30 Days of Truth: Day 17

Day 17 - A book you've read that changed your views on something.

This book changed my views on worship, mostly because i had no idea what it was before this book. I thought worship had to do mostly with me, my feelings and my opinions. Come to find out it has very little to do with me and everything to Do with Who God is. It's a great read, pick it up, folks!

30 Day Project: Day 23

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book.

A Million Miles in A Thousand Years! Best book ever. I pretty much guarantee that you will love this book and it will challenge you to live a better story! It is thoughtful, thought provoking, powerful and well written. When I first started reading it, I couldn't put it down until I finished! It is a MUST read!

A Million Miles in A Thousand Years...

A Million Miles in A Thousand Years, the title to Donald Millers yet to be released book due this fall, is striking the first time you hear it. However it is the premise of the book that really seemed to grip me. Three reviews and an early released chapter of the book have me thinking that this book just might be a huge part of my life. The main premise: If his life were a story, it would be a boring one. Then he asks the question. “What if we're not truly living the story we were born for?”
I believe all writers think of life’s events in the form of a story. We view people in our lives as potentially important characters; each conflict that takes place as a possible story changing moment; each lesson learned as a possible main premise for a story. And yet it’s amazing that nobody had put this thought of treating and living your life as a story, into a book.
The two reviews that I read were a mixture of criticism of Millers bland life (which I think is the whole point to the book) and a praise of the premise to the book. Both critics stated that the book left them pondering their own life and one even mentioned that it was a catalyst for changes he needed to make in his own life. Now how could a book that was terrible leave them with such thoughts?
What I have noticed about Millers books is not their exceptionally outstanding and entertaining stories but his observations about normal situations and his ability to speak what everybody in the room is thinking about said situations. His stories seem like the experience of the average Joe and his thoughts about these stories are what draw people to his works. He has a way of making the average person feel as if he is writing their own story down, making their lives book worthy.
Aside from reviews I personally can not wait to dive into Millers latest work. I’m sure it will be as amazing as the rest of his memoirs and just as thought provoking.

Booklist!

My booklist. To be read before the end of the year.

The Great Emergence – Phyllis Tickle
Velvet Elvis – Rob Bell
Going After Cacciato – Tim O’brien
UnChristian: What a new Generation really thinks about Christianity and why it matters – David Kinnamin & Gabe Lyons
To Own A dragon – Donald Miller (released this fall)
Everything Must Change: When the World's Biggest Problems and Jesus' Good News Collide – Brian D. McLaren
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in heaven – Sherman Alexie
The absolute True Diary of a Part-time Indian – Sherman Alexie
War Dances – Sherman Alexie (released this fall)
Got the Life – Reginald "Fieldy " Arvizu
This Side of Paradise – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Let me know if you can recommend any must reads. (please no twilight series)

Summer Reading?!

This summer I want to be doing a lot of reading. As of this moment I am currently reading a few books at the same time which sucks because it takes longer to read a book that normally would take me a few days to read.
Right now I’m reading:
Searching for God knows what by Donald miller (my new favorite Christian author)
Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott (who I don’t agree with 100% of the time but I enjoy the way that she writes)
Gump and Co. by Winston Groom (sequel to Forest Gump, a very funny book)
And of course the Bible.
If I actually make time to read some time in the next couple of weeks then I should finish them up pretty soon. Then it’s on to :
The things they carried by Tim O’Brien (which I purchased already and I’m itching to start reading but then that would make it six books at once so I figure I will finish at least one before
This Side Of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
And I’m not sure what else so you know the drill: recommend something!! lol

Review: Blue like Jazz

"The most difficult lie I ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me."

i read this book a while ago but it has been on my mind lately so I thought i would share a little about it.

Blue Like Jazz ia an autobiographical book by Author Donald miller. In this writing Miller attempts to show a more humanistic point of view on topics such as God, the church, Politics, etc. The book, appropriately subtitled “Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality,” takes the reader through a series of experiences from childhood to adulthood that have challenged the writer to believe In God in an entirely different way that what he was originally taught. Failures on behalf of the church and Christians drove him away from the church only to return irresistibly drawn to the true love of God as discovered through various experiences mostly on the Reed College campus in Portland, Oregon, with friends Christian and unchristian alike. Miller tackles subjects such as social consciousness, romance, forgiveness, religion, self-involvement, and Jesus in a non-religious point of view that leaves only pure, benevolent love as the answer to our questions about the true meaning of life and the true nature of God. Miller asks the questions that sometimes Christians dare not and also finds appropriate, biblically accurate responses to said inquiries. I definitely recommend this book to everybody out there.

Veronika Decides To Die!!!

So i finally found a book that is worthy of my time, lol. Well actually 2 of them.

1. In Dubious Battle - Steinbeck.

Young activist gets stuck in the middle of a fruit Strike in California. Deals with the
Communist party uprising back in 30's. (started it but found another one...)

2. Veronika Decides To Die - Coelho.

Young woman decides to commit Suicide and fails. She ends up in a mental institution where she finds out she only has a short time to live.

I am especially excited about the second book. I have read two chapters into it and they are pretty good. I need TIME to read though and alas, time is what I have the least of.

Review: The Orphaned Anythings

****1/2

The Orphaned Anythings is in the least a perfect portrayal of the life of today’s post-adolescent young adults. The book follows a young man, Ayden Kosacov, as he ventures through his mundane uneventful days. Ayden has no purpose and no real direction in his life. The motto of his existence seems to be “I’m up, what more do you want from me?” Ayden watches the world around him progressing and changing and yet he sees himself remaining in the same place. At first he seems content with his bland existence. Later, his realization of the empty life that he leads, drives him to the point of attempting suicide. How does Ayden get past this difficult moment in his life? My suggestion is read the book, it is a classic!

I found this story to be beautifully written by author Stephen Christian. Christian presents this character to be borderline depressed and slowly winding down to the brink of insanity. The book is depressing at times and yet takes a 180 after the first two thirds of the book. The book then turns into an uplifting depiction of a young man hitting rock bottom and receiving the strength to bounce back up.

The only real problems I had with the book was the lack of detail included in the characters lives and a description of the significance of each person. Each character seems to play some sort of involvement in Ayden’s state of mind and yet the level of their involvement is left to the imagination. The book itself is short. an addition to the pages could have included more description about characters and situations as well as providing more of a build up towards the dramatic climax. Aside from that I encountered a few spelling and grammatical errors in the writing which lead me to wonder if this book was edited before being released. Aside from that, I think this book is brilliant and I definitely reccomend that you take the time to read it.