Book 15: A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong

There are books that sit on your bookshelf for years that you know you should read but put off because.....there are a hundred reasons for not reading a book. I picked up this book because it was short....I could get through 150 pages in three days with ease! Turns out it only took two days and will be a "visit again" book. Armstrong makes a compelling argument for modern society to stop and really understand how, in our rush to be rational thinkers, we have abandoned our foundations for compassion and respect for the sacredness of all life when we abandon our need for myths. There is still much to be contemplated in this small, powerful book!

Book 14: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Wonderful book about a very sad time in our history - an enduring love story of two youngsters set against the conflict of immigrant Chinese with immigrant Japanese communities over wars in their mother counties and the beginning of the Pacific War of WWII which led to the decision to carry out the internment of the Japanese/Japanese-Americans in a temporary camp - Camp Harmony - outside of Seattle to the relocation of the families to desolate centers in Idaho, Nevada and California. It made me cry and made me cheer. One reviewer felt it was a trite, young adult's story - not as interesting as Snow Falling on Cedar (it does have a Hallmark movie feel at the end) - but I found it touching, compelling and uplifting.

Book 13: Eleven Minutes : A Novel by Paulo Coelho

A frank, stark, provocative look at sex in western culture in juxtaposition to the idea of sacred sex. Different from most of Coelho's books, but not really. You have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy this book - I had started it several years ago and put it aside for many reasons. It seemed much better this time but maybe it's just the season for the search for love in it's purest sense. I enjoyed it this time.

Book 12: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Travel back to 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi, to the heart of the Civil Rights Movement and the everyday folk who helped move us forward towards an integrated nation ....not the newspaper version, but the real lives, living and working conditions, of oppressed black and white Americans that was left following the Civil War and Reconstruction. Meet the change that was in the very air of the 1960's. Meet my early adolescence memories and the turmoil and psychological violence embedded in social fabric of America that eventually erupted into street violence. I loved this book! I loved the characters. I loved the brave actions that can take place in telling personal stories. I loved the change that can happen in simple acts of kindness. I loved the prayer and the surprise of answers to prayer. I loved the strong women in this book and I loved the exposure of weakness and failure in women who presume to be powererful but have nothing because they have no faith or morals - only selfish ambition. Read this book so you can appreciate how far we have traveled in the last 40 years!!!! Read this book for the sheer joy of seeing our history up close and personal!!!

Book 11: The Jesus Story by Ben Campbell Johnson

A collective of all four Gospels arranged in chronological order narrating the life and ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. A great Easter read or any time you want to see the whole picture at once!