Kisses From Katie - Final Thoughts

 Kisses From Katie - Final Thoughts

So I finally finished reading Kisses From Katie!!!

And you need to read it. It was one of the most inspiring stories I've ever heard. I almost want to move to Africa. Almost.

Anyway, I'm just going to share with you the biggest thing I took away from this book.

Let God lead your life.

I struggle with this on a day to day basis. I want control over my life. But, the truth of the matter is, this is not my life. I did nothing to earn it. God created me and he gave me everything that I have. So where in the world did I get this crazy notion that my life is mine? Katie struggled through a lot of the same thing as she wrote in her book. And obviously God's plan for her life was pretty drastic. Moving to Uganda and adopting 13 girls on her own. But that doesn't mean that He can't lead my life in a simpler way. I do not feel called to move to Africa. And I really don't think that will ever change unless God does some pretty miraculous things. However, even though I can't move to Africa doesn't mean I just say to God, "Ok, you can't use me so I'm just going to do what I want to do". No. It means I follow Him here. I follow Him in the life I have going for me now. Because, everything I do needs to be for His glory. No matter how small.

This is one of my favorite parts of the book.

"I would like to be able to say that I always do exactly what the Lord asks of me. I would like to say that I always seek Him first when a difficult situation presents itself. While I am getting better at it, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I still think what I do with my life should be my decision. God asks, and reasons, and encourages. He gently explains that I do not know what is best for me and that I do not always get what I want. And I just look at Him, not understanding at all what He's trying to say. Sometimes, I even whine and sob and shriek, just like a tired, angry three-year-old. So God picks me up, exhausted from struggling, and plops me in the center of His will for my life. And then a funny thing happens. As I kick and scream and struggle, I remember: I like being in the center of God's will for my life. God's plan is usually pretty great. It is a whole lot better than mine anyway. I am so glad that He does not allow me to win."

Wow.

Anyway, I also learned something else.

I learned that so much of what I am spending my life thinking about does matter in the long run.

Do you think Katie's girls are worried about finding out what they want to do so they can take the most AP classes and get the highest test score and get into the best college? Do you think they worry about making sure everyone at the event they're planning gets something to take home? Do you think they worry about finding a new dress to wear to a wedding, or finding a new pair of shoes just because you want some? Everything that I may even think is good is so miniscule compared to them.

Not saying they live in a slump and never get anything. Not saying they live all alone. Just saying their priorities are different. And mine should be too.

I read Katie's blog after I finished the book and saw that she got married in January. Her life is a little different than what she first imagined, but in the end she got the same result. A husband, a job she loves, and beautiful children. The picture is just a little more colorful.

Divergent (Movie vs. Book)

Divergent (Movie vs. Book)

Okay, now I know some may find this unbelievable... BUT I only just saw the Divergent movie over Spring Break. I know, it came out like a year ago, the sequel is in theaters now, but that's besides the point. I want to share a few of my thoughts about this book and movie with the inter-web.

I read the book, Divergent a couple of months ago and thought it was ok. I don't want to spoil the ending just in case anyone was stronger than I was for a while and haven't read it yet. Which means I can't share my exact reasoning for why I wasn't a huge fan. To give you the general idea though, I felt as though the book included twists to the story that I felt were unnecessary. I didn't like it. I thought the writing was average, the same as any other dystopian book these days. However, I did love the whole idea of the world they lived in. I feel like the author had a brilliant idea and then took the story in the wrong direction.

 

 

Now, typically I would say that I liked the book better than the movie but in this case I actually didn't. There were some things that I appreciated in the book that weren't put into the movie, but generally, the movie was more enjoyable. I was less attached to the characters so I was able to appreciate the story instead of worrying about what was going to happen to them.

 

So these are the thoughts that I've just had floating around in my head recently and needed to get out. Kisses from Katie coming soon :)

 

 

Books On My Mind

Books On My Mind

Hey all, hope you are having a wonderful Sunday! I have been thinking all weekend about what to blog about this week! I'm still reading Kisses from Katie but I don't have enough new stuff to talk about with that book so I'm just going to wait until I finish it. However, lately I keep adding to my mental list of books I want to read. Which is what this blog post is going to be. Everything that's been floating around in my mind lately. This way, I'll have an actual list, and the blog will (hopefully) keep me accountable to reading them. Okay, enough jib jab, here's the list.

1. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

2. How to Catch a Prince by Rachel Hauck

 

3. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp

4. Take One by Karen Kingsbury (and the rest of the Baxter Family series)

5. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (REALLY trying to finish these)

There are MANY more books that I am dying to read, but I figured that this list is a good start. Especially because some of them imply a couple or more other books. This just makes me soooo excited for spring break and summer so I can get readin!!! Anyway, that's all for now. Just really wanting this right now!!! (But I mean who doesn't)

                   

Princess Ever After

Princess Ever After

I am still working on Kisses From Katie, it needed to be returned to the Library, so I'll post a final post on that later. But, I did finish the second book in the Royal Wedding Series during all of the testing we had at school the past two weeks. It was also very good! I enjoyed the first one better than this one, the characters in the first book seemed more, I don't know, more ideal to me. Not saying you shouldn't read Princess Ever After. That book was also amazing. I would definitely recommend it. The whole plot is so entertaining and it leaves you thinking, what would I do?? Here, I'll give you the low-down.

 

Imagine you are in your late twenties and living in the same city here in America you've lived in your whole life. It's all you know. The only place you've ever lived and worked. It's where your friends and family are. Now let's say you just saved up enough money and worked to get to your dream job. You LOVE this job. It's what you live for since you're not married and don't have a family of your own. A couple of years ago your mom died, and then your great-grandma died. (Your grandma already died) So currently your life consists of you, your best friends, your dad and stepmom, and the dream job you LOVE. Okay, got all that? Now one Friday you're just living your life, the job you LOVE just breaking through, when some young man comes up to you and says you're in line for the throne in some European country. And he's not lying. The man says that if you come back with him you can restore the kingdom and either rule until you die, or rule until you abdicate the throne and leave the country in anarchy. Or if you don't come at the all the country becomes a part of another country and looses its independence. You ask how is this possible? He says your great-grandma was a princess there who had to flee during WWII. And if you come back... well you know. What would you do? You know going back is the right thing but you've never led anything in all your life, let alone a country. You would have to leave your job, at least for a while. You would have to leave everything you know.

 

Okay, wow, that was a mouthful. See what I mean!! I don't know what I would do!! And if you want to know what Regina does, you better read!!

 

 

Fahrenheit 451 - Dover Beach

Fahrenheit 451 - Dover Beach

Here is my writing prompt for the poem Dover Beach:

     Mrs. Bowles ran out of the door and across the street to where she lived with her "husband" and "children". What is Mr. Montag thinking speaking to me like that? What right does he have to criticize my decisions? If he was in my place he would do the same exact thing. She slammed the door and ran into her home. She sat down in her own hard-backed chair and turned on 'family'. Oh how right it felt to be where she belonged. These people cared about Mrs. Bowles. Not her ever-absent husband, not her bratty children, not her insensitive friends and certainly not Mr. Montag.
    
     The phone rang next to Mrs. Bowles. She looked at the little screen to see who was calling. It was her husband. She ignored it. About five minute later he called again. Mrs. Bowles picked it up. "Hello." she said emotionless. "Well it's about time you picked up!" her husband barked, "I've been trying to call you from the office and you never pick up do you now?" Mr. Bowles swallowed, "I was visiting with Mrs. Montag." Mr. Bowles growled, "You know I don't like it when you go over there. That Mr. Montag is a strange one. Lately I've noticed him talking to a young girl along the street." Mrs. Bowles thought yet again about what Mr. Montag did today. She couldn't tell her husband. He would punish her for going over, punish her for not leaving sooner, and punish her because he was right and she was wrong. "Alright, I won't go over anymore," she answered.  "Good. Now look and see if I left any of my work papers on the table this morning." he commanded.

     Mrs. Bowles found the papers for her husband and hung up. He was right. He always was. And if he wasn't he found a way to make sure he was. She turned her attention back to 'family'. The husband on this show was always very kind to his wife. He was always right and she was always wrong but he never spoke harshly to her. For the longest time Mrs. Bowles always thought she and Mr. Bowles were like that. But, now she knew she was wrong. The husband on 'family' was so much better than Mr. Bowles. He loved his wife. Just like the man who wrote Dover Beach. That poem Mr. Montag read was cruel. Very cruel. But as much as Mrs. Bowles didn't want to admit it, it was honest. Families like they have on TV and in books don't exist.
    
