Tagged: Family RSS

  • coffeehousereader 3:13 pm on January 31, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: England, Family, NY, Survival, War   

    How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff 

    This book has a cartoonish like cover.  It’s the story of Elizabeth who decides at a young age she prefers to be called Daisy.  Her mom sadly died when she was born.  Daisy’s dad has remarried and she’s sure her dad has picked the classic wicked step-mother.  For some reason the wicked step-mother decides to ship off Daisy to England to live with her aunt and cousins who she’s never met before.

    When Daisy meets her younger cousin Edmond who picks her up from the airport she’s shocked he’s smoking a cigarette and driving the car all by himself at 14.  She’s only fifteen and thinks he’s quite cool.  Daisy further meets her other cousins Issac, Piper, Osbert and her aunt Penn.  At first England is dreary and boring, but soon its charms warm up to Daisy.  Her aunt’s family own a lot of pets: goats, 2 dogs and some sheep.  Aunt Penn has to go away on business for a few days and the cousins are delighted to be free of adult supervision.  This gives Edmond and Daisy time to bond further as cousins.  They do make sure they read plenty and study off and on while helping around the farm.

    While Aunt Penn is away there is an attack on England and she’s not able to make her way back.  Pretty soon Daisy and her cousins are on their own and learning that having family is sometimes all you’ve got.  This book follows Daisy and her cousins on how they deal with war.  It’s tough when all you want to do is be a kid and not have to grow up so soon.

    This novel deals with many difficult topics, but I think for a junior higher it covers a lot of important topics like dealing with family you’ve never met before, living and surviving while a war is going on and learning to go with your gut instinct.

     

  • coffeehousereader 8:11 pm on January 13, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: A Month of Sundays, , Death, , Family, Julie Mars, Religion, Sisters   

    A Month of Sundays by Julie Mars 

    This book title caught my eye at Bookman’s (a local used bookstore).  A Month of Sundays sounded like my kind of book.  I bought it and started it this past Sunday.  It’s not a thick book, but it’s been a personal ride to read about the author’s adventure of being there for her older sister, as her sister, Shirley deals with dying of cancer.  Julie’s story is about her quest to see if there is life after death and if just maybe she can find the spirit of God and of her sister.

    Julie attends a range of different churches from traditional (Baptist) to out there (Scientology), etc.  She visits 31 churches and each time she visits she brings along her camera to capture a picture of the front of the church.  There’s only one church she wasn’t allowed to take a picture of.  Each visit she gleams something and also, realizes why she became a church dropout.  Even though her Shirley was an ex-Catholic who wanted to return to her Catholic roots at the end, she still had her struggles with the church.  Julie watched her sister slip further and further down hill.  At one point Shirley says she just wants water and God.  Julie finds this interesting.  She wants what her sister wants.

    Reading the emotional toll it takes on caring for someone who has cancer brings to mind my grandpa who took care of my grandma faithfully by himself the time she had cancer.  I can’t imagine the patience, love and strength one would need to care for your best friend in such a time of need when they can’t take care of themselves any longer and need the full-time help of a loved one or a full-time nurse.  Julie and Shirley hadn’t always gotten along, but Shirley had always been her younger sister’s rock, her comfort and one of her best friends.  She was always there for her growing up and never judged her, but had an open door policy in her home.  Julie knew she could always go to Shirley’s, so when Shirley found out she had cancer Julie was there to help care for her.

    This book was partly a book on dealing with death, grief and family relationships.  How do we face letting go of a loved one?  Do we talk about them after they’ve passed?  Do we believe they can send us a message after they’ve gone?  Julie struggled with trying to return back to her old life, but after being her sister’s nurse and helper for seven months it took more guts to let her sister go.

    There is so much imagery in this book.  Julie is given a red candle that she faithfully lights every morning.  She spends some time thinking about Shirley and all that she meant to her.  Ironically towards the end of her month-long church visits her candle breaks and smashes all over the floor.  She’s crushed to have it break, but then her friend does tell her that her month of Sundays is coming to a close and so having the candle break makes sense.  It means she can let go, keeping Shirley’s memory alive by talking about how she touched the world, how Julie was affected by having her in her life and by seeing the simple beauty in each moment that we live.

     

    • Addie 10:25 am on January 18, 2010 Permalink

      My grandparents didn’ have cancer but I do know what it is like to take care of loved one. It is a mixture of emotions during the whole experience.

    • Addie 10:26 am on January 18, 2010 Permalink

      I know what it is like to take care of family members. It is tough and takes a lot of guts.

  • coffeehousereader 2:12 pm on December 26, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Family,   

    I Splurged! 

