Books I recommend - but be careful they may change your life!

How perfect is this for the first topic – my favorite book and why – Oh, I am in heaven!! Well maybe not…how do I pick just one??? So in keeping with my nature, I will be a rebel and choose two – mwahahaa.

My favorite childhood book is Laddie by Gene Stratton Porter. I just love this book. I can totally identify with Little Sister. She loves running around outside, exploring nature and enjoying every minute of every day. She is always getting into trouble for saying what she thinks (not that that ever happens to me – ha!). I have read this book several times and love it even more as an adult. I love the family dynamics in the Stanton family. The whole family works together to solve whatever life throws at them. It has great lessons in relating with your siblings, being a better parent, and most of all the power of forgiveness. I think it is time to read this one again!

My favorite adulthood (is that a word?!) book is A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille. (I have no idea why the book has this title; it isn’t about Thomas Jefferson at all.) The book teaches about how to be a life long learner and how to inspire others to want to be too. It has literally changed by life. I spent 16 years in school, but never really “learned” much despite my good grades. I did just what needed to be done to pass the next test and then quickly forgot it to move on to the next topic assigned. I had no idea how much fun learning could be! (Actually I did – every child does – but it got lost in the requirements of “schoolwork.”) I had bought into the idea that to learn anything I needed an “expert” to teach me. This book challenged me to get an education – not a certificate or other piece of paper – but a true education: to study whatever interested me and to really “learn” it. I didn’t need textbooks; instead I needed to read original documents (like the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, Euclid, Aristotle, etc.) and classics, books that teach something new every time you read it – like Shakespeare, and Laddie! It reminded me that no one else can “educate” me; I have to do it for myself. It is hard work sometimes, but God has given me (and you) the ability to learn anything we want to learn. Now it’s your turn to read the book. Are you up to the challenge?