From loneliness to solitude, from hostility to hospitality, from illusion to prayer.

Timely book for me, even though it's been around for ages. Hospitality is kind of in vogue in my Christian circles, but Nowen reminded me that this conversation is nothing new. I also enjoyed the Thomas Merton quotes about the desert.

Lost in a forest, Otto meets 3 enchanted women and is given a harmonica that is given with a promise that it has the power change lives. Throughout the decades, we follow the story of this enchanted harmonica to see how many lives it (and the spell) end up changing and saving.

Pam Muñoz Ryan absolutely gutted me. This beautiful book about destiny, enchantment, the threads of time, and...a harmonica...was mysterious, fun to read, and absolutely gutting (in a good way) at the end. I almost had to set this book down and just sob. Ryan keeps you on your toes and I can't wait to read more by her! Music (and creativity) really do change everything.

Pairings: the giver series, under a painted sky

Did not agree with all exegesis, but liked the perspective.

Really love this commentary series.

Really loving this series!

When Amy disappears on their 5th wedding anniversary, it's only natural that Nick is the prime suspect. As Nick untangles the scavenger hunt web that Amy has left, it's clear that she has finally set him up.

Dark, but not completely unfamiliar. We see inside the mind of a psychopath - everything is fullproof, the choosing of personalities, everything is precise. It's delightfully dark, and we eat it up because we want to know more. Flynn does a great job of keeping up the suspense, drawing you in, and making sure you don't *quite* know who to hate more. Recommended.

American-born Maya is torn between two cultures - trying to be the perfect Indian child or following her own dreams of being a film maker. With strict parents, a potential love triangle, (but this fizzles pretty quickly) and a supportive aunt who understands going against traditional values, Maya must decide whether to follow her dreams of film school at NYU or her parents' dreams.

Ahmed has a great balance of tackling difficult themes without making the book too heavy for the age. She doesn't sugarcoat - she exposes the reality of what happens in these communities when an terrible event occurs. Recommended.

Summer after summer, Lin returns to his village for a divorce in his loveless marriage to Shuya, waiting to marry the woman he really loves, Manna. The rule is that after 18 years of living separately and refraining from relations, a man can divorce his wife. Manna waits patiently while Lin continues to get denied over the years, and we see what waiting does to those who struggle and those who delight in it.

This book was a bit of a tough read due to some subject matter (there is a rape in the story), but the character development of all the people involved in these relationships of waiting was lovely.

This is probably one of the only marriage books I would recommend to people. It's encouraging rather than shaming, and while they do throw in a lot of statistics, there is less emphasis on "your marriage is doomed" and rather "here are things you can constructively DO if things aren't perfect." They also have a lot of exercises that you and your spouse can do together (exercises with depth, not just putting a bandaid on a hard situation), and a TON of examples, which I appreciated.

I especially love how he talked about gridlock and solvable/unsolvable problems. I've found that most marriage books stop a little more superficially, but this one doesn't. I felt permission to still get in fights, and I felt so much less of a "now what?" than in other readings of marriage books.

I'd recommend this to anyone in a relationship or married, and a lot of the ideas can be applied to deep friendships as well!