BOOKS I FINISHED - OCTOBER 2009

Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess by Richard Platt
This was a school book for Silas, but I really liked it. It's the story of a young boy who goes to live with his uncle and aunt for a year, training as a page in their castle. A wealth of historical information is relayed about life in the middle ages, but it's hardly a boring read. Funny, light-hearted, and with some great illustrations, I recommend this book for any person, kid or adult, who is interested in life during the Middle Ages.

Die For You by Lisa Unger
What would you do if your spouse vanished and you discovered they'd had a false identity, one of a person who had been dead for several years? That's what happens to Isabel, the main character of this story, and she stops at nothing until she figures out exactly who her husband was. As a sidenote, I'd love suggestions for good mysteries without affairs in the story. Does such a thing exist?

Cool quote -
p. 226 (I like the second paragraph best, but the first gives you the context.) What surprised me the most about marriage was how quickly it settled, became not mundane, necessarily, but normal. After the euphoria of finding love, the magic of courtship, the thrill of engagement, the busy fun of planning a wedding, there's the lovely honeymoon and then all the little pleasures of setting up house, putting away the extravagant gifts, adjusting to life as married people; we, not i, us, not me. Everything shines, everything is new and fresh. And then - it's not as if it goes bad or sour, nothing like that . It's just that it becomes normal in a way I didn't expect. I guess it shouldn't have surprised me. Linda was a very canny tour guide.

"When you've really chosen well, when you really love your spouse, it's not as if the fire dies precisely," she told me one time. "It just goes from being an inferno to a pilot light. If you're not vigilant, you won't notice it until it's gone out completely."
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Finding Grace: A True Story about Losing Your Way in Life ... and Finding It Again by Donna VanLiere
Largely about the author's struggle dealing with childhood sexual abuse and infertility in adulthood, this book could be a really depressing read. It's not. In fact, sometimes the author is downright funny. She's very genuine, neither wallowing in self-pity nor acting like putting a smile on your face makes everything all right. It's a story about finding grace amidst broken dreams. In reading this book I discovered the author also wrote the Christmas Hope series. I haven't read them, but I like the movies!!

Cool quotes -
p. 119-120 ... I realized that broken dreams are the launch pad to growth. The person who emerges from the pain is either stronger for it or strangled by it. ... The problem with unfulfilled dreams is that they give us tunnel vision; we focus on ourselves, and that can be a depressing and discouraging place to look. Self-absorption is abusive, unforgiving, critical, intolerable, disappointed, angry, shameful, and always impatient.

p. 147 If we don't give ourselves over to bitterness, a fresh wisdom comes alive in those who are on the backside of broken dreams. It's a calm, yet vibrant wisdom that helps us discover new and higher dreams. It comes with a fresh discernment of who and what we need to leave behind, reminding us that there is a big difference in remembering guilt and carrying guilt.

The Light at Tern Rock by Julia L. Saurer
This was a school read for Devon, so my second time reading it. A neat story about a boy who learns about making sacrifices for the good of others while spending Christmas at a lighthouse.

The Minstrel in the Tower by Gloria Skurzynski
Another school book for Silas. Set in the Middle Ages, this is the story of two poor children, a brother and sister, who are kidnapped while trying to reach their wealthy uncle.
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Strawberry Girl by Lois Lensky
Another Sonlight book. Birdie, the young girl who is the main character, is growing up in the backwoods of Florida in the 1940s. Though she does learn about farming strawberries, more importantly she learns about life - right and wrong, dealing with difficult people, etc. I think I'd have liked this book more if I'd read it to myself instead of aloud to the kiddos. Remembering everyone's accents took too much brain power.