The Gospel Comes With a House Key, by Rosaria Butterfield

I've been putting off a review of The Gospel Comes With a House Key for awhile because I read it along with ladies from my church who were meeting regularly to discuss it. Due to family colds and conflicts in schedule it never came about that I could join in! Talk about bummed! This is one of my favorite topics to discuss (for real!) and I really wanted to know what the other ladies in my community thought of this one but, alas, I missed the boat. There were a few random snatches of conversation but in large part I missed hearing the in depth thoughts of others. A part of me fears now that my review is going to be a bit lopsided because I didn't get the chance to really, really hash out my own opinions verbally. I want to offer the disclaimer here that I'm writing this without much discussion and if you want to disagree with me I'm okay with you doing so. You have my permission. If you needed it. I can be nice that way.

The Gospel Comes with a House Key is the latest book on the scene from Rosaria Butterfield. I, like so many others, read and very much enjoyed her first book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (linked to my review). In fact, before proceeding in the writing of my review of this her second book, I re-read my review  of Secret Thoughts to see what I thought of Butterfield then. Her first book had enormous impact on me as a reader. It was riveting, inspiring and convicting. In that book she touches on the topic of the need for Christians to serve the world and she did so in a balanced, fair and genuinely concerned manner. The Gospel Comes with a House Key is an expansion of her thoughts about what hospitality from Christians to non-Christians could look like.

One thing that I feel very passionately about is the calling of all Christians to practice hospitality. I'm a firm believer in the importance of a continued, faithful practice of inviting others into your homes and lives. If you remove the practice of hospitality from a Christian community (or any community really, but for the purposes of this review I'm going to refer strictly to Christians) then you are assigning its members to death. I do not believe that God allows or requires that any one person live their life in some sort of solitary confinement away from a Body of Believers. I think that any person who would like to believe that they do not need others is lying to themselves in a bold and harmful manner. Life is not easy and we are each are constantly surrounded by temptations to sin. If we are not surrounded by faithful people then we are more likely to cave to the pressures of society and life in general and have a greater likelihood of falling into sinful behavior as a result.

Be honest, sinning always feels easier than doing the right and holy thing. At least at first. Sooner or later your sin will eat you alive but for awhile it will feel like the best thing there is. 

A Christian who is surrounded by a faithful cloud of witnesses is much less likely - or even able - to fall into sin. If they do give in to a moment of worldly pleasure and their fellow brother and sister notice, it is highly likely that they will be pulled out of their confusion and set back to rights in quicker fashion. We need people to come alongside us and to encourage us to do right and pursue Christ above all else. In order for one person to be able to do that for another then they must know them, really know them. To be in fellowship and to practice hospitality with one another you really need to know the heart of someone. You need to know their struggles, their aches and their pains because if you know those things then you actually stand a chance at helping them avoid the pitfalls which Satan has surrounded them with! To know those things takes time; it takes a willingness to invite them in to your life.

Butterfield's primary focus in The Gospel Comes With a House Key is to piggy back on her last book and explain how she and her husband, Kent, practice hospitality to non-Christians. She has several reasons for focusing on this particular aspect and angle of hospitality, chief being that she was drawn to the saving grace of Jesus Christ through someone's Christian hospitality which was a witness to her soul. Her's is really a beautiful story and I have no doubt she feels quite passionately that Christians today need to quit "playing safe" with their fellowship but invite the unbelievers in so that they, too, can know Jesus. Admirable? Yes. Do I object? No. Not in the least. It is a good and right thing she suggests and if you need the motivation to do these things, by all means pick up this book. Her passion for the subject is genuine and beautiful. We need Rosaria Butterfields in this world today to encourage us to think outside of our own little boxes!

That all said, it ended up that I did not like this book and it's not for any of the above mentioned topics of conversation. Rather, I disliked it because of the way that Rosaria handled the topic of Christians within her own church body with whom she found herself in conflict with. Now, Butterfield's husband is a pastor and they are leaders of a congregation on the East Coast. They've apparently had some struggles as a church and some of their members (including those in leadership!) did some very, very wrong and sinful things. Things that split the church. She mentions this in The Gospel Comes with a House Key and, to some extent, I could understand why she was including this information. Their sins were public so it wasn't like she was exposing things that she ought to have kept hidden. Her point in raising their church struggles was to bring attention to the fact that even the sinners within their body of believers needed hospitality. True point and well taken! My distaste for the book came in the dragging out of this point.

To build her case about practicing hospitality to the "sinner in the midst", she mentions that certain people within their congregation decided to leave the church "instead of" practicing hospitality to these public sinners. This apparently and very clearly did not sit well with Butterfield and she outs them in this book. (No, she doesn't name them, but she very pointedly discusses her opinion about the attitude which she believes she perceives in them.) Given that Rosaria is a public figure and given that she's put her home church on the map, so to speak, I feel like her talking about this church split was bad form. She's a pastors wife who writes books and speaks publicly. I was left with the distinct impression that if you disagree with her and happen to attend her church, you run a risk of being publicly denounced for your perceived misbehavior, instead of perhaps more privately and graciously dealt with or understood. Do I think her former parishioners are going to be feeling very graciously when they understand what she has published about them? Did she take what was a private matter and make it very public with good purpose, justifying the inclusion of this particular story in her book? I would say no. I would be forced to disagree with her plan of action by taking her argument against her former friends to a publisher and letting us all hear about their church problems which she was very clearly unhappy about. This is very bad form in my opinion and it ultimately left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It's regrettable that she felt the need to wield her pen as if a sword in this manner and it cost her some of my respect.

Back to the point of all of this though. Do I think that practicing hospitality is of great importance? I could not possibly find it more important. To know and to be known by others, to belong and to be loved is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to one another. We recently moved to a new town and there is something tremendous that happens internally when a person that you don't know at all comes to you and says, "Come into my home, I want to know you!" It gives you a warm feeling to the depths of your soul. To be asked to join in is a gift that I cannot quite describe. Asking a Christian into your home is to affirm to them that they have a place among you and that is overwhelming to the recipient. Asking a non-believer into your life is a way to invite them to also know the hope that is in you. That is a far more valuable an act that we are likely to understand in this lifetime unless we've been the unbeliever, which Butterfield has been. She understands the importance and so she has a fiery passion for the topic which is good. I do not object to her passion on this topic, but welcome it. I merely request that her passion be delivered with a dollop of grace towards her fellow believers and this was something which I felt was sadly lacking over the course of this read (particularly in the matter of her home church split).