     Mrs. Bowles felt a tear roll down her face. NO! What is this? Why am I crying? I haven't cried in years! But Mrs. Bowles knew why she was crying. She wanted a family like the one on TV. And she wanted a marriage like the one in Dover Beach. She just never knew any different until today.

Mrs. Bowles realized that her life wasn't like the one on 'family'. It was so much worse. Dover Beach taught her what love really is supposed to look like, it opened her eyes to the unreality of 'family' and the life she thought she had. It taught her that sometimes, even though something makes you cry, it's still good for you.

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451

   So Fahrenheit 451 is actually the book we are reading in class right now but I had a few thoughts about it that I wanted to share. In case you don't know what it's about I provided a description from goodreads:

   Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.

   Fahrenheit 451 was originally written in 1953, before tissues, color TV, and smart phones. This makes the futuristic sense of the book that much more appealing to me. I mean it's great hearing them talk about color TV and thinking, "Wow that actually happened!", but I find what they don't mention to make it more interesting than what they do. I think if the book was written today, with today's technology in mind, the whole premise of the book would be different. The whole plot line is books are bad because they went out of style and now people are dumb so we don't want anyone to be smarter than anyone else. As far as the author, Ray Bradbury, knew in 1953, that actually could've happened. It was unlikely, very unlikely, but still more possible than it is today.
  
   I feel as though today this future is near impossible. With all of our new inventions like smart phones and e-books, and even computers books have gone out of style some, but knowledge in general hasn't. People have become lazy when it comes to reading for information, but they are still getting that information. Google is the simplest reason why. Or even more so, Siri. Our society today is not giving up on reading for knowledge, we're getting around it.

 

  Throughout reading this book I've thought a lot about this. About how society is getting information, about how we strive for it, about how somewhere there are people in a lab everyday trying to advance our world. Reading may be going out some, and maybe someday it all will (I hope not), but we are not dumb like the characters in Fahrenheit 451. In fact, I think we're quite the opposite.
  

Kisses from Katie - First Thoughts

Kisses from Katie - First Thoughts

So I have recently begun to read my first non-fiction type book to blog about. It's called Kisses from Katie and is written by Katie Davis about her own life. Here is a short synopsis from goodreads:
 
Katie Davis left over Christmas break her senior year for a short mission trip to Uganda and her life was turned completely inside out. She found herself so moved, so broken by the people and the children of Uganda that she knew her calling was to return and care for them. Her story is like Mother Teresa’s in that she has given up everything—at such a young age—to care for the less fortunate of this world. Katie, a charismatic and articulate young woman, has gone on to adopt 14 children during her time in Uganda, and she completely trusts God for daily provision for her and her family, which includes children with special needs.

 

Katie's New Family:

 

This book is heartbreaking. That's all I'm really going to say about it so far. When and if you ever pick it up do not expect to be able to sit down and read through it quickly. Especially at the beginning. Reading about this life she lives in Uganda, about her daily struggles, makes my life seem so so so easy. Almost pointless. But as much as I'm saddened by the condition of living in Uganda, hearing her own personal struggle with this new life she chose is even harder. She says at one part in the book,

"No matter how many contradictions I struggled with, how difficult certain situations were , no matter how lonely I got, no matter how many tears I cried, one truth remained firmly grounded in my heart... I wanted to be right here in Uganda."

A couple nights ago I was in the car with my mom and my 11 year old sister explaining the story to my sister (my mom has already read the book). I told her how Katie had her whole life planned out ahead of her. Graduate, go to college, get a job, get married, and start a family; until she turned it all around her senior year and moved to Uganda. My sister looked at me straight in the face and told me "That sounds like you, planning your whole life out. Maybe you'll move to Uganda." I laughed. As I read Katie's story I'm realizing I cannot do what she has done and is still doing. And for more reasons than just my paranormal fear of sleeping with cockroaches. I know her story won't push me to move to Africa, but it is showing me what matters in the life I am living. And it's reminding me of what I can do in my own city, in my own home, to make an impact.

