Quick, Before the Music Stops

"Quick, Before the Music Stops" by Janet Carlson

This book was an okay read. It is about a woman who was a professional ballroom dancer in her twenties but gave it up for a family. When her marriage is falling apart her husband gives her lessons for Valentines day and she finds life lessons through her dance lessons. It has many good life lessons but was a bummer because she realized them too late, or so she thought, to save her marriage. It seems quite a few of the boks that I have been reading lately have to do with marriages failing and by the time I read this book I was tired of people giving up, but that is just a side note. Here are a few quotes I liked: "One of your best qualities is your stick-to-it-ive-ness. That's why you get wrapped around the axle as opposed to just flopping down on the road underneath it." Most people just lie down and take what is coming, I hope that I am wrapped around instead of flopping down and taking it. I am such a planner, I am always one step ahead. I have come to realize that in this strength is my weakness. I have a problem being present in the moment. So does the woman in this book. "I've been mesmerized occasionally by the notion of living in the moment, recognized its importance, and I do see how living my life in the future, with a to-do list in my hand and worry in my heart, means-and here comes the existential panic-that I'm not really living." I really need to take the quote to heart. I am trying more to live in the moment, to really enjoy the moments with my girls, it just isn't easy for me, it doesn't come naturally. Alright, last quote: "Unlike locks, boundaries aren't for keeping people out. They're for knowing who you are." I just like that one, we all need help with boundaries and this helps me to see them for what they are, something good not bad.

Same Kind of Different As Me

"Same Kind of Different As Me" by Ron Hall & Denver Moore

This book is Amazing! A must read. It will inspire you. Make you cry and make you laugh and see homelessness in a whole new light. This is one I want to read again and I never read a book twice, it bores me. It is about a homeless black man who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery and a rich art dealer and his wife who are determined to help the homeless. It will leave you in awe of how God works. It will inspire you to go out and do more for Him, to listen to that still small voice because BIG things do happen. Read this! It will restore your faith in the good of people and your faith that God is working in this world today through ordinary people like you and me.

A Reliable Wife

"A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick

Let me start out by saying you never know what you are going to get when you pick out a book at the library. This was a very interesting book. It had so many twists and turns. I can usually predict what is going to happen in any given book but this one kept surprising me, even up to the very end. Now this book is not a christian book by any means. It is about a man who puts an ad in the paper for a wife and a whore who responds, only he doesn't know she is a whore. So with that said there are some parts that you might want to skip over. But I had to keep reading as it kept me on my toes and I couldn't believe that it continually had new twists that I couldn't predict. A very interesting read and a story about how our pasts haunt us when we don't deal with them, about love in all the wrong places and where that takes a person.

Daniel Isn't Talking

"Daniel Isn't Talking" by Marti Leimbach

This book is about a family dealing with the diagnosis that their son is autistic. What is interesting is that the author has an autistic son but the book is a novel. I found the book very intriguing as it weaves what I am sure are real happenings of life with an autistic child with what the author probably wishes had happened in her life. It was a good dose of reality yet it had lots of funny moments. It opened my eyes and taught me how special the moms are that have autistic children. My favorite quote, "Other people don't have children with autism. They aren't entitled to an opinion." You shouldn't judge unless you have been in their shoes. You just never know what someone is going through.

Andy Andrews-The Traveler's Gift & The Noticer

"The Traveler's Gift"

This book is about seven decisions that determine personal success. I found it to be a pretty good book with insight on things that I wrote down to try and do every day. It is about a man whose life seems to be falling apart. Then he goes on an "adventure" and is told about seven decisions to help him to personal success. It is interesting and an easy read. Nothing profound but things that are good to be reminded about none the less.

"The Noticer"
Amazing book! Was a very easy read that I just gobbled up. You won't want to put it down, I promise. It talks about how people's lives are falling apart but that all we need is a little perspective. This book helped me to see things differently and I want to read it again to get even more perspective. My favorite part is when a man is sharing a meal to a homeless boy on the beach. The boy clearly isn't thrilled with the food, Vienna sausages and sardines. The man asks the boy what he is eating and he says, "Vienna sausages and sardines. Same as you." To which the man replies, "No, you ate sardines and Vienna sausages in the sand. I dined on surf and turf with an ocean view." It is all about perspecitve. I say, "Read this book!"