#28 The Road to Grace by Richard Paul Evans

It has taken me longer to read this book, a mere 173 pages, than books twice, even three times,  its size.  All I can say, is that quite like the main character of The Road to Grace, recently, I have found myself on a journey and it has taken me some time to get back to where I know I need to be.  But, here I sit once again, in front of my home computer, typing my reaction to a book.  I am now exactly where I need to be. 

In The Road to Grace, Alan Christofferson continues his trek from Seattle, Washington, to Key West Florida.  While the first two volumes in the series kept me enthralled, this third book was a slow start for me and a slow read until the last 50 pages or so.  However, looking back, this one must might be my favorite of the three.  The characters Alan meets as he walks this time through South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri have the most to teach him about forgiveness and the genuine good nature and hearts of people.  There are certainly bends and twists along his path, literally and figuratively, and there's a moment in the last chapter that made me cry tears of fear and pain for Alan, while shaking my head and wondering exactly how much more this man would be subjected to.  As it was last year, it's going to be a very long 365 days before I can find out what happens next and if The Walk will even continue for Alan.

I have always known in my heart that books mean more to a person when they can relate, when the book speaks to their soul, or teaches them a lesson that can't be taught in any other way.  Books often force us to take a long hard look at ourselves, turning the mirror back onto us, forcing us to often see what we really don't want to look at.  Or, as for me this time, books can often make clear what reality makes muddy. 

I said at the beginning of my blog that lately I have been on my own walk.  Not literally, but I have been on a journey that has taught me so much about myself, what I value in life, and how I want to live out the next 50 years.  The truth is, the cause of the journey is irrelevant and what I was walking for matters to no one but myself and my family, but I find the timeliness of reading The Road to Grace rather meaningful.  Was I not supposed to read the book quickly?  What if I had finished it within days of buying it?  Would it have left a mark on my soul as it did now, knowing that the events of the past week, the events that sparked my personal walk, opened my heart and mind to the possibilities of The Road to Grace? I doubt it.  I think I was supposed to carry this book with me on my journey, reading as I found time, pondering when I had a moment or two, and then wrapping it all up tonight, on a night when I had time to reflect and to truly understand the book's meaning and it's meaning to my life in particular.

As I sometimes do when I read, I have highlighted several passages that have particular meaning for me.  The first is, "We chain ourselves to what we do not forgive."  Lately I have been chained and I am ready to be set free.  Holding resentment in your heart is a true burden.  It is debilitating and I am so ready to move on.  Yet, I can't quite bring myself to forgive.  It's like Alan said in my next favorite passage, "Desire.  It is not the ability to walk that pleases God, it is the desire to walk."  I have the desire to forgive, but am not quite ready to make the leap.  But at least I am headed in the right direction.  The reverse of this is also true...I am hoping in my heart that those who I have asked to forgive me will consider letting their burden be released.  Because, for all of us, "He who does not forgive is guilty of the greater sin."  I only wish that was true--that not forgiving was the greatest sin. 

My walk, my journey, brought me home, back to the people who love me most, and I would not have it any other way.  Alan's walk might end, but it might continue on, as he searches for meaning in his life.  He will never return home, but he just might discover what I have learned over the past few weeks.  Home can sometimes be a place, but sometimes "home" is found where ever the ones you love happen to be.  My "home"goes to work and school each day and we meet back at 5225 Chappell Ridge Place almost every evening.  But, if one day those three people, who matter more to me than anything in the world, didn't come home at the end of the day, then my home wouldn't be home any more.   It's no wonder to me, then, that Alan began his walk when his "home" disappeared.  I think I would have done exactly the same thing.

I leave this series for another year and begin my search for a new book to read.  I think I need something lighter.  Between The Road to Grace and the Fifty Shades Trilogy, I have been reading a lot of heavy words lately.  Time to load up the beach bag for a little fluff.  I wonder if I have any cowboy books left?

Happy Reading, everyone!
:)  Dodie

#27 The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

(This is going to be my shortest blog ever.)

Cute story!  Read the first in the series before reading this one, otherwise you will surely get confused.  Just go ahead and throw both of them in your beach bag!  Light story, great characters, a good read. 

Happy Reading!
:) Dodie

#25 and #26 Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed by EL James

Fifty Shades of Grey presented us with the beginning of a story of a controlling man, both sexually and otherwise, and the girl who falls in love with him.  We get to go inside their bedroom and while some women were shocked (like the lady who was chatting about this book with her hairdresser while I got my hair cut close by, claiming that it was absolute trash and filth), others were gloriously happy, as they were finally able to reach inside and admit that they enjoyed a healthy sex life with their husbands (like the women that were on the Today Show happily admitting that they hadn’t had such great sex with their husbands in a long time) and that they even might want to try some more adventurous activities inside their bedrooms.  

But, once all of those amazing discoveries were made, we close Fifty Shades of Grey and are presented with Fifty Shades Darker and things take a sudden change.  No longer are women talking about Fifty Shades.  The fun and games of the first book takes a much darker turn, yet we keep reading because we can't stop.  We have to know how it all turns out.  I found myself reading Fifty Shades Darker at a fast pace because of this, but not always liking what I read.  The story is a disturbing one, well--Christian's story is a disturbing one, and it isn't always easy to read.  I found myself being amazed with Ana, her strength and her love for Christian was amazing.  Her strength was often challenged and she often questioned her love for him.  I also found myself thinking that I just wouldn't be able to do it.  I could never love a man like Christian.  And then, the next thing I knew, Christian started changing and I started to rethink my views about Christian.  And then I started wondering--can a women really change a man?  Or, better yet...can love really change a person?  

Let us turn now to book three: Fifty Shades Freed.  I wondered from the beginning if this title meant that Ana was freed from Christian or if Christian was freed from his past.  I won't ruin anything by telling you what I think now.  But, what I will say is this.  EL James saved the best for last.  Without a doubt, I liked Fifty Shades Freed the best of the three books.  I was not overwhelmed with sexual details as I was in book 1, and I wasn't scared to death like I was in book 2.  Instead, I was able to finally read a story that was filled with love, packed with action, and that made me smile when the finished the last page.  The book does take you on an emotional roller coaster, but it's so worth it in the end.  And, yes, I think love can change a man. 

When I blogged about Fifty Shades of Grey, I mentioned that EL James led me to believe in her interview on The Today Show that her book was just a story, and pretty much a story about sex.  Well, that was a gross misinterpretation on my part and five seconds into book 2 you will see that sex is just how Christian deals with things (a loosely quoted line from Ana in book 3).  Sex is the cover-up for the real story.  In fact, in book 3, EL James often glosses over the more intimate scenes and instead elaborates on the conversations between Christian and Ana, giving us insight into their emotions and feeling towards each other and their families.  You are going to have to read the series to discover what the sex is covering up--I am not about to ruin that for any reader.  But, it's worth the read, I promise.  It really is a great story about love, romance, and the importance of family.  When you hear people whispering about Fifty Shades, you can just roll your eyes at them because you know better.  This isn't a book about sex at all.  It's a book about how love, real, true, deep love, can soften the hardest heart and can lighten the blackest soul.  Anyone who thinks these books are about sex just doesn't get them. 

Happy Reading!  I am off to begin Nora Roberts' second book in the Inn Boonsboro series.  I can't wait to get re-acquainted with a ghost and a very hunky architect!  

:)  Dodie