My favorite books on marriage and intimacy are...

I want to share some of my favorite selections on marriage and intimacy.


I will review them, individually at a later time.

For now, I just want to make some recommendations. 

Sheet Music: Uncovering the Secrets of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage             by Dr. Kevin Leman















For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men 
by Shaunti Feldhahn












The Proper Care And Feeding of Husbands
by Dr. Laura Schlessinger

Light His Fire: How to Keep Your Man Passionately and Hopelessly in Love With You 

by Ellen Kreidman

The Gift of Sex: A Guide to Sexual Fulfillment

by Clifford and Joyce Penner

For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women

By Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn

Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother

by Carolyn Mahaney

Ask me for book recommendations.

I've had friends on Facebook ask me for personalized reading recommendations because they know I have this site. Feel free to ask me to do the same for you. It's a bit of a time investment sometimes but I really enjoy doing it.

One friend just told me she read thirteen of my recommendations in the past few months! I lived hearing her reactions to the books too! I thrive on trying to figure out what books a person will like. I find that very interesting.

Comment on this thread if you would like me to make some book recommendations for you. Let me know: what genres you enjoy, some titles you've liked, any titles you've hated, etc.

Jane Austen Reading Challenge

Are you reading Jane Austen titles this year or reading Jane Austen-related titles?

Have you joined the Jane Austen Reading Challenge?

I read Pride and Prejudice in February of 2010. Living in England convinced me I'd probably love her writing; and I do!

I have read one Jane Austen title this year; I finished reading Emma in March 2011.

I hope to begin reading Sense and Sensibility soon.

Have you read any of Jane Austen's books? Do you have plans to?

Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash

I enjoyed this book. 


Cash wrote this book in a very relaxed, conversational tone. 


He tells truth as he sees it without it seeming as if he is gossipping. In fact, he tells most stories about himself. He was frank and open about his trek into drug abuse. 

Even if you don't love country music you might still like this book if you enjoy bios/autobiographies. 

If you love country music and you love Johnny Cash, chances are high that you will enjoy this book.

He is also open about his faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour. I really like that. I hope to meet him, one day, in Heaven.

http://boundtogetherforgood.blogspot.com/2011/07/biographiesdo-you-have-any-favorites.html

Children and classics

I suppose we've all been exposed to classic fairy tales, mythology, and legends about national heroes. Have you exposed any of your children, at a young age, to stories that are considered to be classic literature?


Just this week I finished reading a children's edition of Little Women to our five year old daughter. We began reading it a long time ago. I have two other books I am actively reading to her. It wasn't an original edition but it was still a rather lengthy chapter book to read to a five year old. She loved it. Our copy is now worn from love and travel.


We finished reading it while sharing a snack at a McDonald's as our older daughter was having braces put on her teeth. When we finished the book I asked Gigi if she still loved it. Her reply, "Of course. It's about women ...and the women are little!" I'm so glad she asked me to read it to her.

What will I read on our vacation this summer? Want to help me narrow it down or guess what I'll choose?

Our vacation will be really late this summer; right before school begins in the fall.
The planning is going on right now. It takes a lot to plan vacations but especially so for big families. One can never begin thinking about it too soon.


As I was dressing this evening I stopped in front of my bookshelves to ponder my to-be-read shelf. Surprisingly, it has a smaller selection than usual. That's a good thing; it means I've been working my way through books I already own instead of simply amassing more and more titles to add to my to-be-read shelf. 


I am facing the fact that our vacation will include several days at a waterpark/amusement park. Last summer my brother and I went to the same parks and took four of my five kids and one of our nieces. I remember my brother had one or two perfectly sized books that would fit into the pocket of his shorts. He then had it available to read when he was standing in a long and inevitably boring line. I recall being envious. I love a good pocket-sized book.


I am not expecting to have much idle time...we have five kids and the parks are great fun for everyone. I think I will take some physical books in place of my ereader in case I decide to take a book with me to the park. I am thinking I can leave it in a locker while we are being active. Then I could take the book out and read it when Hubs and I relax by the pool. If I took my NOOK I'd be nervous that it might get out of my hands and be taken by someone. I wouldn't worry that much about it getting wet as I'd cover it in a zippered baggie. Anyway, I'd be crushed if someone stole it from me.


That left me thinking that I should make my selections for vacation reading by perusing my physical to-be-read shelves.


Here are the books I am currently thinking about taking:




A Lotus Grows in the Mud 
by Goldie Hawn


(I love bios/memoirs and funny but classy people.)

All Souls: A Family Story From Southie
by Michael McDonald
(Again, I love memoirs. A friend sent this to me.)

