Book Review: Everyone is Beautiful

Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center
I read the Kindle Version
Genre: Fiction
You might like this book: If you enjoy stories about motherhood, womanhood, and marriage, or if you are interested in reconsidering the idea of beauty in society today.

This book went on my list after a trusted friend and bookblogger Morninglight Mama told about her experience reading it.  I usually like what she likes so I bought it for my Kindle in like, March.  Today, in that lull after Christmas, with nothing really tangible on my to-do list, I stayed in my PJ's all day and read it. Uff. It was a gloriously interactive experience. As Morninglight Mama opined, this may be the most accurate book ever written about the day to day demands of motherhood and how women start to see themselves in terms of the people and circumstances around them. This is the story of how a woman named Lanie changes her life, but not in the way she first set out to do. Her arc is about self discovery, yes, but more importantly, she re-learns to see outside the tiny world that her children's needs have drawn around her.  I have experienced the odd kind of selfishness that somehow coexists with the utter unselfishness of motherhood. We draw into ourselves and become needy for attention, for tangible evidence of hard work. It is hard on marriages and on all the other people around us. Lanie's story teaches the importance of finding a way to take care of the core of ourselves. This story reminds me that it is okay, even important for a devoted and fully focused mother to have a piece of the world that is all her own. Woven in among that message are others, just as compelling, about the beauty of everyday people; the special comfort of marriage, even in its persistent unglamourousness; and the fact that what we have is usually way better than what we think we want.

I'm so glad I read it.  It gave me the same kind of warm feeling about my life and the state of the world as watching the beginning and end of Love, Actually. I just want to go and hug all the ordinary, beautiful people out there.

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Book Review: The Christmas Sweater

The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
I read the Kindle version.
You may like this book: If you like stories of redemption, faith, finding joy after hard things happen, and sentimental Christmas stories.


Okay, let's just get it out of the way. I like Glenn Beck. I think he is interesting, bold and honest. I don't always agree with what he says, and I know he is mostly an entertainer, but these days, most of the news media is. Let's move on now.
So, with that in mind and knowing that this book had at least somewhat of an autobiographical side to it, I was curious and suggested it for my in-person book group. I had to miss the meeting, so I don't know what everyone else thought of it, but I found it readable and more enjoyable than I thought it would be since I usually avoid Christmas Tear-Jerker type books like the plague. The story is fairly predictable, although I was thrown for a minute by the twist at the end, and the heart-strings are tugged as one would expect.  So, it is a nice little read for this time of year. What I actually liked the most though, was Beck's epilogue in which he tells about the synthesis of the story, explains the autobiographical connection, and basically bears his testimony of his beliefs without getting dogmatic or specific about his Mormonism, thus leaving it accessible to anyone who has ever searched for more meaning in their life or come back from a serious challenge. This part of the book was true to his ways-honest, no punches pulled, and pleading for folks to consider, just for a moment, looking at things from a different vantage point. So, if you don't think you could stomach the book, then check out the epilogue while you're browsing at the bookstore. You might be surprised to find out that Mr. Beck is a real human being.

Oh, and of course I LOVED the knitting content. It IS about a sweater, after all. 

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