Here is a link to Katie's blog : http://katiedavis.amazima.org/

Camilla-Final Thoughts

Camilla-Final Thoughts

So I did it, I finally did it. After working on this book all semester I finally finished it. It was a very long and slow book but definitely worth the read. I don't want to spoil anything in case you end up reading it (not that anyone will), so I will only share a few broad points.

1. This book has sooo many, wow I didn't really expect that to happen, parts. Which is good, it helps out with the extreme slowness of the book.
2. I really learned to appreciate my life a whole lot more. Poor Camilla just keeps having her world fall apart more and more, losing everything she once knew.
3. I learned how radically different culture was in her time period compared to ours. At 15 she would be treated like a child, then be given alcohol. 

Overall, I thought the book was really good and can't wait to keep reading next semester!

Where the book takes pkace...

The Book Thief

The Book Thief

For my summer reading I read The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. It was one of my favorite books I've read as you can see from My Top Ten! The best part about this book was the perspective it was written in, death. This makes it a little confusing at the beginning but once you figure it out it makes it sooo interesting. The Book Thief  was also a little slow since the events were spread out with lots of time in between.

It's going to be really hard trying to explain just how good this book is without giving away the ending, but I'll try. Markus Zusak is a genius. The figurative language used in his book is some of the most inventive I've ever read. (Okay, maybe I've been exaggerating a little bit, but it is a really good book.) I also really like how he would give away hints to the ending of the book. Some people might not like this, although I think it adds to the story.

Whenever I found out something that hinted at the ending it pushed me to want to read more. This helped with some of the book's slowness. It also made the parts leading up to the ending so much more meaningful. The characters seemed more alive to me.

 

The above picture is from the movie. I watched the movie after I finished the book and as good as it was, it obviously didn't measure up to the book. So many of the scenes that meant the most to me never even made it into the movie. I know they couldn't of added every scene or the movie would be 5 hours long but, I still liked the book better.

 

Okay, I'm going to just keep going off on random rants so I will wrap this post up. Basically, read the book. That's all this post really needs to say. Power through it and finish it. By the end you will have learned more than expected and gained a great story in the process.

 

 

Ok, I had to add this adorable quote from the book. :)

 



The Chance

The Chance

Okay, so I just finished this book I got for my birthday called The Chance. It was sooo good. A little cheesy, as most of my friends made fun of me for reading a "hallmark" type book, but I loved it! The main storyline is pretty simple. Boy meets girl when they are 8. Boy and girl become best friends. Boy and girl start to fall for each other. Girl finds out she has to move. Boy and girl write letters to each other to open in 11 years and burry them beneath a tree. Wow, hard to guess the ending huh? Anyway, even though the ending is predictable the whole process on how they got there wasn't. I loved the book and can't wait to read the quote-on-quote prequel around Christmas.

(by the way the author is the same as my previous 23 book series)

 

The Chance by Karen Kingsbury

 

 

Here is the book trailer to show you even more of the storyline...

 

 

 



Someday... I Will Finish

Someday... I Will Finish

 

Camilla has been taking a loooooong time to read due to its slowness, so I will hopefully finish that book and get a final post for it before the end of the semester.

 

Meanwhile, I've been reading more of The Baxter Family Series, by Karen Kingsbury. This is a really long series I started last year and am reading whenever I have spare time. The total series has 23 books in it, 5 mini-series, and 1 stand alone at the end. To help you out, I'll order them below:

 

Redemption Series

1. Redemption

2. Remember

3. Return

4. Rejoice

5. Reunion

Firstborn Series

6. Fame

7. Forgiven

8. Found

9. Family

10. Forever

Sunrise Series

11. Sunrise

12. Summer

13. Someday

14. Sunset

Above The Line Series

15. Take One

16. Take Two

17. Take Three

18. Take Four

Bailey Flanigan Series

19. Leaving

20. Learning

21. Longing

22. Loving

And it ends with...

