Monday!

Monday Recommendation List

Random list of 10 books Monday! I have read and enjoyed each of these enough to flag for a potential personal library purchase.

Be bold and just choose randomly, stick to your normal genre...or step outside of your normal reading zone and try something you usually wouldn’t. You can look up the descriptions at Amazon.com, or search my blog for old posts by entering the title in the little search box in the top left-hand corner and clicking the magnifying glass.

This week-- 10 recommendations (in no particular order):

1. Love Wins by Rob Bell
2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
3. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult
4. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
5. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
6. Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
7. Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh
8. This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
9. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay
10. Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Monday Recommendations

Monday Recommendation List

Random list of 10 books Monday! I have read and enjoyed each of these enough to flag for a potential personal library purchase.

Be bold and just choose randomly, stick to your normal genre...or step outside of your normal reading zone and try something you usually wouldn’t. You can look up the descriptions at Amazon.com, or search my blog for old posts by entering the title in the little search box in the top left-hand corner and clicking the magnifying glass.

This week-- 10 recommendations (in no particular order):

1. Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl
2. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
3. The Devil Who Tamed Her by Johanna Lindsey
4. Random Family  by Adrian Leblanc
5. Stitches  by David Small
6. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
7. The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
8. The Informant by James Grippando
9. An Incomplete Education by Judy Jones
10. Talking to Heaven  by James Van Praagh

Monday Recommendation List

Monday Recommendation List

I’m going to post a random list of 10 books each Monday. I have read and enjoyed each one enough to flag for a potential personal library purchase.

Be bold and just choose randomly! Stick to your normal genre...or step outside of your normal reading zone and try something you usually wouldn’t. You can look up the descriptions at Amazon.com, or search my blog for old posts by entering the title in the little search box in the top left-hand corner and clicking the magnifying glass.

Let me know what you think!!

This weeks 10 recommendations (in no particular order):

1. Read with a child: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
2. Presidential Prestige: The President’s Club by Nancy Gibbs
3. Memoir of strength and perseverance: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
4.  Spirit Stirring Classic: The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain
5. Improve yourself: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
6.  Makes you ponder: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (read all three in the series! Don’t watch the movies!!!)
7. Dramatic/Emotional: Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
8. Historical Romance tearjerker: Forbidden by Elizabeth Lowell
9. Strong female lead: Shelter Me by Juliette Fay
10. Life changing: Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning

Sometimes a book can literally change who you are. One such book, for me, was “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. I was absolutely riveted by the insight and wisdom contained in this book.

Frankl imparts his experience of laboring in Nazi concentration camps over a five year period. He was a successful man and then, one day, absolutely everything was taken from him. His very identity was stripped away; a number was tattooed on his arm giving him his “new” identity. His parents, brother and pregnant wife were all killed. This complete dehumanization is such an appalling thought that my mind cannot grasp it.  But Frankl goes on. He survives years of unimaginable physical and psychological torture. He holds on to the only thing he has left: himself. He makes a choice to stay strong and search for a meaning in his new life. He allows his mind to take over and keep him sane on a journey through hell.  

Frankl shows that you often can’t avoid disastrous circumstances, but you are the only one who can choose how to adapt, find meaning and continue on your path. In the book, Frankl discusses other men, and how they dealt with these horrors. Some gave up hope and wasted away. Some turned into animals. It’s hard to imagine how one would respond; you couldn’t know if this torture would ever end and I think it may be easy to lose hope, to perhaps even hope for death. Frankl argues that one must dig deep inside and find a reason to live, a meaning to every suffering.

Most of us will never experience this type of absolute low point in life, but I believe that this type of circumstance is when you truly know yourself. No one can give you an ultimate purpose and meaning, this is a journey that only you can take. I see so many people going through the motions of life who seem to have no purpose. I have a strong belief that my purpose in life is to accept suffering, to love others and myself and to learn and find meaning every day of my life. Frankl says “He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How.”

Read this book. I honestly don’t see how anyone could not be profoundly impacted by Frankl’s moving work.