I am feeling so accomplished! I actually finished The Triune God earlier this summer which I had been working on all winter. I may have said before, it was a little dry in places but it was chocked-full of good stuff and I was determined to get through it. So even though I took my sweet time on it (I tend to do that with devotionals anyway) I did finish it at last.
I also finished Jaye L. Knight's Ilyon Chronicles: Resistance, and loved it. I loved it so much, in fact, that I purchased it from Amazon (along with Defy and A Time to Rise) using gift cards I won from just-said authors (respectively, Tricia Mingerink and Nadine Brandes). The best way to describe this one to you is by calling it Christian Fantasy. It is set in a midieval-like world where Christians of many races are beginning to be persecuted for their beliefs. It was cleverly written, Kyrin and Jace are lovable and likable, and full of imaginative locations. I highly recommend it.
I followed up Resistance by starting The King's Scrolls, which I am devouring at this time. It has some very interesting twists and surprises, which I cannot share with you. You must read it for yourself!
Connie VanHuis has beautiful insight into small things in life; I love the way she looks at the world and finds testimony to God in something as simple and sweet as farm-life with horses. I have always loved horses, they are intelligent and magnificent creatures. I could appreciate how she sees this intelligent devotion in them and likens it to our intelligent, purposeful, but sometimes faultering devotion to Christ. Her book was encouraging to me, and I felt like she was sitting in my room telling me her stories and giving me Bible verses herself that build up and give peace.
Every artist or writer ought to have Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon on their shelf. It is short, clear, concise and extremely helpful. I read it all in probably 30 min. or less, laying on the beach with friends on a soft evening when the sun was not blaring hot and was sitting just on the horizon. It was a great feeling to just sit and finish a book all in one sitting (I haven't done that since high school) and I felt that I had taken away from it a lot of very good, insightful mental notes. I plan to buy it and put sticky notes in it and take notes and generally just love on it in the future.
*Also of note, previously in the same day I had just watched Spiderman: Homecoming and I'm telling you, if you haven't seen it by now you ought to.
Other books included Berenstein Bears which I have not read in years but my niece was pretty insistent and I couldn't say no. :)
On different note, I have not only read some great books this summer, I have also seen some really great movies (besides Spiderman).
In August I finally was able to watch The Case for Christ, which I had wanted to see several months ago and was just unable to (you know, life). I highly recommend it! It was very well-done, and really interesting. I did feel like it moved quickly. There were a lot of detailed accounts that changed Lee Strobel's mind that I wished had been explored a little more. However, it is a movie- it kind of has to be condensed in order for it to be viewable by a large audience. Most people aren't interested in long films, especially in theaters. After seeing the movie, I would like to read the book to find out more about Strobel's life in detail, and how this case of his lead him to Christ.
What great books or movies have you read or seen this summer? I would love to hear your favorite summer reads! Any recommendations for me?