In the end, I feel like her first book is far more impacting than this second. Obviously there are a lot of people who really loved this book and my opinion is that it's good but there are better books on the topic of hospitality. Here are some I would recommend:

• Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, by Christine D. Pohl. Go grab a copy! It's the best. (Title is linked to my review.)
• The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
• A Meal With Jesus (which I would now recommend over TGCw/aHK)
• Practicing Hospitality by Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock. This is one of my top favs and I wrote about it in a series of blog post which are hard to sort out on website I started called, "Offering Hospitality" years ago. Because yes, hospitality has long been a passionate concern of mine!
• Face to Face, by Steve Wilkins

List of 52 Books I'd like to Read in 2019

I'm going to try something I've never tried before. I am going to set my reading goal for 2019 at 52 books. (You can track with me on Goodreads HERE.) Usually I like to go with the flow of things and pick books randomly as the year trots along and who knows but that I'll do that yet. However, I'd like to conduct a little experiment and see how much I could read from a planned list of books. Let us see.

Out of 52 books I'd like to leave room for 12 random reads because something tells me this experiment doesn't stand a chance unless there's room for some amount of flexibility!

That leaves 40 books to select and put on a Prepared Reading List for 2019.  In no particular order, these are the titles I'd really like to get to in 2019. Many are from my own bookshelves and there are some I'm probably going to be forced to collect. (Wink)

Starting with the most important read of the year and moving on from there -

1. I'll be using the One Year Chronological Study Bible this year again. I've used it for the past 5(ish?) years and I find it the easiest, most consistent way to make sure I read through the Bible every year. It's laid out by date which is ever so helpful as I'm not trying to keep track of a separate piece of paper and keep track of readings. Why that's a challenge for me, I don't know, but I do know that this particular One Year Bible has been tremendously handy and feel I ought to stick with it!

Account for Flexible Reads -

2 - 13. Open slots for flexibility.

BOOKS FOR ME

Fiction - 

14. The Clockmakers Daughter, by Kate Morton. This title was just released this fall. LOVE Kate Morton. My son gave me this book for Christmas and I can't wait to dive in.

15. The Story Peddler, by Lindsay Franklin. Another gift from another son for Christmas. (It was a very good, bookish sort of Christmas!)

16. Carrie's War, by Nina Bawden. I picked this one up in Scotland because, I mean, how could I not?

17. Daddy Long Legs, by Jean Webster. I picked up the Puffins Classic version because a.) it's pretty and b.) I haven't read this book yet.

18. A Rogue's Life, by Wilkie Collins

19. Golden Lads, by Daphnie Du Maurier

20. Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner

21. Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, by Brian Jacques

22. Along the Shore, by L.M. Montgomery

23. The Gown, by Jennifer Robson (I have a review copy for this one!)


Non-Fiction - 

24. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, by Nabeel Quireshi

25. Victoria and Abdul, by Shrabani Basu (I'm terribly iffy on this one and if there was a book I might change my mind about, this would be the one. I picked it up at the library book sale after hearing about the movie. Reading the back of the book makes me rethink things. We'll see.)

26. The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence, by Gavin de Becker (Came highly recommended by a friend of mine.)

27. It's Not Supposed to Be This Way, by Lysa Terkuerst

Books I'd like to Re-Read - 

28. Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss

29. Hinds' Feet on High Places, by Hannah Hurnard

30 - 41. The Mitford Series, by Jan Karon

To Read With the Kids

42. The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart (a re-read, but the younger kids don't remember it)

43. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

44 - 49. The First Five Great Mouse Detective Books, by Eve Titus

50. The Magic Faraway Tree, by Enid Blyton

51. Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Richard Atwater

52. Ramona the Pest, by Beverly Cleary

That's a wrap.

Even just writing down those titles made me realize how little reading time I've carved out for myself of late and how small a stack 52 books really is when all is said and done. Clearly I shall die with a TBR list that's 14,000 miles long. I'm sure you can appreciate the feeling, yes? Writing this down motivates me to read, read, read and see if I can best myself. But. If all I read are 52 books it will be good and I need to be satisfied with that! Here's to books, the places they take us, and how much that they teach us!

Happy 2019 everyone!

Favorite Reads of 2018

I still have reviews in my head which I'd like to write out but somehow the month of December just flew right by! So I've spent the past few days trying to wrap up reads and make sure I marked all of the books that I managed to read down.

This year was the first in which I utilized Goodreads' Reading Challenge program. If memory serves, I originally set my goal at 35 books, wanting to err on the conservative side of things. But then a good friend of mine suggested that I could do better than that so I upped it to 50 which made her happier. Ha! (Everyone needs a friend who will gently push them in the right direction!) Turns out 50 was just about right. I managed 52 books - that's including books read aloud with my kidlets - giving me a 104% success rate on Goodreads! My little over achieving self is made happy.

Now, let's get to the point of all of this. What were my favorite reads of 2018? Here they are, in no particular order:

FAVORITE WORK OF FICTION

Hands down, no contest, it was A Gentleman in Moscow. The title is linked to my review of the book, which is remarkable because I didn't write very many reviews at all this year. I read A Gentleman in Moscow back in March which honestly feels like a lifetime ago. This is a beautiful piece of work and I highly recommend it.

FAVORITE PIECE OF NON-FICTION

This one is always harder because each piece of non-fiction that I ended up reading was read for a different reason and was impacting in different ways. However, I will do my best to narrow it down and go with The Pursuit of Holiness (which, when I re-read my review again, makes sense). I definitely recommend this read if you've never picked it up.

FAVORITE BOOK READ ALOUD W/ THE KIDS

TOUGH QUESTION! I'll go with The Adventures of Hamish and Mirren which we read ahead of our family trip to Scotland. This was such a rich, delicious and entertaining read! Highly, highly, highly recommended!

