Of Mess & Moxie

Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life by Jen Hatmaker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Simply adored this book.... & I wish I were rich or won the lottery because I would buy this book for every one of my Christian Sisters in my life. I want every woman to read it & laugh, & ponder & weep & find joy & to know you're not alone in your mess... & to show how much moxie they have as well.
I wasn't out of the intro before I had all the feels going. & they just went through the whole book. From laughing, to reflecting, to feeling heart ache of life, to laughing again.
Each chapter has its own little touch of moxie itself... & I would especially love the "HOW TO" chapters... be ready to cackle out loud.
If you want a book to just take your weekend & make you feel like you're surrounded with friends, get this book & settle in.

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Jen Hatmaker believes backbone is the birthright of every woman. Women have been demonstrating resiliency and resolve since forever. They have incredibly strong shoulders to bear loss, hope, grief, and vision. She laughs at the days to come is how the ancient wisdom writings put it.

But somehow women have gotten the message that pain and failure mean they must be doing things wrong, that they messed up the rules or tricks for a seamless life. As it turns out, every last woman faces confusion and loss, missteps and catastrophic malfunctions, no matter how much she is doing "right." Struggle doesn't mean they're weak; it means they're alive.

Jen Hatmaker, beloved author, Big Sister Emeritus, and Chief BFF, offers another round of hilarious tales, frank honesty, and hope for the woman who has forgotten her moxie. Whether discussing the grapple with change ("Everyone, be into this thing I'm into! Except when I'm not. Then everyone be cool.") or the time she drove to the wrong city for a fourth-grade field trip ("Why are we in San Antonio?"), Jen parlays her own triumphs and tragedies into a sigh of relief for all normal, fierce women everywhere who, like her, sometimes hide in the car eating crackers but also want to get back up and get back out, to live undaunted "in the moment" no matter what the moments hold

A Man Called Ove

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Why did I wait so long to read this?
I read all the reviews & all the raving on it - man, oh man. This one is totally in my top 5 of favorites.
I love Ove. The gruff old man who has such a wall up & seems like he's got a heart of stone... but we see those cracks of his goodness seep through.
I would honestly be laughing on one page & then choked up on the next. & when it ended, I was just a ball of emotions, from the ending, to not wanting the actual book to end.
I adore this book.
I had it from the library, but need to go purchase it for my own book shelf - especially because I want to highlight so many quotes from it too.
Cant say enough good about this

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A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.

Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.