Boy howdy, it has been some time since I have posted, like months!! But it feels like time is flying around here with our little man, playing on bikes/skis/running shoes, and trying to work too..Anyways, I thought I would put up the last few books that I have read recently...So far I have been on a good stretch of books. Apparently I have great friends and family to tell me what to read!!
The first book was the widely popular book by William P. Young,
The Shack. It was a fast reading book but I can't say it was one of my most recent favorites...I enjoyed that it was set in Oregon and it let my imagination roam geographically in this here fine state that Molly and I call home. It was a little on the religious side for me but that is just fine. I am open to all sorts of reading and this one did just what it was supposed too, entertain me...There was a fine quote in this book from an unknown author that I will pass along:
"Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown."
I guess this was probably my favorite part of the book as I did not have any pages dog eared or paragraphs highlighted like some books that I really like...Anyways, Change is hard. Growth is good...On to the next book..
The next book I have been wanting to read for some time now, as this man has intrigued me for years. It is
Ultra Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes. I believe I have had a picture of him for at least 5 years now, probably longer than that. It has always been hiding out by my ski wax station, in my ghetto shed, and now sits in the "penalty box" by one of the windows. With that being said I really enjoyed the book and loved reading about this guys drive..I loved that he was just kind of a partying middle aged desk job guy who one night picked up his running shoes and since has been an endurance phenom.
A few of my favorite quotes and lines in the book include:
Thoreau once said "that a man's riches are based on what he can do without." This quote, in one way or another is always popping up in my life from various authors, teachers, and friends/family.
Karnazes said "Somewhere along the line we seem to have confused comfort with happiness. I've now come to believe that quite the opposite is the case. Dostoevsky had it right, Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness. Never are my senses more engaged than when the pain sets in. There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner."
I will leave you with this last line and I will let you read the book and decide for yourself what you like/dislike about it. Karnazes stated "Happiness, though, cannot be measured in monetary terms. My job paid the bills; my running satisfied a deeper passion." I cannot agree more with him on this...The things you are passionate about in life are way more important than a job!!
This last book by Sandra Steingraber,
Raising Elijah, I absolutely loved. I will definitely read her other books in the future. I am not real sure where to start as far as talking about the content as it is full of very useful information for any caring human and especially one who is just starting to bring up a child. I enjoyed her writing style and that she was not pushing her environmentalist thoughts (even though I would not care if she was, as I am closer to her end of the spectrum on thoughts than many others), she backed everything up with current research, which was refreshing. I am not going to write much more, just that I would recommend this book to anyone. I also liked this thought of hers on page 85. " I long ago decided that I was more interested in preventing social problems than trying to cure them."
Cheers to reading and all there is to read out there...I am on to the next book in the stack and I hope you are too...
Monty J. Nelson Copyright.