LEAST FAVORITE BOOK

Well, there are four that I didn't quite care for for one reason or another but if I were to issue a warning, I guess I'd place The Royal Rabbits of London at the top of the list. I don't really have anything much to say about it except that it's stupid. Cute idea in theory but it is slap-stick in the worst possible way appealing to the worst in the reader instead of to the best. I hoped to read it with my kids. Instead I skimmed it by myself and then tossed it.

Runners up:

- Raven, Seek Thy Brother by Gavin Maxwell. This was the third book in a series of memoirs penned by Maxwell, a Scottish author who raised and cared for wild otters up on the Northern Coast. The first book (Ring of Bright Water) was brilliant. The second was disappointing. The third was just depressing as Maxwell showcased his inability to love people over animals and how to take relationships for granted.
- When People are Big and God is Small. This book I found imbalanced in its approach to God and humanity. It pre-supposes that the most holy approach to life is to set aside every God-given emotion that you possess, and the wisdom gained in life to apply wisdom to life's circumstances, and suggests that we must all behave like Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek instead. As we just weren't made that way (on purpose!), I couldn't take the author very seriously. I wouldn't recommend this read as a result.
- Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry, by David C. Robertson. MAJOR SNOOZE ALERT! I like non-fiction reads and I enjoy learning about how business have grown and expanded themselves but this book was boring. Absolutely boring. Save yourselves a read and find a different title about the Lego Company to enjoy.

FAVORITE NEW-TO-ME-AUTHOR

Enid Blyton. The kids and I read her Christmas Stories over the month of December and I honestly cannot ever remember reading a better book of short stories, aside from E. Nesbit's The Book of Dragons (linked to review). If you know me and know my love of The Book of Dragons, you will recognize this as high praise. When we were traveling in Scotland I picked up Blyton books wherever we went and we are now in the process of devouring them! I bought some of her Famous Five books for my 9 year old who started reading them and specifically requested that he be given more titles from the series for Christmas. Ye who know how to give good gifts to your children . . . 

Read a Blyton and change your reading world! (Possible Reading Slogan for 2019.)

I'll stop there. If you're curious to see my entire 2018 Reading List just click on that link there and it'll take you to it. Meanwhile, if there's a book you think I ought to consider reading in 2019 I am happy to hear of it! Leave me a comment or shoot me a note if you please.

HAPPY NEW READING YEAR to everyone!!!

Reading Reflections 2017

You know my life is busy when I'm not reading. I have to be super busy not to be able to read. (Or I have to think I'm too busy to read. It's one of the two.) From October - December of 2017 the only thing I managed to read were books aloud to the kids and I was playing major catch up in my Chronological Bible in order to complete reading the Bible though by the end of the year.

You can see my 2017 Reading List here. I link reviews to titles and one thing you'll quickly notice is that while I read a little, I wrote even less. The sad thing to me is that I have a bad memory when it comes to books and writing out my thoughts on them helps to solidify stories and information. For that reason, I am sorry that I dropped book blogging because there is likely much more information lost than in year's past. While I hope to correct that this year, one never knows how life will go! Meanwhile, I thought I'd take a quick moment to record my favorite reads of 2017.

As I mentioned earlier this week, this past fall our family went to Prince Edward Island on vacation and so the large chunk of my 2017 reading was focused on the works of Lucy Maud Montgomery. A huge treat and treasure was picking up a copy of After Many Years: Twenty-One "Long-Lost" Stories by Montgomery. If I had to pick a favorite of my Montgomery-related reads, I'd have to pick this After Many Years because it was fresh, new and therefore especially fun!

As a bonus, I purchased my copy of After Many Years at the site of Maud's Cavendish Home and it is stamped as such.

The book I feel most accomplished for having read (or, uh, finished) was Atlas Shrugged and I made a very short blog post about that! Atlas Shrugged was tremendously fulfilling but a great deal of work! I can honestly say I enjoyed it and that I'm glad to have read it. Also, I'm glad it's over.

I'm still a huge fan of D.E. Stevenson books and still devour everyone that I can lay my hands on. This year I was blessed to read three different titles by this delightful author. If I had to choose a favorite I guess I'd say I most enjoyed Celia's House.

One of the most interesting books I read this past year was most definitely Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies, by J.B. West.

I picked this up during one of Amazon's Deal of the Day offers on the Kindle and I'm SO glad that I did. This title is absolutely fascinating. If you want to get a better picture of what the life of any random First Lady is like, then this is the book for you. West served as Chief Usher at the White House for decades and he recounts his experiences with six of our nation's First Ladies. What I love is that he didn't write this book to "dish" on any one particular First Lady but to explain an institution. It's fabulously well done. Take a trip down memory lane with this one and enjoy the ride!

This past year was probably the year I learned the valuable importance of the read aloud book for me, the mother. If the only book I get to spend time with is the one that I also will be sharing with my kids, I want to make that read aloud a particularly good one! (I can see some of you smiling and nodding your heads even now!) Once upon a time I was browsing the bookshelves at Powell's up in Portland. A dad approached me to ask if I had read the Swallows and Amazons series yet. He raved for a few minutes about how he had read them aloud to his kids and absolutely loved them. His sales pitch sold me and I purchased a couple of the titles.

Fast forward to 2017 and it looked like the reading level would be appropriate for almost all of our kids (ages 3- 11 now!) and so I pulled Swallows and Amazons off the shelf and read it aloud.

And. we. loved. it.

This twelve book series is set in between the World Wars and is set in the Lake District in England. Published in the 1930's, these books were the Harry Potter series of their day and they deserve another go 'round. It follows the adventures of four siblings and their explorations as they sail and camp and make friends with the locals on their holidays. We read the first book and immediately chased that book down with the second, Swallowdale. I loved these books so much that I think I have to declare them my top favorite books read in 2017! They are wonderful! Oh, and the kids liked them too. However, they did request a break before we move onto the third book in the series so I've complied with the request. Just you wait though because the moment I am "allowed" to go back in the world of the Swallows, I'll be there in a heartbeat! Also, I'm pretty sure I want to spend the rest of my life in the Lake District in England.

