Books!

A couple months ago, my friend Christi invited me to join Shelfari, website where I can post the books I've read/am reading/want to read and share my list with my friends. It inspired me to stop unpacking and organizing my house and start reading again. Let me know if you have any good books to recommend.

Cellophane, by Marie Arana, was a good book. It about an engineer who builds a paper factory in the middle of the Peruvian jungle, just to see if it could be done. He is successful, but everything changes when he decides to produce cellophane at his factory instead. This new paper, transparent and delicate, brings a trio of "plagues" upon his family and village that will forever change their world. Deep secrets and personal feelings are suddenly blurted out at the most inappropriate times, unlikely romantic attractions kindle, and everyone starts seeking to change their circumstances.
This was an enjoyable book to read with some very comical scenes and fascinating, memorable characters.

The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, is one of the best books I've read! I've read some of Barbara Kingsolver's books before, but I had never read her most famous work. When I saw that several of my friends had it on their Shelfari shelf, I figured I should finally read it.
Wow! Fabulous book. It's a pretty heavy book that leaves you considering theological, political and personal issues with a depth not usually found in novels today. But I also loved reading it and I didn't want to put it down. (It's no small feat for a mom with 2 toddlers to read a 543 page book in about a week!) A strict missionary preacher drags his wife and four daughters to a small village in the Congo, unprepared for just about everything they would encounter. His wife and daughters take turns telling the story from their own perspectives. The women share with us how the experience changed their lives forever, but they also struggle with the role they played in how we changed the lives of the Africans forever.
It's the kind of book that makes you want to hit the history books, investigate current foreign policy, ask God some really tough questions and then hug your children for a really long time.