Summer Reading 2013 {Part 2}

At the beginning of the summer I had every intention of catching up on my pleasure reading; I even purchased 20 books to read!  However, I ended up teaching an additional summer course which really cut into my reading time.  It’s bittersweet because I love teaching but I was really looking forward to diving into some books.  Oh well life happens sometimes.  Anyhow, I reviewed a couple books in June (see here), but I wanted to review a couple more that I read last month.
image Good Enough To Eat by Stacey Ballis- I know that someone recommended this book to me but I honestly can’t remember who it was;  if it was you, thank you!  This was a pretty good book, but it definitely wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.  For some reason I thought this book was going to be a lot about food (as the title would suggest), but it was about waaaaaayyy more than just food.  This book was about learning how to live right; to put yourself in a good place emotionally, physically, psychologically, and relationally.  We need balance in all areas of our lives and this was a great reminder of that need to keep life balanced.  A balanced life IS “good enough to eat!”  This was a great tale of independence and learning how to find yourself, freedom from being a slave to food, your past, your habits or the way things have always been done, learning to live right and to give back, to believe in others, to not dwell on the past, a tale of true unwavering friendships found in the oddest yet most meaningful places....that are strong enough to last a lifetime.  A good book that I would certainly recommend for poolside or sandy beach-side reading. From the back cover: The last thing Melanie expected to lose when she went on a diet was her husband.  Former lawyer Melanie Hoffman lost half her body weight and opened a gourmet take-out café specializing in healthy and delicious food. Then her husband left her-for a woman twice her size. Immediately afterwards, she's blindsided by a financial crisis. Melanie reaches out to a quirky roommate with a ton of baggage and becomes involved in a budding romance with a local documentary filmmaker. In this warm and often laugh-out-loud novel, Melanie discovers that she still has a lot to learn about her friends, her relationships with men, and herself-and that her weight loss was just the beginning of an amazing journey that will transform her life from the inside out..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ image A Little Saltie to Cut the Sweet: Southern Stories of Faith, Family, and Fifteen Pounds of Bacon by Sophie Hudson- My dear friend Joy recommended this book to me one afternoon while we were on the phone; darn if she doesn’t know me perfectly!  This book was absolutely perfect for this southern gal; so comforting and familiar!  I felt like I was sitting right across the table from Sophie talking & laughing about our family life in the south.  I was reminded of my home and my family from when I was younger.  This book was southern, genuine and the best book I’ve read in a while.  Something that made this book stand out was not just the southern stories (which were hilarious), but it was how Sophie tied everything back to her faith and scripture.  What a breath of fresh air and encouragement!  You’ve got to get this book and bury your nose in the pages….STAT!

From the back cover:    Here’s the Thing: Family is worth celebrating.  And since I’m Southern, I would almost always advise that the celebrating should involve a table where both the fried chicken and the laughter are abundant.  But as wonderful as family life can be, it can also be complicated. Family can get under your skin like nobody’s business. No matter what, though, I love my people to pieces. I imagine you feel the same way about your family. And while food may be what brings us to the table when we get together, it’s the people who provide the real nourishment. As we join hands and bow heads and break bread, God faithfully teaches us deep, lasting lessons about loyalty. About love. About Him. This book is a collection of some of my favorite family stories. I’m just as tickled as I can be to share them with you. And I hope you’ll feel right at home.

  Alright y’all, have a fabulous Friday and weekend!!!!