Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

At the age of sixteen Marina Nemat was imprisoned in Iran's notorious Evin prison. She shared the story of her arrest, imprisonment and torture in the bestselling book Prisoner of Tehran. But her story did not end there.
In After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed Marina shares what life was like for her after she was released from Evin. She married, escaped Iran, immigrated to Canada, started a family and began to live what she had hoped would be a normal life. But despite living what seemed like a typical Canadian life, she struggled with the memories of Evin and her past life began to haunt her. At this point she decided to put her feelings down on paper.
After Tehran chronicles Marina's arrival in Canada, how her book came to be published, and the frenzy that was ignited following the release of her book. She soon found herself travelling the world to share her story and reaching out to others who had been prisoners in Iran. Through it all, she continued to struggle with surv…

Mary Beth Chapman was living a life she had never planned for. Instead of the peaceful and stable life she had always dreamed of, she was living a pretty hectic one. With her husband, an award-winning singer/songwriter, she had a full house with three biological children and three children adopted from China, as well as a nonprofit organization to run.
But on May 21, 2008 their world was changed forever. One of their young daughters was hit by a car, driven by their 17-year-old son, in the driveway of their home. In the months that followed, Mary Beth struggled with understanding God's plan for her life and why their beautiful, full of life girl was taken from them.
In Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope Mary Beth Chapman shares the story of her life and her struggle to find a new normal following the death of her daughter. This is an open and honest book that is full of laughter, sadness, faithfulness and the promises of God.
Mary Beth's story is an inspirin…

Happy Monday! This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It is a great way to find out what others are reading and find books to add to your to read list!
Books I finished last week
Rhythms of Grace by Marilynn Griffith Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman
What I'm reading now
After Tehran by Marina Nemat
What I plan to read next
How Not to Shop by Carmen Reid War Child: A Child Soldier's Story by Emmanuel Jal
What are you reading this week?

As a teenager, Grace Okoye was a promising dancer. But a brutal assault ended her career and changed her life forever. Twenty years later she returns to the small town of Testimony, Ohio to teach at a school for at-risk kids and hopefully come to terms with the incident that shaped her life in the hopes of eventually being set free.
But Grace isn't the only one in Testimony who needs to be set free. Her childhood friends Zeely, Ron, Brian and Jeremiah are all keeping secrets that are threatening to blow their lives apart. As they all work at the same school, teaching kids who are in the same situations they once were, the five of them find that they won't be able to hold their secrets much longer, and only through the grace of God will they truly be set free.
Rhythms of Grace is an emotional and soulful novel about redemption and forgiveness. As the lives of the five characters intersect, we learn along with them that we aren't the only ones who are hurting and that kee…

An American novelist who for twenty-five years has held on to the furniture and memory of young Chilean poet who has disappeared at the hands of Pinochet's secret police. An elderly Israeli man who has just lost his wife and has reconnected with his estranged son. A professor in London who has just lost his wife and discovered a secret that she hid for fifty years. An antiques dealer who is slowly putting back together his father's study which was plundered by the Nazis.
All of these people are connected by one solitary item - an enormous wooden desk with nineteen drawers. But for those whose lives it has passed through it is more than just a piece of furniture, it is a symbol of the memories and loss that has permeated their lives.
Great House by Nicole Krauss explores the ways in which we attempt to hold on to the past and how it affects our present. Each characters story is written in the form of a short story with the desk tying them all together.
The reviews on this …

Of all the horrifying aspects of war, one of the worst is the use of child soldiers which has become a regular occurrence in conflicts around the world. There are currently an estimated 250,000 child soldiers worldwide. Boys and girls as young as 10 on the front lines, carrying weapons, killing and maiming.
Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire was first confronted with the use of child soldiers when he was the head of the UN Mission during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Since then, in addition to sitting on the Canadian Senate, he has made it his mission to end the use of child soldiers.
They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children is an in-depth look at child soldiers, why they are used, how they are used and how to care for them after they have left the conflict. There is no easy to way to put a stop to this.
This is a hard book to read but it is also a necessary book. Young children are being stolen from their families and communities, brainwashed and drugged, and sent off to fi…

Another Monday! They seem to come faster and faster. I did however have a good reading weekend, thanks in part to the snow.
What I finished reading
They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children - Romeo Dallaire Great House - Nicole Krauss
What I'm reading now
Rhythms of Grace - Marilyn Griffith
What I plan to read next
After Tehran - Marina Nemat Choosing to See: A Journey of Struggle and Hope - Mary Beth Chapman
How was your weekend?

