Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

My local librarian, aka Mom, practically insisted that I read this one because she loved it so much.  She was right, it was pretty stinkin' good.  This story follows 13 year old Jenna as she tries to solve a 10 year old mystery.  Jenna's mother, Alice, was an elephant researcher who disappeared after an incident at the elephant sanctuary she and her husband ran.  Jenna enlists the help of Serenity, a psychic and Virgil, a private investigator.  They follow clues Jenna finds while reading Alice's diaries and it takes them on an adventure through time and across two continents to find out what happened on that fateful day when Alice disappeared.

This story has a strong theme of the love found in a mother-daughter relationship.  It was very well written and has some twists and turns right up to the very end that I sure didn't see coming.  Each chapter is written from the point of view of each of the characters.   I actually listened to the audio rather than reading this book and I really enjoyed this.  Each character is a different narrator so it was easier to visualize the story and it was more like a movie.  Now that I say that, this actually might make a pretty good movie!  I say, put this book on your to-read list and then move it pretty close to the top.

Have you read this?  What did you think? 

Dancing Through Life: Steps of Courage and Conviction by Candace Cameron Bure

I just finished Candace Cameron Bure's most recent book and I think you should be reading it too!  Candace is a devout Christian who strives to be a light for God in this world, all while working in Hollywood.  You know that has to be a tough goal!  I have serious struggles with being a good example for Christ and I don't live in a media spotlight!

In this book, she talks about her time on Dancing with the Stars and compares it to her Christian walk.  Some of the struggles she is faced with in this journey included inappropriate dance moves, revealing costumes and public opinion.  She is confronted with criticism from secular media and also Christians who didn't think she was doing the right thing.  The continuing theme of the book is that she has to get past what other people think of her and her actions and focus on what God has called her to do.  Proverbs 29:25 says 'The fear of man is a snare, but the one who trusts in the Lord is protected'.  Candace talks about the Bible teaching that God will provide a way for you do to what he has called you to do just like He provided a way for her to go all the way to the finale of DWTS even though she had no dance background.  She admits that the had major struggles in this time, but that it was all worth it to have such a wonderful experience.  She boasts about her weaknesses and gives all the glory to God because she couldn't have done any of it without Him.

I read Candace's first book, Reshaping it All:  Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness,  recently and you can read about it here.  I liked Dancing through Live even more than the first book.  I felt like this book flowed better and that she has grown as a writer.  She has written another book called Balancing it All:  My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose.  I have not read this one, but I have it downloaded to my Kindle and it should be moving closer to the top of my to-read list.  I'm sure I will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed the two I've already read.  

P.S. Search YouTube for her dances and tell me what you think.  It looks like she had a lot of fun! And you can follow Candace's blog here.

Is God doing big things in your life?  Are you listening to His calling?

What are you reading?

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Warning:  this review may contain spoilers

Let me start today's review with this:  I live in a bubble.  When I stumbled across this book in an email from one of the sites my local library uses for digital media, I just thought it sounded cool.  I didn't know it had been made into a movie.  I didn't know that Oprah read it for her book club.  I didn't know anything about this book.  About half way through, I said something about it to someone and they told me it was a movie and I should watch it after I read the book!  Like I said, I live in a bubble.

With all that said, I went into this book with no expectations because I didn't know anything about it.  I gotta say, I liked the book. Sex, drugs and language are things I can deal with, if you can't, don't read this book.  This is the true story of a woman who hiked hundreds of miles across the Pacific Crest Trail.  For those of you who also live in a bubble, this is a scenic trail that stretches from the Mexican/American border to the Canadian/American border across the western coast.  Thousands of people hike this trail every year, most are just on day hikes, a few hike large portions and then there are the real bad-asses who hike from border to border, but I imagine there are fewer of those.

Cheryl has been through a lot in her life.  Then, in her twenties, her mother died and that really rocked her world.  Cheryl didn't deal well with it and drug herself down a spiral that was very dangerous for her.  To clear her head and help her get her act together, she decides to hike from Mojave, CA north.  After she meets several interesting people, sees lots of beautiful things and faces many struggles along the way, she ends up at the Bridge of the Gods in Oregon.

I thought the book was pretty well written.  I felt like I was right there, watching the movie of this book in my head the whole time I was reading!  Then I watched the actual movie and I was disappointed.  I like Reese Witherspoon and  I think she did a great job portraying Cheryl Strayed.  My girl crush on Reese may have been one of the reasons I even finished the movie.  I know they have to cut things out of the story to fit the allotted time for a movie, but they cut out huge, important chunks of this story.  I think that if I hadn't read the book first, I probably wouldn't have finished the movie.  There were times when it dragged along and they could have put more of the people Cheryl met along the way.  Instead there were long periods where Reese Witherspoon was hiking alone to the music in her head.  Obviously the hiking is important, that's the bulk of the story, but I think they could have squeezed in a few more of the details from the book.  If you haven't read the book or watched the movie, I say read the book, but you can pass on the movie.

Have you loved a book and not loved the movie?

Which ones?

