Rearranging the nightstand

For any of you keeping up with my lists over there to the left, I have removed a few books from the nightstand and added a few more.

The Price of Motherhood, Ann Crittenden
Insightful and inciteful. (The latter not being a real word, of course, but it should be). Ms. Crittenden got right to the point, a real problem in our society. You hear rumblings, murmurings, unrest…she has stumbled onto what even she believes should be a revolution that, for whatever reason has not come about. Yet.
I want to join the movement! I have not, however, finished the book. While Ms. Crittenden has touched a very important nerve, I (like many of the women who really want to push for change but don’t have time right now) didn’t even have time to finish the book. The library let me have it for three weeks and I did not finish it. I could have renewed it. I didn’t. I will check it out again or just buy it this time.


Finding Balance, Becca Stevens
I had to finish this book, as this was the text we were discussing in my women’s bible study group. Luckily, I was able to vote for this one before we chose it so I should not say that I had to finish it!
This book focused on what we can learn from the women of the Bible. I learned a great deal, though of course I learned more from the women in my group and their interpretations than from the book itself but this one was a great beginning for discussion!
I loved having a chapter devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Someone will judge me for broadcasting this over the internet, but she’s been a tough one to deal with. I could never explain it right until the author found a nun who could: she was a virgin mother. Who can live up to that???
No matter what you’ve learned about Mary Magdalene from the media and The Da Vinci Code, you’ll find something new about her here!
I could go on. If it sounds intriguing, check it out. We did it as a group study so we ordered a video that went along with it. I enjoyed getting to see the author and hear her talk further about topics brought up in the book.
Of course, as a Catholic, I’m still intrigued to see a female priest. (The author is an Episcopal priest at Saint Augustine's Chapel on the Vanderbilt University campus. I find that amazing.)
I’ve only read this in preparation for group discussion but I highly recommend it whether for yourself or for a group. I might go back through it again when I have more time. (Whenever that may be...)

So, there are “updates” for two of the four books that have been sitting on my nightstand forever.

While I should use this time to get through the remaining two on the list, you should know by now that I am not that logical. I have started to re-read the Grapes of Wrath and am astounded at how much I have forgotten! I found this copy on the bookshelf and it still has my maiden name and a college dorm I lived in inscribed in the front cover. Therefore, I’m quite certain I read it in college and I even remember all of Tom Joad’s relatives’ names. I also remember that they could not afford to eat meat for a while. (The vegetarian remembers the important parts of novels).
I am about a third of the way through and thoroughly enjoying it but I honestly don’t remember any of this from the first time through. (I’m sure the fact that I read it in COLLEGE in NEW ORLEANS where there was no real, defined DRINKING AGE has absolutely nothing to do with my lack of recollection!)

In addition, I made a stop at the mall bookstore on Friday. (For anyone who does not know much about me: I hate malls. I will look for ANY excuse to avoid them. However, as I had agreed to an errand or two in the mall on Friday, I thought I deserved a trip to Waldenbooks as long as I was in there!) I picked up Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses (I cannot put this one down!!!) and Four Souls. I have not had a chance to open the latter yet, but I loved Ms. Erdich’s The Master Butchers Singing Club, and can’t wait to delve into this one!

So, there. Now you know exactly what books are lying on my nightstand when I go to sleep each night.
What's on yours?