No.241: My Latest Reads // April

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#20. THE LOUDER SONG: LISTENING FOR HOPE IN THE MIDST OF LAMENT by Aubrey Sampson
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Sometimes, it’s only in looking back that we see clearly.  As I look back now, even in this horrible circumstance, I can see God’s hand of love touching everything. (p.57)

Even though you suffer from this awful thing – no matter how truly terrible it may be – and even though you may not be able to surface for air right now, God has not changed.  Who you are to him has not changed.  He is utterly faithful, and you are utterly loved.  Not because you are healthy or strong or happy, or because you never get angry, or because you handle this thing you face with grace.  But simply and profoundly because you are the object of God’s fixed delight and affection.  Even when you hit walls, even at your messiest, you are his beautiful one. (p.75)

This is how I’ll finally arrive at that elusive place called acceptance – by watching for, noting, gathering instances of hope and joy in one hand, even while wrestling with my darkest hours in the other.  This truth rings loudly in my heart: Good and bad can exist at once.  It’s okay to admit that both things are true.  My situation is hard and God has been good to me. (p.102)

I heard about The Louder Song, a book published in February, from Instagram and since I’m working through my own issues while walking alongside others in hard situations, I snatched it up.  This book comes from an Evangelical standpoint and while it’s not a perfect fit for me theologically, I really liked it.

#21. HEARTLAND: A MEMOIR OF WORKING HARD AND BEING BROKE IN THE RICHEST COUNTRY ON EARTH by Sarah Smarsh
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Our bodies were born into hard labor.  To people who Grandma Betty would say “never had to lift a finger,” that might sound like something to be pitied.  But there was a beautiful efficiency to it – form in constant physical function with little energy left over.  In some ways, I feel enriched rather than diminished for having lived it. (p.44)

Rating memoirs is hard because I hate judging another person’s story.  That said, this one was just so-so for me.  My biggest beef was with the way Heartland is written: the writing is directed to her imaginary (unconceived) baby and it’s a unique choice that I didn’t really care for.  You’d be reading stories about her family or a handful of sociological facts and then she’d suddenly address “you” (meaning the unborn child), which was a little weird and definitely jarred the story as a whole.  2.5 stars, rounded up. (Also available at Book Outlet here.)

#22. LIFE OF CHRIST by Fulton J. Sheen
My Rating: ★★★★★

He will not allow us to pick and choose among His words, discarding the hard ones, and accepting the ones that please our fancy.  We need a Christ Who will restore moral indignation, Who will make us hate evil with a passionate intensity, and love goodness to a point where we can drink death like water. (p.21)

The moment He showed Himself before men as the Son of God, He would draw down upon Himself their hatred, for evil can tolerate mediocrity, but not supreme goodness. (p.78)

As the physical Body of Christ had external wounds, bruises, and scars, and yet the inner structure was left untouched, so there seemed to be a foretelling that though His Mystical Body, the Church, would have its moral wounds and scars of scandals and disloyalties, nevertheless, not a bone of its body would ever be broken. (p.399)

Mankind is naturally disposed to believe that anything religious must be striking and powerful enough to overwhelm the imagination.  Yet this incident on the road to Emmaus revealed that the most powerful truths often appear in the commonplace and trivial incidents of life, such as meeting a fellow traveler on a road.  Christ veiled His Presence in the most ordinary roadway of life.  Knowledge of Him came as they walked with Him; and the knowledge was that of glory that came through defeat. (p.415)

This book.  I think I can confidently say that this is the best religious book that I have ever read.

#23. I WILL ALWAYS WRITE BACK: HOW ONE LETTER CHANGED TWO LIVES by Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

The cascade of water was so vast and mighty, I thought, the angels were not only clapping – they were giving a standing and stomping ovation for a spectacle only God could have created. (p.345)

I Will Always Write Back was a quick read about two penpals (a middle-class girl from Pennsylvania and a boy from the slums of Zimbabwe) and how that relationship changed both of their lives.  The writing was quite simple for even a YA book and I enjoyed Martin’s side of the story much more than Caitlin’s, but overall, a heartwarming story.  Solid three stars.  (Also available at Book Outlet here.)

#24. THE WIFE BETWEEN US by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.
You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. 
You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.
Assume nothing. 

I can’t remember exactly where I heard about The Wife Between Us, but I’ve been on the waiting list at the library for it since last fall.  Super quick read, but as thrillers go, this one was just okay.  2.5 stars, rounded up.  (Also available at Book Outlet here.)

#25. OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

What young people didn’t know, she thought, lying down beside this man, his hand on her shoulder, her arm; oh, what young people did not know. They did not know that lumpy, aged, and wrinkled bodies were as needy as their own young, firm ones, that love was not to be tossed away carelessly . . . No, if love was available, one chose it, or didn’t chose it. And if her platter had been full with the goodness of Henry and she had found it burdensome, had flicked it off crumbs at a time, it was because she had not know what one should know: that day after day was unconsciously squandered. (p.270)

Olive Kitteridge, on paper, sounded like something I would typically love to read: short stories about a crotchety old woman who lives on the coast of Maine.  Unfortunately, it was a big flop for me.  I found it to be so incredibly depressing!  On the plus side, the writing is beautiful, which I assume is why it won a Pulitzer Prize.  After looking at the reviews, I think this is a book where you either love it or hate it, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.  (Also available at Book Outlet here.)

#26. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS by Agatha Christie

My Rating: ★★★★☆


The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.


Murder on the Orient Express was my first Agatha Christie novel and it did not disappoint!  So so good.  Looking forward to reading more of her work soon.  (Also available at Book Outlet here.)