Review: Anne Lamott has become one of my favorite writers. I like her style and her honesty. She feels like an aunt or a mentor to me. She weaves humor and deep truths together to create brilliant works of literature, this book being one such work.
Quotations: "I knew that if you had the eyes to see, there was beauty everywhere, even when nature was barren or sloppy, and not just when God had tarted things up for spring."
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"This culture's pursuit of beauty is a crazy, sick, losing game. The only way to win is to stay off the court. No matter how much of our time is spent in pursuit of physical beauty, even to great success, the Mirror on the Wall will always say, 'Snow White lives,' and this is in fact a lie - Snow White is a fairy tale. Lies cannot nourish or protect you. Only freedom from fear, freedom from lies, can make us beautiful, and keep us safe."
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"You want to know how big God's love is? The answer is: it's very big. It's bigger than you're comfortable with."
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"Then I figured we probably shared the same human condition: we went to plays we couldn't follow, we worried when we had to pee and there was no bathroom around, we fell into moods, both hopelessness and random silliness. The specifics might be different, but not the essence. We're not so special. That's the good and bad news."
2. It's Not About Me by Max Lucado
Review: I am pretty much the most selfish person I know, so I thought this book would be really helpful. I'm really not a huge fan of the book, but the Lord definitely allowed me to read it at the time I read it for a purpose and I'm thankful for that. Don't get me wrong, it had some good theology and all, but sometimes it was needlessly repetitive and the writing just wasn't that great.
Quotations: "The world does not revolve around us. Our comfort is not God's priority."
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"If you think it's all about you, and I think it's all about me, we have no hope for getting along. What would happen if we took our places and played our parts in this universe? If we played the parts God gave us to play?"
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"In heaven, God won't ask how many times we read the Bible, but did we put our love into action."
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Review: I liked this book a lot. Wilde is great at expressing his opinions through his characters. Dorian is so perfect on the outside, but he's hiding his flaws and that leads to his destruction. Those are definitely things I have learned over the past few months: not judging by appearance (because we really are all equally screwed up) and confessing struggles to people who will hold me accountable.
Quotations: "Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing."
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"I love him because he is like what Love himself should be. But what does he see in me? I am not worthy of him. And yet -why, I cannot tell- though I feel so much beneath him, I don't feel humble. I feel proud, terribly proud."
4. Forgotten God by Francis Chan
Review: This book definitely challenged me and changed aspects of how I think. I read this book about the Holy Spirit, we're studying the Holy Spirit at church, and I'm reading Acts which is chocked full of the Spirit. I think the Lord might possibly be trying to teach me something. ;) I get so frustrated sometimes because of how impossible it is to obey God, but I've been learning how much power the Spirit gives and that is so encouraging.
Quotations: "The Spirit is more obviously active in places where people are desperate for Him, humbled before Him, and not distracted by their pursuit of wealth or comforts."
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"It is easy to use the phrase 'God's will for my life' as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience. It's much less demanding to think about God's will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes. It's safer to commit to following Him someday instead of this day."
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"I don't want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn't be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I a desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn't come through, I am screwed."
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