That pretty much summarizes my reading year. What about yours? If you've written up an end of the year reflection post, I'd love to see it! Leave the link in the comment section and I'll go visitin' my old book blogging buddies and catch up a bit!

Happy New Year to you all! I really have missed you!

Befriend, by Scott Sauls

I was sent an e-mail pitch asking if I'd be interested in reviewing Befriend, a new title by Scott Sauls, published by Tyndale House Publishers. I'm usually always up to read a book about friendship as there always tends to be room for improvement. The book arrived and I launched right into it.

Befriend is a relatively short book containing twenty-one chapters. It can be devoured in a few sittings but was designed with the idea in mind to use as a devotional or a group study. I read it in about four different settings, taking in a small chunk at a time.

This main idea behind this book is to encourage the reader to reach out and show love and friendship to others in a world that doesn't really "do" relationship away from a screen. It's a call to think more of others than yourself and to be willing to build bridges to people who maybe do not think and act exactly as you do. As he points out, he's easy to be friends with people who are just like you and who like the same things you do. It's much harder to be friends with those who are different. Certainly this a challenge and a topic worthy of its own post.

Sauls opens his book with the first chapter pointing out that it's going to be hard for you to love others unless you can love the person you see in the mirror. I see what he's getting at, of course, but I have to say that the whole "love yourself" argument rubs me the wrong way most of the time and so I mentally held the book at arm's length at first. My hesitation on the whole "love yourself" way of thought is that it tends to make us selfish and self-focused to the detriment of all other relationships. I've heard the phrase, "I need to focus on me" too many times from people and I find that a more destructive attitude than a helpful one. Sauls' message that he wishes to communicate is that, in Christ's eyes, we are all "enough" so we shouldn't try to avoid being friends with others because we are ashamed of ourselves or because we think we are less than others. I agree with him, I think I just use more caution in the way that is all phrased and argued because people are quick to hear, "I need to love myself" and slow hear "I need to die to self so that others might live." And, really, a genuine relationship with anyone requires a bit of death to self.

While I wasn't thrilled with Chapter One things improved from there and I appreciated the arguments he made about needing to reach out to people we can't control, sexual minorities, children, the rich and powerful, bullies, dysfunctional family members, the poor and empty-handed, etc. He needles a lot of people right where it hurts: their pride. We humans naturally gravitate towards relationships we find to be easy. We want to relax with our friends, not have to work at being around them. Somehow that strikes us as being unnatural and, if we're honest, unfair. Relationships shouldn't require work, should they now? Or should they? Worldly wisdom tells us to think about what makes ME comfortable, about making sure that MY feelings and thoughts are considered. When we stumble across people who think differently then us we frequently wonder if it's worth our time and effort to know them or to care for their needs. That's where Sauls' book is useful because he challenges you to think about treating your neighbor as you want to be treated, more or less. Sure, some people might be difficult to love but does that give us the excuse not even to try? (Hint: the answer is 'no'.)

Beyond arguing that you should make friends with people who are not like you, Sauls also spends a lot of time arguing why and that's important. This is necessary work on Sauls' part because we humans are a stiff-necked lot and easily get bogged down in the mire of What We Like. The older I get the more I understand why I need Scott Sauls-types in my life to encourage me to peep outside of my own little box in order to see the world at large. It's so easy to live (and to want to live) in my own bubble where I'm not ever flustered or made to interact with a person or situation that makes me uncomfortable. But Jesus didn't call us to be comfortable, did He? Instead He issued a challenge to look for opportunities to go above and beyond in reaching out to others and to serve them. It's a difficult call which is why not many people do it. If it was easy to all get along then we would. We don't because it isn't and because we don't want put down our own prejudices and see what the other person might be trying to say. For the silent ones who feel alone and ignored, Sauls has written this book to share why it's important to break down the walls so that we can reach one another for the glory of the Lord. All in all, I found this a beneficial read.

I must tell you though that I received an ARC of this and it was missing Chapter 20 which is entitled, "Befriending the Opposite Gender." This is a topic that I would find hugely interesting and would rather have liked to have heard what Sauls had to say. I didn't have that chance and so my opinion of this book isn't entirely completely. That explained, I do have 90% happy thoughts towards this read and no hesitations in recommend it to you. It contains a lot of good food for thought.

The temptation surrounding Befriend is going to be in wanting to have other people read it so that they will know better how to treat you. Resist the temptation to think that way. (I mention this because I understand the temptation quite well!) If you're going to read it, read it for yourself and make applications where necessary. Sure, there may be a speck of the inconsiderate in the eye of your friend, but get rid of the log in your own eye before thinking about them.

Many thanks to Ravū Collective who sent a copy of this book my direction in order to facilitate this review. I received no additional compensation and all opinions are 100% my very own.

The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book, by Chris McVeigh

It's almost that time of year, you know? Will you forgive me for talking about it so soon? I sort of have to, you see. The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book by Chris McVeigh was just recently released and is a worthwhile title to explore before the season gets underway.

This new LEGO title from No Starch Press offers 15 different ornament designs, complete with full-colored photographs and instructions for how to make your own ornaments with which to adorn your tree. If you are a LEGO lover or know someone who is, this book makes a nice gift and/or also teaches you how to make your own gifts.

Chris McVeigh has designed some pretty cute (can I use that word?) ornaments and offers both a list of parts needed as well as step-by-step instructions for how you can make the same. Of course, once you understand how he uses the various parts and pieces to create his own designs, you can create some of your own and that is what makes books like these so great- they are a launching pad for your own designs!

Most of the parts and pieces that you will need in order to design these ornaments are likely to be in your modern LEGO collection (particularly if you like the Ninjago, Star Wars or Friends lines). Otherwise, you might have to hunt one or two specialty pieces down (but not many). Here are some photos of the various ornament designs included which also gives you a feel for the layout of the book:

Again, if you are looking for a fun Christmas activity to do along with your LEGO lovin' friends and relations, this is a fun title to consider.

Many thanks to No Starch Press for sending a copy of this book my direction in order to facilitate this review. I have received no additional compensation and all opinions expressed above are 100% my very own.

