What we are reading: Unwritten by Charles Martin

What we are reading:  Unwritten by Charles Martin

How can you not love a book that contains these words:

The library was magical because every time I walked through the door, there were literally thousands of voices ready and willing to have a conversation with me.  I walked through the door, stared at all those stacks and bindings, and whispered, “Tell me a story.”

We are always looking for books that bring out the importance of writing and show the healing that comes when we share our stories. Unwritten does not disappoint.  Throughout the overarching tale of a priest, an actress and a hermit we see the power of the words to transform lives.

Life was in the telling.  In the exhale.

 The book begins appropriately with a confession and then moves through a fast paced sequence of events always punctuated by the revelation of the backstory of each character.  We keep reading, pulled on by the hope of redemption.

All hearts have but one request.  One simple, unspoken, undeniable need.  One undeniable fear.   To be known.

Charles Martin can tell a story and brings us an entertaining read with a deeper look at the power of stories, written and unwritten.

Stories order the pieces.  They begin as seismic shifts, then they surface, becoming ripples that lap upon foreign shores.  They are the echoes that resonate in this world and the next.

We might have to reread this one.  Have you read it?  Please share.

Betsy and Laurie

Writing Sisters

Do You Have a Favorite Bookstore?

“I can’t pass a bookstore without slipping inside, looking for the next book that will burn my hand when I touch its jacket, or hand me over a promissory note of such immense power that it contains the formula that will change everything about me.” ― Pat Conroy, My Reading Life

Do you have a favorite bookstore?

Betsy and Laurie

10 Great Quotes from Aslan

Aslan, The Greatest Lion (Photo credit: peasap)

 

1. “But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

 

2. “If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been a proof that you were not…”

 

3. “You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you,”

 

4. “Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”

 

5. “There is no other stream,”

 

6. “My country was made for noble hearts such as yours.”

 

7. “But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river.  But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder.”

 

8. “Things never happen the same way twice, dear one.”

 

9. “Dearest daughter,  I knew you would not be long in coming to me.  Joy shall be yours.”

 

10. “Are you not thirsty?”

From The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis

Do you have other favorites?

Betsy and Laurie

 

Stories and the Universe

Laurie and Betsy

The Writing Sisters

(photo taken at Library Way, NYC Public Library)

What Are You Reading?

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Philippians 4:8

We don’t know how many years we have left to live– nobody does.  We also don’t know how many books we have left in life to read.  Maybe one. Maybe many. There is a finite number.

When I started thinking about reading this way it changed my reading selection.  I began to be more discerning.  For every book that I read, there is one that I don’t get to read.  I don’t want to waste my choices.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

We are always looking for selections that are entertaining, well written, transforming, and  renewing. This applies to fiction and nonfiction.

We want to share the good ones that we find.   What have you read that would qualify?  Have you read anything lately that is excellent and praiseworthy?

Please share!

Laurie and Betsy