Where do I even start when it comes to C.S. Lewis? I find all of his various writings to be so eloquently written, but this observation is not what I find to be the most impressive thing about him. The fact that he was a devout atheist with a scientifically-wired mind that found enough truth and fact within the religion of Christianity to devote his life to Christ is. I think that his unique background is most credible and prominent in this book among his many others. It really and truly breaks down the fundamental beliefs and theology of Christianity. It doesn't shy away from warning its readers against pride and laziness or attempting to explain the relationship of the Trinity and how we as insignificant humans can become "little Christs." No -- this book tackles these topics head on, allowing room for debate as well as revealing the simplest parts of some of the most complex questions that Christians have been wrestling with for generations. As someone who grew up in a Christian home and dedicated her life to Christ when she was seven-years-old, reading this book was a mixture of "Oh yeah, I kind of have a formulated belief surrounding this," and "Wow, I am glad he is able to explain this so well, because this is something I uncomfortably question all of the time!" That is the best part about this book -- it is timeless. All of humanity will be pondering over Christianity until the end of time, and I have a feeling that Lewis' words will still be floating around when that time comes. It also allows any sort of person from any sort of religious background (or lack thereof) to open its pages and take Lewis' invitation to delve into the mysteries of a religion with him as a faithful guide. I honestly haven't done this book justice with my descriptions simply because Lewis covers so much ground, and the ground is complex and thought-provoking. It is a reading experience that one has to have for oneself to be able to fully grasp. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone.


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Just a few (because there are so many) of my favorite quotes from Mere Christianity:

"... the great religious struggle is not fought on a spectacular battleground, but within the ordinary human heart, when every morning we awake and feel the pressures of the day crowding in on us, and we must decide what sort of immortals we wish to be."

"... a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble..."

"Virtue -- even attempted virtue -- brings light; indulgence brings fog."

"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing."

"Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense."

"He wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself."

"This world is a great sculptor's shop. We are the statues and there is a rumour going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life."

"You are as much alone with him as if you were the only being He had ever created."

"Naturally God knows how to describe Himself much better than we know how to describe Him."

"Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever? Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?"

"Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else."

"The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself."

"Men are mirrors, or 'carriers' of Christ to other men."

"Each time you fall He will pick you up again."

"You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

"Out of our selves, into Christ, we must go."

I had heard several different friends rave about this series long before I decided to read it for myself. Even though this book was most popular when I was only a freshman in high school, I have now read it as a freshman in college, and it is truly such an amazing book! What's even better is the three other books that follow it, making up an epic four-part series. In general, I think the plot idea of a world split between two kinds of people is genius: those with Red blood and those with Silver, divided by the fact that the latter possess supernatural abilities that they use to elevate themselves above those who are merely human. It is actually very similar to a story idea that I had developed around a year ago. The story follows Mare Barrow who finds that she is more than what she thought she could ever be -- she has the ability to control and create lightning despite her Red blood. Finding herself betrothed to a Silver prince and conflicted with the strange feelings she has for his older brother, Mare ends up becoming a part of a revolution rising up against the oppressive Silvers. This book ends on a true cliffhanger at the end of a surprise I truly didn't see coming. I can't wait to read the next book... and the one after that... and the one after that! 


Some of my favorite quotes from Red Queen: 

"Anyone can betray anyone."

"Words can lie. See beyond them."

"Flame and shadow. One cannot exist without the other."

"If you know someone's fear, you know them."

"There's nothing wrong with being different."

"No matter the color of blood, man will always fall."

"I see a world on the edge of a blade. Without balance, it will fall."

Yet another psychology book and highly recommended read! While this book is dense and written in scientific jargon at times, Scott Peck is truly a genius psychotherapist. He allows all of his readers to take away tidbits of the wisdom he has accumulated over the years as a therapist for hundreds of different patients. Broken up into four main sections, Discipline, Love, Growth and Religion, and Grace, Peck goes into in depth detail about what he has found to be true about each of these subjects. From fine tuning the discipline that all of us possess, to defining what love is and what it is not, to defining religion's role in a very scientific world, and how grace can be viewed as God himself within humans, Peck develops and presents outstandingly incredible hypotheses concerning the human brain and consciousness in the face of all that life throws at us. He seems to be have been able to analyze all of his topics from every angle, and this impression is probably due in part to the fact that he has helped many many people with many many different sorts of psychoanalytical problems. This book has truly changed my outlook on my own struggle with a mental disorder (OCD). It has given me a better understanding of how mental disorders even exist within the brain as well as how they can be handled and lived with without completely taking over one's life. I believe that this book has the power to speak to every one of its readers differently; all of the content within it is truly mind-blowing. As the title expresses, the road to truly coming to terms with who we are and trying our best to defy our limitations is a road that not many choose to travel because of how hard it is to stay on the path. If you are looking for a read that will challenge you to face yourself and travel on the tough road, then this is certainly the book for you!
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Some of my favorite quotes from The Road Less Traveled:

"Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."

