"That's None Of Your Business: And Other Things God Told Me" by Donna Davis

I must admit I knew nothing about the book when I first dove into it. It is a self-published Kindle edition and you can get it very inexpensively from Amazon. The author does not have any other published books that I know of. However, if this is her literary debut, what a way to start a writing career!

Davis begins her book by recounting an experience she had a few years ago. Once when witnessing a man dying on the street she felt moved to come up to him and share some spiritual truths she'd been learning at the time. The man who seemed to have passed on at one point, regained consciousness and got up. He did not thank her. In fact, he probably did not even notice her. However, that experience led her to uncovering many practical spiritual insights that help her live her life more fully every day. This book is her attempt to share those lessons with others.

Davis gives an honest account of her every day struggles and how her spiritual study and communion with the eternal help her overcome the seemingly insurmountable challenges. Her story is written with humility, compassion and deep love for fellow men. The spiritual insights and practical lessons that she shares are not intrusive or pushy; nor does she claim to have all the answers. But the things she shares did have a practical impact on her life and she genuinely offers her experiences to others.

This book is a great inspirational read. I would highly recommend this to all who are searching for a higher meaning in life or simply trying to understand their place in this world. 

"The Grisha Trilogy" by Leigh Bardugo

          

There is something to be said about book covers... I know you are not supposed to judge the contents of a book by its cover, but these are just so pretty!!! And in this case, the books do live up to the expectations. I literally flew through the first two books, and had to really pace myself while reading the third one because I did not want to leave the world created by Bardugo. These are a real treat for fantasy lovers. Unlike most high fantasy books that loosely base their world on Medieval Europe, Bardugo got her inspiration from Russian/Eastern European medieval culture and folklore. 

My review below does not contain any spoilers, as I believe it is better to go into these books blind. The only thing I'd like to say is that Book 3 of the trilogy is by far my favorite in the series. In the first book, readers (along with the main character Alina) are confused by their feelings for the Darkling. He is powerful, mysterious, impossibly attractive, but also so very bad.... Some of us were hoping he wasn't really bad, and would at any minute turn into a good hero... Alas, never happened. In the second book, as Alina learns to master her power, she is still not sure of herself or her destiny. She is surrounded by three men vying for her love, and the one she really wants feels he has to give her up. Reading the second book, I still was not sure where Bardugo was going with the plot and what she had in store for Alina. The third book made all things clear and brought the story to a wonderful conclusion. I could not be happier with the way the story ended.

I am not going to comment on all the Slavic references "gone wrong" in this book. This is not historical fiction. It is a fantasy that loosely integrates bits and pieces of Eastern Slavic language and culture into the story. I thought Bardugo did a wonderful job with that and created a unique world that I loved immersing myself in. Enjoy the trilogy - I highly recommend it!

"To All the Boys I've Loved Before" by Jenny Han

This book is about three sisters whose mother had died when they were little and they live with their dad.  The oldest sister goes away to college, so the middle one - Lara Jean - has to be the "big sister" now, take care of 9-year old Kitty, be responsible, get over her fear of driving and yes, deal with some boy drama among other things. Lara Jean never had a boyfriend but she was in love several times - five times to be exact. Every time she wanted to get over a crush, she wrote him a letter, sealed and addressed the envelope and put the letter in a hatbox that her mother had given her a long time ago. This was her way of letting those unrequited infatuations go and move on. Well, one day, soon after her sister leaves for college, her letters get mailed by someone, and all of a sudden the quiet and day-dreaming Lara Jean has a lot of drama in her life...

I loved this book. It is so sweet and heart-warming, I literally could not put it down. It also made me happy and reminded me of all the good things about being a teenager. I loved reading about the Song sisters relationship. It's one of those books that you don't want to end and yet you can't stop reading. If you are feeling sad or down, read this book. It'll make you happy - it sure put me in a good mood!

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

Reading this book was part of a promise I made to myself to read more classics. In fact I set a very manageable goal: to read three classic novels in 2014. Well, 9 months into the year, I realized I had read none, so I decided to pick up "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. I did not know anything about the plot going into this book. But I love Wilde. I adore his plays, he is always witty and his characters make me laugh out loud. Well, this book is a lot darker than his plays. As a lot of classical fiction, this novel explores human nature and deals with the subject of good and evil. What is the most valuable thing in life? Can one indulge in sin without consequences to their character? Is it possible to silence one's conscience? Is goodness utterly boring and only sin can bring joy? And ultimately, is a sinner capable of remorse and worthy of redemption? All are timeless questions and examined by a true master and an expert in human nature. Wilde shrewdly discerns character flaws and brings them to the surface. I really enjoyed the creativity of the plot and Wilde's witty writing. The only reason I did not give this book a five-star rating is because in a few places the narrative did drag for me. Perhaps the readers in Wilde's time had a longer attention spans and had more tolerance for lengthy descriptions. Other than that, it is an amazing excellent novel, and I highly recommend it. It is also very manageable in size - just over 200 pages.

