Reading

Here's an update on two books I read recently.

1. My very first Agatha Christie book: The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I have always heard of and seen people reading them and wondered. Well, not anymore. She is a great writer. Her red herrings are masterful, she leaves you disliking the narrator (very unique) and yet you find yourself being just like the narrator, believing you know exactly who did it. Except, of course, you're wrong. After getting used to figuring out Authur Conan Doyle's villians, I thought I could peg Agatha Christie's with little problem, since there is a great similiarity stylistically in how they write and develop the plot. But for those dang red herrings! It was a great introduction into this part of the literary world and I enjoyed it very much. The only thing I was right about was in proclaiming to my roommate that I would have the book (which belonged to her) finished by 11:30. The minute I turned the last page, the clocked ticked from 11:29. :-]

2. Adopting Aloysha cannot acurately be summarized here. And yet, I'm still going to try :-] It is perhaps one of the best books I have read in a very long time. Where I would give Agatha Christie a 4 on a 5 point scale, I would give Robert Klose (the author) a 7. It is about the journey of a single man adopting a son from Russia. It follows his emotional ups and downs about why he's adopting and all the paperwork, setbacks, hopes, complications, and eventual joy. Even though you know the outcome, he writes so well that you feel as if you're right there with him at that point in the journey, not having a clue what will come next. What I particularly like is his descriptions of the attitudes and encounters with Russian culture - which was done so well and reminded me of my recent experiences in the orphanage in Ukraine - and of saying "spasiba" everywhere I went. [Russian for "thank-you"] :-] Anyhow, I LOVE this book, it shows the joy in adoption where so often we who do mission work only see the heartache. It shows one man fighting with everything he has, even when hopeless, to bring his son home - which is a beautiful picture of the gospel in many ways.

Each book I read in the course of a day, so if you don't have alot of reading time, they are good ones to pick up. :-]