Anxiety Help

Someone shared these on Facebook from a book she was reading.  I liked them, and wanted to keep them somewhere easy to find.

November Books

Wow, five fiction books this month. I remember a few years ago when I read hardly any fiction the entire year. I used to almost only read fiction.  I'm more than halfway through two other books (a memoir, and a non-fiction), but I only list here books I finished within the month.  Hard to believe that tomorrow is December 1.

 

 

The Passions of Chelsea Kane by Barbara Delinsky -- a book I found at a book exchange; a lady goes to a small New England town in search of the story around her adoption nearly four decades prior. Somewhat interesting story (I like the part about patriarchal small towns...just because I find small communities of interest), but I could have done without some of the details in other areas of this book.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult -- I enjoyed this book about a teenager with Asperger's syndrome!  I have a few friends with children on the spectrum so this was a really interesting read to me.  As the book jacket states, this book "looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way - and fails those who don't." 

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead -- earlier this year I got a small notebook which I've used for keeping up with books recommended by blogger friends. Crystal mentioned this particular one back in September, and I finally went by the library and got it.  It was short enough to read in a couple of hours, and I enjoyed the break reading this YA book brought.  Can't say I followed the time travel talk, but I liked other aspects of it.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata -- This story is told through the eyes of a Japanese-American girl, Katie, as she moved from Iowa to Georgia around 1960.  I found it on the Newberry shelf while searching for the book above.  An easy read, and pretty interesting to hear about life through her eyes. Since I have lived in the South all my life, I try to think of how I would treat people who are different than I.  Would I welcome a Japanese family into my life? Would I say hello on the street or would I ignore them?  I'd like to think I would be friendly and welcoming back then, and it challenges me to be that way today to people who may be less welcomed by society.

Jane Austen in Scarsdale or Love, Death, and the SATs by Paula Marantz Cohen -- an easy read I found in the library. I learned quite a bit about the job of a guidance counselor and how they help students preparing for college. The main character is a guidance counselor in a rich public school. This book is also about her meeting up with her long, lost boyfriend...that sort of thing. 

We moved

Way back when it was still warm outside, we moved a few miles away from our previous house.  I sometimes wish it were a more drastic move to, say, Syria or something, but we aren't those types of folks, I reckon.

We closed on our new-to-us house on September 30.  One of our rooms was green.  It was the former owners' nursery, and it looked really cute with the black crib and matching bedding. But it didn't really go with my mismatched furniture so we had that room painted when we had the two pink rooms painted.  (Did I mention they had three daughters?) 

Here is a picture of the room before it was painted, and a couple others of it now with the variety of creams and whites, and the old furniture given to us when we married that we just never replaced. 

October Books

Try to Remember by Iris Gomez -- the story of a teenage Colombian girl growing up in an immigrant family in Miami; I found this at a book exchange

Expats by Christopher Dickey  -- the author's recollections as he travels around the Middle East;  not my favorite book of this sort, but there were several interesting tidbits throughout

Captured by Grace by David Jeremiah -- I've read this one before, but came across it while unpacking books and decided to read it again. I love the subtitle:  "No One is Beyond the Reach of a Loving God."  Some good reminders for me in here!

September Books

Tumbling Blocks by Earlene Fowler -- another book I found at a book exchange (so free), and it's "a Benni Harper mystery" which meant nothing to me. Still, I read it - a bit of a murder mystery, but nothing scary in the least.  OK filler book, but I doubt I'll look for more Benni Harper mysteries.

A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley -- from the front cover:  "As a five-year old in India, I got lost on a train. Twenty-five years later, from Australia, I found my way back. This is what happened in between."   Pretty neat story!

We'll Always Have Paris by Jennifer Coburn -- after losing her father at a rather young age, the author believes her own life will be short and decides to visit Paris, and a few other European places with her daughter so her daughter will always have these wonderful memories with her mother.  The book is part "this is how our trips to European cities went" and part flashbacks to the author's life growing up with divorced parents who were still friends and rather dysfunctional or perhaps typical for this era. 

