Books!

A few books we are reading or just finished with...


Fahrenheit 451
While the kids are never thrilled about having to read an old classic, this one by Ray Bradbury certainly captured their attention. Books entertain us.  Books give us ideas.  Books open up our world.  What if there were no books?  What if books were a crime?  What would happen to the minds of a people not allowed to read books of any and every sort?  As a fireman, whose job is to START fires in order to burn books, Montag has never given these questions much thought until he meets an interesting girl who has conversations and THINKS.  Although my children were glad to check another book off their list, I believe this book gave them pause and caused them to....think. 


The Horse and His Boy
Chloe and I have been reading through the Chronicles of Narnia for the last year and a half.  I'm pleased to report that we have just finished reading the fifth book in this series of seven.  The Horse and His Boy is one of my favorites!  We highly recommend it. 

Benjamin Franklin:  Young Printer (Childhood of Famous Americans)
Oh how we enjoyed this book!  Most of us know many facts about Ben Franklin and his inventions, but how many of us know anything about his childhood?  One of our favorite scenes in the book told about how Ben broke the "family rule" of the dinner table when he told his mother the soup was a little thin.  Never, ever was a Franklin child allowed to say anything about the food his mother served that sounded even remotely like complaining.  Little Benjamin, sent to bed with no more supper and only a single candle to light his way up the dark, cold steps to his attic room, reminded us to be grateful for the ALL food we eat!  This book was a fascinating story of a boy whose thirst for knowledge grew up to be a man who changed the world.

Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes
I'm reading this book for a ladies' Bible study I participate in and am enjoying it.  The author has done well in laying a foundation of disciplines that every woman, who seeks to obey the commands in the Bible, should know.  The ideas behind what womanhood should be are rapidly changing in our world today.  Hughes points us back to the God created order and why we should embrace being women.  Excellent read!

The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
This little book has a lot of big ideas, so I'm slowly working my way through it.  I have to read the chapter once for the big picture, and then read it again to get the full meaning.  Jerry Bridges writes so that anyone can understand--not just theologians, so I am enjoying my work through this one as well.

What books have you started reading in the new year?