My Latest Reading List

I really haven't been doing much in the last month other than the normal routine of sleeping, chores, going to work, and making dinner. In the mean time I've been reading as much as I can. I know that the last time I wrote about the next group of books that I would read were all classic novels but this time I took a something a little more contemporary.

My first book was Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado. Very, very good inspirational book based on the life of David. We all have our own Goliath's. "He taunts you with bills you can't pay, people you can't please, habits you can't break, failures you can't forget, and a future you can't face." There are some days when I feel like I'm not only facing Goliath, but all his brothers standing behind him too. And then there is David. I have wondered in the past what God saw in him because his actions-well, most of the time they were pretty appalling. But, of course, God saw his heart. Max does an amazing job of tying in the story of Jesus and his redeeming love. Where David failed, Jesus surpassed. I recommend this book highly to all who need, for just a moment, a new perspective about the "giants" in our lives.

Next, I moved on to something a little more devilish, I suppose. Sure, its a cliche to say that the book is better than the movie and in some ways it was. Anyone who has seen the movie knows that Anne Hathaway is not the star at all but that Meryl Streep stole the show. The movie does not really follow the book except in two or three places but the end is fairly along the same lines except that it is so much more cathartic. I really like the way Lauren Weisberger weaves a tale and I will be reading more of her works very soon. I really get her sense of humor-logical, sarcastic, and perfect timing. 

I've been wanting to read this one for a very long time. Longer than the movie has been out. This movie happens to follow very closely to the book, but, of course, it can't have everything. While attending UNLV I had several courses in Japanese history and was given the assignment of researching the "geisha-districts". I had no idea what a geisha was and probably thought immediately that they were just top-notch hookers. They are not, but they are top-notch entertainers that at one time were owned by the owners of their particular geisha house and were usually sold by their parents before the age of 9. Anyway, Arthur Golden does a fantastic job of weaving a tale of hope, disappointment, and redemption. He writes each character so life-like that you can't help search the Internet to see if any of them ever existed. Again, I highly recommend this book and hope that you won't be disappointed.