BOOKS!

So far this summer I have read...

The Friday Night Knitting Club
A NYTimes best-seller, it was good, but not quite as good as...


The Help
This book was INCREDIBLE.  Seriously, if you don't read it... I might not be your friend. Oops.


The Lost Symbol
Another great book--very fast paced, kept me interested the whole time.


Forgotten God
Still reading this one, but it's a great reminder of the Holy Spirit and the things He can do in our lives.  It's a great book to read/perspective to gain before doing something like going on a mission trip/volunteer trip or starting a new job or a new class or anything.


Love the One You're With
NERD ALERT: I actually listened to this one on CD while driving back and forth between Athens, and I LOVED it.  Emily Giffin has a great voice.  At first I really wasn't sure about it because the main character cheats on her husband, but it really does have a great message and you fall in love with the characters.


Winter Garden (In Progress...)
I'll let ya know! I chose this because I LOVED LOVED LOVED Firefly Lane--You've GOTTA read that if you haven't!

UPDATE:

I've also read...

Committed
This is by Elizabeth Gilmore, who wrote Eat, Pray, Love.  If you haven't read EPL, PLEASE read it. Now.  All women should read this and then subsequently become jealous of her ability to basically take a year off of real life to travel and ask all the questions we shove to the back of our minds right before we fall asleep because we're afraid of the answers.  Because we can't all do that, live vicariously through Liz.  You won't be disappointed, I promise.

Committed was good, too, but considering I'm not going to engaged/married/etc., I couldn't exactly connect.  BUT it did deal with a lot of life questions, like EPL, and was still good.  Read EPL, Firefly Lane, The Help, and of course, the TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE before you read this.

more books

How do I know it's finals?

Because I'm obsessively cleaning.

And adding to lists.  Like my list of books to read:

1. Strengths Based Leadership
2. White Oleanders
3. Stones into Schools
4. Pathologies of Power
5. Half the Sky
6. The Bielski Brothers
7. Everything is Illuminated
8. Long Way Down
9. Sophie's Choice
10. Profiles in Courage

And no, I don't plan on doing anything except reading when I finish finals.  Reading.  What I want to read.  In the sun.  Falling asleep.  Drinking Diet Coke.  Or sweet tea.  ahhhhhhh.  This might actually motivate me to write papers.

Or not.  Whatevs.

Holly Jolly Christmas!

So the one plus side to this cold, rainy weather is that it makes it perfectly acceptable to just curl up in bed and READ with a big mug of tea! And this break I'm most excited about getting to all the books I've been wanting to read this semester! Like...

1. Her Fearful Symmetry
2. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller
3. I am Charlotte Simmons
4. Remembering the Forgotten God, Francis Chan
5. Harry Potter (rereading my favorite parts... eeeek excited!)
6. The Lost Symbol (Just got it last night--I've heard great things about it... Has anyone read it?)
7. Nanny Returns (Haven't gotten it yet but planning on hitting up the library this afternoon... I haven't heard anything about it, though.  Any word?)
8. The 4:8 Principle
9. The Reason for God
10. The Freedom Writer's Diary
11. One Day, All Children, Wendy Kopp

Along with all of the other books laying around the house. I think one of my New Years resolutions might be to finally read all of the books I've collected over the years. Maybe.  Ha.

Any other fabulous suggestions?