A Few Good Reads...

So, recently my sister posted a picture on Facebook of a semi pulling an Amazon.com trailer with the caption "My Book Order is Here" on Facebook.  Her joke was that it reminded her of me.Yes, admittedly, I have always been a book nerd.  My Grandma Rankin taught me to read when I was four years old, and my nose has been stuck in a book ever since.  My parents used to joke that I'd never know how to get anywhere because I was always reading when in the car (those pockets on the backs of the front seat make the BEST book holders!), and I used to get excited in high school when a friend's parents would get their new TIME magazine that I could read.  I was a GOOD time, let me tell ya!  That quote from Jerry Maguire…the one where Renee Zellweger says that a glass of wine and a good book is her idea of a great evening?  Yep..that's me!I still love a good book.  On the first of every month, I excitedly scan Amazon.com's monthly list of books for $3.99 or less, and while I do like the convenience of getting a book immediately on my iPad, overall, I still prefer an actual book with pages.  There's something textural and nostalgic about it.  Oh, and I'm a total underliner too…I rarely use bookmarks, as most of my books have red pens in them so that I can underline my favorite parts, quotes, and passages.  The added benefit of being my friend is that when you borrow one of MY books, I've made it clear which parts are important!!Back to my sister's Facebook joke - my aunt left a comment that she needed a good book to read…as I come from an entire family of readers, and I know her pain.  What's a girl to do when you get done with a book and the next one's not sitting there waiting?!!!  I like to have at least six books waiting there for me.So, here's a few of the good books I've read in the last 12-18 months….the ones that kept me up at night…the books that made me chew on my nails…the ones that I know will be on my 'will read again definitely' list."Unbroken" by Lauren Hillenbrand - OK, I was late on the bandwagon with this one…it was out a long time before I read it…and this is probably the most well-known of my recommendations.  We read it in my book club, and it was amazing…the true story of an Olympic runner whose plane goes down during WWII.  He fights sharks for countless days on the Pacific just to be 'rescued' by the Japanese.  It's currently be made into a movie….I can't wait, but am also nervous Angelina Jolie, the director, will ruin it for me.The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom - Like a lot of people, I love reading historical accounts of WWII lives.  I knew of Corrie Ten Boom's story, but had never read her biography.  What happens when you have two middle-aged spinsters living with their elderly father in Amsterdam during WWII?  In the Ten Boom's situation, you become one of the largest hiders and protectors of Jews.  What started with helping just one Jew find a place to hide in the country turned into these three elderly people becoming a major hub of Amsterdam's underground Nazi resistance.  The family was eventually caught, and what I will always remember  from this book was that as the two sisters stood in line during inspections by the Nazi's at the concentration camp, they prayed…not for themselves and their lives…but that the soldiers would one day be convicted of their sins and ask for forgiveness from God.Along those same lines, the story of "The Kommandant's Mistress" kept me awake all night.  The store of a beautiful Jewish girl and the obsessed commander of a camp who keeps her in the corner of his office.  She was lucky in her access to food, clothes, and warmth, but she was ostracized by her own people…the other members of the camp who hated her for the basics of life of which they had no access.So, one night I'm on the phone with a bride out of Springfield talking about her wedding day, and we get to chatting about how much we love history, and I begin rambling on and on about this book that I'm reading and can't put down called "The Orphan Master's Son"…after two minutes of me babbling like an idiot, I began apologizing profusely…because surely I'm the only person in the world who thinks that the way North Korea has shut themselves off from the rest of the world is intriguing.  Lucky for me, I babbled to the right bride…her family was originally from Korea, and so we bonded over that book!  Seriously, if there's a book that will make you love the United States and realize what a precious country it is, this is it!  With their lack of family, orphans in North Korea are sent to do the worst of the worst work, for if they should die, they would not be missed.  The main character of this novel becomes somewhat of a Forrest Gump and takes advantage of every situation he's put in to rise above his circumstances.  Read this book!!"Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers - This was a booked picked for book club, and I postponed reading it until two days before our meeting.  I had read one of Ms. River's previous books, and had been a bit underwhelmed by it.  But, wow!!  I literally stayed up all night reading it once I started!  Based on the book of Haggai in the bible, the main character of this book, Michael, rescues a prostitute, who had been sold into prostitution at the age of 8, in an old mining town and vows to God that he will love her regardless of her past and what happens in the future.  Despite his kindness and gentleness, time and again, she leaves him and returns to her brothel.  Metaphorical to God's love for us, this book pulls you in and doesn't let you go…and along the way shows you how there is no difference between us and Angel.There are a few others that I loved from this past year, but I'll save those for another post!  So, put a pot of coffee on, grab a blanket, and curl up with one of these good reads over this cold and windy weekend!Kelly