what I'm reading

Summer is such a great time to catch up on all the books you've collected and have yet to read. Whether its by the pool, on the front porch or lounging at the beach, it's the best time to get lost in a good read. I have a habit of starting a book and not finishing it before I start the next one. I'm almost always reading two or three books over the same time frame. This is what I'm reading right now.

I started this book after I heard about it from another blogger. To be honest, there is nothing super amazing about it. However, it's a really great story. Its told from multiple perspectives but centers around the main character Ramona. She is a baker who has had an eventful life. There is a lot of feeling to the story and whenever I pick it up, I end up reading for much longer than I meant to. Also, there are tons of recipes at the ends of the chapters. I can't wait to try some of the breads.

First off, I love pretty much anything Gary Chapman writes. He writes mostly book regarding human relationships, personality types, and marriage. Since those are my favorite topics, you can probably tell why I like reading his books so much. This book was no different. I found this incredibly insightful, honest, a bit unsettling, and really hard to put down. Now it could be because I do love the topic so much and its pretty relevant to my stage in life, but I loved this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is dating, seriously dating, engaged or newly married. It's definitely eye opening. There are even questions and exercise for you to go through, if you want to take an extra step. Jake is probably glad I'm done reading this book because a lot of my sentences started out as "So you know what I read in that marriage book..." Gary Chapman goes though the major topics, areas of conflict, areas of untruth,  and biggest points of frustration that he and his wife went through during the beginning of their rocky marriage. Don't worry though, he is also a licensed counselor so his advice comes with some validity. I realize that by reading this book it won't make our marriage perfect but at least it opened my eyes to what may be normal that may not always seem normal and help us build a solid martial foundation.

I started reading this book because it is one of my favorite authors, favorite authors. I assumed that I would probably love it because if she was anything like her writing style it would be awesome. It definitely was different than I anticipated. It was significantly more edgy than any other "faith" books I've read before. The beginning chapters really took me for surprise. It was a bit hard to get into it but every now and then I find myself really enjoying it. It has taken me much longer to read than I thought but I think at the end of it I will be pleased. I'll keep you posted.

These are the books that are filling my nightstand these days. Tell me...what are you reading?

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I would also like to briefly mention that today is my sweet grandma Norma's birthday. And although she isn't physically here to celebrate with us, it doesn't take away the fact that a beautiful, special woman was born today. She is forever loved and missed.