What a nice weekend getaway!

So this weekend I took a train to see my mother in Indianapolis. It was nice. We spent Saturday night at French Lick Resort. That is probably one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever seen in person. While we were there we went over to the hotel in West Badeon Springs which was by far the most beautiful hotel I've seen in person. We went to the casino at French Lick. On Saturday night I didn't know when to walk away so I didn't win anything Saturday night but Sunday I learned my lesson and played $40 and left with $70 so that wasn't a total waste....

I did finish two book, but unfortunatley I can't post the reviews just yet. One I should be able to post later this week and the second I am going to post on Monday. Let me just say they were both GREAT books and I hope you come back to catch my reviews!!!

But when I got home this evening I had three books waiting for me :-)

• You Wanna go to Willard by Linda M. Holbrook
• The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• The Chameleon Conspiracy by Haggi Carmon

Plus while I was gone I got two emails that Iwon books from other blogs. The first is Do-over which I won from This Book For Free. The second book is The Turnaround from Booksie's Blog.

So I'm going to be pretty busy for the next few weeks. As you can see my books to be read pile keeps growing, I have 1 book on the way from paperbackswap.com plus 11 books to review.

Good thing I LOVE to read huh?

Don't forget I still have my giveaway going for Girls In Trucks. It's going till April 30th! You can read my review and enter the contest here.

Review: The Gnostic Mystery

I won this book from a giveaway at GoodReads. I want to thank both Goodreads and Randy Davila for this book. I thought it was really good.

I've been reading a lot of religious books lately and my reviews are simply my opinions. I'm not trying to change anyone's beliefs and I truly believe that what ever religious beliefs you hold are just as valid as anyone else's. Given that, I do think that this book could possibly offend some people. There are lots of statements that go against popular Christian beliefs. If you don't have a problem with that then read it, but if you think that would be a problem for you I wouldn't recomend this one.

The Gnostic Mystery by Randy Davila

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was truly enlightening. I enjoyed it from the very beginning.



Having not been raised in any specific religion I'm a little lost when it comes to some of the stories and characters in The Bible. I do know the basics and the older I get, and the more I read, I'm beginning to piece together a fuller understanding of The Bible.



I had never heard of the Gnostics before reading this book. So I was coming to this one with a complete open mind. I think that is part of why I enjoyed this so much. The revelations made about Gnostic beliefs and current Christian beliefs seemed plausible to me. But, again I have a limited knowledge of The Bible, and an even more limited relationship with it.



This was not an action filled book. The things that the characters did was kind of a sub story, at least in my opinion. The main story was really a historical account of the Gnostics. There is a plot and there are things that happen that move the story along.



I think this was very well written and I didn't get the feeling that it was trying to discredit modern Christian beliefs. I think the book takes the stance of: Here's some things that happened in The Bible and here's what people believe about them. One more than one occasion it is mentioned that just because it is believed that some don't count The Bible as an accurate historical account does it make Jesus' teachings any less valuable? I would say that it doesn't, but that's just my opinion.






View all my reviews.

For more information on The Gnostic Mystery click here.

The Friday 56

Thanks to Books and Needlepoint for this neat tidbit!

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Closest Book:

"It's a much tougher life on this side of the fence," Punjeeh replied, referring to the plight of the Palestinians. "Almost half of the inhabitants live below the poverty line, and a good job here pays no more than $100 per week."

Review: I'm Perfect, You're Doomed

Before I post my review I want to thank Melyssa and all the ladies at BookDivas for letting me get my hands on this one:-)

I'm Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales From A Jehovah's Witness Upbringing by Kyria Abrahams

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Kyria Abrahams was born and raised as a Jehovah's Witness. For anyone familiar with the religion, her upbringing was fairly normal. She was not allowed to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday. She was also raised "knowing" that Christ's new way of things was on it's way and that the world was going to end at any time. Until her disfellowship she didn't think that she could survive without the hand of Jesus guiding her. This book takes an almost cynical look at her life. It also is complete with a glossary of common Jehovah's Witness terms the rest of us may not be familiar with.



I think the book was great. I lived part of my life with my grandmother and aunt who were Jehovah's Witnesses. Many of the things Kyria talked about in her book brought back some memories that I had all but forgotten. It was like I was taking a weird walk down memory lane. I think this was a great look at what life is like as a Witness, granted I had some "insider knowledge". Mrs. Abrahams uses wit and humor to explain some drastic events in her life. I loved the story, liked the writing, and I really connected with the characters. Overall it was a very good story!


View all my reviews.

I'm thankful it's Thursday and not Monday....

Well I haven't really been reading the last few days. A page here and there, but not much (outside of school). For school I finished quite a bit:

• Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorn
• A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway
• The House on Mango Street (excerpt) by Sandra Cisneros
• The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
• Two Kinds by Amy Tan
• A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
• The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe

While this World Literature class has been taking up a bit of my free reading time, I'm glad that I'm taking it. I never really read any of the classics as a kid, and other than a few stories we would read in school I never was exposed to some great authors from history. So while I'm not LOVING every story I'm reading for this class I am enjoying being introduced to the authors that I feel have had a huge hand in shaping literature today.

I have an analytical essay due tonight, then I should be free to get some "pleasure" reading done. I have a whole stack of review books sitting here, plus I've been going crazy on paperbackswap so I have a big pile of those books sitting around to get finished and re-posted.

I'm also going to be away next week. I should be alone for most of the day Wednesday and Thursday then I'm on a 5 hour train ride Thursday night, then alone again Friday during the day and another 11 hour train ride Monday so I think I'll have lots to post when I get back home, if I can get good internet connection I'll post while I'm away :-)

And if you haven't already done so please enter my giveaway for Girls in Trucks I loved this book, it was great!