Healing the Purpose of Your Life

Here's another book by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn (same authors as Sleeping with Bread). This one is about discovering who God created us to be so that we can live out of that. Knowing our "sealed orders" from God about what we are here to do and be helps us live a life that is meaningful and life-giving as opposed to life-draining. Knowing our purpose also helps in making decisions because we can make choices based on whether or not they are in line with who we really are and what gives us life.

Crash by Jerry Spinelli

Crash Coogan is a seventh grade jock who boasts about his expensive clothes and athletic abilities. He's also a big-time arrogant jerk. Penn Webb is his dorky but affable neighbor. Penn has been nice to Crash since they first met in the 1st grade, but Crash wants nothing to do with Penn, unless it involves playing practical jokes on him. However,Crash changes over the course of the book and the ending is sweet and redemptive.

Even though this book is in the "young adult" genre, it raises important questions for everyone. Is it important to win at everything? Or are the winners really the ones who are surrounded by good friends? What qualities do we really want to have?


I see this book as a tribute to all of those "nice guys" out there (you know who you are!). Crash initially sees Penn as a loser, but Penn actually turns out to be the most grounded, dynamic, supportive, and generous guy around. What else could you want in someone close to you?

P.S. This book is written by the same author as one of my favorites, Stargirl, which has similar themes.

Getting Near to Baby by Audrey Couloumbis

This is the story of how a family deals with the loss of a baby. The mom is depressed and the middle daughter stops speaking. The aunt takes in the two sisters in order to give the mom some time alone to grieve and heal.

The ending of this book is touching and there are a few great lines. Overall though, this is one of the most boring books I've read in a long time. It is bland and has a cast of one-dimensional characters. There's probably better children's books out there that deal with grief...or at least I hope there are.

How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill

The full title of this book is How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else. The author is an Ivy League educated, ex-advertising executive who found himself in his 50s without a job or family (he was fired from the company he worked at for 25 years, had an affair and a baby with another woman and divorced his wife, but didn't end up with the new lady either). He ends up with a job at Starbucks, working for a 28-year-old African-American woman who teaches him a thing or two about the value of hard work. Mostly, Gill learns about the importance of respect and humility. His life is totally different, but he is happier than he's ever been.

This is a short, pleasant book to read. The behind-the-scenes look at Starbucks is fun. It's neat how Gill tackles his new job with both fear and courage and how thankful he is for the chance just to be working.

I would not put this on your must-read list...and I would recommend checking it out from the library rather than buying it. But if you get a chance to read it, go ahead! It's a new perspective and has some good lessons.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

This is an ambitious novel chronicling the life of fictional First Lady Alice Blackwell. The author does not try to hide the fact that the main character is based on Laura Bush. However, I'm unsure as to how closely Alice Blackwell resembles Laura Bush since I don't know that much about Mrs Bush.

The story follows Alice from her childhood through her years as First Lady in the White House. Alice grows up in a modest family in a small-town. She's a librarian, a Democrat, and is very thoughtful and intelligent. She meets Charlie Blackwell, a Republican who comes from a wealthy and well-known family. Charlie, although he attended prestigious schools and had a privileged upbringing, is a crude and demeaning goof-off who dapples in politics, but mostly lives off a trust fund. Charlie and Alice end up together, for better or for worse. Charlie winds up as president of the United States (not really because he had any political aspirations, but rather because he could so he did) and Alice, looking back at who she was, who she has become, and what she may have stood by and let happen, is trying to make sense of her life and who she is.

This book consumed me for two days. It is quality writing, not fluff or filler. I was a little disappointed at the end though because the first 500 pages were great and then the book got kind of boring, rambly, and unrealistic in the last 50 pages, as if the author was just trying to finish it up. Also, be forewarned: There are some explicit scenes that are really unnecessary.

The Tiger Rising by Kate Dicamillo

After reading Because of Winn-Dixie and loving it, I checked this little book out by the same author. It's about 12-year-old Rob who finds a caged tiger behind the motel where he and his dad are living. Rob also makes a friend in Sistine, a girl who challenges him to face the truth about his mom's death and his sadness.

This book was a BIG disappointment. It wasn't as nearly as charming or as touching as Because of Winn-Dixie.

So, don't read this book...read Because of Winn-Dixie if you haven't yet!

To read my short, but glowing review of Because of Winn-Dixie, click here!

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

This is a tale full of suspense and fantasy. It features eleven-year-old Lyra, an orphan growing up at Oxford, and her dangerous journey north that begins with her witnessing an attempted murder.

The book was a page-turner, but looking back now, it really was just okay. I found it hard to believe that young Lyra was so intelligent in order to figure out everything that she did. In addition, I didn't find any of the characters endearing like I do in Harry Potter. Also, there was a grisly polar bear fight that was pretty gross.

This is the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy. This one didn't get me that excited, but the story is good enough for me to continue reading the series. I've already checked out the second book, but I'm not feeling any pressure to read it right away and
I'm not totally sure that I'll finish the series. I'll see how it goes.