It’s Monday! What are you reading? Is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journey and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. Kellee and Rikki at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts gave the meme a kidlit twist. It’s a great way to reflect on what you’ve read and reviewed the last week and plan what you want to read next. Join up with us and discover what good books other people are reading.

We are back in the swing of the final weeks of school as my daughter counts down the days until graduation. I’ve been driving lots of back roads and love coming upon surprising sights. This week it was an elephant statue standing on a flatbed trailer in the yard of an abandoned school building. The red, tasseled cloth hanging down its forehead and the sunflower grasped in its trunk made me smile every time I passed it. Meanwhile, back at home we are alternating between mowing the grass and covering the garden plants to protect them from frost. I’ve also had more time to read some great books.

I finished…

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater – I put off reading this conclusion to the Shiver series because it focuses on my two least favorite characters:  Cole and Isabel. I’m glad I finally read it, though. Isabel has fled to California to try to escape the memories from Minnesota and the wolves and her family’s tragedies, but she can’t seem to find her way. Cole comes after her, but is caught up in the most destructive reality show on the Internet. Somehow these two flawed, damaged people try to find their way back to each other in spite of themselves. Cole and Isabel still aren’t easy to like, but it’s hard to look away from their story.

Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor – My Bible study is back to finish our discussion of this book. It is one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read in a long time. I experience the dark differently now.

The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks – Once again I am blown away by Brooks. This one is historical fiction–the story of King David, who united the tribes of Israel and Judah.The writing is breathtaking and the story fills in the parts missing from the Biblical record with imagination and grace. My favorite character is the narrator, the prophet Nathan who dared to speak the truth to David.

The Three Hardest Words by Leonard Sweet – What are the three hardest words to get right and to live right? I love you. Sweet explores the challenges in getting each of these three words right as we live out our faith. Once again, Sweet gives me much to think about and challenges the way I live my faith.

I’m currently reading…

The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal – I read just a few more essays this week. As from last week, they give me much to ponder. Just what are the limits of forgiveness? What do you do when confronted with some of the worst evil the word can devise? Does forgiving mean forgetting? What does it mean to forgive? Who can forgive?

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen – I wasn’t going to start this book yet, but I kept picking it up to sneak a few pages here and there. Now I’m hooked. I thought I was a pretty astute history student. My major in women’s studies opened my eyes to a lot of history overlooked in traditional textbooks, but just in the first chapter I’ve been shocked by what I didn’t know. I can’t wait to finish the rest of the book.

Coming up…

Since April is the month to celebrate poetry, I want to read more poetry this month! I’m sure I’ll find lots of other things to read as well. I just haven’t come across them yet.\

Happy reading to all of you!

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