So, so great.

Leave me a comment of the three things you’re most passionate about right now.  Also, let’s assume that you’re passionate about family and friends and (if you’re religious) God.  I want to hear about everything else.

I can’t tell you how many amazing things I have found through simply clicking that “Random article” button (and also from hopping from page to page through links).  The premise of Truest was inspired by a Wikipedia article, believe it or not.

I love knowledge.

Thank you to all who took my mid-year survey!  The results were fascinating and thought-provoking (and will prompt many future posts!).

The winner of the drawing was Lisa!

Lisa, a poet herself, had Billy Collins on her wishlist, so I sent her Nine Horses.  Enjoy, Lisa! I hope it inspires you!

Enjoy, Lisa!

I know surveys are no fun (at least for most of us), but your feedback really does help to improve my blog, especially since I write about a wide variety of topics.  The anonymous survey below is just 4 questions, and they are all optional.  They are also open-ended. The goal of this survey is to collect questions from my readers that will become future blog topics.

If you would take just 2-3 minutes to think about what sort of content you’d like to see at jackieleasommers.com and then respond, I’d be so terribly grateful to you!

As I said, the survey is anonymous, but if you post in the comments that you took the survey, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a FREE BOOK!  After the winner is randomly chosen, I’ll ask you what kind of book you would like, then I’ll personally select a book just for you.  Shipping only available in the US, sorry!

Click HERE to take the itty-bitty survey!  And remember to leave a comment after you’ve taken it so that you’ll be entered into the drawing!

Image credit: Chris/Shutterhacks, modified by me

My friend Tony (who blogs over at A Way With Words) gifted me with a copy of his book, Delight in Disorder: Ministry, Madness, Mission.  It is part-memoir, part-devotional, and entirely remarkable.

The book tells of Tony’s journey with bipolar disorder and God, and while I don’t have bipolar disorder, I do understand the darkness of mental illness … and the beauty of a sovereign savior.

Tony frames the book by walking us through his “home”– stories about his family in the “family room,” the devastating lows of a suicide attempt in the “basement,” etc.– and prefaces each short devotional thought with a quote from the Psalms.

From this book, I feel like I have a better understanding of bipolar disorder and a deepened appreciation for a God who pursues his people. I related to so many of Tony’s experiences, and thought the book gave a fair treatment to the church, which sometimes hurts its mentally ill members in such harmful ways but also sometimes so beautifully reflects the flabbergasting self-sacrifice and kindness of Christ. The writing is honest, humble, and vulnerable without ever feeling self-indulgent.

I recommend this book to Christians who are struggling with a mental illness– and to the people who love them.

Delight in Disorder: Ministry, Madness, Mission can be purchased through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

I just finished City of Heavenly Fire, the sixth and final book of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. This book definitely wasn’t my favorite of the series (I’m always bummed when the final book of a series isn’t my favorite). But I love Cassie Clare’s characters and wit and there was no way I wasn’t going to finish the 725-page behemoth.

Not THAT spoilery items:

A couple things that were tough for me: 1) most of the book took place in Edom/Hell, so … that’s dark, 2) the ending was sad … but then when it was “corrected,” it made me wonder what the point of the sad part was, 3) I haven’t read The Infernal Devices series (the prequel trilogy to this series), and so I missed out on some of the “Easter eggs”– to be clear, I didn’t miss them: I knew I was supposed to be feeling something big, but I couldn’t conjure those big feelings because I am unfamiliar with the series, so … that was not effective for me, 4) this book really, really set up the subsequent The Dark Artifices series, and while I was quite fascinated by the new characters introduced, I’m not sure yet if I’ll read the series, and so it felt a little like in High School Musical 3, where everything is noticeably getting teed up so that the next thing can hit a home run.

And now, a VERY spoilery item:

You have been warned.

Are you still scrolling down?

Okay, then it’s your fault if you’ve kept going.

Not that you’ll be that surprised by this, to be honest.

I mean, I think we all knew this would happen.

…

…

…

Okay, I’m done protecting you now.

Jace and Clary had sex. In a cave in hell. And Tumblr is being hilarious about it.

Tumblr really cracks me up.

Also, to be clear, props to CC for the safe(r) sex.