    I was blessed with some Christmas money from a relative and I got a….BIBLE. No surprise there.  I’ve had a Bible type of fetish for a few years now, but I told myself today this is THE LAST ONE! Yep, no more.  I now only own 2 NLT’s and the new one I bought.  The other one I have I’m going to donate to my favorite bookstore. I really want to simplify the books I own.  This Bible is leather (o.k. I’m a total sucker for bonded leather and having it look all pretty).  I got the Amplified Version since I like it and it’s outside the box compared with NIV, KJV or The Message, or whatever the newest translation is.

    Today was spent having my parents and grandfather over for breakfast.  That was fun.  Beforehand got up early to meet my friend and her mom for her coffee.  She recently moved back home so it’s great having her near by again.  Now I just have to wait for her brother to also, move back home.  After breakfast and watching model airplanes fly around in a park near by I went to lunch with my husband and then on to Borders where I truly splurged.  Now I can relax.  No more Bible fetish for me.  Yes, I am a strange creature.

    This afternoon is going to be spent resting.  I’m determined to finished Sleepwalking In Daylight by Elizabeth Flock.  When I first started it I thought I wouldn’t like it, but now that I’m over half way done with it I can’t put it down.  I’m eating it up as much as I ate up, Me & Emma by the same author.

    I can’t believe 2010 will be here in less than a week.  This past year has flown by so quickly it feels like I was just catching myself writing 2008 accidentally.  I wonder how as a society we’re going to say 2010? Are we going to abbreviate it as ‘10?

    Tonight is going to be spent resting and having a glass of white wine.  I don’t drink that often, but sometimes I like a small glass. Very small. Yes, I’m a completed light weight.

     

    • Krys 4:13 pm on December 26, 2009 Permalink

      OH! I keep meaning to put Me and Emma on my list. It was good?!?

    • Addie 10:59 am on December 27, 2009 Permalink

      If you wanna downsize your books, take all the books you’ve read and donate them to a library and/or school. Thats what I do. I leave a box by my bedroom door and when I’m done with a book I put it in the box. When the box is full , I take it to a school or library. Libraries do need help with getting that contemporary stuff in.

  • coffeehousereader 7:13 am on December 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Family, , , KJV Debate, NIV, Paul Knitter, The Message, Without Buddha I Could Not Be A Christian   

    On The Edge Of Enlightenment 

    I’m still trudging through my current read.  As I’m taking my time reading it my brain is on an overload of information.  Sometimes I have to reread what I’ve just read.  Reading a book where Buddhism and Christianity is compared is intriguing.  It’s enlightening to see how Buddhism can enhance Christianity.  It sounds blasphemous I’m sure.  I’m not going to suddenly turn Buddhist, my spouse has already gone that route, but in reading this book I’m trying to understand what he has been reading about and absorbing the past few years.  I’m also hoping to gleam a lot through educating myself about Buddhism.  I have previously read one or two books on this  topic.

    I think it’s great to be learning about other beliefs.  Growing up I was never exposed to other beliefs.  Of course now that I’m in my early thirties it’s like I’m having a late bloomers religious exploration.  I never took World Religions in college.  I did take Christianity 101 and that is what started me on my Christian confusion. To read about all the different secs of Christianity from the early years of the church was like discovering views you never knew were out there, but after you read about them it’s like finding the missing piece of your faith puzzle.  It’s realizing I don’t necessarily agree with what I’ve been taught growing up.  My Christian confusion started with taking Christianity 1o1, then it got muddled at the same time because I learned about the whole KJV Bible ONLY debate.  So then I wasn’t sure I really wanted to own an NIV, so I switched to a KJV, but then everyone knows that’s a pain in the rear to read because it’s so archaic.  Then I tried The Message.  Reading that out loud was hilarious because to me it sounded so silly.  I know it’s not meant to be a study Bible and is not the best paraphrase to read for a Bible study, but I just couldn’t take it seriously. So then I went back to NIV which is what I was raised on.  But after hearing about the KJV ONLY view it’s like I couldn’t go backwards to when I was innocent and in the dark.  Finally I’ve settled on the Amplified Bible.  I know Joyce Meyers highly recommends it and I admire her, so I thought ah, what the heck I’ll try it.  Sadly I’ve only cracked it open one time.  Yes, I haven’t been reading my Bible at all.

    I’m looking forward to continuing my book on Buddhism and seeing how their views can enhance my faith.  What a wild read this is turning out to be.  Have a great day and happy Friday! :)

     

    • Mrs. Micah 7:18 am on December 4, 2009 Permalink

      Fascinating. I’ve run across articles on the subject, but not books. I consider myself an Anabaptist Christian augmented by Buddhism. I’m not comfortable with the entirety of Buddhism, but sometimes I find going outside the system & language in which I was brought up help me to understand the same concepts in a new and useful way. I’ll have to check it out. I don’t know if I’d say that without Buddha I couldn’t be a Christian, but it helps a LOT.

