book list

okay so my last post was not what i would consider "short", but this one will be, because i have other things to do than sit here at the computer and write (i know, hard to believe), but i'm really enjoying writing!

one of my new year's resolutions is to read more good literature, some classic, some modern, but just more meaty and worthwhile stuff so here's a list of books that i've lost sleep in order to read over the last few months:

a voice in the wind by francine rivers: the final installment in the mark of the lion series. i put off reading it for a long time because i simply wasn't interested, the hadassah story line had concluded, and i was tired of the francine rivers writing style (tipping chins, cupping faces, sardonic wry smiles, and pulses throbbing in necks) but martha liked it and could identify w/the main character so i finished it for her and a sense of completion and it was okay, but i'm done w/ol' francine for a while.

pilgrim's progress by john bunyan: i'm slowly working my way through this one. it's really good but slow going because of the archaic language, but there are updated versions available. i might try reading one of those eventually. there are all sorts of great quotes and thoughts i want to pass on. i'll have to save that for another blog.

the chronicles of narnia (except the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe): i've read all the books multiple times, but after seeing the narnia movie was re-inspired to read them again. they're excellent and i love them. they make me love God more.

the screwtape letters by c.s. lewis: my second time through this book and wow what an impact! i loved it again and was shaken by the keen sense of lewis cutting through all the muck and getting to the heart of sin and temptation.

jane eyre by charlotte bronte: i actually read this last fall, but i hadn't ever read it before, nor have i ever read any romance/drama stuff from the bronte/jane austen era (except wuthering heights, because i HAD to in high school) and i really liked it a lot. excellent writing, interesting story, you really grow to love the characters a lot and see their evolution and redemption. i'm always a sucker for a good redemption story!

and finally...
the shaping of a christian family by elisabeth elliot: i'm currently reading this, it's a biography about the growing up life of elisabeth elliot's mother and father and then her own growing up. very interesting and inspiring, but also convicting. i feel like it's so easy to slip in to a facade of christianity where true devotion and discipline are missing. and it's sobering to think of my responsibility as a mom with my own kids. it's also a motivation to pursue God with my whole heart in any and everything i do no matter how mundane it may seem--to serve God is THE highest calling.

so i recommend all of these books (except the first one--sorry all you die-hard francine fans) and i really do want to send some quotes soon, but i gotta get to work and do some laundry. real life rolls on...