My favorite books to re-read - they're that good!

This may end up being a much longer list than top 5 - so I've decided not to put a number on it!  

(As a matter of fact it ended up with 15 titles - mostly non-fiction/biography so I'll have to do another post of my re-reads of fiction - cause there's a bunch of those!)

So many books that I love to read and my very favorites I read more than once so that I can squeeze every nugget from them.  Also if I really loved the story, and it's been a little while, I will read it again.  So here goes - it is not a definitive or exhaustive list - but I'm going to get it started.

• In His Steps - Charles Sheldon

• A Praying Life -Paul E Miller

• Boundaries with Teens - John Townsend

• Same Kind of Different as Me - Ron Hall

• Kisses from Katie -Katie J Davis

• Safely Home-Randy Alcorn

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People-Stephen R Covey

• God's Double Agent - Bob Fu

• The Insanity of God - Nik Ripken

• Quiet Talks on Prayer - S.D. Gordon

• The 5 Love Languages - Gary Chapman

• The Autobiography of George Muller - George Muller

• A chance to Die - Elisabeth Elliot

• Partners in Prayer - John Maxwell

• No Longer a Slumdog - K.P. Yohannan

How about you - do you have books that you like to re-read more than once?  I'm sure I've forgotten some - I'll have to do a part 2 later!  Let me know in the comments what your favorite re-reads are!

Novel Analysis

If you have been a reader for any length of time, you know that the analysis of the story leads a reader to search for deeper meaning within the written words.  Most novels are driven by either the characters that drive them, or by the plot itself.   I am intrigued by the process and the analysis for Fractured has brought some really important concepts to the forefront of my mind.

1. Choices have consequences.  Life is chock full of choices.

Consequences can be escaped for a short while, but not forever. Beware your sins will always find you out.

We reap what we sow. Not just a tenet of Scripture, a real life proverb.  If you plant a tomato seed, you will reap a tomato plant, likewise kernels of corn reap corn stalks with new ears of corn.  Laws of Nature.

2.     Surround yourself with good friends.  They influence you more than you realize, and you make choices you might not otherwise have faced if not for your friend’s influence.  I would dare to say that most people who end up in prison can trace their path to the people they hung out with.

"Lay down with dogs you get up with fleas." An old quote, with such truth.

Evil communications corrupt good manners.

While my novel, Fractured, is not what I would consider Christian Fiction, it does track with certain undeniable principles of life lessons based in Scripture.  The characters themselves are not believers, and don’t find God.  They do experience real life trials, based solely on their own decision making and that is something that everyone universally can relate to.  

A fresh start can also be gained, but can never be fully achieved without facing head-on the consequences of prior acts.  Restoration can never be completed without an eye on the future free of guilt and shame.  So while moving on may look appealing and seem possible, our past always has a way of returning in ways we can never anticipate.

These underlying themes of my novel were not intentional.  I wrote the story based on a particular way I thought the story should go, but the outcome is definitely one that has these undercurrents running through it.  I am fascinated by what I find as I go back and dig into the story as I continue to improve it and to be able to best explain to those I pitch the book to. 

What about you?  

If you are a writer, do you purposely write with a meaning in mind? or does it seem to occur because of your worldview?  

If you are a reader, do you read purely for entertainment value without thinking deeply on meaning? or do you search for what could be hidden among the written word?