Summer reading: part two

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent

So many of my students read and wrote about this book last year that I felt like I'd read this book before I'd read this book. But when we were in the mountains in August, my mother-in-law had it sitting beside the couch and I decided to pick it up. I was finished with it in less than 24 hours. It was an easy read--straight forward with a compelling story and no reading between the lines work. Since the story is so well known, I'll keep the plot short: it tells the story of Colton Burpo, who spent three minutes in heaven during a childhood surgery and returned to his body with stories to tell. What's interesting is that he doesn't just come out and tell the stories; he only tells them as people ask or make comments about that time. It's as if he thinks everyone knows what God's throneroom looks like or that God really, really loves us. It made me excited about Heaven, excited to see Jesus face-to-face one day. And it made me appreciate the faith of a child--not one that's ignorant, but one that is whole-heartedly trusting. Definitely recommend this one. Phil, who usually falls asleep about two pages into a book, is reading it now, and even he can't put it down!

Wild by Cheryl Strayed
A memoir about one woman's solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, and really about her journey through grief after her mother died, and really about her own growing into herself, this book is fabulous. My friend Rebecca recommended it to me after learning that I enjoyed reading Jennifer Pharr Davis's Becoming Odyssa, another book about hiking. I can't say that this book made me want to do any through hikes in the near future, but it's a book Phil and I have been able to read together, and it's certainly lit a fire for us as day hikers. The author and I couldn't be any more different, but somehow I feel as if we're friends now, that if I met her I'd like her.  Her writing is humorous, honest, and well-crafted, and time reading this book was time well spent.

Fat Girl by Judith Moore
This was an impulse read. I was at the library with Moo one day and wanted to pick up a new nonfiction book. Of course, Moo decided that the quiet adult section of the library was the perfect place to test out all the new sounds he could make, and after seeing a few forced grins that communicated that's-so-cute-but-please-get-your-kid-out-of-here, I grabbed the first book that looked remotely interesting and checked out. But I'm glad I did. In Fat Girl, Judith Moore writes of her love affair with food, acknowledging that much of her food addiction has roots in her tragic relationship with her mother. She writes so descriptively and decadently of food that I almost wanted to eat the book as I read it. At the same time, the content was so sad and disturbing at times that I almost put it down. The book is short and the writing is easy to follow, and I liked the insights it gave me about those who struggle with food issues, but it's emotionally taxing, so keep that in mind if you pick it up.