Summer Reading: Book 1 Wrap Up

When I sat down and talked to my Dad about In His Steps and found his reading experience was very similiar to mine he thought the story was really inspiring because it was brave and showed a lot of faith for someone to change their life to do what's right for others. He also agreed that the writing style wasn't great and was very simple and old fashioned. However he liked how the wealthy family interacted in the book, where I thought the interaction wasn't very good and I thought the way the pastor and the Newspaper editor interacted. It seemed to stand out to both of us how great it was that people could be so brave to completly change their lives for the better by asking just one question. I would recommend this book to some adults that I know, but I wouldn't recommend it to my friends my age because the way it's written made the story less enjoyable for me.

Summer Reading: Book 2 Wrap Up Talk

When I sat down and talked to my Mom about The Hiding Place she seemed to have been more inspired by this book than me, but we still liked the same parts and relationships in the book. We both liked how the book was written, in the way where you get to know all about the main characters and all the characters she interacted with. From the main character's family to the people they met in the prison. She was inspired by how the characters endangered themselves for the good of others, and that it showed the good that people are capable of. We both like how Corrie ten Boom forgave the people that persecuted her. One moment really stood out to both of us, and that was when the sister Betsie is giving thanks to God for everything in the prison even the fleas, and it turns out that the fleas were the reason that the women had so much freedom in the prison because the guards didn't want to go near the fleas. I would recommend this book to people who like inspirational stories also, those who like stories about World War II and the Holocaust.

Summer Reading: Book 2 Thoughts Part 2

I have finished reading The Hiding Place, and I feel it had a very satisfying ending. During the last half of the book most of the ten Boom family is sent to prison for helping out Jews while the Germans are invading Holland most of the family gets set free except for Corrie and Betsie, and the way that they act in the prison is very admirable. For example Betsie even when the German guards is making fun of her illness she laughs and when the guard then whips her Betsie stops her sister from being angry with the guard and prays for him. It is also really cool to read what the author, Corrie, is thinking while she is in the prison and how she grow to turn to God when she can't do something herself. All the characters in the book had qualities of compassion and forgiveness that I hope to have in my life and overall I though it was a good book.

Summer Reading: Book 2 Thoughts Part 1

The book that my Mom recommended that I chose to read was The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom which is a autobiography about Corrie ten Boom and her family and their experiences during World War II and the Holocaust. So far my impression of the book is that it is a good book, but it's not really my style of book. It's very well written and characters actions are really inspiring to read about, but I'm having trouble really enjoying the book. I do think that the way the Father and sister Betsie in the family keep a calm head and pray to God when they are uncertain of something is really admirable and I hope to use that kind of thinking in my own life.

Summer Reading: Book 1 Thoughts Part 2

I have now finished In His Steps and I'm left with the overall impression that though it was a great story ,but because of the way it was written it was not a great book. There were many parts of the book that the author could have expanded on or added more suspense to to make the book more interesting to the reader. For example in the book after a member of the church decides to take the pledge to do as Jesus would do for a year, her father commits suicide, and her mother dies a few minutes later leaving the two daughters orphaned. The author only wrote a paragraph about the older sister's reaction to the death of her parents and does not at all go into the experience of the younger daughter, which I would have liked to have read more about. I did however like how the author had all the different characters in different situations of life so that all people could relate to at least one character. I am glad I read this book and hope I can apply some of quality's that people showed in this book to my life.

Summer Reading: Book 1 thoughts part 1

The book recommended by my Dad that I chose to read was In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. So far in the book I like the story, but I don't like the way it is written. The story is about a Church in the town of Raymond where a poor man comes in during one service and poses the question why don't most Christians do as Jesus would do? The Pastor of the Church then challenges the members of the church to not do anything without first asking the question "What would Jesus Do?". Which I think is a really interesting concept and it's cool to see how this effects the people in the towns lives. What I don't like about the book so far is that doesn't really have a main character, and it jumps around from character to character too often.

Summer Reading

One of the people I chose to interview about books was my mother Lynne Marschke. Most of the books that haves impacted her life are Christian based. The first book she mentioned was the Bible "because it is the living and active word of God" She first started reading the Bible in depth in her early thirties when she was newly married and living in the university town of Chapel Hill, separated from family and close friends, while her husband (my Dad) was doing a fellowship for the University, and continues to read the Bible today. Other books that she mentioned were books by author Karen Kingsbury who writes many Christian Fiction books. She said "Her stories are interesting and family centered and it's interesting seeing truths through the perspective of others lives." She started reading Karen Kingsbury's books about 10 years ago and keeps up with reading the new books that she releases.
"I also love reading inspiring biographies or autobiographies." One specific biography she mentioned, Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham, by Patricia Cornwell. "I love hearing the back stories of people that I admire, who have lived lives of goodness and excellence." One other book that she recommended to me was The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, which she read when she was in her mid-forties and "raising children and dealing with the usual ups and downs of life."

The other person I chose to interview was my Dad, Keith Marschke. The first two books he recommended to me were The Great Santini and The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy. He read both of these books when he was 31, before he had kids and when he was engaged to be married. One thing that he really liked about The Great Santini was the father son relationship. He related a lot to the father son relationship in the book and it made him think about how he wanted to be as a father. What he liked about The Lords Of Discipline was that it reminded him a lot of his relationships with his friends and his time in college.
The other book he recommended was In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, which was special to him because it started the "What would Jesus do?" movement, which was important to him and his Christian walk. It also effected what he thought about his role in society and how he acted in his community. This was significant to what was going on in his life because he was playing a bigger role at work and he was teaching in the church.