Recent reads.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng- I heard this recommended by a couple people, so I was excited to read it. It's about a "perfect" town and a well to do family with four kids and a single mother/daughter who live in their rental condo and how all their stories intertwine. Each chapter focuses on a different character and reveals a deeper part of their meaning in the story. The beginning of the book is in the present where the well to do family's house is on fire and then goes back in time over the last year telling how they got to that point. It was entertaining and interesting. The ending wasn't my absolute favorite, but it seemed to fit with the story, if that makes sense. (After typing this, before posting, I also heard a couple people say they didn't like it- that it was too hard to get into and there were too many characters. It wasn't my favorite book, but I did enjoy it.)

Encounters with Jesus: Unexpected Answers to Life's Biggest Questions by Tim Keller- Our life group at church did this book over the summer, and I really enjoyed it. Each chapter examines a part of Jesus' story and His encounter with someone in the Bible, like an outcast, skeptical student, religious insider, Mary, etc. He dove deeper into many stories I've read in the Bible before but hadn't studied in depth, and he made many great points that I hadn't necessarily thought about or explored before. Some chapters struck me more than others (as with probably many books like this), but overall it was good.

Heat Wave by Nancy Thayer- This book was on my (very long) reading list, which means that I got it from some blog recommendation somewhere, and I ended up reading it because it was the first book that my small local library actually had in stock at the moment. I do love our library way more than I thought I would when we moved here, but the selection isn't as great (obviously) in a smaller town, so sometimes I have to wait awhile before getting a book. I really enjoyed this. I looked forward to reading it and it was a very pleasant, easy read (though there were a couple racy parts that weren't my favorite). It's about a wife who's husband suddenly passed away and she's left with two younger kids, and about the year after his passing as they are grieving and moving on. (Hint- there's some romance later on in her moving on. :)