{book report} – at home in the world & it ends with us

We had a great summer filled with adventures and travel…we took a Caribbean cruise in June and spent a week in Hawaii in September. I find it hard to find time to write on the blog during the summer season but I’m back now that Fall season is here.

I’ll dive right in and start catching up on my book reports. I’ve read 31 books this year so far and I am so proud of myself for keeping up with my reading. I made it a priority at the beginning of the year to carve time to read and here we are, about 60+ days left until the end of the year and my “reading habit” is still going strong.

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AT HOME IN THE WORLD

At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe by Tsh Oxenreider

This book is a travel memoir, it chronicles a family’s adventure (with 3 young kids in tow) around the world (in 9 months)—seeing, smelling, and tasting the widely varying cultures along the way—they discover what it truly means to be at home.

This was a mix of travelogue and thoughts about home, God, longing, and life in general. I think the longing she feels to travel is similar to any kind of yearning that others feel – for a different life, for a change, for the ideal. I especially loved the thoughts on finding home and community and on how wanderlust is never satisfied, but how that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

My whole adult life, I go thru phases where I’m a restless adventurer and at times, deeply home-bodied. I am always eager for adventure BUT at the same time grateful for my home. I always feel the tension and wrestle between wanderlust and the comforts of cozy hominess. This book made me realize that I am not alone and that I don’t have to choose a side, I can do both.

I recently discovered the author’s podcast and love that too.

Favorite Quotes:

“This world is huge; it is majestic; it is worth exploring just for the sake of knowing it.”

“I was infected with an incurable sense of wanderlust, but I was also a homebody. I matured into adulthood when I acknowledged this truth.”

“I know, in my soul, that a love for travel is a gift and not a hindrance. It feels like a burden when the bucket list is bigger than the bank account, but a thirst for more of the world is not something to apologize for. Denying its presence feels like denying something good in me. Wanderlust has a reputation as the epitome of unrequited love, something the young and naive chase after because they don’t yet realize it’s as futile as a dog chasing its tail. Turns out, ever-burning wanderlust is a good thing.”

IT ENDS WITH US

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

This was an emotional book, I felt all emotions while reading this book. My 2nd book by the author, and loved both books so far. Some parts were hard to read, it will break you and make you cry. The story that is simultaneously gut wrenching and beautiful. It gave me a different perspective of the subject that book tackled. It is honest, raw and gritty and will take you on a journey which is unforgettable. I suggest going into the book blind, because reading about the plot will just the spoil the story for you.

This book is an ode to every woman who finds the strength to face what they never expected to and who had the courage to move on even when they think that they can’t. Most importantly it’s an ode to her strength in saying that it’s enough and ‘It Ends with Us’. One of the best reads in 2016.

Memorable Quote:
“All humans make mistakes. What determines a person’s character aren’t the mistakes we make. It’s how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.”

“Life is a funny thing. We only get so many years to live it, so we have to do everything we can to make sure those years are as full as they can be. We shouldn’t waste time on things that might happen someday, or maybe even never.”

“Imagine all the people you meet in your life. There are so many. They come in like waves, trickling in and out with the tide. Some waves are much bigger and make more of an impact than others. Sometimes the waves bring with them things from deep in the bottom of the sea and they leave those things tossed onto the shore. Imprints against the grains of sand that prove the waves had once been there, long after the tide recedes”.

“I think that’s one of the biggest signs a person has matured—knowing how to appreciate things that matter to others, even if they don’t matter very much to you.”