? Or will it be the one thing that holds him together and sears through the impenetrable wall that separates them?


Well, there are my the ten books that made me think. While I chose ten, most if not all of the books I read make me think.
Please tell me in the comments if one of the books above made you think or one that has.
As always mark your place and keep on reading.





4 comments:

Varina Denman said...

Andi, thank you for such a nice review of Looking Glass Lies, and thank you for the other recommendations as well. I've added several to my tbr pile. :)

Unknown said...

Andi, two of your top ten are two of my favorites of the last few months! Looking Glass Lies by Varina Denman is one of the most thought provoking, self searching books I have ever read. The subject matter is heart wrenching but needs desperately to be brought into the light and examined by every person on the planet. Men, who's expectations of the women in their lives are not even close to being realistic nor in focus, thanks to pornography and media lies. Women who shame other women, and especially how we women see ourselves. I'm betting that most women over the age of forty when asked if they felt they were "fat" in their teens would agree they had those thoughts, but when looking at a picture of their teen self now would admit they were beautiful and not overweight. That's when this shaming starts for most of us and the point at which we need to reach our vulnerable young women. The second is The Prayer Box (also The Story Keeper, The Sea Glass Sister's, The Tidewater Sister's, The Sandcastle Sister's and The Sea Keeper's Daughter completing the Carolina Heirloom series of novels and novellas) by Lisa Wingate who tells these beautiful stories of present day women and the strength and rich histories of the women in their families for generations throughout the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Great fiction mixed in with historical truths. Thanks, Toni P. (Cheer Squad)

Andi said...

My mom who hasn't weighed more than a 105 in 79 years said all kinds of things about my weight as a teen. I wasn't nearly as tiny as her. I am adopted and my bio family background is Italian so my structure is larger. I bought into it and after I lost a lot of weight due to medication I checked my medical records and the weight I got down to was exactly what I was in high school. I realized then that my mom had insecurity issues. But I so get what you're saying.

Toni Powell said...

You are right about the parent factor, mostly mom's I'm sure...my mom also "worried" about weight which I'm also sure were her own teen insecurities regarding judgement about weight. This reminded me of Cecily's mom in Looking Glass Lies and her "over" complementing behavior which mars a child for the reality of life. The "everyone gets a trophy" mentality that Millennial's are experiencing due to overzelious parenting. So many ways that we parents can affect generations of kids! 🤔 Toni

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