"A World More Bright, the Life of Mary Baker Eddy" by Isabel Ferguson and Heather Vogel Frederick

Once in a while I enjoy reading biographies. I especially like books about strong women that left their mark on history. Mary Baker Eddy was definitely such a woman. A sickly girl born in early 1800s in the country side of New Hampshire, she had her fair share of struggle: early widowhood, forced separation from her only son, health problems, poverty, abandonment by her second husband... However, her story is not about what she suffered although those trials definitely molded her into who she became. Her story is that of triumph. In her 40s she wrote a book that has influenced not only the American religious thought, but has had an impact on countless lives around the world. It still stirs its readers with questions like: is God all good? If so, is He also the source of evil? Her book, of course, is Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Eddy went on to establish a church, a college, a publishing house, and launched what would become a multiple Pulitzer-prize winning newspaper The Christian Science Monitor. She accomplished all of this and more during the time when women did not even have a right to vote...

This new biography is an excellent introduction to the life of a great American religious leader and thinker. The book is very well written. I loved all the colorful pictures and side bars that provide additional glimpses into the time period and customs of the day, thus providing an excellent backdrop to the story. The book is also very manageable lengthwise - just a little over 200 pages. Overall, this biography felt very fresh, unlike some that you take off the shelf and feel like blowing dust off the cover. So if you like books about late 19th-early 20th century and want to learn more about a woman who was in her day a real celebrity, this is definitely a book to check out. 

"Ready Player One" by Ernst Cline

I had conflicting feelings about this book. On the one hand, I heard wonderful reviews of this book from readers of different ages. However, what made me pause was the fact that much of the action was supposed to take place inside a video game. I never liked video games and was not sure I'd want to read a book about being in one... In addition, I heard the book described as being filled with 1980s trivia. Frankly, I was not sure about my 1980s trivia knowledge... Nonetheless, I decided to give it a shot; and what a great read this turned out to be!

The book is funny, well-written and very engaging. The 80s references were very understandable. The characters were interesting and likable. I loved everything about this book. Now about the video game. This is not the correct description, at least in my mind. The story is set in 2045, when the human civilization takes a downturn due to diminished natural resources. The only diversion humans have is this massive online virtual reality where everyone spends most of their waking hours. This is where you work, shop, watch movies and news, meet friends, go to school, etc. Seeing how even today we spend a lot of time doing things online, I can totally see the possibility of such a virtual reality being created some day. Cline does a fantastic job describing what it feels like to be inside this virtual reality. He is also good at portraying the loneliness his characters experience in real life even though their virtual lives are packed with adventures, friendships and even romance.

The main character (Wade, aka Parzival) and his friends are engaged in a once in a lifetime game/online puzzle set up by a renown video game designer who had recently passed away. The winner will get his entire fortune valued in billions of dollars. The story is filled with twists and turns. The relationships in the book are sweet and heartwarming, and the story has a really good ending. I rated this book at 5 out of 5 starts on Goodreads and I highly recommend it to everyone who likes science fiction and adventure stories.

Reading Challenges

I have not posted anything for a couple of weeks, so thought it was about time. September has been a slow reading month for me so far mostly because I am taking a very reading-intensive class which does not leave a lot of time for reading for fun. However, I did finish a children's book called The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer. It is the first book in his The Land of Stories series and is a great book for middle graders. It is vaguely reminiscent of The Magic Tree House books in that the two main characters (a brother and a sister) journey into another world. However, Colfer's book is definitely more complex and intended for an older age-group. If you or your children like fairy tales, you will enjoy this book. Without giving too much away, the two main characters literally fall into a book of fairy tales and then spent the rest of the story traveling through the magic world trying to find their way back. My daughter will definitely enjoy this book. Colfer has released two more books in the series so if you get into it, you'll be busy for a while. I am not planning on reading other books in this series simply because I can only stand so much middle grade fiction.

I have started reading Ready Player One by Ernst Cline. I am only 50 pages into it and I love it! I had heard a lot about this book and was really looking forward to reading it. It is an adult sci-fi/dystopian novel and most of the story takes place in a virtual online reality. The book is filled with 1980s trivia and references and is a lot of fun. I will definitely post a full review once I am finished with it.

I do still have quite a bit of books on my to read list on goodreads (you can follow me here), so hopefully once I am done with this class in mid-October, I will be able to get through some of them. I am yet to start on the three classic novels that I was planning to read this year (see my post from July here). Overall, the reading challenge I set for my self for 2014 was 60 books. I am at 41 right now. This is without counting 3 mammoth-size textbooks I read for school. So this has been a pretty good reading year so far despite the usual lack of time and well, life in the real world!