My Name is Mahtob, by Mahtob Mahmoody

Yesterday I explained how earlier this year Suzanne from Living to Tell The Story had reviewed My Name is Mahtob which caused me to immediately rush off to purchase the title for myself. This past month I read Not Without My Daughter (linked to review) and, on the heels of that story, picked up this book. As the title suggests, Mahtob, the daughter of Betty Mahmoody, uses this opportunity to share her own memories of the time she spent in Iran as a captive to her father. (See yesterday's post for plot details, if necessary.)

I mentioned that I found Not Without My Daughter a compelling story that I had a hard time setting down. The same is true of My Name is Mahtob. It was curiously interesting to hear Mahtob's "side of the story" and catch her impressions of her's and her mother's experiences. Most interesting to me was all that she shared about her growing up years in America. How did she handle re-integration into this country? What does she think of her father now? Did he ever try to find her and take her back to Iran as threatened? Where is she living and what is she doing as an adult? This book answers all of these questions and then some.

Clearly Mahtob has her mother's panache in being able to connect with her readers. She has the same manner of storytelling which I found absolutely compelling and which held my attention. Again, I think part of the reason (mind you, it's a small part) that this story is so engaging is that it is so unique. While many women might have experienced what Betty and Mahtob have endured, how many of written of their experiences and have traveled to share of their experience with others? Not many.

Mahtob travels back in time with her readers to 1984, relaying what she recalls of the flight to Iran and the Mahmoody family's immediate interactions and experiences with the culture as well as her father's family. She documents her memories of school attendance, shopping excursions, food she liked (and didn't like), how she felt when her father began to physical abuse her mother, and so on and so forth. She had a sharp memory even at a young age and she recalls her experiences in vivid detail at times. It's quite fascinating.

After sharing what her early childhood was like in Iran, Mahtob brings the reader to the present day where we are offered a glimpse as to her adult life. The majority of the book, however, it spent on the "in between" years - after coming back from Iran and up to the modern day.We learn everything from her days in a private Lutheran school to college life. We follow along as she adapts and adjusts back to "American-isms" and then, too, how she has battled certain health scares in her teenage and adult years.

My Name is Mahtob is a must read for anyone who cared for Not Without My Daughter and who wants to find out "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey liked to say. I don't think this title is quite so engaging as her mother's, but Mahtob offers us something not available in her mother's book -- time and perspective. Not Without My Daughter was written fairly soon after their arriving back in America. My Name is Mahtob was written over twenty years later. It's always interesting to look back on life's events and re-examine them with a bit more age and maturity under your belt and that's what this book feels like -- a developing revelation as to who Mahtob Mahmoody is now in light of her past history.

I am definitely delighted to have read this book and I heartily recommend it to you.  It's worth a bit of your time.

My thanks again go to Suzanne who recommend this book to me in the first place. Appreciate it!

Not Without My Daughter, by Betty Mahmoody

These days I seem to feel more like reading books without necessarily writing about them afterward, which I think is fine in seasons. However, I know myself well enough to know that it's better for me to write about what I've read than to not, least I forget what it was that I found most compelling about any given read.

Certain books give you pause and make you want to linger over great and interesting stories and Christy, by Catherine Marshall was that for me. On the heels of that one, I felt like reading a piece of non-fiction. Earlier this year Suzanne from Living to Tell the Story read and reviewed the "sequel" to Not Without My Daughter and, as you can see from the comment which I left on her blog post, while I had seen the movie of the same title and knew it was a true story, I did not realize it was a book. After reading her review I promptly bought both books and have been staring at them for the last few months waiting for the right time to dig in. (When I purchased these books we were at the tail end of an international adoption of our daughter. I just couldn't bring myself to read them until we were through the process, not knowing how the read might effect my emotions at the time.) Well, here we are months later, adoption complete and I was definitely in the mood to read this amazing story.

I launched into Not Without My Daughter assuming I'd spend a leisurely week with the book. Instead, I hastily devoured it, being absolutely unable to put it down. I had seen the movie shortly after it had come out and found it haunting. The book is more engaging than the film but that's due to 420 pages of details which allow for more background and history to be given in the telling of the tale. When I say I couldn't put the book down I mean that fairly literally . . .  it traveled the household with me and I read chapters while cooking and cleaning, etc. It's quite riveting.

If you are unfamiliar with Betty Mahmoody's story, it tells of her decision to accompany her husband Mood, and her daughter Mahtob, on a trip to Iran in 1984. Her husband claimed he wanted to visit his family back in his home country and that he wanted a chance to introduce said family to his American wife and daughter. Betty agreed to the trip but with great hesitations which she should have heeded. Agreeing and hoping to be in Iran for only two weeks, she and her daughter were devastated when their time in Iran was due to come to an end only to have Moody declare his intentions of staying in the country. He refused to allow for his wife and daughter to return to America and, under Iranian law, they were subject to his will. This book documents their time spent in Iran with Moody, trying to survive in a foreign country, while also attempting to escape back to America. Of course, the book exists only because they eventually made it back. Never fear - knowing that fact in advance will not spoil the book for anyone!

Betty Mahmoody has an interesting and unique story to tell. Writing this book was somewhat cathartic for her and we see her developing and maturing as a person as the book continues. She does not write bitterly of her husband, but she also does not write an easy story. She tells the facts but shows respect for the man she once loved, despite the things he did to her during her time in Iran. It's quite simply an incredible and mind-blowing story that makes the reader appreciate Betty's trials as well as to learn from them.

If you haven't yet read this book, I'd heartily recommend it. Is it a hard read, emotionally speaking? Yes. It's hard to imagine what Betty and her daughter went through while trying to return to their family and freedoms in America. It is also an exhilarating read as you watch her indomitable courage press on under truly traumatic circumstances. Lastly, it's an educational read which offers a peek into Iranian culture. This last aspect is something that is definitely going to cause some hackles to be raised as there already are arguments over whether or not Betty truly understood Iranian culture. I'll leave that for others to debate and simply say that the information Betty provides offers a good starting point for conversation between the differences in cultures and religions. This book would make for an excellent book club discussion should you be in need of such a suggestion.

I definitely encourage you to find this book and give it a read if you have a chance! If you found the movie haunting (as I did) you'll find the book more so. This isn't a title I'm likely to ever forget, truth be told.

