Bookworm Bloggin'

Hello? Spring? Is that you?
Oh no, it's just Minnesota's Spring - very different from that of a normal springtime...
Haha - Mother Nature sure likes to torment us with the fluffy white stuff, doesn't she?
Well, in acceptance of weather patterns out of my control, I am pleased to provide you with some of my most recent reads - rundown style.

I will tell you right off the bat, two of these books that I just finished stayed on my bookshelf (not an easy feat to accomplish in my mind, especially these days when I am trying to par down on the amount of books I have lining my shelves and collecting dust - in my quest to go (mostly) reading-digital by the end of the year 2013).

Without further ado, I give you:

Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo

This is one of those books that I really have tried to stay away from. It seems like every so often, a herd of them storm through the Best Seller's List as the greatest, most true thing since...well, anything. I have read a couple similar books in the past and found that they tried too hard, or sounded fake, or just weren't up to snuff. This book on the other hand, seems to be completely, Real. I find myself still thinking about parts of the book here and there since reading it. Especially about this photo that was described and included in the book as to what Jesus really looks like in Heaven:

Without having been there myself, how am I to know? But I guess I am using this photo as a stand-in for my visual-learning-self in the meantime. 

Anyway, if you want a quick, funny, real read that makes you wonder about  the end of yours, or your loved ones' days, pick up this book and pass it along. I intend on passing it along in the near future. So, you could call this one a KEEPER for me, although I will be passing it along to someone else more than likely very soon!

Secondly:

The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein

This book was really good too. I had picked up this book at a Goodwill because I had seen so many copies of it there over time, that I was curios about the title, and the dog on the front cover (yep, totally judged this one by the title and the cover, just sayin'.)

First off, I didn't know a thing about the book and I did not read the back of the book before starting to read it. After reading a few sentences, I said, hey, wait a second...and read the back of the book. The book is told from the point of view of the dog. That totally threw me for a loop before I figured that out. 

Once I got that down, the book was a quick read and I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next and look forward to the next time I was going to be reading it again and get to the end. I also saved some room for this one on the shelf as well to hang on to. I really liked it - beginning, middle and end. Really good read, and not as sad and cheesy as Marley and Me, and a lot of those other books of man's best friend, man's best friend bonding with people and man's best friend dying, sadly...Dog lovers, I recommend this one to you as you curl up with your pooch on a drizzly day. It made me look at Tucker, and ask, "Do you think that about me?!" It was funny because when I actually asked Tucker that once, he looked up at me once like he understood me and knew what I was talking about. Silly puppy. I might need to look into the other books that he has written - once I make the move to my Kindle/phone.

The latest book I am reading right now is:

Love The One You're With by Emily Giffin

I am already learning that I am sort of "over" this author. She takes everything right to sex and I am sick of her stories always heading there first. I do like her writing style other than that - so that is probably what keeps me coming back. This is one of the larger of her books that I have read so far. I only have one more in my stack of hers to read (Heart of the Matter). Then, I might part ways with Giffin for a bit. I have already read most of her other books - the Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Baby Proof books. Might as well round it off for now, eh?

So there is my current book status. I feel like I might have missed one more in there, but can't remember which one it could have been.

OH - look what I just found right across the street from my parent's old house!!!:

A Little Free Library!! I was SO excited to see this the last time that I was over! I grabbed one book from it already and brought a small handful of others over to donate to the library! I SO am making one of these someday! love love love them!

Happy Reading!

-LD