book junkie

When fall semester began, I initially had some free time on my hands to get back to reading books that didn't contain the word 'pharmacotherapy' in them.  You can't imagine how nice it is to read freely and not be worried that you should be studying.  It usually feels so good that I can't put the books down easily.  My first love is and always will be MEMOIRS.  Autobiographies are a close second. Here are three books I enjoyed along with a fourth that I'm working on.



"I play tennis for a living, even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion, and always have."



Andre Agassi has been a part of my life longer than most of my real people.  I have watched countless matches, and I remember the day he retired and an era in tennis ended.  What I didn't know, was that Agassi never really had a choice in his path, nor did he love tennis by any means.  This book was astoundingly honest, 'open', and funny.  I would recommend for any true tennis fans out there, because there are many play-by-by chapters on matches.  I connected with many of his battles against that sport and life, and I was really surprised by his great writing skills. 



"You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp."



Anne Lamott is my new girl crush.  I have enjoyed four of her books already.  She is my modern day version of C.S. Lewis.  Her faith came into existence much later in her years, and boy, does she have a life worth telling!  She is brutally frank...the kind of writing where you wonder, 'did she just say that??'.  Hard Laughter was written when she was 23.  I can't fathom writing a book at that age, so it's really beautiful talent.  It is the story of her father's brain tumor and her crazy life dipped in just a tiny bit a ficiton.  I just can't say how I much I love this author!  Warning: this book is a bit SAD.

"You really won’t understand your life as a woman until you understand this:You are passionately loved by the God of the universe.
You are passionately hated by his Enemy."

Next came Captivating.  Good grief, I have avoided this book for years.  Mostly because ACU required me to read Wild At Heart for a Bible class I took, and these two books are from the same author. Blah.  Don't get me wrong, Wild At Heart is good, but mostly good for men, and maybe some women who are just seriously interested in understanding men (pssh like that is really possible?).  The authors are John and Stasi Eldredge, and a good chunk is written just by the wife.  Captivating is an attempt to reclaim our lives as women, especially when we think that our original plan of getting married and creating a family has passed us by.  Sounds a bit silly and weird when I describe it, but it truly opened my heart to the power of walking with Jesus more closely as his 'bridegroom' because He IS captivated by us.  I read this at such a perfect time in my life.  I think so many people I know have this on their bookshelf, and I trust it will change you a little when you finally open it up. 

Finally...I'm beginning Velvet Elvis.  I saw it on the shelf looking lonely at Half Price, and I read Sex God last year by the same author.  I'll let you know what I think....