August 23, 2011

What's on My Nightstand - August

August days are waning. Mercifully, the temperatures drop ever so slightly, hinting at cooler days ahead. Tomatoes will soon give way to apples. Shades of green will melt into brilliant hues of orange and red. Cool evenings under the reading quilt are nearing. I am giddy with anticipation.

Since last month,

I've completed:

~Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. This story of unusual friendship in ancient China was beautiful and haunting at the same time.

~Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.  A friend passed this Southern charmer along to me. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

~The Help. I had concerns that the book wouldn't live up to the hype, but it did.

~Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (audio). One of the best books I've ever "read". I've found myself cringing, getting goosebumps, and laughing through tears as I've listened to the true story of Louis Zamperini, a 1936 Olympian who survived a plane crash at sea and 2 years as a Japanese POW in WWII.

I've tried:

~The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion. I decided to put this one down for now in favor of Tim Challies' first book, which I had not read.

~Snow Falling on Cedars.  This one didn't grab me as much I'd hoped, so I returned it to the library after a few chapters.

I've picked up:

~The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (Kindle). I had been wanting to read this book by Tim Challies for a while, and decided there was no time like the present.

~Emma. It's been far too long since I've read any Jane!

I'll soon be starting:

~Abigail Adams (audio). I haven't read anything about the Revolutionary War era in a while, and this biography piqued my interest.

~Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus


I'm constantly looking to:

~Spurgeon's Morning and Evening

~Matthew Henry's Method For Prayer

~Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

~Paul Tripp's A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble

You can click on over to 5 Minutes for Books to see what others are reading.

11 comments:

Abi @ the Princess DIaries said...

You have lots of fun books on your list! My father gave me Unbroken recently and I haven't started it but your review motivated me! Happy Reading!

bekahcubed said...

Ooo-Unbroken sounds good. I love biographies that give a good taste of history.

I'm interested in hearing more about your decision to put down The Next Story in favor of something else by Challies. Does he reference his other book quite a bit? Or did you just feel that The Next Story wasn't quite where you're at, or... Yeah, I'm interested in hearing more (not that you have to justify your decision to me, I'm just curious!)

Persis said...

I'm probably the last person to have heard about "The Help". I need to add that to my list.

Jen E @ mommablogsalot said...

Great list! I really enjoyed The Help as well as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - and you've inspired me - if I find time this month, I think I'll need to add some more Jane Austen into my reading schedule!

Unknown said...

Unbroken is an amazing story. I hadn't thought about listening to it, but I bet that was very powerful!

Lauren

Lisa notes... said...

Glad you thought The Help lived up to its hype. I was concerned about the same thing when I read it. And the movie lived up to it too!

I’ve had Unbroken on my list for awhile. I keep waiting for the library to have an open copy.

I never read Tim Challies’ first book either; I’d like to know what you think of it when you’re finished. I did really enjoy The Next Story.

Aw, Emma. I read that one about a year ago; yeah, gotta get some Jane time in periodically.

Glad to see your list. It always inspires me with more books to read. Hope you're doing well!

Asia said...

Awesome books. The Help is a great book from what I have read so far, I would love to finish it and maybe watch the movie.

Unknown said...

Great roundup! I've been wanting to get to Unbroken. Since you liked the audio version, I may do that, because I know I'd get to it before reading a non-review nonfiction book.

Anonymous said...

I've got The Help and Unbroken in my to-read pile; not this month, 'though.

Beth said...

I loved CeeCee Honeycut!

I have had Abigail Adams sitting in a basket for over six months, but I haven't got around to it.

Cassandra said...

I can't wait to have cooler days! It's been over 100 degrees each day for so long already... :)

Great list! I want to read Unbroken but haven't been able to get to it yet.

I'm glad you enjoyed The Help! I thought it was pretty good as well. Now I have to wait for the movie to come out on DVD so I can Redbox it!

Happy reading!