madameblogalot

I got to do more reading in March than I had in a few months. During our vacation time I was able to do some reading on the plane. It seemed to me that most of my reading this month ended up with the material being both a hit and a miss!

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs-a low culture manifesto by Chuck Klosterman. I read this book on the recommendation of my sister. Some of Klosterman’s observations were interesting and insightful. A few were humorous. But for the most part, I had to make myself read this one. I almost could not get past about the second page with the language that he uses to express himself. But there are some interesting things to think about. I even think that though we come from opposite ends of the spectrum, we may have reached some of the same conclusions! This book was both a Hit and a Miss with me.

A friend of mine had sent me some articles that he thought I would enjoy reading. They are from the First Things website. Both are written by David Hart. The first, “Freedom and Decency”, was easier to read than the second, “Christ and Nothing”. They were both fairly long, the second pretty lengthy. They both also had some interesting things to say about where we are at in our culture, though from an entirely different perspective than Klosterman. They are a little difficult to read, but are worthwhile to those who are interested in those things. Again, these articles were both a Hit and a Miss for me.

While on the plane I also read the book She Said Yes by Misty Bernall. Her daughter Cassie was killed during the rampage at Columbine High School. I bought this book for my kids. My daughter read it and told me that I had to read it (which I had already intended to do.) This book was a Hit with me.

Then last night I finished the book Help! I Don’t Like My Child! by Barbara Woodall. This book is not what I was expecting. I thought it was a book about raising teens and how to get past the feelings we sometimes have towards them and how to overcome these feelings and how to better get through conflicts. This is not at all what this book is about. This book is about a mother and daughter in an abusive situation and the feelings living like this brought into their relationship. The mother turned to God to help overcome these things. However, I did not really enjoy her writing style and also found it to be less professional than Misty Bernall’s. In this book, Woodall shares how her teenage daughter also died. I did not realize this was the story I was reading. I am not sure if my expectations or the general writing style made this book a Miss for me.