Duggars and Recovering Charles

I finished 2 books the past week or so and wanted to share my thoughts. I had put a hold on both of them - at different times - at the library, and ended up getting them both on the same day. So - needless to say, I was reading a lot, since I knew I wouldn't be able to renew them.

The Duggars: 20 and Counting!
I think I've only seen part of an eposide on TV about the Duggar family. I also caught a bit of a Today show where they were being interviewed. At any rate, if you don't know anything about the Duggar family, they live in Arkansas and they just had their 18th child (YES - ALL biological - 2 sets of twins). The first time I saw them, I was going YEAH, RIGHT! That's absolutely CRAZY! But they seemed like a really nice, NOT crazy, faithful family. I saw they had a book that came out and I was curious. And I figured if she had some ideas that helped with raising ALL of her children, maybe I could gain some wisdom that would help me with my 2.
It was a REALLY good book. I would recommend it to anyone. They are so faithful and they are not having children just willy-nilly & letting them run wild. I really think they do better with their 18 children than many of us do with our 2 or 3. I got some great ideas that I'm going to incorporate into my family, such as stressing OBEDIENCE, having a buddy system, managing chores, and staying out of debt. I took lots of notes. This book was also a huge faith-booster. They're Christian and most of what they do is based on Bible principles. They shared many miracles they've seen in their lives as they have tried to live Christlike lives and commit to staying out of debt and raising children the way God would.
Their website is here if you're curious!

Recovering Charles
This was a novel by Jason F. Wright, who also wrote The Wednesday Letters and Christmas Jars. I have read neither book. Honestly, I found it because I was going through YouTube trying to listen to some Cherie Call music while I cleaned and one of the YouTube videos had a song she sang for this book.
So - here's my review - it's good! It's goes into a lot of depth about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina back in 2005. It was good to read, because at the time of Katrina, I was in the "new-mommyhood-fog" and I really don't recall a lot. I knew it was a horrible time, but I really didn't know the details, so this book really takes you there and gives in-depth visuals. It was a good storyline. The only thing is that I guess I'm used to (and prefer) a woman's point of view - espeically when it comes to falling in love. Men..sigh...tend to be not as "intense" as women when it comes to falling in love. Anyway, it was a good book if you need a good read.

I'm on to find some more good books. Comment and let me know if you are reading something that you LOVE AND that is inspirational. My goal is to read at least 3 LDS books, 3 "self-help" books (this is where I would categorize the Duggars book), and 4 inspirational novels.

P.S. Thanks for everyone's thoughts on small towns! great input... we'll let you know what happens!