What I'm Reading

Hello again!  If this just popped up in your reader you're probably wondering, "Heidi still HAS a blog?"  Yeah, it's been ignored lately. Life happens and writing gets pushed aside . . .

I'm an avid reader.  Always have been.  My husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas and I'm in love.  I was a Kindle hold out for years, thinking that I just love books too much to switch to an e-reader.  I love reading, but I also love holding a book, seeing the words on paper and having a full bookshelf to show off how well read I am :)  I'm out of bookshelf space since my kids feel the need to sleep in beds (crazy kids) and space for beds trumped space for Mom's books :(

The unexpected blessing of having a Kindle is FREE BOOKS! Two of my favorite words combined!  It's heaven on earth!

We've been laying low at home for the past week and I've had more time to read than I have in quite awhile so I took advantage of it.   In the past week I've finished 2 very powerful books that I can't stop thinking about and am in the middle of the 3rd.  All 3 are biographies of those who have survived some of the worst experiences a human can inflict on another.  While one deals with current affairs, two tackle periods of human history that cannot not (SHOULD not) be forgotten.  After I finish my current book I think I'm going to need some mindless fiction to take a break from the heavy subjects I've been tackling.

I "bought" all three books for free for my Kindle from Inspired Reads.

I stopped writing book reviews when my professors stopped requiring them ("book review" tries to sound more sophisticated than a 4th grade book report, doesn't it? Yeah, it's the same thing.  Hi, Dr. Helfers!) so all I'll say is all 3 books were great and I'd give them 5 stars if I were rating them on Amazon.  I'm listing them in the order in which I read them:


My Father, Maker of the Trees: How I Survived the Rwandan Genocide
Official Book Description:
My Father, Maker of the Trees is a story not only of surviving the Rwandan genocide--it is also a story of spiritual rebirth, healing, and redemption of a land and a people. This incredible true account shows readers the reality of evil in the world as well as the power of hope. Eric's message of God's relentless love through our darkest circumstances will encourage and inspire. Now available in trade paper.

Passport through Darkness: A True Story of Danger and Second Chances
Official Book Description: 

As she shares her extraordinary stories of fighting human trafficking as an ordinary mom, Kimberly Smith offers hope for readers who wonder if God is calling them to greater things.

Passport Through Darkness takes readers on Smith’s journey from normal family life and business, to Europe, to the deserts of Africa and ultimately, to the deserts of her own soul as she tries to live well as an imperfect American mom, crusade for justice for orphans around the world, and embrace God’s extraordinary dreams for her. When Kimberly and her husband risk everything to answer God’s call, they see God change and restore them—even amid exhaustion, marital struggles, and physical limitations.

This heartbreaking, heartlifting book is for anyone who longs to see God move their life from normal to one that matters. It is a call to readers to take one more step on their journey to know God’s heart

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While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement
Official Book Description:
On September 15, 1963, a Klan-planted bomb went off in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Fourteen-year-old Carolyn Maull was just a few feet away when the bomb exploded, killing four of her friends in the girl’s rest room she had just exited. It was one of the seminal moments in the Civil Rights movement, a sad day in American history . . . and the turning point in a young girl’s life. While the World Watched is a poignant and gripping eyewitness account of life in the Jim Crow South—from the bombings, riots and assassinations to the historic marches and triumphs that characterized the Civil Rights movement. A uniquely moving exploration of how racial relations have evolved over the past 5 decades, While the World Watched is an incredible testament to how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go.



As an interesting side note . . . when I was describing While the World Watched to my husband the other night he asked me about another woman from Birmingham, Alabama who was growing up in the 60's: Condoleezza Rice.  My husband said he thought he had heard something about her and the church bombing that Carolyn Maull McKinstry survived.  After doing some research I found out Dr. Rice was a childhood playmate of victim Denise McNair.