The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

I can see this as a story full of potential. I feel that Elizabeth Kostova reached that potential but went way way way beyond what the novel called for. I'm not sure if I'm going to explain my gripes about this book in an understandable way...I'll try.



I said in my Sunday Salon post that I felt as if I were reading a history textbook half the time. I'm sticking with that description. Kostova is a completely intelligent and educated individual. So smart and well-traveled. The girl graduated from Yale and holds many titles and awards. I felt like she brought too much information to the table in writing this book. Almost as if to say, "I'm smart...wanna see? Read my book."



Okay, gripe over.


A brief synopsis from Amazon.com:


In 1972, a 16-year-old American living in Amsterdam finds a mysterious book in her diplomat father's library. The book is ancient, blank except for a sinister woodcut of a dragon and the word "Drakulya," but it's the letters tucked inside, dated 1930 and addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," that really pique her curiosity. Her widowed father, Paul, reluctantly provides pieces of a chilling story; it seems this ominous little book has a way of forcing itself on its owners, with terrifying results. Paul's former adviser at Oxford, Professor Rossi, became obsessed with researching Dracula and was convinced that he remained alive. When Rossi disappeared, Paul continued his quest with the help of another scholar, Helen, who had her own reasons for seeking the truth. As Paul relates these stories to his daughter, she secretly begins her own research. Kostova builds suspense by revealing the threads of her story as the narrator discovers them: what she's told, what she reads in old letters and, of course, what she discovers directly when the legendary threat of Dracula looms. Along with all the fascinating historical information, there's also a mounting casualty count, and the big showdown amps up the drama by pulling at the heartstrings at the same time it revels in the gruesome. Exotic locales, tantalizing history, a family legacy and a love of the bloodthirsty: it's hard to imagine that readers won't be bitten, too.



Okay, so they liked the book.



I did too...sometimes. The story was interesting - if a little too "fantasy" for my tastes - and the characters relatable. Kostova used a lot of letters and journals to take the reader back and forth between time periods and that could be a little confusing at times. The book follows three different groups of historians as they search for Dracula and culminates in the last few chapters in a confrontation with the vampire.



I really enjoyed reading about the "exotic locales." I am a traveler at heart (funny, I don't get to travel much) so traveling in my books is ideal for me. We went from Amsterdam to London to Bulgaria to Paris to Venice...I honestly think the description of these old world destinations was my favorite part of the book.



So, I don't recommend it. Unless you love Vampires and you adore history and you have lots of time on your hands in which to get sucked into a dark fantasy about both.



I have rediscovered something about myself in reading this book and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. I don't like fantasy fiction. I just don't. I don't care how many awards or best-sellers lists they're on...they're not my cup of tea. No more fantasy. Period.

The Sunday Salon - Fast Paced Sunday

It feels more than a little wrong to write the words for my post title today. "Fast Paced Sunday." In a perfect world Sunday's would never be classified as fast paced. But my world is imperfect and this Sunday? fast paced.



Between seeing a completely waste-of-time movie for date night, having dinner at a friends house on Saturday and our church group tonight we've been driving hither and yon every night this weekend. I'm going to need a weekend after this "weekend!"



Not to mention I've been making some pretty important decisions about life lately. Nothing like living life and planning life to zap the reading right out of ya.



So, lets get to it. The reading. The Historian has been eating up my bed-time reading ritual. I can't really tell if I am enjoying the book or not. That's probably not a good sign. At first I was more than excited to get started on this best-seller. The cover was intruiging, the pages were perfectly heavy and thin and glossy all at the same time, there was a map in the front (sucker for maps, here!) and the writing seemed smart; not to mention all the rave reviews.



Okay, so I'm going from excited about Elizabeth Kostova's novel to almost cringing when I crack open the cover. There is so much history in there! Almost to the point that I feel as if I'm reading a text book. I have lots of text books in my future (see here) and I am not looking for texty-ness in my for-fun-reading. Ya know what I mean? It's almost a chore to read this book.



Anyway, that said, I am only a few chapters from the end. I think this is the type of book that no matter how much I loved or hated (or loved and hated) reading it the end is going to dictate its rating and review. The end is yet to come so check back if you're interested in how I felt about wrapping it all up.



Still pluggin' away on Mere Christianity. There is so much in there that I just want to spread it out. Plus, the discussion group is taking only a few chapters a week and that's ok with me. I finished listening to Elizabeth Berg's The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted and Other Small Acts of Liberation on CD this week. It's a book of short stories about women (yay!) and I loved it. I think E. B. was smart in saving the very best story for last in that one. I recommend it for sure. You can read my little review below.



And that...is it! I am moving on to The Bridges of Madison County after The Historian this week and I'm going to try and smush in as much novel reading as possible in the next couple of weeks before my life ends and I am forced to read things I really don't want to. ;)

Booking Through Thursday - Manual Labor Redux

Scenario: You’ve just bought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?
Do you ever read manuals?

