Fall Reading List Reviews {with some other ramblings}

This week has been a week of re-establishing our little routine and getting back into the swing of things.  The bitter cold temps have meant 2 hour delays the past couple of mornings, but Kev has still been heading to school early to get some work done.  Oh well, maybe one of these days he won’t be such an over-achiever.  🙂

Last night wasn’t much fun.  I went back to Weight Watchers after about a month of eating basically whatever.  I hadn’t been to weigh in or to a meeting since just before Thanksgiving, so it wasn’t pretty.  In the scheme of weight loss, it wasn’t that bad but it makes me sick having to pay to weigh in because I’ve gotten too far above my lifetime goal weight.  I’m ready to get back in the groove and get this extra weight off!

I’m picking some books that I’d like to read over the next couple of months.  Since one of my goals for 2014 is to read 12 books and this month is already in full swing, but I need to get going.  But before I head into my next batch of books, I wanted to post some thoughts on the books from my fall reading list.  I guess you can say I need some “closure” on these books before I jump into more.  Yes, I’m weird like that.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

 I started this book while on my girls weekend getaway to Charleston, SC back in August.  Since we were busy being social and having a great time, I couldn’t seem to get momentum with it until I got home.  I dove into it more seriously in September and finished it in about 3 days.

I loved this book so much.  In many ways though, it was a tough read because it provided a glimpse into life in the segregated Deep South, which was not pretty.  Since my husband is from Mississippi and my own family is from Virginia and North Carolina, it really hit home.  I love the South so much and while there can be a tendency to have a sense of pride in being from the South, there is also a lot of “ugly” {as there is in all regions of the country} to be found in Southern history.  Taking the time to really process all that was hard at times, but very good for me.

The entire time I was reading, I kept trying to imagine who I would have been had I lived during that time period.  Would I have been like Skeeter or more like Hilly?  Would I have been bothered by the way the whites viewed their “help?”  Or would I have seen it as normal?  I hope and pray that I would have been bold enough to stand up for what was right.  But then again, would I have even been able to recognize that segregation was wrong?  It was uncomfortable at times to read, but it was a very thought-provoking read and one I’m still pondering as I process where we are as a country as far as race relations go.

Radical by David Platt

Our small group started this book a while ago, but we were interrupted by some other things and we finally finished it this fall.  It was a challenging book in so many ways.  I love David Platt’s boldness and willingness to “tell it like it is” to the Christian community.  He calls Christians out on their unbiblical view of the American dream and challenges them to re-think what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

He shares some thought-provoking and inspirational true stories of people who have determined to use their education, skills, and talents to further the kingdom of God rather than simply fill up their bank accounts.  He doesn’t say that Christians shouldn’t work hard and be financially successful, but challenges Christians to use that blessing to pursue God’s mission in the world and not just our own backyard.  Am I at least willing to leave it all behind and go where he calls me in order to fulfill God’s command to be disciples to the nations?

Lots to think about for sure.

Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey

You know by now that I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey.  I haven’t taken his Financial Peace University course, but I love The Total Money Makeover and it is what jump started some changes in my family’s thinking about money.  I picked this book up at Barnes and Noble one night and knew I wanted to read it after skimming through.

Since I’ve read Dave Ramsey before, a lot of the concepts in the book were not completely new but I still really enjoyed reading this book.  It served as more of an extra boost of encouragement to me than anything else.

One of the topics that resonated with me most was how to work with your spouse on budgeting.  He talks about how the spouse who spends the time paying the bills {typically this is the “number cruncher” or the analytical one} can sometimes feel a big burden.  He suggests that a couple must still work together on the plan even though one person may be the one cutting the checks.  This struck home for me since I have voiced this concern to Kev in the past.  We’ve made some good strides in working better as a team in the day-to-day execution of our budget and not just at the beginning of the month when we create the budget.  I’ll share more on that later.

I had planned to read a marriage book, but it just didn’t happen this fall.  Next week, I’ll be posting my winter reading list in case you are curious.