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After being in a bit of reading slump in March, I read a bit more during April, which was nice. There is just something about reading which is just so magical. Being able to completely immerse myself in the words and thoughts communicated through letters on pages is something nothing else compares to.
So here’s my book report for April:
“Glaubensriesen Seelenzwerge?” (in English “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality”) by Pete Scazerro
Last year we did parts of a leadership course in our church by Pete Scazerro. It was really fascinating and transformative for me. I had had the book on my shelf for a while, so I finally decided to pick it up and read it.
It was as challenging as the course we had done! Pete Scazzero explores the question why so many Christian seem unchanged by the life-changing message of the gospel. He gives clear and practical steps on becoming emotionally mature. Which basically means to grow in love to ourselves, God and others.
I would definitely recommend this book. Pete Scazerro also has a great podcast which is really worth listening to!
The German translation wasn’t the best, hence why overall for me this was a four-star-read.
“The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done” by Kendra Adachi
I know Kendra Adachi’s work through her podcast “The Lazy Genius”. Her goal is to help people figure out what is truly important and invest themselves into those things and feel the freedom to “be lazy” about the rest. She provides lots of practical advice on how to streamline everyday tasks. For example doing laundry, meal planning or keeping the chaos in your house at bay in order to create time and margin for things that really matter to you.
Many of her tips are not necessarily new to me. (I often think that my mum could probably do a podcast or write a book like this!) However, Kendra always provides me with many helpful reminders, how to be more efficient. I am not a person who is naturally tidy or organised, so I definitely need them!
The book is full of practical, empowering advice, kindness, grace and girl-power. If you need a guide on making time for things that matter to you or on how to be more efficient this book is for you. Also, I listened to the Audiobook version which is read by Kendra and it was rather delightful. 4 solid stars.
“How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays” by Alexander Chee
I read this book as part of the Life’s Library Book Club. The thing I love about the book club is that it gets me to read books I would have not picked up or known about otherwise. This was definitely one of those!
Some of the essays and stories in the book were incredibly moving and insightful for me. Others I struggled with – I even skipped two of the essays, as I just found them so difficult to get into. On the whole though, I really enjoyed this book! (It definitely fed my desire to write more.) Chee addresses many thing about writing and manages to express the difficulty and beauty of it in a way I haven’t come across before. He also writes a lot about being a gay American Asian, losing close friends to HIV/AIDS and his experiences of racism.
My favourite essays were “Rosary” and “On becoming an American Writer”. Overall, a four-star read for me.
„Der alte Mann und das Meer“ (English: “ The Old Man and the Sea“) by Ernest Hemingway
I really loved this book. To be honest, I read it because it is a classic and I felt like I should read it. I didn’t really expect to enjoy it all that much. But oh boy, it was just so good. However, I find it really hard to put into words or even know why. Even though I knew the storyline before reading, it was just such a gripping read.
This experience definitely makes me want to know more about literature. I think it is valid to rate a book based on how much I enjoyed it – but what is it about a book that makes it “good”? In the case of “The Old Man and the Sea”, other people obviously felt similar to me about it. After all, it was one of the reasons Ernest Hemingway received the Nobel price for literature. 5 stars from me as well!
Have you read any good books lately?
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