August Books

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell  - a Texan living in New York City decides to go through Julia Childs' cookbook and make a few new dishes most every night. And she blogs about it and gets somewhat famous.  She's a pretty funny writer with a sailor's mouth. And she doesn't like Republicans.






Global Mom by Melissa Dalton-Bradford -- as I started this book and read through the first half or so, I thought "oh, yet another nothing-much-ever-goes-wrong, charming Mormon family life."  It was very neat reading about this family's years in Norway and France. So interesting especially when the author contrasted the two - and had to get her second son's name approved when he was born in Norway.  About two thirds of the way through the book, however, I was stunned and flipped back to the acknowledgements and "about the author" sections to see if what looked like was going to happen, really did. And it did.  Ahhh, tear out my heart.  I think I was teary-eyed or downright crying through much of the last third of the book.  I first heard of this book from Bridget's blog.





Once Upon a Town by Bob Greene  -- a book about a small town (North Platte, Nebraska) that set up a canteen to meet the soldiers during World War II as they were traveling across the country by train. The author talks to some of the soldiers who passed through, to women who were children or adults back then, and talks a bit about life in North Platte today (well, when he visited there researching for the book.)





Sword of God by Chris Kuzneski -- this is totally not my usual type of book. I saw it at a book exchange (it was free) so I decided to bring it home.  And for some reason it was the book I chose to read earlier this week when I needed a new one. I'm trying to read some of the books I have at home before going back to the library.  It was about a couple guys who were finding clues in a terrorist plot involving one of their former comrades.  Parts of it take place in South Korea while other parts take place in Mecca.  I occasionally felt like I was watching an episode of Hawaii Five-0 except there was no Steve, Danno or Hawaii.

July Books

Still Waters by Jennifer Lauck -- the last book I read in June was about Jennifer's growing up years - well, until around age 12. This book takes off from there, and talks about her life with her new parents, reuniting briefly with her brother, schools and work and starting a family.

 

Show Me the Way by Jennifer Lauck -- so, yeah, the library had another one of her books and this is three in a row that I've read by this author.  This one had a few flashbacks from Jennifer's childhood and young adulthood - a few familiar, and a few new stories. But mostly it was stories from her pregnancies, children's births, and dealing with her young children. I know parents adore their children, and I do love my nephews, but I was reminded throughout this book of how happy I am not having any children of my own. 

All In by Mark Batterson -- we read his first book just before going to Syria. He always challenges me, and makes me want to DO something. Which I rarely do.  Boo.  Lots of good stuff, but one thing I noted that applied to me:

"Our prayers tend to focus on external circumstances more than internal attitudes because we'd rather have God change our circumstances than change us."  (pg. 121)

Miracle in the Hills: The Lively Personal Story of a Woman Doctor's Forty-year Crusade in the Mountains of North Carolina by Mary T. Martin Sloop, M.D.  -- my mom found this in the library...fun to read about this lady's life in Crossnore, NC

A Farewell to Mars by Brian Zahnd -- "an evangelical pastor's journey toward the Biblical gospel of peace."  -- I saw this on the new book shelf at the library, and then one of my favorite authors whom I follow on Facebook recommended it a few days later.  Such a challenging book!  Especially for those like myself in a culture that often seems to want to bring peace through violence (war).  Great read!

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman -- a friend sent this to me for my birthday. We had been talking about World War I together, and I suppose he thought it would be good for me to read more about it. He googled "best English books on WWI" or something like that, and this was recommended.   I didn't even know who sent it until I inquired on Facebook about a book appearing in my mailbox.  There were parts of this book that I found interesting, but I must admit I'm not a big fan.  It took me exactly 2 months and 1 day to finish this - though I did not read some every day. I did try to read a page or ten most days, but there were plenty of days where this book was completely ignored.  So glad I finally finished it today (7/25) so I can included it on this list!

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman -- the author recounts her 1986 trip to China with a friend from college - wow




Stronger by Jeff Bauman -- I saw this in the new book section of the library; it's from one of the guys who lost his legs after the Boston marathon bombing in 2013 - I enjoyed reading his story