2 Final Reads for the Year

Understanding People by Larry Crabb


My rating: 4 of 5 stars





"Maturity - realized dependency, admitted poverty, brokenness: life simply isn't working the way we want it to and we can do nothing to change it. We do not have what it takes to secure for ourselves what we want. Amid acknowledged helplessness and vulnerability, the decision not to blunt the pain through denial or com...promise and to repent of any thought that our lives can somehow be restored apart from God's grace is the beginning of rich character."
"In the deepest part of every soul is a hunger that will only be fully satisfied in heaven."
"...we were designed to experience a quality of relationship which is not available in this fallen world."

Enjoyed this book - Larry Crabb's writing is deep and thought-provoking.

Also finished:
Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst








Very interesting read about a reality game show. Each chapter is from the viewpoint of one of the contestants (except for a couple chapters from the host of the show). It seemed similar to the Amazing Race with teams of two going around the world. The show is called Lost and Found and it is basically a scavenger hunt where the contestants get clues and have to figure out a keyword. Each leg they have to find an object and then that object must be carried with them throughout the remainder of the show. So they end up flying all over the world lugging objects such as ski poles and various other paraphenelia. I found this book very intriguing and it was interesting to see some of the inner workings of a reality show. There was a great twist partway through that made it even more interesting. I would definitely recommend this read.

2010 Goals

I was looking back at my post for my 2009 goals and realized that though I completed a lot of them, I still made no progress on others. That's about typical for me in a given year. Yet, I enjoy looking ahead and making lists of goals that I want to accomplish. If I then don't succeed in accomplishing them, there's always the following year, right? :-)

Here's my list for 2010:

Movies/TV-
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Love Happens
The Lake House
Season 1 of Fringe
He's Just Not That Into You

Books-
Authentic Faith by Gary Thomas
What Bothers Me Most about Christianity? by Ed Gungor
The Second Opinion by Michael Palmer
Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh
The Bishop by Steven James
The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge
Heaven by Randy Alcorn
Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
The Pathway to Purpose for Women by Katie Brazelton
Soul Repair by Jeff VanVonderen
So many I want to read!!! My challenge lists would probably be included here also (though some of the above books are on my challenge lists already).

Other goals-
Finish reading The Message (that I started for the Bible in a Year Challenge but haven't finished)
Do a 5k walk/run with Jono
Memorize 2 Corinthians 4

Sci-Fi and Non-Fiction

Well, I've gotten back into Sci-Fi (thanks to the Sci-Fi Challenge for getting me interested again) and practically devoured the book Flash Forward by Robert Sawyer. I was thinking when I started it that it was a different plot than it was and then when I realized it wasn't, I was dying to figure out which book it was that had the plot I was thinking of. Thanks to some Googling, I discovered the plot I was thinking of was Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. Something to do with the earth's time speeding up and being covered by some kind of barrier. Anyway, I've added that back into my reading list.
Flash Forward was an interesting and very quick read. I think I read it in just a couple days. It kept me intrigued as the world all blacked out at the same time and had visions of a time many years into the future. As a result of these visions, lives were changed and people debated whether these were a set view of the future or if it was possible to change the future. Good read - even if you're not into sci-fi, per se, it was a bit of a mystery involved also.

With the long weekend for Christmas, I was able to complete 2 more non-fiction books: Seismic Shifts by Kevin Harney and Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado. Both solid reads - Seismic Shifts dealing with changes we need to make in our lives in order to grow. Facing Your Giants used the life of David in the Bible to show how we all face giants of various kinds and how we need to focus on God who is bigger than any giants we may face.

Jupiter by Ben Bova

I haven't read sci-fi in quite a while though I used to read and enjoy it. I just lost interest in it for a while, apparently. But my interest has returned and I decided to give the Sci-Fi Challenge a try to get back into some sci-fi books. I particularly enjoy sci-fi books dealing with planet and moon exploration. I've read several of Ben Bova's books, including Mars and Return to Mars, as well as Venus. I have a few more of his planet books so I picked up Jupiter to give it a try.

This was a good read - Grant Archer, in the process of trying to become an astrophysicist, is sent to the station orbiting Jupiter to spy on them and report back to the New Morality (the current highly religious government). The station is forbidden to do any exploration of the planet itself, rather they are confined to studying Jupiter's moons. Yet Grant discovers that the director of the station is involved in a secret project to send a manned mission to the planet. A previous manned mission ended in disaster, but in spite of that, they are pressing forward. Very interesting and intriguing.

Fantasy Football - Almost the End

Well, the regular season of Fantasy Football is over and I did not make the playoffs in 2 of my leagues. In the NFL league, I ended up 5-9 and in my church league on Yahoo, I ended up 5-9. There were only 6 of us in the church league, so only 4 made it to the playoffs and I was 5th. But, Jono was first place in the church league at 10-4 so he is going to be in the playoffs for that league.

In my Facebook fantasy league, I ended up 1st place at 12-2! Yay! So I am in the playoffs in that league, and there is 3 weeks of playoffs so I actually have a Bye the first week. Very exciting!

Scrapbook Pages

I was able to go to an overnight scrapbook crop the weekend before Thanksgiving. I got a lot of pages done and was quite pleased with my progress. Here's some of the completed pages:

Downtown Detroit


Henry Ford Museum, Jono with Janis Joplin car


Frankenmuth trip, maze of mirrors

For more scrapbook pics, see my Flickr page.