Thank you, Suzanne, for recommending these books to me!

*****

Fairly quickly after concluding Not Without My Daughter, I picked up My Name is Mahtob . You can read my review of that title HERE.

Snippets

I'm falling behind in making notes about what books I've read this year! I've got to pick up the pace and quick! To that end, I'll offer up a few "snippets" for today:

The Glass Castle: A Memoir, by Jeannette Walls was the last of my Facebook Challenge reads that I had accepted. You might recall that the first of every year I invite a certain number of people to make a suggestion for a book that I then have to read in the coming year. In 2015 I invited 4 people to make such a suggestion and Shonya "assigned" me this book as one of my challenge reads.

I finished it several weeks ago and meant to write about it immediately, because it was something of a haunting read. I wanted to write my thoughts on it out of my system but instead I walked away from it and let them languish. (Whoops.) If you aren't aware of this story, know that it's a New York Times Bestseller and a memoir by Jeannette Walls. In this book she shares her growing up experience with a set of parents who might by all accounts be considered deadbeats, but whom she really adored as a young child. Their family moved all over the country during Walls' childhood, due to her father's inability or interest in holding down a job. Both of her parents enjoyed the concept of having a free spirit that could wander about at whim and fancy. Doing whatever pleased them most seemed to be their life goal. The problem what that is that you can't do just anything you like when you have three children in your care. Jeannette and her siblings knew what it was like to be and/or feel alone, to be freezing cold in the wintertime, and to be hungry year 'round.

As Jeannette comes of age, she begins to feel the urge to make something of herself. She wants to take more care of not just her own person but of her siblings too. She set goals for herself and worked hard at them. I would say that Jeannette Walls has done a great job striking out on her own and pursuing hard goals. She has succeeded in much that she has put her hands to, but never quite lost the respect a child always feels for their parent, regardless of how they are or are not cared for. Walls had a challenging set of parents to write a story about but she does so in such a fashion so as to provoke a sense of compassion in the reader. I'm not quite sure how she managed that as I'm typically not very compassionate towards those who absolutely refuse to work. I can't say that I understand her father at all, but she explains him so that I feel sorry for him, to some extent or another. One thing that I really appreciated her saying was that people with brokenness in their life have some of the best stories to offer. I think there's truth to that. We're all broken but not all of us admit it. If we were to do so, honestly, our stories would be vastly more interesting. We are able to connect with the Walls family in part because she lays all things bare. With nothing hidden, you can find places to identify and connect with and that's pretty amazing.

This isn't a bright and peppy book, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an interesting one. I think it would make a good book club read because the characters contained herein definitely stand out. Plus there's a lot of social topics to be discussed as a result of reading and thinking about the Walls family story. Anyway, if you like memoir and you like being provoked to thought, then this is a title to be considered.

******

Another title which I devoured in an afternoon (it's short enough to do so) was Hurry Henrietta by Molly Cone. I picked this one up at a used bookstore simply because I thought the premise sounded interesting. It was described as a book about a young Jewish girl who was the oldest of five daughters. Her siblings all grew up and fell in love but she never married, being very focused on educational pursuits instead. Come to find out, this is a true story about Henrietta Szold who you can read about here. She was a U.S. born Jewish Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America.

Hurry Henrietta tells a very condensed version of her life story. Author Molly Cone says of it, "This story leaves out a great many things - you cannot really call it a biography - for it picks and chooses among the events of her life to find her "true" story. Call it only a story." That's probably the most honest disclaimer I've ever seen in a book! That is also a very good description as a great many liberties are taken when it comes to picking and choosing which parts of Henrietta's life to focus on. This story is something of a hodge podge of random bits and pieces from Henrietta's life and it is not very neatly stitched together at that. While I learned who Henrietta Szold was and noted a few interesting things about her personality, there wasn't a great deal more to it than that. I think Cone's idea was to clue you in on Henrietta's existence. In so far as that, she did a great job.

As you might gather, I wasn't enamored with the book. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting to discover when I purchased it to read. Sometimes you have to take a gamble and on this one I learned about someone I had never heard of before. In my mind, that makes this book which wasn't a total waste but I don't know that I'd go about recommending it as being the greatest thing ever. If you come across it and her story sounds a little bit compelling, it makes for an interesting and quick read.

Kids' Travel Journal

Taking a cue from Pinterest, our family kept a travel journal over the course of our trip to England which we went on earlier this year. Already that journal has come in handy as I'm piecing together a scrapbook of the trip. It's amazing how quickly you can forget the little details which stood out and made the days memorable. I'm so glad that we took notes as we went along (even if we didn't manage to keep up the pace and document the entire trip - the first half is soundly recorded!).

When we returned home I saw this Kids' Travel Journal from Peter Pauper Press and I was so curious to check it out! I was kindly sent a copy for review. If you have some kids on your Christmas list that you know will be traveling in the coming year, you might (definitely) want to consider this book. I've peeked at a few travel journals and none appealed to me so much as this one did, which I do think is rather practical and which I plan to take along with us on our next adventure.

The following information is essential for the person doing the packing: the dimensions of this journal are 8.4 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches. It's big enough for lots of notes and information to be included in it but thin enough not to be a bear in the suitcase or backpack. It is a hardback book but I think that's fairly important for a travel journal which you hope will hold up under the weight of travel. All in all, I find it to be a manageable size and I don't have any hesitations in deciding to pack it.

I like the fact that this Kids' Travel Journal opens with several pages for pre-travel experiences. There are prompts to get the child to think about where they are going and what the plans are when they get there. There is also a page available to write down what the child would like to see and do while on the adventure which is pretty sweet. Sometimes kids will surprise you in revealing what is most important to them about any given trip. Personally, we think it's a great idea to get input from all family members so that you can better plan a trip which is enjoyable for all ages and interest and this page is remarkably useful to that end.

There are, of course, some pages which I find to be rather impractical and which I can't see us using but that's to be expected in any pre-arranged journal, I think. For instance, I'm not so sure that I'd fill out the pages which allow you to write out your itinerary (which one shall we set aside as a "sick day"?) but those more concerned with sticking to the plan might still enjoy that feature. I also wouldn't list out the "important contacts" on the off chance that the book would get lost but, again, others might find that useful. Do note that this book allows for a 14-day excursion. Depending on what type of trip you'll be on, you will want to consider that.

