In My Opinion-Don't Bother!

I guess it is a bit unfair of me to say "don't bother" to read these books.  Maybe someone else would like them!  They were recommended by others, so they must have liked them.  But I just didn't get it with any of them.  Two novels and two non-fictions books that I don't recommend:

1) Unless by Carol Shields-I looked forward to reading this novel as I have enjoyed some of her other books.  This one I just never connected with.  It is about a mother struggling to deal with the fact that her daughter Nora left college and went to live on the street (in Toronto) with a sign that read "Goodness".  At night Nora slept in a local shelter.  Her family (parents and 2 sisters) went at least once a week to see her.  And by that, I mean literally to see her.  She would not acknowledge them at all.  So the premise is interesting, but I never really cared about any of the characters.

2) The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick-my husband had told me that he had seen something about a movie with this name that he was interested in seeing.  When I came across the book at Barnes and Noble I thought it sounded interesting. I read over half of the book and finally gave up.  My husband suggested that I just read the last chapter to see how it ends, so I did.  The last chapter was the most interesting part of the book that I read.  Again, an interesting premise...Germany and Japan won World War II and had taken over the United States.  The US was divided into different parts, run by Germany, Japan, etc.  I just didn't care.

3) savor by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung-subtitled Mindful Eating, Mindful Life.  If you have never read anything at all about either mindful eating or mindful living, this book might be interesting for you.  I found nothing really new in the whole book.

4) Jesus Shock by Peter Kreeft-this book was one of the books recommended by Matthew Kelly for spiritual reading.  I found it redundant in parts, and somewhat disagreeable in parts.  The only two things that I really found helpful in the book were the following:

"What is the opposite of boredom? Not pleasure, not even happiness, but joy."

 and

"She knows that 'in the end life contains only one tragedy: not to have been a saint.' (Leon Bloy's ending of The Women Who Was Poor)"