February 20, 2012 - Posted by Belle - 0 Comments
Last night I finished the final book in the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. It was so hard to close the cover to my Kindle knowing my path with these characters is over. It’s like moving away from dear friends, but I get ahead of myself.
I’ve only known of Brandon Sanderson a short time due to his taking over the epic Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I was impressed with the transition between writers, and so I wanted to read something of his own creation. My husband, the driving force behind me becoming a Wheel of Time fan, bought the Mistborn books (Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages) on Kindle and proceeded to devour them during his winter work break. I was left wanting… as I did not yet have my own Kindle.
Fast forward to February 2…
February 9, 2012 - Posted by Belle - 0 Comments
I mentioned the book, The Jesus of Suburbia by Mike Erre, in an earlier post, and would be remiss if I didn’t spend a post doing a quick review. The short story: I loved this book. It was real. It resonated with me. I was encouraged and came away with an ever deeper understanding and appreciation for the writers of the Bible.
But a warning, this is not a book for everyone. If you’re searching for God in the daily minutia of life, you’ll probably love it. If you’re content with your Sunday church ritual, then you might want pass this book by. But I get ahead of myself.
January 31, 2012 - Posted by Belle - 2 Comments
The past few months, I’ve been reading – a lot! Some week’s it’s felt like I’ve gone through books as fast as I was in college (which, on average, was 2 novels per week). Now, as I write this, my husband reminds me that it only feels fast because I have been wrapped up in a VERY large book series for the past year and a half. But wait, I get ahead of myself.
Since many of the books I’ve been “reading” are actually audio books, I realized I needed a way to keep track of what I’ve read and what I haven’t since I don’t have the physical books here to remind me. So here’s a quick list of the good, the bad, and the just alright.
January 28, 2012 - Posted by Belle - 0 Comments
Living according to God’s will. It’s something I’ve struggled with the past few years and one of the things that has come into sharp relief recently. How to live according to God’s will? And more importantly, what is God’s will? How do I know what He wants?
Recently, I’ve been struggling with a number of different things, one of which is truly understanding and following God’s will for my life. I have to admit – it’s hard, both the discovery of what that means as well as the level of acceptance it takes to actually follow it through. As often happens during these more trying times in my life, God puts into my path something to help. This time it was a book – The Jesus of Suburbia by Mike Erre.
January 6, 2011 - Posted by Belle - 2 Comments
The New Year’s holiday has never meant a lot to me. As a kid, we always went to bed at the same time on Dec 31 as on any other day of the year (and if you know me, you know that’s early!). As an adult, I go back and forth about staying up vs. going to bed. The last few years my husband and I have enjoyed quiet nights at home, watching movies until a quarter till midnight, then switching over to watch the ball drop in Times Square, toasting with a little champagne or wine then in bed by 12:30. It’s actually quite fantastic.
Since the holiday doesn’t have much sway with me, neither do New Year’s Resolutions. Being a goal-oriented person, I like the concept, yet I often feel that there is too much hype surrounding resolutions. People set multiple, large, ambitious goals for the year and by Feb often realize they aren’t going to be able to accomplish all of them so they give up. (I count myself in this category.)