Okay For Now, A Just Man & Simple Living - book reviews

Remember those six books I pulled out to read this month? Well, I have made a start on two of them, however I've actually completed three books that weren't even in that pile! :>)

Since I was off for my two-week spring break, I checked out a copy of Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt and attended this month's book club meeting at the library. It took a few chapters for me to really get into the book, however I ended up enjoying it. The story is about a middle-school boy, Doug, whose family moves to a small town in New York so his derelict father can find work. Doug finds solace in photos of Audubon's birds in a book in the local library, and he begins to draw the birds. I found it fascinating that the author wove the bird photos and the interpretation of what the birds are doing and how they are feeling into the story of what's happening in Doug's life.

I downloaded a copy of A Just Man by Helen Daniel to my Kindle (free from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review). This book was originally written as stories for kids, then later made into a novel, which I think is still more suited for children. It was a great story about a family during the Revolutionary War. It centers around how the many characters eventually come to know Jesus as their Savior. Honestly, the plot line moved very quickly and it was sometimes difficult to keep up with the ages of the kids and adults as the years flew by. I think this would be a great book to read aloud to elementary age kids because it could lead to discussions of the many Bible stories that are mentioned as well as discussions about salvation.

Simple Living - 30 days to less stuff and more life by Lorilee Lippincott was free in the Kindle store one day last month, so I downloaded it without any particular idea of when I would read it. However, several times over the past few weeks I've found myself waiting (in line, for someone, etc), so I pulled this book up on the Kindle app on my phone to read. It turned out to be an interesting read, with 30 days of prompts for moving toward more minimalistic living. Many of you know that I'm married to a collector (and have quite a few collection-type tendencies of my own), so we are not in the market to become minimalist. However, I did enjoy the tips for decluttering and living life more meaningfully that were included in the book.

Now, I really am working on reading those six books on my March reading list!