Where the Light Enters: Building a Family and Discovering Myself by Jill Biden

This is an autobiography by Jill Biden, wife of former senator and Vice president and now presidential candidate, Joe Biden. The readers of this book will probably be looking for insight into the potential president, Joe Biden and the nature of the relationship between him and the former second lady. Jill Biden obviously did not include any negative stories about Joe Biden and their lives apart and now together.

However, in their story is one of great hardships, romance, togetherness and then again, experiencing tragic loss. Joe Biden lost his first wife and a young child in an auto accident when he was a young United States Senator. Subsequently, after a casual meeting and then subsequently seeing her picture, he surprised Jill Biden by asking her out for dinner. As they say, “the rest is history.” They clicked as a couple. Mrs. Biden is very clear in this book how important family has been to both herself and to her husband. She describes in great detail how she and Joe built an intimate meaningful relationship with their immediate and extended families. She also shares with the reader how important it was to her to develop and maintain her career as a teacher and ultimately as a professor.

Mrs. Biden shares the special issues that were dear to her heart as well as some of the projects that she and Joe shared together. How she was able to integrate family, career and the role of being a public servant as a wife of the vice president is the essence of this book. Of particular note was her deep-rooted interest in military families and in educating women about breast cancer.

Of course, Mrs. Biden shares with the reader a glimpse into how she and Joe have experienced and continued to deal with the more recent loss of one of their sons. Dr. Jill Biden is obviously a skilled writer and she is quite articulate in the writing of this book. Perhaps, it is fair to say that there are still some important chapters to be written in the near future.

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A Million Miles In A Thousand Years by Donald Miller

The author and two friends are trying to write a screenplay for a movie. They are trying to figure out what makes a good story, but the author realizes he is struggling to figure out what makes a good life.

This book might be summarized by a subtitle the author gives the book and that is “what I learned while editing my life.” He is constantly reflecting back on his life and the meaningful interactions that he has had with people. He obviously is a man of faith and he frequently comes back to his concerns about what God will think of him and his life. He chooses many heroes and role models, some of which come from his favorite books or movies. He talks about his admiration for Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychologist who in 1942 was deported to a Nazi concentration camp, but spent time whispering into the ears of fellow prisoners, trying to prevent suicide by telling them that despite their suffering “life has meaning.” The recurrent theme of this book is that despite sadness and suffering, there can be meaningful fulfillment and that life is a journey. The author shares many of his experiences in interesting people that he has met on life’s journey as he believes that sharing life’s trials and tribulations is what one should try to do. He raises the idea that suffering and sharing the hardships of life can be a worthwhile goal and make life more meaningful.

A symbolic but real life experience that the author shares is really the essence of this book and that is a grueling cross country bicycle trip that he participated in with many of his close friends where they traveled ocean to ocean in three weeks. He believes that sharing such adventures with people you care about is a most worthwhile endeavor. Perhaps that is why he is sharing this book with his readers.

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I decided to read this book because I had heard it was a very emotional and wonderful book from multiple people. This book is very inspiring and very different because it is written thoughtfully and caring through the eyes of someone you don’t see every day. Auggie, the main character, who feels like any other ordinary little boy inside, isn’t seen the same way by everybody else because he has a deformed face. Auggie has always been homeschooled and this book is about Auggie’s journey through his first year attending a real school—middle school. It is probably bad enough to be a new kid, let alone having a deformed face and being at a real school for the first time in your life—well imagine it would be like for Auggie.

            What I really liked about Wonder is that the author, R.J. Palaciodid a great job of capturing Auggie’s perspective and she also showed the perspectives of other people in Auggie’s life by telling the story from the views of other people in Auggie’s life. I recommend this book because it really makes the sadness, happiness, enjoyment, pleasure, and emotion come to life in the reader’s eyes and in the character’s eyes. I recommend this book to people who like to see real life—both the hardships and the happy moments.