Recently, I had the chance to read several ebooks while we were on vacation. I wrote several years ago on this blog about how I was dragging my feet when it came to reading on a Kindle. I am old school! I love printed paper books. But, last year we purchased a basic kindle for $30 (with coupons) for my husband. Then, we decided a few months later to purchase a basic kindle without the ads, which costs $20 more (current price $89) because it was going to be for our kids to use. This is also the kindle that I use and I'm so glad we paid the extra $20. It was definitely worth it not to see the ads for adult books that usually come up on Kindle's screensaver.
I have discovered that there are books that are perfect for reading on a kindle and others that are not. Books that are more challenging to read, like Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, or books that I need to flip back and forth in are not ebook friendly for me. But, light, easy to read fiction is perfect for a kindle.
Since we were heading on vacation and a kindle is easier to pack than several books, I opted to load several books on my Kindle for our trip. It worked out really well. I now understand why people like carrying a Kindle on vacations.
The three books I finished were Home Run: A Novel by Travis Thrasher, An Accidental Life by Pamela Binnings Ewan, and Lost and Found by Ginny Ytrup.
I started with Home Run by Travis Thrasher. I had noticed this movie recently on CBD and was curious about it. The story follows Cory Brand as he crashes and burns while playing baseball as a pro. He is an alcoholic and is required by his team to go to a recovery group and try to "recover". The story interweaves the present and Cory's childhood in his abusive family. It is heartbreaking. 90% of the story is very sad. I did learn a lot about the program Celebrate Recovery, which I have heard of. The story describes Cory's meetings and the accountability in the group. This is a novel based on the movie and it reads like that. But, it jumps back and forth a lot! I became very bogged down in Cory's self-pity. It was hard to read. One hard part for me was that Cory's brother didn't understand the emotional burdens Cory had taken on when they were children and what he had done to protect him. That was very strange to me. As I've talked to people in my life and reflected on my own childhood, I've heard several times that they knew when someone was protecting them--whether it was a parent or sibling. They also knew when they were being left to fend for themselves. Additionally, I think it was particularly hard for me to read about Cory's unrelenting drinking through the majority of the book since one of my close family members is an alcoholic. Is this a book I'd recommend? Probably not. It's very sad and left me feeling drained, though the ending is hopeful.
After finishing Home Run, I moved on to An Accidental Life by Pamela Binnings Ewan. I was very curious about this book. The back of the book explains that it is about Peter and Rebecca, two jet set lawyers climbing the ladder--one in public defense and the other in corporate law. Peter, a believer, comes across a case that rocks him to the core. Rebecca's life changes when the unexpected happens and she is forced to confront the pain of her childhood and God's love. Essentially, this book tackles the question, "What happens when a baby is born alive after a late term abortion?" in story form. I had never given it much thought before but was aware because of an interview I once heard on Focus on the Family that it happened. A few years ago, the movie October Baby also opened my eyes. This book tackles the issue head on when a baby dies because of a failed abortion. Peter prosecutes the case, while Rebecca is forced to make life-changing decisions. I enjoyed this book. The beginning is a little slow, but I remained engaged in the story. The second half was compelling. I liked the characters in the story and the writing. This is a book I would recommend reading. It isn't a romance. It is realistic fiction set in 1982. Yes, set in 1982! It isn't set in the present day. Just as I felt good after I'd watched October Baby, I felt good when I finished reading this book.
Finally, I began Lost and Found by Ginny Yttrup. Earlier this year, I read Ms. Yttrup's book Invisible (which I really liked), so I was interested in reading this novel. Lost and Found centers on Jenna Dulaney Bouvier, the wife of Gerard Bouvier and daughter in law of Brigitte Bouvier. The title comes because Jenna has lost herself in her marriage and life, but finds herself again in the course of the book. This book didn't connect with my heart the way Invisible did. The plot and writing were fine, good in fact. The story kept moving. I had a concern or two. The first is the relationship between Jenna and Matthew MacGregor, Jenna's counselor. Although he seeks accountability, professional lines were crossed. One of my friends is a psychologist and she explained that a therapist cannot be friends with one of their clients within two years after ending services. It is unethical and a psychologist will lose their license or at the very least have it suspended for a period of time if brought before the licensing board. Counseling within the church is tricky my friend explained to me because of this issue. Counselors have to be extremely careful. Seeing Jenna outside of his sessions with her, alone, was totally not professional or a wise decision. The ending has a lot of holes in it and a lot is left unexplained which is my second concern about the book. It affected me as the reader because I was left very puzzled. It also bothered me because it talked a little bit about Matthew and his wife, Tess, but never once really identified that it wasn't appropriate for him to have the friendship with Jenna that he had. At the end, I wasn't sure that I would recommend this book. It okay and filled the ten hour car drive home. I wanted to finish reading it and find out what happened, but... well, but. I don't know.
So, the verdict?
If you haven't seen October Baby, I'd definitely recommend it!
If you're looking for a good read, pick up An Accidental Life or Invisible (see my review HERE).
