Playing Catch Up

For the month of January, my plan is to try to catch up on the blog posts I failed to write in 2014.  That's my plan.  We all know about the best laid plans.

Here's number one:

This is the stack of books I had hoped to read this past summer.  I didn't do so well with that.

I did finally read the book my sister in law had gotten me for Christmas 2013 (per my request).  The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert was a pretty astounding book.  I'd say the woman who wrote this book would not disagree if I called her a a one-time enemy of Christ.  She actively pursued trying to disprove the Christian faith and the Bible.  Slowly, the Word changed her.  She could no longer deny its Truth.  This was a short read and though I don't agree with some of the author's finer theological points (no hymns--only psalms--sung in worship, for instance), I did very much appreciate her very well thought out doctrine.  She knows what she believes and why she believes it.  I also really appreciated her truthfulness in the telling of her conversion experience.  It wasn't all flowers and sunshine when she became a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In fact, it was just the opposite.  However, she held onto Jesus, or rather, He held onto her and brought her to a deeper understanding of Himself.

I read about half way through Salt, Sugar, Fat before my multiple library renewals were up.  That was enough reading to get the idea.  Sugar is in so, so many of the products the American food industry produces.  They've even got a name for the the reaction your brain has to sugar.  It's called the "bliss point."  That's the literal sweet spot (brain chemical reaction) manufacturers try to hit so that you'll desire more of that food.  Manufacturers even know how little sugar they can add to a product (thus reducing production costs) and still hit the "bliss point."

I read Si-Cology 1.  I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did.  Uncle Si is the real deal, a true man of God and he's not ashamed of it.

I started the John Adams book.  I watched the HBO series through Amazon Prime this past spring while walking on the treadmill.  I really wanted the kids to see it, but there were a few scenes of violence and marital relations that were just too much.  The portrayal of Abigail Adams was especially timely for me, as I was leading a woman's Bible study at the time.  Abigail embodied all  5 Aspects of Woman.  I used her as an example in class on several occasions.  I was so taken with the t.v. series, that I knew I had to read the book on which it was based.  On my insistence, Matt listened to the book on audio and finished it long before I even started reading it.  I need to get with it.    Let me just say that I haven't been so smitten with an author's writing since I read F. Scott Fitzgerald way back in high school.

I didn't get to the Gatto, Pollen or Le Billon books.  I'll try again another time.  I have started Bread and Wine,  Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen, and Teaching From Rest.  When I was a girl, it used to bug me so much when my mom would have several books going at once.  I'd ask, "Why don't you finish a book before you start another one?"  Now I do the same thing.  In fact, that's not the only way I'm like my mom.  I saw this sign in Hobby Lobby the other day and sent the picture to my sister--'cause sometimes she has the same problem.  I guess it's an unavoidable fact of life.  I'm sure my mother would agree.