The later section of the book includes puzzles and games to keep the user occupied which is a clever idea. Those types of pages keep the journal in the hands of the user, encouraging interaction and documentation. There is also what I would call a "trip in review" section where the writer is encouraged to talk about the most memorable aspects of the trip as well as document any unique experiences had when returning home.

Really, if I were going to gift a travel journal to a child, the Kids' Travel Journal would be the one. It's far and away the most useful kids' journal I've run across, with plenty of space to write one's thoughts out and writing prompts that are appropriate, intelligent and helpful. I'm definitely a fan.

This makes for a fun and also practical gift to anyone planning a vacation in the coming year. Just a note to keep it in mind!

Many thanks to Peter Pauper Press who kindly sent a copy of this book my direction in order to facilitate a review. I received no additional compensation and all opinions are 100% my own.

Isaac's Storm, by Erik Larson

Near the end of each year, I invite people on the Reading to Know Facebook page to suggest books for me to read during the following year. Whoever gets their comment/suggestion in first, wins and I read their book choice. At the end of 2014 I invited four people to recommend books and Sandi T. recommended Isaac's Storm, by Erik Larson. The beauty of this Facebook challenge is that it usually introduces me to books I might not otherwise have met. Isaac's Storm is one such book.

By way of further introduction, you should know that I grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. Hurricane threats were a regular part of my childhood. Some areas of the countries are lucky enough to experience the variety of the four distinct seasons. Along the Texas coast line we experienced only three: summer, fall and hurricane.

During my entire childhood we evacuated only once (to San Antonio) but it turned out to be a false threat. Still, every year the general populace would converge upon the local grocery store and empty the shelves of water and batteries "just in case." The most we ever really experienced, courtesy of a hurricane moving around in the vicinity, were high winds and a lot of rain which would inevitably flood the streets and distract everyone from schoolwork which we didn't want to do anyway.

Galveston is roughly three and a half hours north of Corpus and, given its proximity, we frequently heard references about the "major hurricane" which destroyed the area at the turn of the century. I can't confess to paying much attention to this history when I was younger, so I was glad when Sandi recommended Isaac's Storm as it gave me opportunity to finally learn in a little bit more detail what the hurricane of 1900 did to Galveston. In addition , I'd also never read a book by Erik Larson. I was glad to rectify this situation at the same time.

For those of you who are unaware, a fierce and particularly violent hurricane (aka, cyclone) struck Galveston on September 8, 1900. It had made an appearance in Key West, Florida a few days prior but the powers that be in Washington decreed that the hurricane was going to continue north and to the Atlantic. Storm warnings, more generic in nature, were sent along the coast but without mention of a cyclone. Isaac Cline was was the chief meteorologist in Galveston at the time. Twice a day he would head down to the beach to observe and measure the tide and the color of the sky. He would also keep watch on the barometer levels which indicated an approaching storm. (I shall make no attempt to sound remotely knowledgeable on the subject of barometric pressure. I am no scientist.) Despite my lack of scientific understanding, the story was still a pleasant read. It was fascinating to hear how scientists at the turn of the century monitored nature and made predictions based on much "cruder" instruments than scientists do these days. Unfortunately though, scientist back then - as well as those in this modern age - tend to fall prey to the same fallacy which suggests that our scientific know-how and advancements are sufficient to make us invincible against nature (and God Himself). Time and time again we discover that that simply is not the case although almost incredibly we continue to boast in our own knowledge and power. If only we would understand that we are, quite simply, no match.

As relates to Galveston, Cline noted the marks of an approaching storm but neither he nor anyone else seemed fully aware of the destructive and violent nature of it. As a result, the entire town of Galveston was pretty much destroyed and its estimated that upwards of 6,000 lives were lost. In Isaac's Storm, Larson takes his readers step-by-step to the political events leading up to the storm, the telegraphs that were sent relating to this event, and the lives of the people who lived in Galveston. It is obviously that quite a bit of research went into this book. Larson clearly spent a great amount of time reading survivor accounts, tracking the careers of political figures, and becoming an amateur student of the history of weather itself! While these topics might seem boring on their face, Larson has a way of drawing his readers in and making them want to understand how and why behind this historical event. Furthermore it's interesting to get to know Cline, a man who was undeniably flawed, but who also clearly loved his work, his country, and his family very much. All in all, this book is quite a fascinating read.

The only bone I have to pick with this title is a particular aspect of Larson's writing style, which is not necessarily bad, but it is somewhat distracting. Larson loves a good adjective and sprinkles them liberally about the place. His love of adjectives soon becomes quite glaring, giving the reader pause. In my opinion, he spent too much time reaching to find a clever way of phrasing something when all he really needed to do was to give the facts plainly. (I'd also have to be quick to confess that he can indeed describe a thing both beautifully and vividly. I just think he overuses this skill making it more common than I personally feel it should be, if that makes sense.) Aside from this one complaint, I found him to be a great story teller on the whole, taking a sometimes difficult and complex subject and explaining it to the reader in a way which caused things to make sense.

I really did enjoy reading Isaac's Storm, despite the fact that it's about a catastrophe. Larson writes so well that this story shall stick with me for awhile. Lately I've been finishing books and setting them aside waiting for a good moment to write up a review. In the case of this book, I wanted to write out my thoughts quickly so that I could move along and try to think about something else. I think that speaks to the power Larson has to draw the reader in, causing them to both understand and feel it. To me, that's the mark of a good storyteller.

If you are curious, below you can see some pictures from Galveston, taken in later September 1900:

I'll conclude with a song which I find to be a good reminder, especially in light of tragedy. Though so many things around me give away, God is my rock and my fortress. I cannot fall out of His hand, no matter what happens in my life. I might not understand what He's doing, but I trust Him to be at work. This is the greatest comfort.

Beautiful LEGO: Wild!

Upon arriving back home from our trip, we found a copy of Beautiful LEGO: Wild! in the mailbox. It was an incredibly exciting book to receive, as you might imagine.

