Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Catch Up Reviews (Rahab, Ruth, Phantom, and Dickens)

Tons of reading....a lot of reviews....

First...my most recent read...and my first completely on Kindle....because it was free and immediate access...

A classic....




I thought I had read this in school, but I think it must have been just an excerpt because I had no clue what was going to happen the entire time. Yes, I know, how can a 29 year old not know the story of Pip and Estella and Miss Havisham??? Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, was a much easier read than I anticipated! There are so many timeless lessons in this book. The story of someone rising above their means, then the corruption of wealth, and the curse of debt. True friendship, plot twists, and a satisfying ending. I loved it!


Several weeks ago our book club discussed the second book in the Lineage of Grace series by Francine Rivers...
Unashamed is the story of Rahab. With an added twist that Salmon, the Israelite husband of Rahab, as one of the spies that she sheltered. I know, a little embellishment, but it definitely made the story a little more interesting. It is amazing how God planted faith in the heart of people who were never taught about Him. And how that faith was grafted into His family tree. Great writing again!

Then, last week we discussed story three...

Unshaken is the story of Ruth. The most fascinating fact I learned from this series, is that Rahab is Ruth's mother in law. I never thought about it, but right there in the lineage it states....Boaz, the son of Rahab and Salmon....and Ruth married Boaz...soo......there ya go! Fascinating, truly! This is another awesome telling of the story of Ruth. Not as much added to this one since it does happen to be an entire book of the Bible. This is such a quick and easy to read series, but so enlightening and faith building!

Now....finally....
I finished our beach read! ha ha! SOOO sorry it took so long. I really enjoyed reading this book! It is supposed to be a children's book, but I can't imagine a very young child actually "getting" all the plays on words.
A boy, Milo, gets a package delivered to him that happens to be a tollbooth. A car appears near the tollbooth and he is whisked away on a journey through the land of Expectation, the island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping!) and meets many interesting people along the way. The moral of the story is that one should never be bored, there are many interesting things to do and see, if you just have the mind to do it, and nothing is impossible to you if you never know that those things are in fact impossible. That's what I got from it anyway.
I LOVE all the interesting characters and plays on words. One of my very favorites was near the end, when he is trying to bring "Rhyme and Reason" (the princesses/queens of the land) back to rule...
"Jumping clumsily from boulder to boulder and catching hold with his cruel, curving claws, was the Horrible Hopping Hindsight, a most unpleasant fellow whose eyes were in the rear and whose rear was out in front. He invariably leaped before he looked and never cared where he was going as long as he knew why he shouldn't have gone to where he'd been."

WHAT?! ha ha. As you can see...it took me a while to get through because many of the interesting phrasings had me reading and rereading to get the full effect.

A good read.... I recommend it! There is a cartoon movie that I hope to be able to find and watch.

Now I am all caught up on my book reviews. Next on the list is Bathsheba and Mary, the last two in the lineage of grace series, and maybe something new from the library, since we just went back today after not going since before the beach. I picked up "A Cricket in Times Square" to read to the kids.