Reading Recap: JULY

Location: Brighton Park - Chicago, IL

I know I’m a day behind on this but I read some excellent books in July and would love to share with you all.

I’m stealing this idea from sweet Samantha as a motivation to read more :)

Book: Friend Raising

Author: Betty Barnett

This phenomenal books is a must for anyone who is embarking on a faith-support style of living. Becky began this lifestyle in 1975 and currently works for YWAM. She fills these books with her personal experiences of support raising along with Biblical principles she’s gleaned along the way. What I appreciated most was the practical advice she gives to people who are just starting out and people who have been down this road before. Even though I started writing support letters when I was in junior high, I had never done it the way Betty suggests. I felt so disconnected from my support team, only communicating them when I was going on another trip. This book convicted me as I read the Biblical basis for support raising and I realized I had to change my ways. I was able to put some of her advice in practice in my most recent newsletters and communication. The change in response was nearly overwhelming. This books was a huge blessing.

Book: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Author: Stieg Larsson

I finally got a chance to finish the series. I’m not sure how you all feel about this series. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not the most pleasant topic. However, Larsson is a magnificent storyteller. The way he can use the most minute details to twist an entire story around is astounding. In my personal opinion, this final installment was the least graphic/explicit. I found myself skipping over large portions of the first two books but this one was more about tying everything together. Again, Larsson is fantastic. For those of you unfamiliar with the series it’s about computer hacker expert Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. Their lives intersect in the first book over the disappearance of a young girl 20 years ago in Sweden. The second book spirals out of control with the unraveling of a lifelong conspiracy plot against Salander. The final book resolves the cliffhanger of the second book, bringing the whole conspiracy into the light. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it but fair warning this is not for the faint of heart. The original Swedish title translates “Men Who Hate Women”.

Book: Stories from a Teacher

Author: Jonathan Flores

This is first book I read on my Kindle. It was free for the Kindle and the synopsis looked quite interested. It’s about a young teacher (he started at 21 year old in 2008) in an inner city Maryland school district. This memoir is similar to The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. It’s a collection of vignettes of the first four years of teaching. He’s brutally honest, emphasis on brutally. It’s made clear throughout the books this is a low-income school district with gang activity, high teen pregnancy rates and drug use. The kids are a handful to say the least and the language is excessive. However, it’s finally a story about a young teacher hoping to change the world, without the Hollywood glitz. Passion, frustration, disillusionment and hopelessness all mesh together in the poignant memoir. Another fair warning, the kids in this school district don’t have a filter and Flores doesn’t use one for them. There is some really gritty subject matter but in the midst of all of it Flores passions for teaching and his students comes through. I would definitely recommend this for teachers hoping to work in inner city jr. high and high schools. 

What have you been reading lately?