"Still Standing: The Untold Story About My Fight Against Gossip, Hate and Political Attacks" by Carrie Prejean

Still Standing:  The Untold Story About My Fight Against Gossip, Hate and Political Attacks by Carrie Prejean is the revealing story of her participation in beauty pageants and how her simple answer that she believed "marriage is between a man and a woman" resulted in a national smear campaign against her, including her own pageant directors.  The judges were looking for a "politically correct" answer and the one who asked the question gave her a zero on that part of the competition.  She still came in second.   She tells the whole story of what really happened.

 

I found it very interesting that she liked sports and was an athlete before entering a beauty pageant and supported the Special Olympics.  As she won and moved up to the next levels, the "handlers" became more determined to change her to increase her chances of winning, such as dying her hair and paying for a boob job.  It is a great look at behind-the-scenes and she goes into detail about all the ramifications she faced from the media and liberals.  She just wanted to be true to herself and give an honest answer.  I could identify with her throughout the book and applaud her for taking a stand for what she believed, even if it meant losing. 

 

I liked this book because I only heard bits and pieces about her experience from what I read on some blogs and found it very interesting to get the whole story.  If you don't like her, you probably won't like her book either.  I thought the advice she gives to girls in the last chapter based on lessons she learned along the way was good. 

 

Following are the main points:

1.  Be true to yourself.  Don't let anyone bully you or trick you into doing something that you feel uncomfortable doing.

2.  Never fear that God's standard is the right standard.

3.  Grace turns losses into gains and accidents into your best opportunities.

4.  Seek advice from a "multitude of counsel."

5.  Forgiveness heals.

6.  Don't leave yourself outside of the circle of forgiveness.

7.  Don't let the culture convince you that trying to hold to a high standard is being "too judgmental."

8.  Stand up with courage.

(Karen's review 1/27/10)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

What Book Can't You Wait To Read (Book Blogger Hop)

We are doing this book hop sponsored by Crazy For Books. This weekend we are supposed to share what book we can't wait to read. For both Gerard and me, that is easy--definitely Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins which is the sequel to The Hunger Games which we both thought was an awesome book.

While we are waiting for this one to come in from our library, we look forward to reading Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim, the actress who played Nellie on "The Little House On The Prairie.

What book can't you wait to read? Visit the book blogger hop to find more great books!

"The Last Christian" by David Gregory

The Last Christian by David Gregory is about Abigail who grew up in Africa with her missionary parents.  When a strange disease wipes out the village except for her so has to come to the USA.  Everything changes for her and no one believes in God anymore.  The Last Christian was better than I expected--a good page-turner for sure.  If you need a faith pickup, this book will do it!

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams

I read this because I came across a blog that posted this was her first favorite book and she still enjoys reading it over and over so I wanted to read it to see why.  Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams is a cute classic children’s book about toys becoming real when they are well loved and cared for.  I liked the idea of a nursery fairy and how when a stuffed animal is worn out, that's when it becomes real.  

I recommend this book to any parent who thinks it’s time to throw out a worn out stuffed animal that their child is not ready to part with.  This should help.  Me being a stuffed animal collector, I really liked this story!

(Karen's review 4/18/10)

Comment moved from our other blog:

My daughter loved this book when she was small. I would read it to her, and then when she could read, she would read it to me. When my sons were small, the oldest had a black and white teddy bear that actually was tread bare. Our boys were 5 years apart so the oldest never played with it anymore, but the little one took it over and loved it. Well, when cleaning out things (we could burn things in a burn barrel where we lived), I threw that bear in thinking it was old, raggedy and worn out. Well, you would have thought I had killed my baby boy's best friend. He screamed and cried, but it was too late to retrieve it from the fire. I felt so bad for quite a while over that. The baby girl that came along 13 years after this incident is the one that loved The Velveteen Rabbit...too bad I hadn't read it when my boys were babies. Thanks for the reminder of a great book for little ones.

By peabea on April 18, 2010

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"The Art Of Racing In The Rain" by Garth Stein

The Art Of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein is awesome.  It started out slow and I thought about giving up on it but I’m so glad I stuck with it and finished it.  It is narrated by a dog named Enzo who is devoted to his owner, Denny, a race car driver.  The dog and Denny sit and watch videos of car races together, while Denny points out racing tips to the dog that he applies to life.

Denny had lots of personal problems including a sick wife who died of Brain Cancer and the constant battle with his in-laws over his daughter, and a bogus criminal lawsuit against him.

The dog shares it’s thoughts with the reader but can only communicate to his owners with gestures which is frustrating for it and so he looks forward to being reincarnated as a man.  It’s an inspirational book, encouraging the reader to “finish the race” and never, ever quit but hang in and overcome obstacles.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from The Art Of Racing In The Rain:
 

Your car goes where your eyes go.
 
Yes:  the race is long—to finish first, first you must finish.
 
The true hero is flawed.  The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles—preferably of his own making—in order to triumph.
 
No race has ever been won in the fist corner, but plenty of races have been lost there.
 
Getting angry at another driver for a driving incident is pointless.  You need to watch the drivers around you, understand their skill, confidence and aggression levels, and drive with them accordingly.  Know who is driving next to you.  Any problems that may occur have  ultimately been caused by you, because you are responsible for where you are and what you are doing there.

(Karen's Review 2/3/10)
Must check out www.goenzo.com

The Art Of Racing In The Rain is told to you by Enzo, the dog.  You will grow to love Enzo very much as he tells the story of Denny, his owner and a race car driver, his wife, Eve, and their daughter, Zoe.  This is a wonderful book.  It goes very fast.  I found it almost impossible to put down.  The ending is very good and very sad.  You will understand when you read it.  This book deserves to be read!  Enjoy!
Gerard's Review posted 1/25/10

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?