This is one of the best and most beautiful books I have ever read. Some of the images that Wilder paints are in the most beautiful that I've read, and they remain imprinted on my memory years later.

"Some say that we shall never know, and that to the gods we are like the flies that the boys kill on a summer's day, and some say, to the contrary, that the very sparrows do not lose a feather that has not been brushed away by the finger of God."

I still cry when I read this.

Finally I read this!

I tend towards devouring books, but I didn't want this one to end.

Hosseini's writing is some of the best I've ever read, and I cannot wait to read A Thousand Splended Suns later on this year. This book has everything - redemption, pain, loss, happiness, joy...it's certain to be a classic that will last. It is an epic but reads very easily. Hosseini's descriptors are so vivid and creative but also so obvious you wonder why you never thought of them. Absolutely beautiful, stunning writing. What an incredible first novel. This is definitely in my top 3 favourite books of all time. I can't say enough good about this book.

Pairings:

Fantastic, fantastic read, and an important book to have accessible.

Though I was not alive during the initial civil rights movement, the voices of these strong women Stockett creates from her own experiences are realistic, and I am thankful for her very raw, candid look at white privilege. Stockett revealed the dissonance between what the maids could tell a white woman, and what they still couldn't tell her in a subtle way with the different POVs (which I felt she executed well). Stockett took a risk with jargon, and it was beautiful.

The strongest thing Stockett could have done was end this story in a realistic way, which she did. People lost their jobs. Skeeter was shunned, but her life didn't change dramatically because of privilege. We didn't know what would happen to the others, and they didn't know either.

I don't want to say too much else because this book speaks for itself, and I don't want to accidentally say anything offensive.

I recommend this book to anyone.

Pairings: The Bluest Eye, Invisible Man, Things Fall Apart, Poisonwood Bible

An excellent book on what the spiritual gift of prophecy/proclamation is, what it looks like in a non-cooky way, how to use it, and how to continue to grow in said gifting. He takes a difficult topic and writes about it in a way it can be understood - and with examples!

One of the most important takeaways is that prophecy should always be given with grace. I think a lot of men/women feel they have the gift of the prophetic and use it to heart or "preach doom and gloom." Cooke helped me realize that this isn't necessarily the way things need to be done unless you are in a relationship with a person where this is okay. There are ways that we can prophecy or speak truth that preach more about comfort than doom.

The exercises are very helpful as well.

The reason I couldn't give this book 5 stars is because since it was released with a small publishing company, it needed another editor. If you can get past some wordiness and grammatical errors, the information in the book is fantastic. Cooke has done some good work.

I'd recommend this to anyone who feels like they might have the spiritual gift of prophecy/proclamation.

Wiesel paints a painful, subversive picture of a Holocaust survivor on the other side of death (meaning, the one inflicting death). A quick, beautiful read.

Weisel's writing is painfully, delightfully vivid, succinct, imaginative, and evokes awareness and feelings from deep places. Not for the tender-hearted, but absolutely worth the read regardless. I will carry much of his imagery about death for the rest of my life. Recommended.

Great examination of the fruits of the spirit, and solid challenges to the current church.