My Kindle was very good to keep me company on our ten hour car drive home. My husband likes to drive in silence, so I think my Kindle is going to be making a lot of trips in our car. I don't mind really because my children all like to read in the car as well and it's a time when I have a few minutes of peace to just read.
Please note that I received complimentary copies of each of these books from the publishers for review.
After I survived my teen and college years, I came to realize that it was only by the grace of God that I did not have an eating disorder or disordered eating habits. I fit all the classic markers of someone who could be anorexic. I'm a perfectionist with very high standards for myself. I fall into the trap of seeing weakness as worthless and failure as a sign of such worthlessness. I was ladened with guilt as a teen and anger. I desired control over my life and had a hard time submitting to God's authority. I held onto my anger and grudges. as a means of feeling into control. Mercifully, God has brought me out of so much of that, but I still see how my thinking could have gotten very easily twisted and unhealthy quickly.
I recognize now that young and old women alike seek control in their lives in the area of their eating habits. I read an interesting article in the Baltimore Sun a few years ago that explained what disordered eating was. This is a definition I found on the website healthforthewholeself.com "disordered eating means having an unhealthy relationship with food and/or your body, one that diminishes the quality of your life and affects your overall health – physical, mental, and/or emotional" In my mind, disordered eating describes eating that doesn't fit under bulemia or anorexia, but is still characterized by abonormal eating habits which are practiced in order to control a part of one's life. By abnormal, I do include things like my habit of working out immediately if I had dessert in my early twenties. I had a fixation on staying the same weight and watched everything I ate. I diligently avoided fats in my cooking. My definition may not be scientific, but it's the definition that I've come to after reading a lot and observing how people live.
Eating disorders are types of disordered eating.
When I worked with a high school group in Colorado in my early twenties, I used to ask the girls that I met with these questions: "Did you eat today?", "What did you eat today?", and "Have you been eating?" Out of a group of twenty girls, I knew three to four who had significant issues with eating and not eating. Eating is an issue we struggle with as women.
It is a struggle on both ends of the spectrum--overeating and not eating. I remember eating out with my grandmother one time when I was twenty at a buffet. I looked at her and asked her if she stopped eating when she was full. She'd been going to a weight loss group for years. She said plain and simple, "No. I eat until I want to stop. Don't you?" I was surprised. I replied that I ate until I was full. That meal made a huge impression on me. The older I've gotten, I've come to realize that for me, it gets harder to resist a food I love when I'm full.
I know this is an issue that we need to support each other in, encourage one another in, and have compassion for each other. Recently, I read a fiction book that intrigued me. I knew before reading it that it was going to address these issues. I wondered if it would be formulaic, corny, unbelievable, true to my story and the stories of women I've known? What I found was that it was one of the better Christian fiction books I've read in a while. The ending isn't quite a perfect happy ending, but it is in the ways the reader hopes for the most.
The book is Invisible by Ginny L. Yttrup. The title is very apt because women
control their eating often because they either feel invisible or want to become invisible. There are three main characters in the story: Ellyn, Sabina, and Twila. They each have difficult, but different emotional struggles that they need to deal with. Ellyn is overweight and struggles with overeating. Sabina is dealing with some difficult pain that has begun to consume her. Twila is recovering from treatment for anorexia. She is walking day by day and continues to see a counselor as she recovers her health and life.
I enjoyed the plot and couldn't put the book down until I'd finished (in two days). I did read every word and didn't skip pages or sentences, which is always an indication to me that I genuinely like a book and I'm engaged in what I'm reading.
I was most curious about how she dealt with anorexia and portrayed Twila's character. From the stories my friends who live with eating disorders have shared with me, Twila's story seemed very realistic to me. Ms. Yttrup tells this character's story with compassion.
Ellyn's emotional struggle is essentially the same as Twila's, but her response and actions have been different. Ellyn overeats so that she can hide behind her weight. She is a chef, so it seems reasonable for her to eat high caloric foods regularly. Both women are responding to deep pain that they experienced growing up and not feeling like they measured up.
Sabina's wounds are different, but equally painful. I liked that the author doesn't portray one character's struggles as worse or harder than another's.
There were several other facets of the story that I appreciated. One is that Sabina is African American and Ellyn and Twila are caucasian. I liked that they all had different upbringings. I also appreciated how the author addressed the faith, or lack of faith, of the three characters. How the author handled the walking "through the valley of the shadow of death" times for each character revealed her understanding and compassion.
Most of all, I appreciated how the author explained the struggles Twila and Ellyn faced with their eating. It was well handled and I hope many women will be able to hear the message in the book. Struggles with eating are ongoing. They don't end, but they can lessen and be tackled day by day. It is God and God alone who can heal the deep hurts in our hearts. Food, or controlling its place in our lives, turns it into a destructive idol. The characters in this book come to realize this.
Would I recommend this book? I would. It isn't the best book I've ever read. The author's writing is good, but it will still fall under good Christian fiction and not good secular fiction that will hold its own. Even so, I think it is very encouraging and hopeful, which is something that good secular books often miss. It is worth reading and is better than most Christian fiction I've read.
Please note that I received a complimentary copy from B&H publishing for review.
