It has been several weeks since I posted my first book reviews; I got sidetracked when I found the shelfari website. It was a lot of fun to remember so many books that I have read and find titles that I want to read in the future as well. You can see my whole bookshelf here.
Lately I have been reading more light fiction and spending a lot more time (too much time??) reading blogs and about blogging, but there were a couple of novels that stood out, mainly because they both made me cry at the end. 
The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Rosina Lippi
The two main characters of this book, John Dodge and Julia Darrow, both end up in a small town in South Carolina as a result of trying to run away from the past. The story is not formulaic and develops at a nice pace as the relationships and secrets of their lives are revealed and they fall in love with each other. Ultimately, each must face the fears and deceptions they have allowed to keep them captive and choose whether to break free from them or to continue as they are.
The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum
In this story, the main character of Emily Haxby comes up against the difficulty of trying to live her life fully, while at the same time protecting herself from being hurt by other people as she has been growing up, which we learn more about over the course of the book. We see her as she begins to change her direction and is then forced to choose whether to face the past and learn to be honest with herself and with others.
Both of these books really spoke to me about the different coping mechanisms I have used to keep myself “safe” and how ineffective they are in the long run as opposed to dealing with the past and healing the hurts inside. Of course, in both of these stories the answer lies within the people themselves and within the power of love and relationship. While that may work for a period of time, I personally believe that, for a true and lasting healing, it has to come from God. (More on that topic in my next book review, and I will try to establish a more regular schedule for posting these.)
