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Reading List II  1. Tuesdays With Morrie
, by Mitch Albom (A true story that chronicles one man's love for his teacher and mentor. Morrie Schwartz, Mitch's college professor nearly twenty years
ago, is dying. Seeing Morrie's illness covered on "Nightline," Mitch rekindles their relationship, meeting with Morrie every Tuesday, just as they used to in college, turning their relationship
into one final "class" lesson on how to live.)
 2.
Redeeming Love,
by Francine Rivers (A powerful retelling of the OT Book of Hosea, set in 1850's California. Angel, who was sold into prostitution as a child, survives by
keeping alive her hatred of the men who use her. Then she meets Michael Hosea, a man who seeks his Father's heart in everything, and thus obeying God's call to marry Angel and
to love her unconditionally. Finally, despite her bitter resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw, though not without overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. Her final
healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does.)
 3. The Great Divorce
, by C. S. Lewis (This classic work of fantasy offers a vision of the Afterworld, as the narrator boards a bus on a dreary afternoon and embarks on an
incredible journey through Heaven and Hell. He meets a host of supernatural beings far removed fromhis expectations, and comes to some significant realizations about the nature of good and evil.)
 4. The Believers, by Janice Holt Giles (This historical novel set in 1800's Kentucky, is a story about love and marriage set in a Shaker community. Rebecca Fowler is only
seventeen when she marries her first love, Richard Cooper. It is only after their first child is stillborn that Richard begins to show signs of religious fanaticism in his insistence that
it is God's punishment visited upon them, thus the Shaker missionaries newly arrived in Kentucky from New York find him an easy convert. Though they join the Shaker
community together, once there they must live apart. As time passes and Richard becomes strictly a "brother" to Rachel, and being unable to accept the doctrine of the
Shakers, she finally finds the courage to follow the dictates of her heart.)
 5. The Blue Bottle Club
, by Penelope J. Stokes (This is a story of four strong women who follow their dreams even when life throws a wrench into their plans. They learn that
God can bring beauty out of sorrow and pain. In the dim stillness of the Cameron's dusty actic, four teenage friends, with their dreams written down on paper and stashed inside a
blue cobalt bottle, join hands and commit their dreams to the future: Letitia dreams of marriage to her highschool sweetheart, Mary Love hopes to become a famous artist,
wealthy Eleanor aspires to help those in need as a social worker, and Adora, the preacher's daughter, yearns to be a Hollywood film star.)
6. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver (This story is told by the wife and
four daughters of a fiery evangelical Baptist missionary, Nathan Price, who find themselves in the Belgian Congo in 1959. Everything they have carried with them
becomes useless on African soil, and we watch the epic of one family's tragic undoing over the course of three decades, played out against the bloody backdrop of Congo's
political struggles, and woven in between threads of religion, race, sin, and redemption.)
 7. Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters (An American classic book of dramatic monolgues written in free verse, set in a 1915 midwestern town where shocking scandals
and secret tragedies are revealed by the dead citizens of the village cemetery who offer testimony about their lives. Corrupt as any big city, Spoon River is home to murderers,
drunkards, crooked bankers, lechers, bitter wives, failed dreamers, plus a few good souls.)
 8. Joshua
, by Joseph Girzone (This truely spiritual story is a modern parable of Jesus set in today's time. Joshusa moves to a small cabin on the edge of town, and the local people
are at first mystified, then confused and disturbed by his presence. He is a quiet, simple man who supports himself solely by carpentry and woodworking. )
 9. A Choice to Cherish, by Alan Maki (Alan spends a cold Montana Christmas with his dying grandfather, George, who opens a safe containing eight keepsakes. He tells Alan
that he may select one as a gift, but before making his choice he must read a story each day that his grandfather has written previously about each item. Through these stories,
Alan learns the secrets of his grandfather's life, and the reasons behind a family breach.)
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