Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson

I read Stephanie Nielson's new book "Heaven is Here" about a month ago. 'Nie Nie', a popular blogger, Mormon wife and mother, was in a terrible plane crash a few years ago. This book recounts her life before and her recovery. It was pretty heart wrenching to hear of her loss but triumphant to see your recover, grow stronger each day and share her hope and message of the love of our Savior and the importance of our families. It made me want to be a better mother, to be more patient and appreciative. And never to ride in a small plane! I know that's terrible but this book was really inspirational and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to change their perspective for the better.

Lord of the Rings- Fellowship of the Ring

For Christmas my husband asked that I read the Lord of the Rings books. It was free (minus 50 hours or whatever my mom pointed out) and he really wanted to so I said yes. The, a couple days after I cracked open the first book I dusted off a book I'd picked up at a book signing a few months ago. It was shiny and red and sounded interesting though I didn't know much about it. Three weeks and thousands and thousands of pages later I'd read the entire Outlander series and the Fellowship was gathering dust. I finally finished it last week (helped out a by the proximity of my new Kindle) and I have to say I did enjoy it. It was a little rough getting into but the story of good and evil is always relevant. Tolkien was obviously an incredible writer and it's not hard to get lost in his world, imaginative and vast yet strikingly similar to our own.

A few impressive quotes-

"Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere." -Elrond

I'm sure this could apply to a million things but to me of course motherhood comes to mind.

"'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo.
'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'"

I'm a little bit into the second book (seamless transitional on the Kindle, it's pretty great). Hopefully I'll finish before another Outlander book comes out, haha!)

These is my Words

Book club has started at Church again. I have a hard time with this because people are really unpredictable in their book choices and preferences. I hate to recommend a book and be told off that it was terrible and inappropriate and then feel that I must be too by extension. So I'm along for the Church book club ride for now. But I jumped on the wagon to reread this book because I loved it so much when I read it a few years (for the first time in 2008 I think). This time I read it, I couldn't help but think about Claire and Jamie and their relationship compared to Sarah's. These is my Words is a beautiful novel, inspired by a true story of Nancy Turner's ancestor. She lives in the Arizona Territory, overcomes loss, disaster, death, and the run of the mill stuff that would probably kill the rest of us (primitive standard of living, limited women's rights, etc). This book inspired me to be stronger, to suck it up and be grateful I have a washing machine and remember that I can do hard things. And to hold my babies close and enjoy them- life can change on a dime and while it's not helpful to stress over that, it is important to stop and be grateful every day.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I posted about The Time Traveler's Wife last year but since I intend this blog to be a sort of personal reading log I'm posting again. Last night I was stashing something in the hall book case and saw this book and thought I should reread it. So I started, put in two or three hours last night and then finished this morning. I didn't mean to have a marathon session (particularly since I knew the ending already and easily started to tear up at all the foreshadowing) but I couldn't put it down. I love the characters and this reading I really saw a lot of my husband in Henry. I know it's easy to project when reading but I normally feel that way. This was another book that reminded me to treasure my life and my husband, to appreciate the everyday and not stress over the little things. A beautiful book to treasure and read again and again.

See it on Amazon.