Cold Tangerines

My good friend, and college roommate, Sarah from Short Stop gave this reading challenge about a month ago.  Sarah is brilliant and has a way with words herself, but she is a self-confessed non-reader.  So, when she fell in love with this book, I just KNEW it had to be good.  She offered 10 books in a giveaway to anyone who left a comment on her blog wanting to participate.  But because she is generous (and convincing enough to sell ice cubes to an Eskimo), she arranged to have the publisher, Zondervan, send a copy to ALL 30 of us who commented.  

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist is a delightful read.  It is "a collection of stories about God, and about life, and about the thousands of daily ways in which an awareness of God changes and infuses everything."  It does not read like a novel.  Each chapter reads like a magazine article or blog post.  This makes it easy to read if you only have a few minutes to spare, but I found at the end of some chapters, I wanted the next one to be a continuation.  What it lacks in continuity, it makes up for in writing style.  She is honest, vulnerable, wise, and at the same time witty.

“I feel powerless, and prayer reminds me that I may be powerless, but there is power, and the one who holds the power is good.”

“Today I am desperate enough to pray. When I think about prayer, about what it is and what it brings to my life and what it tells me about the way life is, I realize, for the thousandth time that the alternative is about as smart as building your house on marshmallow fluff or taking Flintstone vitamins to cure cancer.”

I found myself reminiscing, laughing, and at times contemplating as I read.   I highly recommend this book.  Even if you don't consider yourself "a reader," you will not regret this purchase.  Put on your comfy clothes, grab a cup of something warm, and enjoy some time with your new girlfriend, Shauna.  That's what it feels like after reading her work...like you just had some great girl-bonding time with a good friend.

Thank you to Sarah and to Zondervan for this opportunity.  It was a lot of fun.  To read more reviews, click on over to Short Stop.