Earlier this week I finished one of the best books I have read in some time, There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene. The author tells the story of one woman's journey to save AIDS orphans in her country of Ethiopia. But more than that it is a schooling on HIV/AIDS, big pharmaceutical companies, and the world's slow response to this pandemic. I consider myself to be relatively educated about HIV/AIDS from our experience working with Christ's Hope International, but I was still overwhelmed by the numbers of lives that are being wiped out every day. It's so easy to be caught up in my nice middle class life that I forget the suffering and pain that millions of people are experiencing on a daily basis. But I am getting off track and that's a whole other post!
Anyways, this book was well written and takes a difficult, far-reaching subject and makes it personal without making it overly sensational or falsely sympathetic. It's real and raw and for me, a call to action. What that action is going to be I'm still working out, but reading this book stirred up things that have laid dormant in my heart for awhile. As I wrote the other day, the Lord is doing some exciting things and I can't wait to see how what's next.
I also recently finished, Peace Like A River by Leif Enger based on Sarah's glowing review. I'm not sure that I loved it quite as much as she did, but I did thoroughly enjoy it. I took my time reading it, savoring the excellent writing and truly wanting to draw out the wonderful story as long as possible. I have since purchased the book and have convinced Cale that he would enjoy it. It's now on his list of books to read on vacation (which is only 9 days away- yippee!). It's actually the only book on his list, but whatever.
This is probably also a good time to mention that I didn't quite finish all the books on my Spring Reading Thing List. I almost made it, but not quite. I started Sense and Sensibility, but then got books from the library that I requested and just got caught up in other things. I anticipate getting back to it later this summer. Teach them Diligently will be finished hopefully soon. It's a really good resource, but for some reason I am having a hard time getting through it; which is sad, because it's really not that long of a book! I also need to get around to reading One Night with the King. Not sure why it is still sitting there, unread and unloved, but it is. I think I have had too many other things that I wanted to read a whole lot more than it. It has probably fallen into the category of "desperation read" because I won't get around to it until I have absolutely nothing else to read! The other one left on my list is For Women Only and I have a good excuse for this one! I requested it from my library four months ago and just yesterday was able to pick it up. It looks like a quick, but hopefully informative read.
I have amassed a lovely stack of books to take on vacation with me next week. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it!
No comments:
Post a Comment