Summer Reading,

Holy birthday cake, I haven't written on my blog in a while!  Well hello, those of you that actually keep up with my blog!  I hope you all are well and healthy as the summer is starting up! Well, I decided to write this update because I thought I'd try and keep myself accountable on at least once thing:  summer reading.

I have an obsession with a few things, and sometimes it becomes unhealthy.  Among those things are books.  I'm one to scurry to the book section at work and browse all the newest releases as I'm waiting for a ride home, or spend hours at a time reading up on new books to add to my reading list. And usually, I'm pretty good at finishing all my books in a decent amount of time so that I can move on to other ones. But this year, because of work, EYA, small groups, and countless other things, I've been buying more books than I've been reading! That's not good at all! So after organizing my bookshelves, I decided to pull out 10 books and start a summer reading list.

1. You'll Get Through This by Max Lucado - I picked this book up just because everyone talks about how great Max Lucado's books are, to be honest.  But after actually opening it up and reading the side flaps, I really got into what the premise of this book is all about:  when you're thrown into a pit, there really is no easy exit.  I'm real excited to start this book, and I promise there will be tons of highlighter marks in it!
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - I'm gonna confess: I watched the movie first. And I know I'm gonna get my head ripped off by a ton of Perks fans, but I thought it was finally time to read the book, especially since it's been sitting in my closet for over a year and I thoroughly enjoy the film.
3. Monster by Walter Dean Myers - This book is like a treasure of mine. In high school, this was one of the books that hooked me into reading again, even though it was more targeted to a male audience.  It was the grittiest and most raw book I was able to get my freshman hands on, and I was instantly hooked to this particular fiction genre. Plus, with the recent loss of Mr. Myers, I thought this would be a perfect way to pay homage to him.
4. The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkerson - A while ago, a friend of mine recommended this book to me. Modern day parables? Ordinary and the Land of Familiar? Is this some kind of Dr. Seuss book?!  But after reading countless reviews from many people, including Pastor Rick Warren and Michael Tait of the newsboys, I thought I'd give it a chance.
5. Fly a Little Higher by Laura Sobiech - This book tells the heartwarming but equally heartbreaking story of Laura's son, Zach, who became an Internet sensation after being featured on SoulPancake talking about his cancer, a rare form of bone cancer called Osteosarcoma.  I read the first 60 pages and it was absolutely incredible; I'm hoping I can get the time to read it this year!
6. Looking for Alaska by John Green - I know that everyone and their mother knows about The Fault in our Stars by now (which was a Nerdfighter secret for years before the movie trailers even got released), but fun facts for you:  two of his other books are turning into movies, too! One of them is Looking for Alaska, and thus being the reason I'm revisiting this John Green classic.
7. Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick - I've heard countless good things about this particular book, and I've definitely enjoyed his sophomore novel, Greater. It just made sense to read his first book! Hopefully it lives up to all the hype!
8. Seriously, I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres - I love Ellen. Who doesn't love Ellen?
9. Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer - When I was first attending Chi Alpha, a college ministry in my town, the same friend that recommended The Dream Giver was starting a small group with this book and invited me to it. Since I didn't know her very well and really didn't have the money for the book, I kindly declined, but I was still extremely curious as to what it was about. So, I picked up a cheap copy at Walmart, put down a day to start it and (you know where this is going, huh?) put it on my bookshelf and never touched it again. That's all gonna change!
10. This Star Won't Go Out by Esther, Lori, and Wayne Earl - This book is similar to Fly a Little Higher, except this is a compilation of diaries, poems, pictures, blog posts, and art from Esther Earl, a young gal in the Nerdfighter community who passed away of another rare form of cancer, this time thyroid cancer, a few years ago.  In the 100 pages I read of it, Esther is poised and full of knowledge, eager to share her life with so many people. Lori and Wayne have graciously decided to share their daughter's entire life with the world, and I'm so glad I'll be able to finish reading all about her.

So, that's my pending reading list for the summer! Let's start a conversation about this, bibliophiles! What's on your summer reading list?  Have you read any of these titles?  And are there any books I should be reading?  I'd love to know all your thoughts!

And I promise it won't take me two or three months to update again. I've got a lot going on, so that means a lot to write about... eventually!