BAD BLOGGER

I've been a bad blogger for the past two months. Excuses I could use:

1) Mid-May: Hard drive on my six month old Apple computer crashed. No computer for two weeks.

2) End of May- End of school year. No reading, no blogging, no nothing.

3) Early June- Working on a huge project for DPS. No reading, no blogging, (my kids would say no cooking!), no nothing

4) Late June- Memphis for AAU Nationals Basketball with Kadeem

I think I'm struggling a little, too, with the whole idea of blogging. Do I just write about books, or do I share a little of me, too? People who know me would want to know, for instance, that about two weeks ago my sweet, laughing, yellow lab, Maggie, was diagnosed with cancer of the spleen, and had to be put to sleep. And they would probably want to know that 12 hours after returning from Memphis, I was at the Dumb Friends League looking for a new friend. Jack Black, an eight-week-old black Lab/Rottweiler, mix will join our family this afternoon. 

Anyway, I said this blog was going to be about reading, and I have been doing a little of that too. In June, I read almost exclusively adult stuff. 

1) YEAR OF FOG- Photographer Abby Mason is walking on the beach with Emma, her fiancee's six-year-old daughter. Abby is distracted by something on the beach and looks away for a brief time, probably less than a minute. In that period of time, Emma disappears. Abby spends the next year trying to figure out where Emma has gone…This is a page turner, one of those you devour, because you can't wait to see what will happen

2) QUIET STRENGTH by Tony Dungy- I'm always looking for books that will help me understand my guys better and provide positive role models for my boys. I've been looking at this book since it came out in hardback a year ago, and finally purchased it two weeks ago, in paperback, I definitely was not disappointed.

Tony Dungy, head coach of the NFL Indianapolis Colts, was a former high school and college football standout, who played in the NFL for about three years before becoming a coach. He is also a committed Christian and a father of six. One son, Jamie, tragically took his own life, about two years ago. 

Dungy impressed me with his commitment to Christ and his family. He continually stressed that football is just a game, and he talked again and again about people he knew, e.g. his sister, who is a pediatrician, who do more "important work." I loved his perspective and his sense of priorities. This is one I will definitely read again, and one I would like my guys to hear.

I've also read  Jodi Piccoult's CHANGE OF HEART and THE BREAKDOWN LANE by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Both were ok reads. Piccoult amazed me, as she always does, by her ability to put a totally new twist on an event, or a character's motivation. As she often does, Piccoult addresses the subject of Christianity and why people believe what they believe. She isn't afraid to ask hard questions. I know this makes some evangelical Christians uncomfortable, I appreciate her perspective.

Jacquelyn Mitchard is one of my favorite authors, but THE BREAKDOWN LANE didn't do that much for me. I read it in Memphis, and it was an ok read, but definitely not great.

Finally, I read PLAYING FOR PIZZA by John Grisham. I've enjoyed many of Grisham's books over the years, this one, not so much. All the way through, I kept wondering why he wrote the book, what message he hoped to deliver, what he wanted readers to think about when they were done reading.