The Best Yes

One of my favorite things about books is discussion. Fiction is my preference for reading, but I enjoy a good discussion on life topics. And I have a number of favorite authors who write on relevant topics. The most recent is The Best Yes, by Lysa Terkeurst. The premise of the book is that our day-to-day schedule works off of our ability to use two words, Yes and No. I read and discussed this book weekly with friends and found those who were in the same boat as me, plus those who were already good at saying no and really helped me.

I do not consider myself a people pleaser, although that would be one reason a person would say yes to more than he/she should. As I read this book and thought about it, I knew that I just like to help people. If I can help, or make a way to help, I will. Saying no felt like I was telling the person I didn't care or didn't want to help, when that's not what a no necessarily means. And I never considered the strain that put on me until a few years ago when I had a new teaching schedule that took up more time than usual. I did everything I usually did plus the extra work stress and always felt frazzled, which made me realize I've felt this frazzled-ness off and on before that.

The Best Yes is about saying no when you need to so that you have the time to say yes when you really should. Not only does this relieve the stress of an overwhelming schedule, but it also leaves you time for the most important things. The things you are meant to do. Terkeurst had so many amazing one liners that I could repeat to myself, reminders that it is okay to say no when I need to. I recently grouped a set of them into my Sunday meme, Begin the Week with Words (aka Sunday Sentence).

The book has helped. No, it's not like I no longer struggle with saying no, but I've made progress. I've pinpointed the things I feel are my current priorities in life and focus on them. I've been able to say no to things that seem very simple to some, but are a big deal for me! And I've also been learning that I don't have to give an excuse for everything I say no to. No is no and that's all there is to it. Sometimes the reason isn't always something I can share with others anyway and I end up sounding stupid trying to semi explain.

As a side note, author Lysa Terkeurst is a wife and mother of five, and also the President of the Christian Women's organization called Proverbs 31 Ministries. Regardless of what your stance on God is, TerKeurst's books are always on relevant topics all women face. Books of hers I'd recommend are Made to Crave (about eating) and Unglued (about losing your cool - see my review here). She also has a great set of marriage books, one for husbands called Capture Her Heart, and one for wives called Capture His Heart (my mini review here).

I'd have to say reading The Best Yes is one of my best yeses this year. Anyone else read any good books helping you with life topics?

Gutenberg's Apprentice

Source: goodreads.com

Gutenberg's Apprentice, by Alix Christie
Publisher: Harper
Publication date: September 23, 2014
Category: Historical fiction
Source: I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

For some reason I had this book written down with a publication date of October 28th, thinking I'm only a week later with my review. Then find out as I go to write this it was September 23rd. Now how did I mess that up?

Anyway...here's a quick review of the plot from Amazon: Peter Schoeffer is on the verge of professional success as a scribe in Paris when his foster father, wealthy merchant Johann Fust, summons him home to corrupt Mainz to meet “a most amazing man.” Johann Gutenberg has devised a revolutionary method of bookmaking: a machine he calls a printing press. Fust is financing Gutenberg’s workshop and he orders Peter, his adopted son, to become Gutenberg’s apprentice. 

As Peter's skill grows, so, too, does his admiration for Gutenberg and his dedication to their daring venture: copies of the Holy Bible. But mechanical difficulties and the crushing power of the Catholic Church threaten their work. Peter finds himself torn between these two father figures. Caught between the genius and the merchant, the old ways and the new, Peter and the men he admires must work together to prevail against overwhelming obstacles—a battle that will change history . . . and irrevocably transform them.

My thoughts? Overall I liked Gutenberg's Apprentice. The one complaint I might see people making is that it is slow paced at times. I thought so off and on as I read it, but looking back it didn't make me want to DNF it. I was extremely interested in knowing the side of the story we never hear about. Also, the technical talk about the printing process really makes the reader understand that this was not an easy process. Gutenberg didn't just invent the press and voilà, we have books by the hundreds. It was back breaking, all consuming work that so many others would've given up on. Lucky for us, Gutenberg, Peter, and Fust were most determined.

The time period, mid-1400s, is not familiar to many people, I'd guess. It was very interesting to see how life was lived. Expectations for work, marriage, religion, etc. A few characters' reaction to the press being blasphemous amused me. The idea that the Bible could only be meaningful if carefully written by hand seems absolutely ludicrous. They are likely rolling in their graves over our Bible apps and such online now! But it made me keep in mind that all great things are misunderstood and challenged. They bring change, which people generally fear. Yet, look what this has brought us! I wouldn't be writing this and you wouldn't be reading it without Gutenberg, Peter, and Fust's work.

