Thanksgiving book reviews

In addition to eating more than my fair share, laying on the beach, sweating in the Florida heat and enjoying time with David's family (and taking pictures of none of the above), I did some fabulous reading over my extended Thanksgiving break.

 1. Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
This is the inspiring story of a rock climber-turned-life changer for children in Pakistan. A detour on a climbing trip led him to a needy village, and he ended up raising millions of dollars to build more than 55 schools, mostly for girls, in the most war-torn part of our world. Wow.

2. Father Fiction, Donald Miller

I love Don Miller and read everything he writes. Blue Like Jazz was obviously a big hit (I read it as an assignment for my favorite college class ever- Perspectives on Christian Ministry- and will always remember laughing my way through it during our spring break backpacking trip. I must have read half the book out loud to my friends because I was loving it so much.), but Through Painted Deserts, Searching for God Knows What and To Own a Dragon are equally witty and thoughtful. This book is about his life-long issues with growing up fatherless, but there are lots of lessons that are pertinent no matter what your family situation is. A great book!

3. Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay

OH my goodness. This was the most captivating book I have read in... I don't know how long. I started it a few hours into our (11 hour) drive home, just after I finished Father Fiction, and I read the ENTIRE (320 page) book by the time we were an hour away from Chattanooga. I'm so excited to see that she has another book available because I have to go buy it right away (used from Amazon or from McKays, of course). This book was a page-turner, but not in a typical, suspenseful way. It was a heart-wrenching story of a Jewish family involved in the Vél' d'Hiv' roundups in France in 1942 and their unlikely connection to a modern-day American journalist, living in France. You. must. read. this. book.