Recently Read

I've read several books lately that I haven't reviewed. Sometimes I just don't feel like writing a review. One book I finished was a re-read Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald. Even though it was a re-read, it was actually an updated version of the book I read years ago.

Another read was Fire Sale by Sara Paretsky. I actually tried reading this book several times before as it is part of the V.I. Warshawski series that I really like. For some reason, I just couldn't get into it before. But this time, I got into it and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading the next Warshawski book Hardball. I'm glad I gave this one another try.

Three of the books I finished reading were for the Chick Lit Challenge.
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner - enjoyed this book, not all fluff
Perfect on Paper by Maria Murnane - okay, a bit boring
Stealing Adda by Tamara Leigh - Christian chick lit and an enjoyable read

I also finished a non-fiction Seven Faith Tribes by George Barna. Not really sure what to think on this one - kind of an interesting overview of the main religions in the USA and how a lot of the core values for each religion are actually pretty similar. The premise of the book was learning to cooperate together with our shared values instead of focusing so much on our differences. Not sure how realistic that is.

I am currently reading Jupiter by Ben Bova for the Sci-Fi Challenge. I haven't read sci-fi in quite a while and I am enjoying getting back into the genre.

What's In a Name 3 Challenge

I tried to do this challenge this year and it doesn't look like I will be able to complete it (finished 4 out of 6 so far). In spite of that, I would like to try again as I think it is a fun challenge.

Beth is sponsoring the challenge this year. For more info and to sign up, go here. The challenge runs the entire year of 2010. Here are the categories and my potential choices:

1. A book with a food in the title: The Summer of Cotton Candy by Debbie Viguie or Friendship Cake by J. Lynne Hinton
   
2. A book with a body of water in the title: Surrender Bay by Denise Hunter
   
3. A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The Bishop by Steven James or Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther by Ginger Garrett
   
4. A book with a plant in the title: Limelight by Melody Carlson or Lady of Milkweed Manor by Julie Klassen
   
5. A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh or Jerusalem: The City of God by Ellen Gunderson Traylor
   
6. A book with a music term in the title: Rain Song by Alice Wisler or Bed Rest by Sarah Bilston
   

Potential Medical Mystery Madness List

My potential list for the Medical Mystery Madness challenge. 6 are required, 10 are on the list.

Clone-27 by Robert Houser - Finished February 2010
Delayed Diagnosis by Gwen Hunter
The Final Victim by I.J. Sarfeh
Intervention by Robin Cook - Finished March 2010
The Second Opinion by Michael Palmer - Finished February 2010
The Offings by Charley Scholl
Piece of Mind by Robert Bartlett - Finished March 2010
Recursion by James Cavell
The White Plague by Frank Herbert
With a Vengeance by Eileen Dreyer

Added:
The Judas Strain by James Rollins - Finished April 2010
Carriers by Patrick Lynch - Finished June 2010

2010 Medical Mystery Madness Challenge

As this is my favorite genre to read, I have decided to continue this challenge this coming year. This time, it will be a year-long challenge and the goal is to read at least 6 Medical Mysteries. You can list them out ahead of time or list them as you go along. Books can be used for cross-challenges and you can change your list at any time. To sign up, comment on this post.
Happy Reading!

Sci-Fi Reading Challenge

Mish of Stage and Canvas is hosting this Sci-Fi Challenge. I'm a bit tentative about signing up as I have had difficulty in reading sci-fi in recent years. However, I used to read it quite a bit and enjoyed it. So I'm tentatively putting down 3 books to try to read by August 8, 2010.
(Timeframe for challenge is: August 28, 2009 to August 8, 2010) I may cheat and give myself till November since I signed up late. :-)

1. Mars Life by Ben Bova
2. Flashforward by Robert Sawyer - FINISHED Dec. 2009
3. Jupiter or Titan by Ben Bova - FINISHED Dec. 2009

Read:
Moonwar by Ben Bova - FINISHED Feb. 2010
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson - FINISHED Mar. 2010

Potential List for Chick Lit Challenge 2010

My potential list for the Chick Lit Challenge. 8 are required, 18 are on the list.

Becca by the Book by Laura Jensen Walker - Finished May 2010
Bed Rest by Sarah Bilston - Finished April 2010
The Book of Jane by Ann Dayton
Claire Knows Best by Tracey Bateman
Fifteen Minutes of Shame by Lisa Daily - Finished April 2010
First Comes Love by Whitney Lyles
Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
I Heart Bloomberg by Melody Carlson
Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh - Finished April 2010
Love Off-Limits by Whitney Lyles
Rematch by Erynn Mangum
Match Point by Erynn Mangum
A Mile in My Flip-Flops by Melody Carlson
My Life as a Doormat (in Three Acts) by Rene Gutteridge
Never the Bride by Rene Gutteridge - Finished January 2010
Picket Fence Promises by Kathryn Springer
The Pre-Nup by Beth Kendrick - Finished March 2010
Roommates by Whitney Lyles
Searching for Spice by Megan Dimaria
The Secret Life of Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck

Added:
Second Chance by Jane Green - Finished February 2010
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner - Finished June 2010