In the Land of Blue Burqas

Here's the book that I just finished and it was well worth reading. We hear a lot about Afghanistan in the news but this was a really insightful read to learn more about their culture, religion, and land from the perspective of an American woman who lived among the people there for five years. I learned about this book on Carolyn McCulley's blog and there is a review there that you can read to learn more. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to you as well. I think I came away with a better understanding of Afghanistan and especially the women who live there. I personally don't know any of them, but reading the book leaves you with a desire to pray for these women and maybe someday I will have the pleasure of knowing some of them.

What I've Read in the Last Month

You can find a detailed preface for this post in the previous post. Basically, this will be a collection of what I've been reading lately. I'm not planning to necessarily review the books as most online bookstores already have a good description on what the book is about. But I would be happy to share a more personal perspective if you would like to know. And for those of you who live near me, let me know if you want to borrow anything. I'm happy to share in that way too.

As a side note, I'm very good at starting lots of books and not finishing all of them (or having multiple books going on at one time) so I'm planning to only post the ones that I've read all or most of the way through.

Perhaps this will become a monthly feature on the blog? Only time will tell. :-)

*Note* I'm linking up to local bookstores as much as I can simply because I like the idea of supporting local or Christian businesses, but I totally understand the ease and advantage of buying via Amazon (especially for the international readers) so feel free to look the books up on there too. I won't think any less of you because I shop there too!

Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins

He Speaks to Me Everywhere by Philip Graham Ryken

What have you been enjoying reading lately?

Books Books and More Books

This past year has been glorious for reading books. We weren't allowed to watch much TV as kids and I wasn't a very outdoorsy little girl so besides playing dolls/house, one of my favorite hobbies was reading. Once I hit high school though, and even more so in college, I had to give up reading for pleasure or else I wouldn't get my homework reading done. I knew it wouldn't last forever, and sure enough, the time has come where reading is a big part of my life once again. Chris loves to read and so our lives have been inundated with a lot of books over the past year. Its a fun hobby to share together because it means we don't both have to read all of the same books but can share with each other what we are learning and enjoying. Along with buying new books comes buying new bookshelves (good thing we live by Ikea!!). Our office got a makeover early on this year:

Now that I'm able to get through more books, I've often thought about blogging about some of the books that I've been reading to share with my friends the ones that I've enjoyed or have really influenced me. But that's about as far as that thought has gotten--just a thought. I think I'm a little daunted at the idea of reviewing each one. Even though I love reading, I've never loved writing and I think my English-major-brother stole all of that talent (along with all the frisbee throwing talent too).

But I still want to share what I've been reading and am realizing that this doesn't mean I have to review each book. So I think I'll just start by letting you know what I've been reading and if there's interest in knowing more you can ask me to talk about it with you personally. How's that sound? So thanks for bearing with me as I muse through this and look for future Kiss of Joy book posts coming your way.