"You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time."

"I define love thus: The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth."

"Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development of the spirit."

"Not only do self-love and love of others go hand in hand but ultimately they are indistinguishable."

"Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and wisdom."

The subject of psychology has proved to interest me much more than I thought it ever could. A part of my discovery of this fact came out of reading this book, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer. It's a simple and quick read, but certainly not lacking in wisdom and vital truths. As a current college student, this book taught me that it's alright to not know what I am going to do with my life yet. Even though I am studying writing and literature and I know that I have natural passions for both of these subjects, this book has taught me that new passions and discoveries are made as one just lives out each day. It is comforting to know that I don't have to have everything figured out, because sometimes I get caught up in the stigma that now that I'm in college, I need to start figuring everything about my life out. I would recommend this book to college students like me, but also seniors in high school that have college or whatever kind of vocational path they choose stretching out ahead of them. Essentially, Palmer is open and honest about his personal path on the road to finding his vocation for readers to be able to learn from and relate to. He stresses the importance of seeing how your vocation is in fact already inside of you, a gift to receive and be opened. He writes in a very readable way and uses a lot of engaging metaphors and anecdotes. I highly recommend this book!

Some of my favorite quotes from this book:

"... let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent."

"The soul speaks its truth only under quiet, inviting, and trustworthy conditions."

"Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am."

"Each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up."

"Vocation at its deepest level is, 'This is something I can't not do, for reasons I'm unable to explain to anyone else and don't fully understand myself but that are nonetheless compelling.'"

 While my Science, Nursing, and Business major friends can't even begin to understand why I was excited to take an essay-writing class this semester, I'm a Writing major and Literature minor, so they'll soon realize that my course work over the next three years of school is going to look very different than theirs. If they were assigned the various essays within this collection of legendary works to read, analyze, and apply to their own writing, they would most definitely not enjoy it. But I can say that getting to read the essays in this book was a great experience. I can't even imagine what it must feel like to be able to say that you have one of your very own essays in a collection that recognizes what have been deemed the best of the best from that year. It must be a pretty awesome feeling!
All in all, I will be honest in saying that not every essay in this collection appealed to me. There are only a handful that I have a thoroughly solid memory of after not looking at them for a few months, and some of them did not stand out to me as "the best" at all. But I guess that is the beauty of this kind of book. It is diverse. It recognizes all sorts of writers from all sorts of walks of life and offers readers the opportunity to delve into a series of various topics, reflections, stories, and narrative research. Every essay left me with a new idea, a shattered bias, or a distinct emotion regardless of whether or not I "liked" it. I have learned that most often, the authors of essays are different than the authors of fictional novels: they don't want you to simply like their work -- they want you to feel, to understand, to question, to analyze, and struggle with their work. I have never read an essay collection before, and even though there are five pieces within this one that I did not get the chance to read during my class, I will definitely be investing my time during quarantine to give them a read. I suggest you order yourself a copy!


My top five favorite essays from this collection:

1. Eat, Memory by David Wong Louie

2. Notes on Lazarus by Rick Moody

3. The Other Steve Harvey by Steven Harvey

4. The Trick: Notes Toward a Theory of Plot by Marilyn Abildskov

5. The Moon, the World, the Dream by Clifford Thompson

 I found this book to be very interesting in a variety of ways. Once I reached the end of it, I couldn't decide whether or not I had enjoyed it. After more contemplation, I still can't say whether or not I did. But this contemplation has led me to believe that it is not a story that readers are supposed to inherently enjoy like they would Harry Potter or a cheesy romantic novel. It is a book that causes one to reflect on how America would look without its Constitution, with a president and Congress that have all been wiped out, and a society that sees fertile women as the hope for the future. The complicated themes of sexism, oppression, disillusionment, and betrayal stand incredibly simply among their complexities in the story of Offred, a woman who's life with her husband and young daughter has been turned upside down once she becomes a handmaid -- one of the fertile women who's duty it is to bring a child to the world through her household's Commander. Margaret Atwood's storytelling is as rich as it is illusive. She masterfully creates a cultish society that I certainly hope I never live to see or be a part of, and her descriptions of the most mundane things absolutely blow me away and inspire me as a writer. This is definitely a very interesting read.

Some of my favorite quotes from this novel:

"Don't let the bastards grind you down."

"But who can remember pain, once it's over?"

"We lived in the blank white spaces at the edge of print... We lived in the gaps between the stories."

"A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze."

"But remember that forgiveness too is a power."