Butterfly Mosque- Wilson (Book #15)

Can't say enough about this book. I thought it would be another conversion story full of effusive good words for Islam and while this is well and good, this book is far more than this. It's elegantly written about Willow's journey to Islam and meeting her husband as she taught in language school in Egypt. She discusses challenges in our faith, in the west, and how she is forming a third culture in between with her multi-cultural families. She is not a perfect Muslim. She is human. And Muslim. And that is why I loved this read.

Book of Joe- Tropper (Book #14)

I love anything this guy writes. He is similar to Nick Hornby who I also love though he deals with sometimes a bit harsher issues. This is a story about Joe and how he wrote about his town Bush Falls in scathing terms and never returned for 17 years until his father got ill. He returns to learn that the town residents hate him for the words he wrote. What follows is a look into dying, prejudice, the meaning of life, and so and so forth. I find myself often underlining passages and parts of this book. Its just beautifully written. It's deep without being heavy handed. I find it interesting though, as a side note, that the more ou read certain author's collective works, the more you learn a bit about them too. I've begun to identify themes in Tropper's books that show up in all of them. As you read more and more of an author's book you begin to feel you're treading in autobiography more than you previously thought. Still, this is definitely a book I might read again.