23. Coming Home: A Story of Undying Hope

 

So now you can see what I've gotten myself into. If you've figured it out by the title yet, I just finished Someday (#13) and have quite a ways to go. The series revolves mostly around the Baxter Family and all the drama in their life. Some other families that live in their town are in it too but it's mostly them. You can kind of tell it's a book because no one has that many bad things happen to them in their lifetime, but it makes for a great story. :)

The book Someday revolves around 4 or so main stories going on at once, each of them intermingling with each other. The biggest story is about Dayne and Katy Matthews, (Dayne is one of the Baxter kids but was adopted and therefore has a different last name). They are both actors and during this book they are separated. Dayne is in Mexico shooting a film with his ex (who is still very interested  in him) and Katy is in London shooting a film. Their story is about them fighting for their new marriage while every tabloid is splitting them up.
Meanwhile, Dayne's brother and attorney Luke Baxter is struggling in his own marriage with his wife Reagan. Luke goes down some bad paths in this book, but I won't get into that and am hoping it gets revolved in the future.
Another main story revolves around Ashley Baxter Blake. She and her husband Landon lost their first daughter, Sarah, an hour after her birth in the last book. It was realllllly sad!!! Anyway, in this book they are recovering and Ashley is trying hard to find good things that came, or could come out of Sarah's life. She ends up opening a pregnancy crisis center called Sarah's Door with her sister Dr. Brooke Baxter (I don't think it ever mentions her married last name??).
The last major story is about their dad, John Baxter. Books and books before, in Reunion, their mother, Elizabeth Baxter, passed away and now John is proposing to Elizabeth's best friend, also a widow. His story is about him finally coming to terms with his wife's death enough to propose again. He is also planning on selling the Baxter house where he and Elizabeth lived while they raised 5 of their children.
Basically, a LOT of drama happens, and I'm sure more is to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Camilla- First Thoughts

Camilla-First Thoughts

The first book I've started to read this year is Camilla by Madeleine L'Engle, the same woman who wrote A Wrinkle In Time. My Aunt gave it to me for my birthday last year and I am just now getting around to reading it. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

 

Life had always been easy for fifteen-year-old Camilla Dickinson. But now her parents, whom she had always loved and trusted, are behaving like strangers to each other and vying for her allegiance. Camilla is torn between her love for them and her disapproval of their actions.Then she meets Frank, her best friend's brother, who helps her to feel that she is not alone. Can Camilla learn to accept her parents for what they are and step toward her own independence?

 

So far the book has been very slow and hard to sit down and read a bunch of at once. I've gotten through 2 chapters and am already on page 62. A lot of the book so far has just been setting up the setting and characters.

 

Camilla lives in New York sometime during the mid-1900's (I think, it hasn't exactly said). Her family is one of the more wealthy families, they live in a nice apartment and Camilla goes to a good private school. Her entire life has been easy, sheltered. As an only child, her parents gave her all of their attention. Now the book begins as their marriage begins to rock and Camilla is given less and less attention.

 

I am just beginning to read about Camilla's best friend, Luisa, and Luisa's brother, Frank. Luisa and Frank have lived a quite different life from Camilla. Their parents could care less about their well-being and fight very often. They live in a smaller, more dingy apartment. Because of this less sheltered life they've had and their friendship with Camilla, Camilla is beginning to see the world a different way.

 

That is all I have about the book so far, but I'll post more updates soon! 

 

 

Top Ten Books

Top Ten Books

 So this is my first post, for everyone out there who may happen to stumble across this someday. I am writing this blog right now for English class, which means it will be all about books. But really, I'd probably blog about that anyway. So I may come back later and do a post just about my summer reading but for now I will do as I please. Ready? Here is a part of brain, on your screen. Okay that sounded really gross!



The Top Ten Books That  Impacted My Life:





1. Only Emma, by Sally Warner (Seriously I read this book like 30 times when I was little)





2. Little House on the Prairie Series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (I was very sad when I finally finished the series and Laura was all grown up...) 

3. Regarding the Fountain: A Tale, in Letters, of Liars and Leaks, by  Kate Klise, M. Sarah Klise (I loved the way they wrote this book, it was all in letters or labels or anything but normal writing, so cool to a 5th grader!)



4. Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levinen (Always has, always will be, a huge favorite! Love the ending!)




5. Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Mongomery (I read this book when I was younger and cried when it was over because I wanted to keep reading)




 

  6. Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling (Do these not impact everyone?)




7. The Gallagher Girl Book Series, by Ally Carter (I was obsessed with these in 7th grade and have quotes from them all over my room)




8. A Charmed Life, by Jenny B. Jones (Read it, it needs no words)



9. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (Still working on it, but I love the story!)


 

10. The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak (This was my summer reading, so I will explain later)