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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 books. 100% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
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My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 50 books. 104% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


51 / 52 books. 98% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


37 / 40 books. 93% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


18 / 40 books. 45% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

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25 / 25 cozies. 100% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


5 / 26.2 miles (4th lap). 19% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


48 / 50 books. 96% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


98 / 109 books. 90% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


137 / 165 books. 83% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


88 / 100 names. 88% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


32 / 80 skills. 40% done!
Sunday, February 04, 2018

The One Where I Actually Read Something My Husband Recommends to Me

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

My husband often accuses me of ignoring the many book recommendations he's given to me.  And justifiably so.  It's not that I don't appreciate his suggestions or that I don't want to experience a book that he's enjoyed—it's just that we like very different kinds of books.  You've no doubt noticed that I'm a fiction kind of girl.  I read for entertainment, so I generally shy away from anything that's too deep.  As I like to tell my husband, if I have to re-read every sentence five times before I understand it, I'm out

One of my husband's very favorite books is The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.  He's been urging me to give it a go for a long time, reassuring me that it's more readable than many of the tomes he likes to consume.  Ironically enough, it wasn't until it was selected as the next pick for my book club that I finally gave it a chance.  And you know what?  The hubs was right.  It's a worthwhile read.  Do I count it as a favorite of mine?  No, but that's okay.  I'm glad I read it and took the time to ponder Lewis' thoughts.

The allegorical story in The Great Divorce is told by a man who dreams he gets on a bus and takes an incredible journey through Heaven and Hell.  He converses with his fellow passengers, meets a variety of supernatural beings, and has his mind opened to some surprising truths about life, death, human nature, and good vs. evil. 

I know a good deal of Lewis' ruminations went straight over my head, so I'm not going to even pretend that I understand The Great Divorce.  I did, however, enjoy "meeting" the different bus riders, each of whom represents a different type of person—the proud, the faithless, the fearful, etc.  When my husband asked me which of them I most identified with, I replied, "Um, all of them?"  I saw portions of myself in each of their weaknesses, which definitely provided food for thought.  I also appreciated Lewis' ideas on letting go of "earthly" concepts like fairness, justification, quarrels, etc. as I, too, feel that such things do not exist in heaven.  

Overall, then, I enjoyed The Great Divorce.  It's a short book with some big messages, most of which I would probably have to read about five more times in order to really get.  Maybe I'll do that. 

(Readalikes:  Besides The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the only other thing I've read by C.S. Lewis is The Screwtape Letters.  It's similar to The Great Divorce, I think.)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


To the FTC, with love:  The Great Divorce is from my personal library.

3 comments:

  1. This is not for me, but I do love that you read it because your husband recommend it to you. I always love to find new books and having other people recommend their favourite books to me is always fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a thinking book. I love some of Lewis’ works but they can be a bit deep.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh! This sounds so interesting!!

    ReplyDelete

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