How-to books?

Self-help guides?

Anything at all?


I always take a look at the manual for items that require assembly and I usually browse the manual for electronic things. Mr. B., on the other hand, dives right in without any instruction whatsoever.

I like some self-help books. Especially when I feel in need of a little pick-me-up. Usually in the form of nutrition books. I don't really buy into the Oprah-esque "improve your life with five positive thoughts a day!" type of deal.

How about you?

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg

I adore Elizabeth Berg's work. I think she is a strong, beautiful, feminine literary voice. I have yet to be disappointed in a book of hers I've picked up. I was a little wary as I requested this Early Reviewers edition of the Audio Book of The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted. It is always an interesting experience to listen to a book instead of read it and I am not usually one for short stories.

But I enjoyed it. I really did!



First, it was funny. So frank and true and laugh-out-loud funny. The audio book features the voice of Elizabeth Berg as the narrator - which I always love because the author, of all people, knows how the book was meant to be read.




Second, it was full of girl-power. All of the stories centered around women coming to face a new facet of her womanhood. Women deciding to break down the walls about the things they thought were true. Women losing people they always thought defined them and finding that they define themselves. Women coming to terms with death. Women defying expectations. And women eating whatever the heck they want!




I absolutely recommend this book and the audio version is a perfect way to go about "reading" it. I found myself sitting alone in the parking lot a bit longer listening to one more bit and working out for 5 more minutes to hear the rest of a chapter.

The Sunday Salon - Mother's Sunday

Hydrangeas and Orchids. My Mother's Day gifts. Perfect.

The Historian and The Bridges of Madison County. My Mother's Day reads. Also perfect.

I began Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian a couple of days ago. It is fantastic. It is smart and international and mysterious. It has a little bit of a Davinci Code feel but I think I like it better...

I will be reading The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller as soon as I'm done with The Historian. My sister in law is getting married at the famous bridge on the cover of the novel in two weeks. I want to have the background and feel the romance while we're there witnessing her vows. She loaned me her very own copy and I'm so anticipating getting swept away.

I am overloaded from my Mother's Day cupcakes - Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting, people. H E A V E N. And the best part; I didn't even have to make them. I feel a coma-like nap coming on.

Happy Mother's Day to all the selfless and thoughtful mothers with bottomless hearts out there!

The Romantic Roseman Bridge

Booking Through Thursday - Manual Labor

Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

I own a dictionary - although I'd like to get a better one - and I thesaurus. I use them in addition to dictionary.com/thesaurus.com (a couple of my favorite sites).

I also own a few writing how-tos and grammar manuals but I can't remember the names of them. I found them really useful in high school and college but I haven't unpacked them since our last move two years ago. Shows ya how much I've been digging into the world of technical writing lately!

I have found with the use of the Internet and all of the resources here I haven't needed the technical books so much. You can find pretty much anything on the net!

A book I would love to read is Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. I have a feeling it will be much more enjoyable a read on writing than any grammar or writing manual. I've been eyeing it at Barnes and Nobel for the past few months. Hum...maybe for Mother's Day?

The Revelation by Beverly Lewis

The Revelation. The last book in the Abram's Daughters series. Finally.


I feel such lovely closure from the tumultuous and mostly unbelievable tale in closing the cover of this novel. Leah gets married to her long-time love. Sadie finds happiness at last. Family feuds fired by misunderstanding and stubbornness are resolved. Incredible familial connections are realized. And many many Amish babies are born. ;)


The Revelation wont be my favorite of the Abram's Daughters series. Like the previous installment, that I reviewed here, I felt this was a bit contrived - especially with all the lose ends tying up in the nice little knot at the end - and drawn out. But, all in all, I wasn't reading this series for some grand literary adventure...just a bit of light reading on a fascinating lifestyle.


Goodbye, Abram, Leah, Jonas, Sadie, Mary Ruth, Hannah and Lydiann! I've had a sweet few months getting to know you...

The Sunday Salon - Squeeze-It-In-Sunday

I've been hurtin' in the reading department these past few weeks. Not to worry, I've been filling my time with many worthwhile activities such as tickling my children until they're breathless, laughing with my hubby until I'm breathless and eating out with girlfriends until I need to be rolled to my car. So I may not have finished any juicy novels but I'm really having a lovely Spring.

I'm still moving through The Revelation by Beverly Lewis. This is the 5th and final installation in the Abram's Daughters series. I am not blown away by the deftness of Lewis' writing or any crazy good plot lines but Leah Ebersol and her sisters are absolutely comfortable for me and I'll be sad when I'm finished with their story. I hope to finish it within the next two days.

I'm also moving slowly through Mere Christianity and enjoying my Sunday School discussion about it as well. I'm dabbling in some parenting/homeschooling books by Sally Clarkson - love her on this subject!

