What I've been reading #10

Needless to say I've been enjoying reading as usual.  Yes, I do have plenty of other things to do with my time as well, but reading is of high value to me.  I am a person with dual interests--that is to say I am social but also enjoy solitary activities.  I enjoy reading, typically as a solitary activity.  Although my wife and I sometimes read a book out loud together, and include our youngest daughter at times as well.  Most of my reading is alone.  I often keep an eye on the books that my family members are reading and that is what led to three of the books that I have read in this bunch.  The first one was one that my wife chose for herself when I gave her a Kindle as a gift.  The next two came as a result of a book club my wife is in.  The last one was a determination to read something that had some action to it!  I enjoyed them all. 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I found this book to be quite interesting.  This was a book that was chosen for a reading group that Lisa is in and I thought it sounded interesting enough that I would read it too.  It tells of the sixties in the south where white families had black maids.  Of course during this time things were changing with the laws and with the ways that whites and blacks treated each other.  So this is a view of that interaction in a place where the tire was hitting the road daily.  It is hard to hide or pretend the way you feel about a different race when they are in your own home daily for hours at a time.  This story is very interesting to see how the groups played nice so to speak but they had very different ways of doing that based on how much social power they had.  Then of course there were the times when things were not so nice...  I recommend this book as a good read if you want to think about a controversial time in our history when things were not even as good as they are now in this regard.
 
The Walk by Richard Paul Evans

Richard Paul Evans has written a number of books that deal with important relationship issues without a bunch of rude, crude or offensive things in his books.  This book is interesting as the main action happened at the beginning and then the very end of the book.  The part in the middle seems much like a travel log and is a little stilted.  Of course since a man is the main character and it is somewhat like he is writing in his journal then it might be just what you would expect.  I would have liked to see a little more expression of his feelings.  However, to be honest he was trying to come to terms with his feelings after the death of his wife and that is what led to "The Walk".  I recognize that my review doesn't sound so positive but you will note that this book is a series and the book below is the second one in this series...so obviously I enjoyed it and wanted to see what happened next.

Miles to Go by Richard Paul Evans (Sequel to The Walk)

Alan, the main character, is not a particularly religious fellow.  He doesn't believe much of religion and as a result he is struggling with not just his wife's death but the fact of what happened with his more recent problems.  But then he has an interesting experience where in a vision/dream his wife tells him something that quickly comes to pass.  She told him something he was supposed to do as part of his life.  Alan is a good thinker and now he is starting to realize some things about life that he hadn't recognized before.  So this walk that seemed to be to help him work out his grief has instead turned into something that is going to educate and expand his ways of thinking.  And not only that, apparently some people are in his way specifically so he can help them too and others are there to help him and sometimes both.  This book was more enjoyable to me than the first.  To see Alan growing and finding purpose in life that seemed to have lost any purpose with the death of his wife.  Now I'm anxious for the next book to come out.

Thunder of Heaven by Tim LaHaye and Craig Parshall

If you read my blog regularly or at least the ones Entitled "What I've been reading" you will note that this is a second book in a series about the times approaching the end of the world.  If you would like to read my review of the first book in this series click here.   Joshua the main character again finds himself in hot water with the leaders of nations as he continues to develop defensive weapons on the cutting edge of science.  As the US government becomes increasingly corrupt and becoming more concerned with politics and winning elections instead of protecting the citizens, he gets involved and again saves the country from another devastating nuclear blow.  However this time some people are still killed despite his best efforts.  Joshua's wife has gotten increasingly involved in the activities of he and other patriots that are trying to save the country despite the governments lack of interest.  Ultimately Joshua finds himself in Israel as Islamic countries gather to annihilate Israel and Bible prophecies are fulfilled in fantastic but realistic enough ways to seem possible.  I enjoyed this book almost as much as the first one.  I only say almost because the first 50 pages or so seemed a little slow to me but then things took off like a rocket and the book ended with me wanting the next one in the series (which of course isn't out yet).  So now I find myself in a couple more series waiting for the authors to write more. 

Well as you can see I have been enjoying reading a lot.  It is nice to have so many books available in our day and age to read and enjoy, not to mention to learn from.  Keep on reading!

"I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library."

— Jorge Luis Borges (who was a librarian, author, professor in Argentina)

Jorge Borges