I think i like Denver

".....pitch a tent in a cemetery inhabited by highly vocal ghosts"

From the forward of Beloved by Toni Morrison

Reading 'Beloved' for the second time another character has caught my attention..... Denver

Get Caught Reading - Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

I had never read anything written by Jodi Picoult until I picked up a copy of ‘Plain Truth’ from Sense charity shop round where I live.

‘Plain Truth’ is a story of eighteen year old Katie Fisher who gets pregnant out of wedlock. Nothing new there I hear you say.

Well, Katie Fisher isn’t your average eighteen year old girl, she is Amish and in the Amish community, pregnancy before marriage is not only fround upon, but you run the risk of being rejected from your community and that's why Katie told no one when she discovered she was pregnant.

Katie Fisher’s secret could obviously be kept for so long and when the baby finally arrived, Katie did what she knew to do, Pray. When she wakes up from exhaustion and the baby is gone, she thought her prayer was answered but when the body is found and she’s accused of murdering the baby, her faith in her community, faith and God is tested.

Ellie Hathaway, Philadelphia defence lawyer’s plan to hide away at Paradise Pennsylvania from her high pressured job took a dramatic turn when she was reluctantly agreed to take on Katie’s case.

Immersing herself in the Amish culture, Ellie was able to see the difference between her world and a world that lives by rules that are completely different from hers.

I read the four hundred and fifty one page novel gripped by Katie’s pain of loss, fear of rejection, her need to right the wrong she was convinced was her fault.

I will definitely be checking out more of Jodi’s books in the future, she is a solid storyteller.

Get Caught Reading - The Shack

I had heard a lot about this book months before I finally got my hands on a copy. I think because the subject matter is something I can now relate to, I have to say I was enthralled right from the first sentence.

‘Who wouldn’t be sceptical when a man claims to have spent an entire weekend with God, in a shack no less?’

I tell you what, I would have loved to have an entire hour with God right after I unexpectedly lost my dad a few months ago. I desperately needed answers and for some reason my Sunday school classes and my stint at regular bible study was not helping me understand the whys, hows and the what ifs? So, as I read through the pages of The Shack, I had my ha! moments.

‘Nobody wants God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in a leather with gilt edges or was that guilt edges’

The truth is that one cannot limit God to the good book, or the four walls either. He can reach out to anyone whenever and however he pleases. Thankfully I found some my answers in this fiction written by WM Paul Young to help explain to his kids, his perspective of God. I know this book is not for the legalist or traditionalist.

In his own words…

‘The institutional church doesn't work for those of us who are hurt and those of us who are damaged.’

I have been touched by Mr. Young’s book and wanted to share but not give away the story and spoil it for those who have not read it. What I would say is this, depending on where you’re at, The Shack will either help you to see things from a whole new perspective or be a stumbling block.

The story of how this book got published is also an encouragement for yet to be published writers like myself. All he had was $300 and a few family and friends that believe in him.

I need to get back to writing!