Good Reads

Since I read to relax and I'm an intense person, I finish quite a few books. Here are my two recent picks: It's All About Him - Denise Jackson and In the Heart of the Sea - Nathaniel Philbrick. Jackson's book was refreshing in that she was genuine. She shared her rise to celebrityhood as the wife of Alan Jackson, her emotional void, her marriage pains and her realization that Christ alone could heal her heart and restore her marriage. I am grateful that Ben doesn't enjoy singing. Therefore, I think it is safe to say he will never give a concert with screaming teenage girls throwing themselves at him. Admittedly, some women swoon as easily at married doctors as at country legends. However swooning in a hospital can be attributed to blood loss and imbalanced meds. Not to say that Ben's patients haven't found him swoon-worthy, but he is quick to say he has a wife and four kids.



This nonfiction book unlike the other is not written in a Christian perspective. It is an account of the tragedy of the whale ship Essex. It moved me to tears at the harsh reality the crew endured. This book is quite gruesome, but strangely fascinating. Ben commented that so many of the men's choices were idiotic. Indeed, hindsight is always 20/20. Considering their physical deprivations, mental exertions must have been exceedingly difficult. Unfortunately they doomed themselves by their repeated poor judgment. This book made me appreciate that Ben isn't a whaler. With all the environmental hype and whale protection he probably couldn't be one anyway. But hypothetically speaking, it is nice he isn't gone at sea for three years at a time. I think I would go daft. And for those that think I already am, please don't comment.