Book Nerd Alert

With Andy working long hours and being out of town often, I've been reading up a storm when kids are napping or after they go to bed.  It's my "me" time, how I relax, and how I end up going to sleep at night. Here are some books I've read lately:


"Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell
*while not the best written book, it is a must-read for all; the sacrifice the Navy SEALs make for our country is astounding. I can't wait to see the movie



"The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen" by Syrie James
*a great read, based on historical facts of Jane Austen's life



"Moby Dick"
*I'm still working through this; this classic is mentioned in countless novels, and I'm surprised I've never read it before



"David and Goliath" by Malcolm Gladwell
*this is on my list to read; Andy just finished it and really enjoyed it



"The Bloodletter's Daughter" by Linda Lafferty
*reminiscent of Ken Follett; a slightly dark novel but so intriguing and I couldn't put it down



"These Strange Ashes" by Elisabeth Elliott
*a re-read for me; a great and quick read of her memoirs as a single missionary in the jungles outside Quito



"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne
*absolutely phenomenal and heartbreaking book from the perspective of the 9-year-old main character who is living in the main house right outside of Auschwitz, and he befriends a 9-year-old Jewish boy on the other side of the fence



"Washington's Secret Six" by Brian Kilmeade
*great historical novel on the spy ring that helped us win the American Revolution



"This is the Story of a Happy Marriage"
*Ann Patchett's newest novel



**disclaimer...this list makes me look incredibly dorky!  People often ask me when I read.  I have to read at night to wind down from my day, whether it is a paragraph or several chapters.  I also read some when the kids nap.  If I don't slow down when they nap, it can lead to a long day (especially because Andy is working longer days and usually comes home after the kids are in bed).  Dorky or not, that is what I do for "me" time. Here are some great quotes on reading, to show I'm proud of my love of reading!  :)

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” ~Oscar Wilde

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” 
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” 
― Charles William Eliot

“We read to know that we are not alone.” 
― William Nicholson, Shadowlands: A Play

“Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.” 
― Gustave Flaubert

“The world was hers for the reading.” 
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn