What Have I Been Reading in November?

November isn't over yet, but I doubt I get another book finished before Wednesday.  I have a few books on the shelf to start though.  I feel like I need to read some light and fluffy books next month.  Maybe an Advent study and some fun fiction.  Here's what I read this month. 

1.  The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury - Not typically my genre but I've read some books in this genre and enjoyed them.  I started it because a friend from work had tickets to go see the author speak.  It was a delightfully cheesy event.  Thank goodness for great company!  This is a book I didn't read all the way through.  Very predictable but I was going to plug through because it was a quick and easy read, the characters were likable (if not a little frustrating - tell the people you love you love them!!), and it was a cute story that was going to have a happy ending.  But the author's son in law is a musician who wrote a song for the movie version and he performed it that night.  Well, in the 3 minute video playing behind him I saw the whole story!  I leaned over to my friend and said, "I guess I don't have to finish this one now.  All the stuff I thought was going to happen actually happened."

2.  Wild and Free by Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan - Friends, I wanted to LOVE this book.  I found it a bit slow in the beginning and just couldn't relate to their lives.  This is the one I pushed through because it's been so highly rated. I ended up skimming the bold headings and a few paragraphs that caught my eye along the way.  I'm glad I didn't totally give up on this one because I read something about tolerance that really was an aha moment.  We have been hearing the word intolerant thrown around a lot lately (since the dawn of social media?).  Sometimes that word is used in the correct manner.  But the authors pointed out that tolerance doesn't mean you agree or accept the other persons ideals/values.  It merely points to tolerating them, respecting people and loving people does not mean you have to agree with how they live their lives or the ideas they hold true.  Tolerance does not equal acceptance.  I think we forget that and want people to agree with us.  That's not what this book is about at all, but that was my take away. 

4.  The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst - This was a great book to read before the holidays.  I've been on the wait list for this one for a while.  I like Lysa, she tells a good story, and focuses on drawing women closer to Christ.  She's a great speaker.  If you get a chance to see her speak don't miss it.  A great reminder to slow down and not over commit ourselves.

5.  Love and Respect is a book that has been on my hold list for two years.  I put a hold on it after a great marriage class our church put on.  I ended up not finishing this book because most of the content of the class was derived from this book.  But still a good book especially for newly married couples.