The Unauthorized Guide to Sex and the Church
by Carmen Renee Berry
(Another friend sent me this book. Books and sex (does it get any better?)

The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts
by Tom Farley, Jr and Tanner Colby
(My brother read this and passed it on to me. 
I wasn't the biggest of Farley fans but, again, this is a bio and it's about a funny person.)

Dave Gorman vs. The Rest of the World
Whatever the game~Dave takes on all comers!
by Dave Gorman
(Gorman is goofy and British. I love that (even though I love Danny Wallace's books even more.)














As for ebook selections...I'll still be reading The Book Thief which I am reading for a second time, along with our daughter. I am finishing up a second reading of another title I recommended to my best friend and we are reading it together and discussing it. I also want to purchase a Steve Martin novel soon. Those will keep me busy when I am able to read using my NOOK.

1) I wonder which books will end up making the cut? 

2) I wonder how many books will make the cut?  

3) Will someone sway me to pick a book that I haven't listed?

4) I wonder how much reading I will actually be able to do? 

5) How much time will I spend reading physical books vs. ebooks?

6) Will I finish any one title during the trip?

Only time will tell.

Who will venture to guess?

~~~~~~

Updated post here:

http://boundtogetherforgood.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-books-did-i-end-up-taking-with-us.html

Two from Galilee by Marjorie Holmes

Two From Galilee: The Story Of Mary And Joseph


What a lovely book. I'm not one who reads many love stories. This one was worthy of my attention though; enough so that I have read it twice~January 2006 and July 2011.


This is Christian fiction. It isn't proselytization. It never attempts to sway anyone that Jesus is the Christ, it simply tells his story and those who believe continue to; those who do not yet believe may.


The story begins with Mary who has just become a woman and is now old enough to be betrothed to a willing suitor. Eventually Joseph is decided upon and the story takes off.


Holmes attempts something really big by putting words and feelings to the events leading up to Christ's birth and infancy. The scene she paints draws the reader in. A virgin birth? Even though it was foretold in the Prophets it was not something most people were willing to accept. Her father and her aunt, Elizabeth, however, did accept it. They were the first believers (in her telling). As the story progressed the scales fell from the eyes of her stern but loving mother, Hannah. The final pages bring the story to the point of the small family's flight to Egypt.





Pg 215
For is not every birth a mystery and every child the child of God?

Some Barnes and Noble news...

B&N is selling 3 ebook titles for every physical book these days.

Interesting info here:
http://tinyurl.com/BarnesNobleNewsJuly2011

(sorry, when I posted that from my iPhone the link didn't show up)

Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

For laughs I can usually trust in author Bill Bryson. He also packs punches with an abundance of facts and trivia.

Mother Tongue investigates our English language. Bryson delves deep into the matter. He investigates etymology and even traces the evolution of spelling through the ages. As a matter of course, no topic is taboo, and Bryson examines swear words and why they are used.

If you enjoy the amount of information that a well-chosen word can convey, you'll likely be delighted by this selection. I was.

How many readings do you think books should stand up to?

So, I recently tattled on myself, here:

ReadingTraditionalBooksComparedToEbooks

I was commenting about how inept I now feel when it comes to reading traditional books and protecting their condition. I use my ereader for most of my reading now. Only 11 of the 25 books I have read this year have been traditional books; that's only 44% of my reading for the year.

This post is all about the life expectancy of books versus ebooks:

Developments with regard to ebooks and library lending...

So, I've admitted that I was tough on that recent book.
What I won't admit to is a disregard for books and their condition.
I take good care of my books.

I was very disappointed as I began reading a decent paperback edition this week. I bought the book new while living in England. It was in top condition. It remained in excellent condition as I read it the first time.

I was happy to pick it up and read it again this week... However, the second time I sat down to read this week a split began forming along the inner spine of the book.
In just moments a page fell out completely.
I continued to read because that was my only option at the time.

Know what I did? I gave up. I purchased the book as an ebook. The book was worthy of another read or I wouldn't have chosen to read it again.

I made it over six months without purchasing any books for myself. I made a conscious effort over the past six months to read the books I already owned but hadn't gotten around to reading. I also borrowed ebooks and traditional books from our library.

I wish I could say that the book I broke this streak with was a book I haven't read before. I feel a bit of dissatisfaction at having spent twice the money to enjoy a single title.

I wish publishers would begin offering an ebook version with each traditional new book purchase, even when the book is purchased on sale. I think this would work out to be a win-win situation for publishers and readers.

Back to my original rant though...I really think that even a paperback should withstand more than two uses.
I suppose that my move to ebooks is a smart move. I just hope that further developments with regard to digital media will be fair to readers and writers as well as publishers.