Reading Recommendations:

The Red Leather Diary, Reclaiming a Life Through The Pages of a Lost Journal, Lily Koppel -

For more than half a century, the red leather diary lay silent, languishing inside a steamer trunk, its worn cover crumbling into little flakes. When a cleaning sweep of a New York City apartment building brings this lost treasure to light, both the diary and its owner are given a new life.

Recovered by Lily Koppel, a young writer working at the New York Times, the journal paints a vivid picture of 1930s New York, horseback riding in Central Park, summer excursions to the Catskills, and an obsession with a famous avant-garde actress. From 1929 to 1934, not a single day's entry is skipped.

Opening the tarnished brass lock, Koppel embarks on a journey with the past, traveling to a New York in which women of privilege meet for tea at Schrafft's, dance at the Hotel Pennsylvania, and toast the night at El Morocco. As she turns the diary's brittle pages, Koppel is captivated by the headstrong young woman whose intimate thoughts and emotions fill the pale blue lines. Who was this lovely ingenue who adored the works of Baudelaire and Jane Austen, who traveled to Rome, Paris, and London?

Compelled by the hopes and heartaches captured in the pages, Koppel sets out to find the diary's owner, her only clue the inscription on the front's piece - "This book belongs to Florence Wolfson." A chance phone call from a private investigator leads Koppel to Florence, a 90-year-old woman living with her 97-year-old husband. Florence ventures back to the girl she once was, rediscovering a lost self that burned with artistic fervor.

The Red Leather Diary recreates the romance and glitter, sophistication and promise, of 1930s New York, bringing to life the true story of a precocious young woman who dared to follow her dreams.

And, The Faith, Given Once, For All - Jude 3, What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It and Why It Matters, Charles Colson and Harold Fickett -

Moments before a tormented man took the lives of five young Amish schoolgirls in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania on the morning of October 5, 2006, two of the girls, Marian and Barbie Fisher, asked to be sacrificed so that the others could be saved. The killer did not spare the sisters; instead, he attempted to murder Marian, Barbie, and all eight of their female classmates. Five survived. And in the days after the tragedy, as the world watched in numb silence, the parents of those girls and the entire Amish community did something seemingly incomprehensible. They forgave the killer and supported his family with their prayers and with their financial resources. While their response shocked many, those parents and that community were actually practicing the love every Christian ought to practice. They are living what they believe.

But what do we believe? Why do we believe it? And what does it matter?

Renowned authors, Charles Colson and Harold Fickett caution us that ignorance of our own faith comes at the most critical of times for Christianity and the world at large. Christianity is a world view that speaks to every area of our lives. "If we don't know what we believe, even what Christianity is, how can we live it and defend it? Our ignorance is crippling us."

This book will provide a new grounding for Christians who've been practicing their faith for years, yet still lack a firm grasp of the basic truths on which their faith rests. "I am seeking truth, not therapy. And this is a real challenge to the church," says Colson. The truth, he argues, is in the faith given once and shared by all true Christians. From the apostolic era to today.

Above all, this book is a powerful touchstone, a dynamic exploration of what Christians believe, and why. Because you can't defend what you can't explain, and you can't live it until you learn it.

This one the reader won't ever forget!

See you at Rylander.