I love the idea of more to the story than meets the eye. Can you think of any other amazing inventions you would like to see stories about?

Begin the Week with Words

Often the two sides of an emotion, such as love and hate, are closely related, so that it's hard not to have one without the other. For example, how do you know what hate is, if you do not know or have a sense of what love is?

#BookishThanks November 1-7

#BookishThanks November 1-7

I am participating in a most wonderful bookish Thanksgiving meme, #BookishThanks, put together by Monika at A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall. A category is given for every day in November, to which you can apply the book of your choice, posting it on your social media. It has been so much fun, I figured I'd post them on my blog weekly! Feel free to leave your choices for any categories in the comments.


1. Made me laugh - Let's Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson

2. Scared me silly - The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

3. Couldn't put it down - The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North.

4. Love the cover - Gutenberg's Apprentice, by Alix Christie

5. Must share with others - The Storyteller, by Jodi Picoult

6. Comfort read - formulaic writers like Grisham and Picoult

7. Makes me love paper - Any Chunkster (500+ pages)

Postertext - Books for Your Wall

How do you display something you love? Clothing, accessories, posters. Ah, posters. Pictures you can hang on your wall for all to see, declaring your love of your favorite movie stars, bands, and books. Wait, books? Yup! Thanks to Postertext, your favorite book can now become a work of art to hang on your wall.

Postertext is a group of dedicated book and art lovers who want to combine the closely related mediums they love. How does this work? Say you like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and want a creative hanging to display. The people at Postertext will create a poster sized image, related to the book, but completely comprised of words. Not just any words, but the actual text of the book the picture represents. What better idea than this to combine two things you love?!

It gets better. In order to find an accurate image to depict your story and the best pieces of the text to use, they first completely read every book whose poster they intend to create. That's commitment and that's just what a book lover wants to hear! They have an index of their current authors and books whose posters you can purchase. There is also the option to request a book poster and for custom designs and commissions. 

And bloggers, there's an extra tidbit for you! You can become an affiliate of Postertext and receive a commission on sales made through the link on your site. Click here for details! Anyone have any questions? Well, I've told you all I know, so send any further inquiries through their Contact form. You never know unless you ask!

I'm making a list of must haves myself. These would be wonderful in my classroom. And Christmas is just around the corner...perfect gift for the bibliophiles in your life! Or to put on your list bibliophiles!

The Killer Angels

Source: Amazon.com

I'm teaching ninth grade again this year, for the first time in about five years. A new book was purchased for them since then, The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, which I've never read before. It turns out to be a challenging book for my ninth grade Honors classes. (And I'll admit, kind of a challenge for me.)

A historical topic like the Civil War has a tendency to become a larger than life topic. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely a topic deserving of so much attention, however I've always seen it as a whole...one war that changed the course of a nation. I've never taken the time to break it down and notice how the Civil War changed the course of individual lives, and therefore the lives of their family for generations to come.

That's where The Killer Angels focused my attention...at the individuals who fought. Switching between individual viewpoints from chapter to chapter, the reader gains insight to both sides of the war. It is historical fiction, so the thoughts, words, and actions written are not absolute truth. These men were actual soldiers in the Civil War though, so the research exists to support the filling. This look at individuals threw me off at first. I was expecting battles, death, and victory for the Union - the bigger than life side; but, the first battle we view doesn't take place until the second half of the book. The entire book until then, and even during the battle, provides introspection. Each man's emotions and thoughts on family, war, humanity, life, etc. comes through. Sometimes it's through memories and other times through interactions with those around them, but with every chapter a new puzzle piece falls in place to create an overall picture of each man in turn.

I would say it was slow moving at first, but I can see already that a second read will tie more of it together for me. Overall, not something I would've read on my own, but a good book for an honors level class to study: challenging and made better with discussion.

Have you ever read historical fiction that didn't read as easily as you expected?

Begin the Week with Words

Almost finished reading The Killer Angels with my ninth graders. For a book about the the battle of Gettysburg, there is very little action and fighting! It's very introspective historical fiction...trying to show the feelings and ideas of the major players of the war.

"This is free ground. All the way from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow. No man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here's a place to build a home. It isn't the land - there's always more land. It's the idea that we all have value, you and me, we're worth something more than the dirt. I never saw dirt I'd die for, but I'm not asking you to come join us and fight for dirt. What we're all fighting for, in the end, is each other." Union officer, Colonel Chamberlain in The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara