I love reading. I’ve always been a bookworm. My idea of a perfect quiet afternoon is curling up with a good book, and escaping into the story 🙂

For the last decade or so, between homeschooling my kids, and more recently, starting my Tracy Helps You business, I’ve allowed myself to get out of the habit of reading for pleasure. I feel like I spent so much time reading textbooks and making lesson plans, that the only pleasurable reading I got to do was whichever classic my kids were reading for Literature. I’ve got nothing against the classics, but I like lots of different genres … from historical fiction to contemporary lighthearted romance 🙂

During this last year or so, I’ve read numerous books to learn about being an entrepreneur and owning my own business. I’ve spent hours … days … weeks, well suffice it to say – a lot of time, with my nose in a book. My topics  revolved around WordPress websites, social media marketing, writing blogs, SEO and guidelines for running a home-based business. All very important topics I need to know for running a successful business, but not my idea of relaxing with a good book.

I’ve decided that I need to try to balance my time for reading … for work and for (guilt free) fun. So last week, I read a novel called  “The Yada Yada Prayer Group” by Neta Jackson. I thought I’d tell you my thoughts about it 🙂

It is set about 10 years ago in Chicago. It’s a story about a group of 12 women from all different walks of life that meet at a Christian woman’s conference. The characters couldn’t be more diverse, coming from different denominations, races, ages, and cultures. They are randomly (or not?) grouped together at the conference. They decide to stay in touch by creating an email loop that shares all their prayer requests and updates. 

The story is told from the main character, Jodi Baxter’s point of view.  It weaves together the day-to-day events of the everyday lives of these 12 woman and their families. Eventually, they come to the conclusion that the emails were good, but “meeting” in cyberspace just wasn’t enough.  They had formed bonds at the conference that needed to be nurtured, so they planned for Yada Yada to meet every other week, rotating the meeting place between all their homes.

I really enjoyed this book. I feel like I really related to Jodi, our personalities seem very similar. I was born, was raised and lived in Chicago til my mid twenties and I like all the references about the city. The author describes the neighborhoods in a way that brings back many good memories. For instance, Jodi’s kids go to the same high school I attended.

This is the first book in the Yada Yada series, and I look forward getting to know these ladies better in the coming books. I hope you’ll read it and enjoy it too. Leave a comment telling me about your favorite books / recommendations 🙂