People I want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann

Audiobooks and bloggers are a couple of my favorite things right now so this book was perfect!  This book is a hysterical view of suburban middle class that we are all thinking but don't often say.  There are stories of over the top birthday parties, mommy wars, exclusive book clubs and more exclusive play groups all told by snarky mom, Jen Mann.  Jen is a blogger and work-at-home mom who isn't one of the Dolce mom's with their perfect outfits and prodigy children.  Her house gets messy, she wears yoga pants, her kids act like kids and she cusses a lot; right up my ally!  This book might not be for the faint of heart as there are several f-bombs and the like, but the writer is super funny and I think it's worth a read (or listen, like I did).  Be prepared to laugh out loud!

Does language in books keep you from finishing them?

Water Challenge Final

Remember when I was going to drink a gallon of water a day?  Yeah... about that.  I didn't.

I DID drink more water than I usually do and I was more aware of my water consumption.  Here's how it went:

I drank a whole gallon or more for the whole first week and probably half of the second week, then I fell off the wagon the second weekend and had a hard time getting back to it.  When I did manage to drink a whole gallon, my feet didn't hurt as much when I woke up the next morning.  When I put my weight on my feet first thing in the morning, I have some pretty intense pain for the first 10 minutes or so.  I'm sure this is from years of torturing them and forcing them in shoes that didn't fit properly or shoes with heels too high.  When I'm drinking enough water like I should, this is a much more manageable pain.  This has been incentive enough to make the effort to drink more water!

The 'small' jug here holds half a gallon of ice cold liquids, but I've been carrying the giant Squatch mug here that hold a whopping THREE quarts.  My goal is to get into a habit of drinking two of the three quart mugs a day, bringing me up to a gallon and a half a day.  I don't work in the heat or sweat very much so I'm not concerned about washing away all of my electrolytes.  I've read that you should drink one ounce for every pound you weigh, so I'd be pretty close with my 192 oz per day average.  I have yet to actually drink two whole mugs in a day, but I'm finishing one and starting a second most days.   I really do feel better now that I'm drinking more water, you should try it!

Warning:  my face did break out more for about a week, I assume it's because I was flushing out toxins.  If you up your water intake, don't be surprised if this happens.  It did clear up quickly.  Now I'm only noticing breakouts if I don't drink enough water for a couple days.

How much water do you drink?

Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure

Do you know what happened to DJ Tanner after Full House?  She got married, had kids, and is living her life for the Lord.  In her book Reshaping It All she talks about her struggles with weight and body image.  This is an issue for those of us not living in a spotlight, I'm sure it's even more difficult when your life is under scrutiny from the media and the public!

I wouldn't call this book a diet book.  It doesn't have breakdowns for calories in and calories out or give you a list of foods you should or shouldn't eat. It does give practical advice for focusing your mind on God's design for your life instead of filling a God-shaped hole in your heart with food.  I liked the format of this book.  At the end of each chapter there was a summary of that chapter and the scriptures referenced, it has a fan letter and her response and Candace shares one of her family's favorite recipes.  I recommend this book as a good read and have downloaded two of her other books including the newest book she wrote about her time on Dancing with the Stars.

Have you read anything by this author?

What did you think?

God, Guns, Grits and Gravy by Mike Huckabee

I've definitely been trying to read outside my comfort zone lately so that I'll have some interesting books to tell you about.  I'm sure you would get pretty sick of me reviewing books about vampires, werewolves and zombies all the time.  I'm usually perfectly content reading Anne Rice or Laurell K Hamilton, but I'm trying to expand my reading horizons and maybe learn something in the process. 

While I'm not super political, I do try to know a few things about government and what is happening in the world.  I tend to get most of my news from NPR rather than TV media as I don't really watch much TV.  I like NPR because it's not just a bunch of short stories crammed in a short time, it's actual stories about some of the people involved in what is going on around the world.  I'm much more likely to understand what is happening if I can hear how it effects people rather than just a bunch of facts and fast paced news.

This time I listened to the audio of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's God, Guns, Grits and Gravy.  With this title and the fact that he's the governor of the state of Arkansas, you would probably assume he's a conservative.  You would be right in that assumption.

Governor Huckabee talks about the differences between people who live in Bubbleville and people who live in Bubbaville.  Bubbleville is made up of the entertainment, finance and political hubs of this country, Hollywood, New York City and Washington D.C.  Bubbaville is the rest of the country where the regular folks live.  He talks about the major differences in how these two kinds of people think and act and how our country would be so different if Bubbleville actually cared about and listened to the folks of Bubbaville.

I liked this book.  I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 star rating.  Huckabee had lots of good stories and information in this book, but I did tune out a few times when he got to talking about percentages and facts. Overall I think I probably learned a couple things about how the government was supposed to be set up from our founding fathers and how it's actually being run now.

These days Christians are being portrayed as more of a hate group than anything.  I realize there are many out there who are spouting hate, but the majority of us aren't.  By quoting Biblical facts and Biblical values, we get painted as closed minded people.  Thing is, a lot of the "open-minded" people out there are being very close minded when it comes to religion.  They are trying to force Christians, and probably other religious groups, into sitting down and shutting up while they stand and scream about their ideals.  If we were truly an open-minded country, wouldn't all views be accepted, not just the ones the strong liberals want to shove down our throats?  I hope that my own life reflects the Love of God and makes people want to learn more about God.  I hope that I don't push anyone away from God by calling myself a Christian and acting like something else.  I feel like this was also in the message Governor Huckabee was trying to get across in this book, too.  I probably won't be adding a whole lot of political books to my regular reading, I may try another one down the road sometime.

Have you read anything political that I should read?