We enjoyed Beautiful LEGO, (linked to review), the first in this series of books by Mike Doyle. While that one was set to blow your mind, our family really found Beautiful LEGO: Wild! to be more engaging.

If you or yours love LEGOs (or perhaps the word 'obsessed' is more accurate?) you'll be interested in checking out this title. We truly loved love it.

Bookworm1 (age almost 9, unbelievably!) really enjoys building his own sets now, as opposed to pre-packaged ones. Of course, he has no objections to building a new set but his manner of collecting LEGOs has gone from just being "plain" fun to looking out for particular pieces by which he hopes to improve his own models. It really has been very fun as a parent to see him gathering his own ideas and building things from his own imagination.

To that end, I'm happy to have books like Beautiful LEGO: Wild! in front of him. A few of the pictures in this particular title inspired him to build some animals. Really though, the pictures are inspiring to everyone in our family. Some people's creations are just so stunning and mind blowing! Check out some of the sets pictured:

We all loved the bright, colorful, cheerful images and landscapes. We've sat and devoured the book from cover to cover, each member picking out the creations that we liked the best. The first section contains of a lot of original creations from Lord of the Rings which are quite spectacular. Loved the ones with Rivendale and waterfalls. All amazing!

This title was definitely a delight for all ages. I do not suffer any hesitation in recommending this title wholeheartedly to any other lovers of LEGOs. Sock this title away for Christmas gift giving, if you don't think it's too early to begin planning for that! This book is really so, so much fun!

Many thanks to No Starch Press for sending a copy of the above title in order to facilitate a review. I received no additional compensation and all opinions are my very own.

The Drop Box, by Brian Ivie and Ted Kluck

Late last year the Drop Box Documentary Film was released in theaters through Focus on the Family. There were limited show times available but we made sure not to miss this story of Pastor Lee who built a safe drop box for babies who would be abandoned on the streets of Seoul. If you haven't yet seen the documentary or are unfamiliar with this story, I heartily encourage you to watch this trailer for the film before you continue on with this review.

Note: This film has since been released on DVD and I can only highly encourage you to watch it if at all possible. It will break your heart and make you cry - exactly what it should do - but don't be frightened away from it. Facing hard things is what God frequently uses to break our hearts and do great works in the world for His glory and for His name.




Pastor Lee's story is compelling and inspiring. It raises legitimate questions about the value and sanctity of life - no matter what condition that life is in. It makes some to wonder how they can reach out and love those who are considered to be the less desirable in society. It also inspires the person watching the movie to begin asking what they might to to make a difference in this world. Staying home and putting one's feet up, relaxing the time away almost seems egregious. (I'm not saying that it's bad to relax. I am saying though that if you spent the majority of your life relaxing you might want to rethink what life is all about. God didn't place you here simply to kick back, but to do a great work. So what's your work? Perhaps it is not raising orphans but you can rest assured there's something for you to be busy with.)

Brian Ivie is not necessarily called to care for orphans directly, but he did have a passion for making movies and, as it turns out, God had a plan in that. Interestingly, Ivie was not a Christian when he set out to tell this story. He was a film student who was looking to make a movie that would be compelling enough to be featured at Sundance Film Festival. Originally, Ivie went to S. Korea planning to show the contrast between S. Korea's preoccupation with plastic surgery and perfection and Dr. Lee's mission to save and provide shelter to disabled children. As he says, he went to Korea thinking that maybe he'd do a good deed by making a movie that would help save some babies or improve their lives. In the end though, he found that it was himself that needed to be save. Through this journey of making this film, Brian Ivie became a Christian. This book tells his story.

In The Drop Box: How 500 Abandoned Babies, an Act of Compassion, and a Movie Changed My Life Forever Brian details his growing up years wherein he enjoyed making home movies with his friends. When he was in high school he knew that he wanted to make movies, although his parents were rather skeptical of his ability to make a living out of such a career. Nevertheless, he applied to and attended USC to learn about film. During his tenure as a student there he ran across an article in the paper about the drop box which caught his attention. Traveling abroad was popular at USC at the time so he thought he'd give a go at contacting Paster Lee and seeing if he could come to South Korea and make this documentary. Pastor Lee wrote him back saying that he wasn't quite sure what all the movie business was about, but that Ivie was welcome to come and live with him for awhile if he liked. He liked.

I think it's important to note here that although Ivie was not a Gospel-believing person, he considered himself a Christian prior to his experience in S. Korea. He thought he was basically good but there were behaviors (which he shares about in minor detail) in which he was ensconced that were keeping him mired in sin. Being exposed to Pastor Lee, his life, and the children made Ivie to see that (basically) being a good person wasn't enough. His heart was full of sin that needed to be confessed and he was brought to a point of true repentance and belief. He writes:

"Even with nice parents and a nice house, I was an orphan in my heart. I was begging for people to love me, to approve of me, to want me. And what I learned is that when you're an orphan, even just in your own heart, you can love only those who will love you back. You can love only those people who have something to offer or who can reciprocate your feelings.
But as a child of God, you can be completely alone and still love people who have abandoned you. As a child of God, you can go to the people who have nothing to offer and give them all of you like Jesus did for all of us." (Chapter 14, He Could Just Give, page 169)

Upon realizing these things, Ivie realized that the movie that he planned to make needed to be remade into something different - something more. He says:

"Now knowing that life was more than movies, and knowing Jesus Christ for real, I refused to show the world a picture of Him that was anything less than the most authentic and beautiful picture I could create." (Chapter 14, He Could Just Give, page 162)

I have to say that I think he accomplished his new goal - that of bringing glory to Christ for the work that He has done for each one of us on the cross.

The book The Drop Box was an interesting read because it is the "behind-the-scenes" of the movie. From the perspective of the storyteller, you hear his own journey of how this film ultimately came to be and his story is indeed compelling. The writing style isn't exactly my preference, many parts being laid out as if they are scripts to movies to help the reader understand Ivie's personality and emotions a little bit better. I understand why that method of storytelling was chosen but it's not my favorite. I was glad to hear Ivie's story but I have to say that Lee's is the one that nabs me. I would recommend the book to give a more complete picture of the film but if you were going to devote a few hours to something, I'd highly recommend the documentary over this book!