    • (Gardening)Jo 9:36 pm on December 6, 2009 Permalink

      Blog looks great! :-)

  • coffeehousereader 8:59 am on November 21, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Beauty, Coworkers, Family, Insomnia, Soulmates   

    Discomfort Brings A Morning of Thankfulness 

    Last night I slept pretty crappy.  My stupid right left leg was achy and then my lower back was giving me grief. I tossed and turned.  I got up at least 3x to use the restroom, then couldn’t fall back to sleep at 4a.m.  That sucks, but thankfully it’s Saturday and there’s no work.  This morning as I was trying to fall back asleep I just laid there focusing on my breathing and being thankful I’m alive.  Sometimes it takes a little bit of discomfort for me to be thankful for every breath I take.

    Sometimes I’m floored by how much I have to be thankful for.  I’ve been married almost ten years which now a days is a big rarity.  Most people my age aren’t married for this long and I feel like I’m part of a rare category.  Having friends who are younger makes me realize just how young I was when I said my, “I do.”  My husband has been there for me since day one when I discovered him online.  It was back when it wasn’t the ‘in’ place to discover your soulmate.  It’s so comforting to come home from work to your best friend who loves you when you’re a ray of sunshine and when you’re not in the best of moods.  I’m also thankful for my family.  I don’t say it much, but I am thankful for them and all their unique quirks.  No family is perfect and I’m glad we’re not. If we were I think we’d be incredibly dull and boring.  I’m grateful for growing up with such caring grandparents who got to help raise me when I was very small.  They are truly like a second set of parents.  It’s hard not having my one Grandma here, but I’m glad she’s no longer in pain.  I’m grateful for my job.  Sometimes it gives me a good dose of stress, but I’ve grown a lot in the past two and half years.  I enjoy the people I work with who make me laugh and smile almost every day.  We’re a unique bunch of people and working in a small office we’ve become like a second family.

    I’m relieved I’m not a high maintenance woman.  One side of me wishes I was and the other than half of me knows if I was I wouldn’t be me.  I like the idea of being all in style, but then it’s such a pain to keep up with current clothing trends and it costs so much.  I do enjoy getting pedis once in a while.  I like my feet to at least look beautiful.  I guess I’m more of a tomboy than a girlie girl.  I prefer jeans to dresses or skirts.  I like comfy clothes over formal.  I definitely detest heels.  I wore pumps when I was about 12-14, then I decided they weren’t worth it.  Why have my feet hurt just to look a bit taller?

    I’m happy it’s a new day and many blessings await me to experience.  Off to the library I go to gorge on a few books.

     

    • Caity 10:55 am on November 22, 2009 Permalink

      “Sometimes it takes a little bit of discomfort for me to be thankful for every breath I take.”

      That’s very admirable. Not everyone can say that. I have to admit (especially in the past six or seven months), I have been very ungrateful for the little things in my life because of all the bad things that I’ve been through lately. You’re inspiring, Heather. =] I wish I could be more like you.

  • coffeehousereader 7:19 pm on November 17, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Ellen Hopkins, Family, , Teens, Tricks   

    Tricks by Ellen Hopkins 

    Friday night was another date night with my hubby.  We went to Chipotle and then over to Borders.  Going into a bookstore can cost quite a bit since I’m a complete bookworm and it’s always hard to choose just one book.  I had narrowed it down to either 2 off the buy one get one 50% off, or a hardcover of a new book that one of my favorite authors recently came out with.  A tough choice.  I chose my favorite author Ellen Hopkins.

    I have previously read her 5 other books which are each unique and different in their own ways.  Ever since I heard about her new book that was to come out this year, named Tricks, I really wanted to buy it.  Now I finally owned my own copy.  I devoured it and finished it this morning.  It’s a thick volume of 627 pages.  Sounds intimidating and scary, but she writes her novels in poetic form which is beautiful and sets her apart from other authors.

    Tricks is about 5 different teens who chose prostitution as a means of gaining much-needed income and sometimes some inkling of love.  Each teen’s story is hard to put down.  There are struggles with drugs, sex, family drama, religion and finding out who they are.  Ellen doesn’t write gently for those of us who have not experienced the whole teen drug/sex scene/street life.  She writes bold, blunt, honest and down to earth.  Reading this realistic of fiction could be hard to swallow. It could be considered depressing, negative and a downer of a read, but through reading Tricks I gleamed a lot of knowledge of what it would be like to be forced to live on the street, to sell my body for possible food and shelter.

    After reading Ellen’s books I’m always sort of in a thick cloud.  After that intense of a read it’s hard to go back to just blah fiction.

     

    • October Rose 9:54 am on November 19, 2009 Permalink

      Have you ever heard of Karen Hesse? I’ve only read one novel of hers–Witness–but it was excellent, and she wrote it in free verse. She writes for a YA audience and her books aren’t hundreds of pages, but she’s pretty amazing. :)

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