What we've been reading

For Christmas Alden's parents gave us, Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. Alden and I have been reading it off and on since we've been here in Hawaii and last week we finally finished it. Not only has it been amazing to spend time reading with my husband but it is also an amazing story about a truly amazing man.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is

It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

There are many lessons we have taken from this book and I encourage all who are interested to read it. Nelson Mandela is a man of forgiveness, hope, and peace. I hope to start a Christmas tradition of buying an autobiography/biography to read throughout the coming year. Anyone have any good suggestions for this Christmas? I am thinking C.S. Lewis or Abraham Lincoln.