20 books in 2015- #2 Reconstructing Amelia

I finished Reconstructing Amelia in less than 48 hours.  I actually got up at 7am on a Saturday because I couldn’t wait to pick up where I left off.  I guess that either makes me a nerd or it makes this a really good book.  It’s a fairly easy read and I always love a good mystery.  It's a story about a mother and daughter that only have each other.  They are close and love one another dearly, but they are both hiding things from one another.

Kate is a single mother that is also a dedicated lawyer.  She works hard to provide the best for her daughter, Amelia, but this does sacrifice her time at home with her.  Amelia is smart, pretty, and kind.  She is involved in several school activities, volunteers consistently, and is proving to be a gifted writer.  Overall, she is a good kid.  Which is why Kate is taken aback when Amelia’s school calls her at work and requests that she come and pick Amelia up.  The administrator says that Amelia has been suspended for cheating.  

Kate leaves work and heads for the school, not knowing that what she will find there will be something more  heartbreaking than cheating.  Upon her arrival at Amelia’s school, she discovers that her daughter has jumped off of the roof, killing herself.  

Of course, this leaves Kate in shock and disbelief.  Amelia was happy.  Why would she do such a thing?  A few days after Amelia’s death Kate’s cell phone receives a text from a blocked number that says “Amelia didn’t jump.”

WHAT?!

Kate starts to go through Amelia’s texts, social media accounts, and emails and works to put the puzzle that was Amelia back together.   Slowly she begins to uncover secrets that will lead to the true cause of Amelia's death while Kate must face some of her own secrets too. 

The subject matter is sad and, being a mother, I couldn't help put myself in the story and think "What if this was Shadow?"  I wanted so badly to learn the truth about Amelia's death just like Kate did.  I couldn't sleep not knowing!  

After I finished this book I was sure of two things: 1.) I am so glad I went to high school before Twitter, Facebook, and iPhones.  Not because I had anything to keep secret from my parents, but because they are avenues that teenagers abuse these days to degrade and humiliate their peers. Something that comes up often in the book  2.)  I am so grateful for my Christian upbringing.  I’m NOT saying bad things like this won’t happen to Christians.   But I do think surrounding yourself with family and friends that value building you up  can help anyone overcome demons that try to steal your joy. 

 

20 books in 2015 - Unbroken

I haven't been on here in a long time. I couldn't even remember what my username and password was to get into this blog.  Shameful.  It's not that I haven't had anything to write about, or anything to say.  I've had several moments where I tell myself " hey I should write about that", and I guess I chose to take a bath, or sit on the couch, or eat a cookie instead. 

I could go on and write updates about what has been going on with the Smith's over the past year but I won't.  We are good and blessed. 

On New Year's Day I was reading on the couch with my blanket and my coffee and I decided that I would set a goal to read 20 books this year.  I thought I could get through 2 a month, but with school, and all the TV shows I like to watch, that is hard.  So 20 seemed like a good number.  When I told Jordan what I was going to do, he said "You should blog about that."

YES! I WILL!

So here it is.  Book number one- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand

I have a huge soft spot in my heart for America's history and veterans (past, present, and future.) I'm pretty sure if you took a picture of my DNA-most of it would be red, white, and blue.  I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie.  I usually like to do this with all movies that are based off of books.  I wanted to know this man's story before I saw it through Hollywood's eyes.

I finished it in 3 days and can I just say, wow.  The book is about Louie Zamperini- an Italian-American, and former Olympic athlete, that served during WWII.  His plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean and he was stranded at sea for 47 days.  When he finally reached land he was captured by the Japanese and held prisoner for almost 2 1/2 years and once he was finally safe home, he was tortured by other demons.

The book is page after page of bad luck, dirty POW camps, brutal Japanese officers, death, destruction, blood thirsty sharks, horrible diseases, and I couldn't put it down.  Louie had a survivors spirit that literally could not broken.  But what makes his story truly remarkable is when he realizes that it was God's divine intervention that kept him alive-when he really had all the odds against him.  After all the nightmares about the war, with God's help, Louie was finally able to find peace and use his experience to bring others to know Jesus.

When I closed the book I had a few tears in my eyes.  I was so grateful for his sacrifice and rejoiced with him as he knew he belonged to Christ, just like all of us do.  His story reminded me how selfish and ignorant I, and all of us, can be at times.  In fact, today has been verrrrry cold.  If you know me you know I don't do well with cold.  But one of my first thoughts as I got out of the car was "at least you aren't in a shack away from your family, starving, with only newspaper to cover you like Louie was."