This book I read for my book club. It was a very fast read and a very heartwarming book. It is a true story based on Albom's experiences.
The book begins with a request: an 82-year-old rabbi from Albom’s old hometown asks him to say his eulogy. Albom insists on understanding him better. Meanwhile, Albom becomes involved with a Detroit pastor – a reformed drug dealer and convict – who preaches to the poor and homeless in a decaying church. Moving between their worlds, Christian and Jewish, African-American and white, poor and rich, Mitch observes how these very different men have faith: the older rabbi, embracing it as death approaches; the younger, inner-city pastor relying on it to keep himself and his church afloat.
The book explores things that many wonder and question about life- how to keep going when difficult things happen; what heaven is; intermarriage; forgiveness; doubting God; and the importance of faith in trying times. Albom begins to realize similarities between the two worlds - and really, between beliefs everywhere. In the end, he finally understands what both men had been teaching all along: the profound comfort of believing in something bigger than yourself. Have a Little Faith is a book about a life’s purpose; about losing belief and finding it again.
Here is a quote I liked from the book-
" If we tend to things that are important in life, if we right those we love a d behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business, our words will be sincere, our embraces tight. We will never wallow in the agony of " I could have, I should have."
I enjoyed this book. It was encouraging and very thought provoking. It made me think about my own faith and beliefs and how we are all alike.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry by Katherine Flinn
This book is a memoir of a Kathleen Flinn. She was working in the corporate world and lost her job. She was at a crossroads of what to do and with the encouragement of her boyfriend, she decided to follow her lifelong dream and move to Paris to attend the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Sh
e always had enjoyed cooking. She had been living in London, but did not speak much French. The book was a nice little tale of her finding her passion and fulfilling a dream. She did not want to be a chef but wanted to write about food. She goes into lots of details about her time in school, the classes, chefs, other students and the techniques she learned and used for cooking. Some of the details were over my head. I mean I love to cook and bake, but French cuisine and technique is often very different from what we eat in America. It got to be a little boring at times to read some of those details.
But, I enjoyed seeing Kathleen find her way in Paris, make friends, learn the culture. Her boyfriend, who became her husband, was sweet and I enjoyed the parts about them and their growing love for each other.
I really liked that this book was a memoir. Again, while the cooking parts were sometimes to long and boring, I enjoyed the story and find it inspiring that this person went after her dream and passion. And there were several recipes in the book that I would like to try out. And, I learned the proper way to cut an onion so you don't cry. from the book-
"Turning a simple task into a thing of beauty, with a chef's knife, he cut a peeled onion in half at the root. He places one half cut-side down on the board and cuts thin vertical slices toward the root but not through it, keeping the onion intact. Twisting the blade flat, he cuts thin slices across, parallel to his cutting board, stopping before he the root end. Then he slices across the top of the onion down, and perfect tiny cubes tumble onto the cutting board"
And a quote from the end of the book-
"As in cooking, living requires you taste, taste, taste as you go along- you can't wait until the dish of life is done! The joy of life is in the trip, and the station is a dream that constantly outdistances us."
She is a very talented writer and I enjoyed her writing style. She shared the good and the bad, the hard times and fun times and there were times in reading this that I laughed out loud. It was overall a very entertaining read.
e always had enjoyed cooking. She had been living in London, but did not speak much French. The book was a nice little tale of her finding her passion and fulfilling a dream. She did not want to be a chef but wanted to write about food. She goes into lots of details about her time in school, the classes, chefs, other students and the techniques she learned and used for cooking. Some of the details were over my head. I mean I love to cook and bake, but French cuisine and technique is often very different from what we eat in America. It got to be a little boring at times to read some of those details.
But, I enjoyed seeing Kathleen find her way in Paris, make friends, learn the culture. Her boyfriend, who became her husband, was sweet and I enjoyed the parts about them and their growing love for each other.
I really liked that this book was a memoir. Again, while the cooking parts were sometimes to long and boring, I enjoyed the story and find it inspiring that this person went after her dream and passion. And there were several recipes in the book that I would like to try out. And, I learned the proper way to cut an onion so you don't cry. from the book-
"Turning a simple task into a thing of beauty, with a chef's knife, he cut a peeled onion in half at the root. He places one half cut-side down on the board and cuts thin vertical slices toward the root but not through it, keeping the onion intact. Twisting the blade flat, he cuts thin slices across, parallel to his cutting board, stopping before he the root end. Then he slices across the top of the onion down, and perfect tiny cubes tumble onto the cutting board"
And a quote from the end of the book-
"As in cooking, living requires you taste, taste, taste as you go along- you can't wait until the dish of life is done! The joy of life is in the trip, and the station is a dream that constantly outdistances us."
She is a very talented writer and I enjoyed her writing style. She shared the good and the bad, the hard times and fun times and there were times in reading this that I laughed out loud. It was overall a very entertaining read.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico
I picked this book up because it took place in Puerto Rico. We went on vacation there last year and loved it! And, it was neat to read about alot of places we visited while in PR and even some restaurants we went to were mentioned.
The book is about a young girl, Verdita, in Puerto Rico in the 60's who wants to be more"American". She wants to visit the US, speak English, and look like the movie stars from America. The book is about her discovering who she wants to become.
I really wanted to like this book. It started out fairly good, but I found myself midway through the book just wanting to be finished. It had a few interesting parts, but it seemed like lots of characters were introduced, but not really developed. I am glad to be moving on to something new.
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