To be silent does not mean to be inactive; rather it means to breathe in the will of God, to listen attentively and be ready to obey. _ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Meditating on the Word)

“…Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16

It’s no surprise. I enjoy a good read, heck I enjoy even some of the terrible reads. Which is why this blog is slowly becoming a “what Krystin’s reading” blog. Not exactly what I intended but hey, most things in life aren’t.

So this week, this is what I’m tackling. I may not get to some books because others just become more interesting and “win out.” But I have every “intention” to read these this week:

The Passage by Justin Cronin

recommended by both Amazon and NPR it became one of those “well, shoot, now I have to read it” reads.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

I read the description and decided it sounded like something I’d enjoy.

A year of biblical living by A.J. Jacobs

I had 2 friends in 2 weeks mention that they were/had read this book and thoroughly enjoyed(ing) it. Then yesterday David asked me to grab a book on hold for him at the library and sure enough this is what I picked up and of course I snuck a peak. hilarious.

Jesus, the one and only by Beth Moore

I have a tendency to refrain from joining in on “mainstream” christian reads. I can’t explain it. Perhaps it’s just the way my rebellious side comes out or the fact that I enjoy reading older christian works, but I challenged myself this year to “join in”. A friend of mine recommended this Moore study and in truth, I have really enjoyed it. I’ve even teared up a few times. The topper is that it’s an edited version so I don’t have to feel obliged to answer review questions…just read.

Tip: if you want to know more about a book just click on the title/author and I’ve attached links for your convenience.

www.shelfari.com and I’m always up for reading friends my shelfari

Check it out.

By no means do I believe being an adult or reading adult fiction is boring (I read tons of it too) and I find many of the “young adult” books to be very “not young adult” books (ie. I would not let my teen read them). Here are a couple YA books I read this last week.

I’m clearly not a book expert or critic. I’m purely a gal who loves to read and if you don’t like YA books or supernatural adventures then these books are NOT for you. Both books were on the NY times Best seller’s list, though I wouldn’t put them anywhere near my top reads. They were fun, but not necessarily epic or addicting and definitely didn’t contain deep life lessons concerning identity, loyalty, self worth, or any of the above. Both attempted to play with identity and how we establish or re-create messages of self through negotiation, however, these are pretty much just “fun” reads.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Imortal Instruments (City of Bones) by Cassandra Clare

admittedly the covers are terrible. David even asked why I was reading porn and I had to laugh. But they were fun adventures Both received 4 out of 5 stars with nearly 400 reviews each on amazon, but I would say it’s a good book for vacations (literal or figuratively).

I have not read “The Warded Man”, but I did watch David devourer it and it appears to be a thoroughly good read.

I have

I’ll confess, it’s hard to come back from the adventure pack ride of “Hunger Games”. Darn you Suzanne Collins, however, “The Forgotten Garden” has just enough intrigue/mystery that I need to keep reading because I NEED answers. I haven’t finished yet, so I will not state my final opinion on the book though it looks promising.

Here is the link to Her post if you want to see an image of our cake

Cheers to epic fails = internal growth

Last week I read the Hunger Game Trilogy. It was a fabulous adventure. If you need a fun read, I recommend it.

Would love to hear your thoughts. The approach grapples with the lines of theory and application.

Here is my resolutions list. It’s a bit rough…I haven’t made one in a while:

• To know God more.
• To live a life of worship.
• Play more with my children. There’s far too few years where my kids will actually want to play with me and invite me to pretend with them…I must seize them!
• Limit my “is” statements. As in “Krystin is …..”  labeling not only kills room to change but also lacks grace and assumes superiority. I lecture my interpersonal students on this one all the time.
• Know my children in a deeper way.
• To honor the creative parts of me and write more.
• Be more aware of others in my life.
• finish a century ride
• Eliminate our debt.

and the simple, yet most difficult ones;

• Make an eye appt. so I don’t go blind.
• teach my son to take out the trash
• potty train my daughter
• manage my time/household better

Cheers to some endings and new beginnings!