Friday, February 22, 2008

Friday Favorites

This week's favorites have a theme (and it's not food!): BOOKS....I LOVE to read. I read all the time when my little Benito is sleeping or down for the night (although lately I've read a bit less due to a ridiculous addiction with a game on facebook that will remain nameless, because it's embarrassing :)). So here they are, beginning with my least to most favoritest books :)

5. The Old English Series (actually don't think that's the exact name of the series, but that's the setting) by Lori Wick. Lori Wick is a Christian romance author and I pretty much read every single one of her books (quite a feat) during the six months I nursed Bennett. Her fiction can be pretty monotonous after a while, but this particular series is a good one (the best, in my opinion) and I believe there are three (possibly four) books in it all together. One is called The Hawk and the Jewel...can't remember the titles of the others. If you're looking for some light reading that's entertaining and clean, and kinda sweet and totally sappy, this is right up your alley.

4. The Hero Series by Gilbert Morris. Another Christian romance author that I exhausted during Bennett's early months. Again, this dude has written a million books, and most of them center around a specific lineage of family, the Winslows (fictional). His writing is also fairly monotonous, but more historical, with factual information. The Hero Series in particular is a bit unrealistic, but again entertaining and clean. There are six books (I think) in this series, and the titles are ones like The Guardian, The Interviewer, etc. They're all about this one family of six siblings and how they take care of each other and all eventually find love and get married and blah blah blah (and they all have dangerous public service jobs like a firefighter, an FBI undercover agent, a forensic specialist, a paramedic, etc.). Not the most believable series, but again, light and entertaining.

3. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. This book actually has the potential to be my #2, but I haven't actually finished it yet...I'm about halfway through, and I'm loving it (thanks to Amanda for inspiring me to read it). It's so encouraging, and just jam-packed with truths about God and good reminders for the purpose of my life and what I'm truly here for. The biblical principles in it are really helping me reorder my priorities and think differently about how I use my time, who I'm doing things for, and what true worship is. If you haven't read it, please do. If you have, you could always read it again. It's one of those books that is so full of things you want to remember, I'm pretty sure it's going to take several read-throughs to milk it all.

2. This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. He's kind of a Christian mystery/sci-fi author (also wrote The Oath), but this particular book is different. It focuses on the spiritual realm and spiritual warfare over a small town. I'm usually all about books with at least a hint of a romantic theme, which is absent from this book, but I loved it and have read it several times because it really opened my eyes to the possibilities around us, and how very real and dangerous our enemy the devil really is. There is another realm, the spiritual realm, that is even more real and lasting than where we live right now, and though I don't give serious credence to this book or claim it is written in truth or such (simply because my small mind can't comprehend it all and there's no way for us to really know how all of those things actually work), it is a good reminder of how we are affected by things around us without even knowing it, and a good reminder to pray, to be serious about our relationship with the Lord, and to stay engaged in this spiritual battle we as Christians are involved in. If you've never read it, I HIGHLY recommend it.

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I could seriously read this book a million and one times and NEVER get tired of it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! It's a classic, they've made many movies about it of varying setting and plotline (I'm pretty sure I've watched all of them, even the one set in India, called Bride and Prejudice - HA!). If you want romance, and drama, and beating the odds, and SUPER DUPER happy endings, but in a non-cheesy, breath-taking way, or if you've never read this book (unthinkable!), you HAVE to. It's my all time favorite. I'm pretty confident it always will be.

3 comments:

Summer said...

I like to read too but not as much as my husband - he reads ALL THE TIME! To answer your voting question, I called Jason because he is the expert. :-) He said if you're not registered yet then it's too late to vote on March 4th but you could register to vote in the big election in November - you do that at the DMV (where you get your driver's license, and they usually ask you if you want to register when you get a license). You may be registered and not know it, so you could call the DMV and ask and then if you are, could vote on March 4th. We don't have registration cards but are registered and just show our driver's licenses when we vote. Hope this helps! Have you checked out the nutrition info yet?

Courtney said...

Ahhh, Pride and Prejudice. I have no idea how many times I have read that book. It just gets better every time. Have you read any of Randy Alcorn's (Christian author) fiction? Something about what you suggested made me think you would like those. They're wonderful! They'll make you think about Heaven in a way you never have before.

Jennifer said...

Summer -- thanks for the info!

Courtney -- I've heard his name many times but haven't read anything he's written yet. I'll have to check him out!