I just signed up for the Nonfiction Challenge 2011 and I'm inviting you to do the same! It is being hosted by Past as Prologue and is a great way to read more non-fiction and find some great books!
Here's the deal - between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011 read a whole bunch of non-fiction books! The person who reads the most will win a $25 Barnes and Noble giftcard. There are three levels to the challenge:
The Non-Fiction Amateur - read 1-3 books The Non-Fiction Buff - read 4-6 books The Non-Fiction Expert - 7+ books
Head over to Past as Prologue and sign up for this great challenge!

Happy Friday! Last weekend I had planned to do a lot of reading but it didn't happen. So I'm planning that again for this weekend. We're supposed to get a lot of snow so if that's true then I'll have nothing to do but stay in and read!
It's time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer at Crazy For Books. Each week over 200 book bloggers participate, so it's a great way to meet new people and find new books to read. This weeks question:
Why do you read the genre that you do? What draws you to it?
I read a few different genres. I like non-fiction because I'm interested in everything that goes on in our world and learning about different ways that people live. I like chick lit because it's light, good fluffy fun. I like contemporary fiction because it tells stories of lives I wouldn't otherwise know about.
One genre that I really enjoy but doesn't get a lot of attention is Urban Christian fiction. It's real, edgy and doesn't s…

After spending most of their marriage apart Yosef and Mariam Woldemariam, Ethiopian immigrants, have set out on a road trip from Illinois to Tennessee hoping to create a new identity for themselves as an American couple. Along the way, their relationship takes a turn that will forever affect the family dynamic.
Thirty years later, their son Jonas has left his marriage and job in New York City to retrace his parents road trip, hoping to make sense of the troubles that permeated his childhood and shaped his personality. Jonas believes that through this road trip he will be able to better understand who his parents were and who he is to become.
How To Read the Air is a beautiful story of familial relationships and how deeply we are affected by them. It is a journey of reconciliation and discovery and of how stories, both real and fiction, create and sustain the world around us.
This is a touching novel that gets deep into the soul. It is both American and African at the same time. Dina…

As President of World Vision US, Richard Stearns has seen first hand the unimaginable poverty and sickness that faces millions of people around the world. And as a Christian he has found himself looking into the eyes of these people and asking the question "What does God expect of us?"
In the book The Hole in Our Gospel Stearns sets out to answer this question. Through personal anecdotes and Scripture, he attempts to show other Christians that we are lacking in an important part of Jesus' teaching - helping the poor. If people worldwide could do what they are truly capable of, then a lot of the suffering around the world could be ended.
This is a very inspiring book for both Christians and non-Christians. In addition to his own personal story, Stearns shares the stories of people involved in all aspects of World Vision, donors and recipients alike, who have made a difference in our world. At times it may seem like the problems are too large for one person, but if ever…

It's Monday again! Every time I plan to have a nice, relaxing weekend where all I do is read, it never turns out that way!
It's Monday, What are You Reading is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. She has a fantastic blog, and you'll find lots of great blogs and books to read through this fun meme.
What I read last week
How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengistu (finally, and I'm so glad I did!)
What I'm reading now
They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Childrenby Romeo Dallaire (a look at the use of child soldiers)
What I plan to read next
Great House by Nicole Krauss Rhythms of Grace by Marilyn Griffith
What are you reading this week?

