Thursday, June 26, 2008

I'm Alive!! Sort of...

So I haven't posted in two months. But while I may be a blogging slacker, the reason for the lack of posts is because I haven't had much opportunity to be a slacker "in the real world". I'll blame Summer Reading programs starting... love them, but they're a lot of work. Both mentally and physically exhausting! Throw in trying to juggle family, friends and youth group, a short stint house-sitting, and VBS this week after work... well, one thing God is reminding me of is that Miss Erin is not superhuman! I have to learn how to say "no", which is something I hate to do. I want to help where I can. I want to spend time with people that matter to me when possible. BUT too much of a go go and no rest attitude is going to take me nowhere but burnout-land. Quality over quantity. So that's been a challenge, but good.

And I have been reading! But not so much of my own choosing, which is why I may not have added any reviews. I have six book discussions this summer, but none of them were at the top of my long "to read" list. I'm currently reading Gregor the Overlander (not far enough for an opinion), but it seems like it might grab middle schoolers... especially boys. So far, it seems like a boy's version of Alice in Wonderland. Just substitute cats and rabbits for giant walking and talking cockroaches! The first high school book discussion is Sara Beth Pfeffer's Life as We Knew It. Interestingly described by one of my Teen Advisory Board members as "the apocalyptic Little House". It's the story of a teenage girl and her family's survival after a dense asteroid knocks the moon closer into the earth's orbit, wreaking natural disaster after natural disaster: tidal waves, tsunamis, earthquakes, airborne illness. Really makes you think and pulls you in for a quick read. A few grips were the way the author obviously has certain political leanings, which she is of course entitled to. It was just how bitterly she delivered them, and without the courage to name names, instead, only giving obvious descriptions. Probably laughing about her cleverness behind her hand. But it was just overkill and unnecessary. And her very obvious feelings towards Christians, evidenced by a rather slanted and unfavorable portrayal of a Christian friend. Otherwise, a quick, thought-provoking look at what if.