What's Your Escape?

Thank you everyone who texted, emailed & commented with your support & prayers for Princess Peach. It means so much to me, and reminds me why we all hang out together here online.  So much of what we share is mundane, vaguely amusing, not at all important.  But in the midst of all that fluff, when something big appears, we're there to see it and join together to help one another through.  Thank you for being there for me, Steve & the Precious Princess!

Okay, on a lighter note...it's Friday! I've been thinking a lot (as happens almost every February) about spring, because if you live in New England this is about when you give up hope that trees will ever bloom again.  So I look for other means to escape.

We're not really poised to jet off on a tropical vacation this year, so mostly my escape is into books.  And wow, has this year brought a treasure trove of stories to keep my mind alive to the world outside my own four walls.  I thought I'd make a few recommendations in case you're looking for a getaway in the $25 and under category!

All This Talk of Love by Christopher Castellani.  I raved about his launch party here, but hadn't finished the book yet.  Suffice to say that the day I finished, I went back to the bookstore for additional signed copies to give out for upcoming birthdays.  It's spectacular, with vivid characters, a suck-you-right-in plot, and gorgeous writing.

Reluctant Pilgrim by Enuma Okoro.  A nonfiction favorite of mine this year.  Again, gorgeous writing. And I appreciate the lens through which she looks at the world around her.  This book is like a cathartic coffee meeting with a friend who knows you really well. (I kept it on my nightstand for two weeks after reading the last page, just because looking at it made me happy).

Bittersweet by Shauna Neiquist.  I'm reading an advanced copy of Shauna's new book, Bread & Wine, right now (It's fantastic--I'll post a review as it's pub date gets closer) and it's reminding me of how much I appreciated Bittersweet when I read it a year or so ago. It's about a season in her life where things didn't work out all that well, when she struggled.  As you can probably understand, I have a new appreciation for authors who are willing to describe their efforts to hang in there in life and faith when they're standing in wreckage and trying to figure out what comes next.

How do you escape? What books are you reading that the rest of us might love?

Here's to a wonderful weekend!