What I read in February, 2009

February was a very good month - several books over 4, and two fabulous 5s. I have my own copy of the 5s now, if anyone wants to borrow them...

9. In His Steps – 4.5 – Charles M. Sheldon – the original “What Would Jesus Do?” book. Written in the late 1800s it is the story of a congregation that is shaken by the appearance of an impoverished stranger. The minister and five influential church members pledge to put the question, “What would Jesus do?” to every situation in their lives. Very good, thought-provoking book.

10. Aunt Dimity Detective – 3.75 – Nancy Atherton – another fun mystery. I don’t really care for the main character, Lori Shepherd. She has what Dimity calls a “wandering eye” and every story has a handsome man who thinks Lori is just wonderful….it gets a little tiresome. Otherwise, though, I enjoy the stories. Even the criminals turn out to be not so bad.

11. Still Alice – 5 – Lisa Genova – one of the best books I’ve read in a long time – Alice is 50 years old, a respected author, speaker and professor at Harvard. And Alice develops early-onset Alzheimer’s, and it is the story told from her perspective, as she and her family come to grips with it and re-evaluate the things that make us who we are. Never slides into clichés, uplifting without being sticky-sweet, an overall wonderful story that does not ignore either the hard or the beautiful things in life. I cannot recommend it enough. And it does NOT end anything like I thought it would and we’ll just leave you hanging there!

12. Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free – 4 – Nancy Leigh DeMoss – interesting – a lot of things that I have read before, but still gave some very good insights into what we believe versus what scripture actually teaches.

13. The Associate – 3.5 John Grisham - I feel like I have to give it a good score because it was interesting and a quick read, but I never really cared about any of it. The most interesting character (and the only one developed at all) is a friend of the protagonist who gets religion and AA and his life is radically changed. I bet you can guess what happens to HIM in a John Grisham novel!

14. Why The Sky is Blue – 5 – Susan Meissner – absolutely wonderful story. A woman with a perfect life is assaulted and left for dead. The consequences of that night and her family's decisions are told from her viewpoint and then fifteen years later from that of her 12 year old daughter as an adult. Incredible moving story about trusting God and not being afraid to love others. She is quickly becoming my new favorite author!

15. City of Ember – 3 – Jeanne DuPrau – to this goes the axiom of always read the book before the movie. The book was not bad – it was a bedtime read aloud with my two older boys. The movie is terrible