What do you do when you've been dumped by Mr. Right? Do you cry over a pint of ice cream? Watch a bunch of sappy movies? Maybe you throw out everything that reminds you of him, then get back to the dating world. Most people would find ways such as these to cope. But not Ashleigh Prince.
Instead Ashleigh resorts to cyber-stalking and showing up at his work to propose marriage after being dumped by her boyfriend Michael. And when that doesn't work she turns to phone psychics and casting spells to get him back. Ashleigh refuses to listen to the advice of family and friends to move on with her life. After all, Michael was her Mr. Right…even if he did dump her over Facebook and then defriend her.
Getting Over Mr. Right is a downright hilarious story of a woman who will stop at nothing to get back her Mr. Right. Ashleigh's story of finding true love then losing it over Facebook will pull you in right away. And as her antics grow more and more out of control, you will not…

Welcome to my stop on the Book Blogger Hop! It's a great way to meet fellow book bloggers and find more great books to read (because isn't that what we all need - more books on our to read list?)
This weeks question is: What book influenced or changed your life? How did it influence or change you?
I have to pick two books for this but they go hand in hand. The first is Left To Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza and the second is Faith Under Fire by Antoine Rutayisire.
In the mid-90's a minister came to my church from Rwanda. He shared the story of the genocide with us and how he was personally affected by it. That was the first time my eyes were truly opened to the devastation that occurs in our world.
These two books are inspiring stories of people who survived the Rwandan Genocide and after it all were able to forgive. These books have shown me that no matter how difficult our situations are we can get through them and more importantly learn from them. They are also incredi…

We've all been there. You're at a movie theatre and someone talking loudly on their cell phone is ruining the movie. You've just been cut off in traffic by someone who didn't say thank you because they were too busy texting. You're at your child's soccer game and a parent is bullying their child, the coach and the ref. And you find yourself wondering "whatever happened to manners?" Whoopi Goldberg is right there with you.
In Is It Just Me?: Or Is It Nuts Out There? Whoopi calls out all those people who are ruining our days. She takes on drunk drivers, texting drivers, bad parents, bullies and many others and lets them know exactly what she thinks of them. If you've ever wondered what happened to a little bit of courtesy, you'll find yourself agreeing with Whoopi at every turn of the page.
If you are a fan of Whoopi's from The View, then you will really enjoy this book. In fact, you'll have heard a lot of this before, though now s…

David Starkman is living in Canada, having renounced his Israeli citizenship after leaving a top-secret assassination unit of the military and is estranged from his family. When he finds out his father has been murdered he returns to Israel to take care of the will. Once there, he discovers a catch in the will that will change his life.
His father has requested that David stage a play he wrote known as "The Debba." His father tried to stage it once before but a riot prevented it from ever being shown in full. This is because the Debba is a mythical Arab hyena that turns into a man and lures Jewish children away from their family. Rumours and anger surround the legend of the Debba.
When David decides that he will stage the play, he is drawn into the investigation into his fathers murder and back into the intricacies and realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He quickly discovers things about this father and family that many tried desperately to keep secret. And…

It's the first Monday of 2011! My daughter is very excited that she can go back to school now, my husband...not so much. The holidays seem to fly by way too quick.
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Here is what my week looks like.
Reading Now
The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard E. Stearns - he is the US President of World Vision. In the book he shares his journey as his position took him all over the world, as well as what we can and should do to help others.
Up Next
How To Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu - I never managed to finish this one before I was sick so I'm going to finish it now.
Great House by Nicole Krauss - same as above
What are you reading this week?

Happy New Year everyone! I'm definitely looking forward to 2011. After getting sick at the end of the year I'm going into the new year healthy which feels great. This year is also my 30th birthday and my 5th wedding anniversary, so lots to celebrate this year. I have also been blogging about books for one year now! I've had a great time doing it, met so many fabulous book bloggers and read some pretty amazing books. Let's look at ahead at my 2011 in books!

Challenges
Last year I set challenges for myself. This year, in addition to aiming for 100 books again, I'm participating in 3 blogger challenges.
The Canadian Book Challenge 4 is hosted by The Book Mine Set. It runs from July 1 2010 to July 1 2011. The purpose is to read and promote Canadian literature and the goal is to read 13 Canadians books in the year. So far, I have read 12!
The Persons of Colour Reading Challenge highlights authors and characters of colour. It's hosted here. I am aiming for …