30 Before 30 Update: September 2013 Edition

As you might imagine, my days as of late have been chock full of baby stuff... but I did manage to wake up long enough to read a couple of books and overhaul a few recipes in my recipe file.  If you're just joining us and are thinking, "What's 30 Before 30?", check out my original post here.

So, this month my fun book was Jacob's Way by Gilbert Morris.  I've been reading Gilbert Morris books since I was in 8th grade, so this was a re-read for me.  All the same, I enjoyed myself.  Basically, the story is about a Jewish girl and her grandfather who emigrate from Russia to the US shortly after the civil war.  They become peddlers, meet some very interesting characters and search for the truth... is Jesus truly the Messiah the Jews are waiting for? I enjoyed the story and found the details about the Orthodox Jewish traditions interesting.  There's some great dialogue between Jacob (the elderly Jewish man) and Sam (the middle aged civil war vet) throughout the last half of the book that you won't want to miss.  And of course, what would any Gilbert Morris novel be without a love story woven through it.  This one doesn't disappoint and there is a happy ending for everyone.  I figured there would be a happy ending, but getting there is all the fun - there's plenty of twists and turns along the way.  Recommend this one for sure.

My educational/devotional book this month was The New Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson.  I read this book back in college as part of a child development class, but M and I borrowed this book from my parents a while back and have been re-reading it together.  I don't necessarily agree with every single thing in the book, but I do respect Dobson's years of experience (both as a psychologist and a father) and advice.  The man does know what he's talking about... This is not a book you can just fly through.  It requires a lot of thought, and it inspired many discussions as M and I agree together on the discipline measures that will help us accomplish our goal of raising a happy, healthy, responsible, godly, independent, hard-working person.  A daunting task, really, and I'm very overwhelmed at the prospect at times, but Dobson's work was a great place to start the discussion. We'll be implementing some of his techniques as Ry Guy gets older, too. 

There are so many things I'd like to be doing (like quilting, or scrapbook, or continuing with my great Recipe File Makeover), but let's face it... sleep is my primary leisure activity right now.  I hope to get back into those things again soon and will keep you updated on the progress. 

The search is on for some new books to read.  Any suggestions?   What's the latest thing you've read?