book bites {group one}

One of my 23 before 23 goals is to read 23 books. Along the way, I'll do book reviews every so often. Here is the first :)

{ONE} The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Genre: Historical Fiction
Synopsis: A story about a young girl's life, including its normal-ness as well as the difficulties that came from having a life in Germany during WWII, all told from Death's perspective.
My thoughts: Russ and I read this book together, so it took us about six months. Perhaps because we spent so long reading it, it lost some of its power. I liked the book, but I can't say that it was completely amazing and changed my life or anything.





{TWO} Loser by Jerry Spinelli

Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Synopsis: The book follows Donald Zinkoff from kindergarten to fifth grade, and shows how all the other people in the story react to this "different" boy.
My thoughts: This book was a really quick read with a powerful message. Humans are so quick to be judgmental and rude, and to brand others as "losers." But in seeing the story through Zinkoff's eyes, you learn what a kind, good-hearted, happy person Zinkoff truly is, and then it makes you wonder, why are we ever mean to people who are different? He has no concept of social acceptability; he just does what he thinks is the right thing to do--always. And yet people always have something bad to say about him. We could all learn a thing or two from the people who really don't care what anyone else thinks about them.


{THREE} Stuck by Annelli Rufus

Genre: Self-help (kind of)
Synopsis: Rufus explains that most of us are stuck in one way or another; in fact, she breaks stuck-ness into six different categories: stuck in/on the past, present, habits, trauma, others, and work.
My thoughts: It was a complete struggle to get through the first chapter of this book. But as I read on, I realized that I enjoyed it more when the chapter was applicable to me. The book wasn't as helpful as I thought it would be, though. Rather than saying "this is how you're stuck, and this is how to fix it," it said "these are ways people in general are stuck, and it's possible to get un-stuck if you want to." So it mostly just helps you realize the ways that you are stuck, and once you realize that, you can try to think of your own ways to get un-stuck.


{FOUR} Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Genre: Memoir
Synopsis: A young man returns to his dying professor to learn all the things that life is truly about.
My thoughts: Loved this book. It's a good reminder of all of the things that are actually important in life, and the things that are not. It pulls your heartstrings and your tear ducts; it's a good one.







{FIVE} The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

Genre: Self-Help . . . for marriage?
Synopsis: Dr. Chapman explains how there are five main ways that people express and receive love, and that by learning your partner's language and then expressing love to them in that way, you can improve your marriage.
My thoughts: I read this book a few years ago, before I was married, but I wanted to read it with Russ. Though we talked about the book and discussed our love languages when we were engaged, I was amazed to learn that Russ's languages had sort of changed over the last two years. This was definitely a good thing to recognize. The book was also a good vehicle for discussing ways that our already-awesome marriage could be even better. I recommend this book for any married couple, whether things are going well or not.



So I'm a little behind on my books (I should have seven or eight books completed by now), but at least I'm reading! I'm spending more time than usual with my nose in a book, and I'm enjoying it. I've also branched out somewhat from my regular reading choices, so I'm enjoying that change as well. Keep your eye out for more book bites in the future! :)