I have added a few new titles to my personal library via the public library's Spring Book Sale. A Babysitter's Club title for old time's sake (it was only 10 cents!), a Charles Dickens classic, a Caldacott Medal winner for the kids (forgive me - I can't remember the title!), and a current hardback best-seller all for under 50 cents! I call that a good sweep. ;)

And now, readers, I am off to [surprise, surprise] join some friends at The California Pizza Kitchen. My diet starts tomorrow...

Booking Through Thursday - May Day

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do?
And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your book bag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember…

Oh my...time on my hands and no book to read? Terrible. Frightening, really.

I guess I don't have my cell phone or my purse...in which case I would call my far-away sister and purge my purse of stray gum wrappers. But if I only had my wallet...my, my...what to do?

I would people-watch. I would make terribly inappropriate judgements about them based on their clothes, hair, who they were with and what they smelled like. I would make up interesting stories about their lives and then find myself wandering down the road of day dreaming about interesting things I could do with my life.

I would find somewhere with coffee and pastries and indulge.

I would buy a magazine and browse. Is that off-limits since the idea is that we can't read? Not sure but that's what I'd do.

Hmmm...that leaves me sort of wishing I would get an urgent call from a family member needing to be picked up at the airport...

Rating Re-Do.

I've been rating my reading on a 1 to 10 scale. It has been sort of a hard thing because there is so much of a span from 1 to 10. I find myself giving many books a rating of 5 or higher...with 5/10 the lowest I can bring myself to go. I decided it was time for a change. No more Ms. Nice-Reader!


I'm switching to stars. And I'm switching to 5 instead of 10. And no 1/2 stars either! I can't deal with that... ;)





1 star = I could not even finish this atrocity.


2 stars = I finished but felt like I wasted precious hours of my life.


3 stars = Mediocre; would not recommend to anyone.


4 stars = Great read; almost perfect. Would recommend.


5 stars = Perfection! Will sing its praises to anyone who will hear.


Okay! So! That's it. The new, 5 star rating system. I know this is a very small step and something that all those book bloggers are doing out there...but somehow I feel like I've accomplished something phenomenal.

On with the show...

Peony In Love by Lisa See

7/10


I wasn't sure how to rate Peony In Love. Part of me feels like I should start to employ a different rating system (more systematic) than my current "pick a number" method. Any suggestions?


The reason I had a hard time was that the writing style of Lisa See really was lovely - as always. And the book was so well done. The story ebbed and flowed in such a fluid way; which really is an accomplishment for such an abstract idea. But I just didn't like reading about poor Peony in the afterlife. Haunting her relatives and her finance's new wives... The concepts were all a bit strange to me.


This is a little blurb I took from lisasee.com:
iSo begins Peony's unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow -- as Lisa See's haunting new novel takes readers back to 17th century China, after the Manchus seize power and the Ming dynasty is crushed. Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another time and place -- even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its protocols, pathways, and stages of existence . . . a vividly imagined place where one’s soul is divided into three, ancestors are worshiped, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth.
Based on a true story, Peony in Love uses the richness and magic of the Chinese afterlife to transcend death and explore the many manifestations of love. Ultimately, it’s about universal themes: the bonds of female friendship, the power of words, the desire all women have to be heard, and finally those emotions that are so strong that they transcend time, place, and perhaps even death.


It really was fascinating to read about the ancient Chinese beliefs about the afterlife and, as in Snowflower and the Secret Fan, the reader was immersed in the mysterious customs of foot-binding, the women's secret world and the mother love phenomenon. But I enjoyed Snowflower more, maybe because I could understand the human realm that she lived in better than the ghostly world of Peony.

The Prodigal by Beverly Lewis

7/10



The Prodigal is the fourth novel in Beverly Lewis' Abram's Daughters series. This is a series about the Ebersol family; an Amish family of six children living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the 1940's and 50's.


One small gripe I have about these books is that they do not stand on their own. In my opinion, whether a book is a sequel or not, the story should have enough "meat" to be a stand-alone novel. Sometimes I feel as if Lewis could have just combined all five stories into one book - or at the very least a trilogy - instead of spreading it out into five, 300 page books.



Another thing that has me sort of shaking my head is the crazy coincidences that Lewis creates. Sometimes things feel a big contrived and too "out there" for believability. But they always say fact is stranger than fiction, so I guess anything is possible.



With all that said (sounds like a lot of complaints for books I rather enjoy!), I really like this series. The plot takes twists that are sometimes predictable but always entertaining and I'm really making a connection with the characters and seeing their individuality through their actions. Plus, I know I've mentioned it before, the setting and lifestyle is something I can't get enough of.


One thing I do have to say: This is quite a complicated story for people to whom it is such a "gift to be simple."

Booking Through Thursday - Springing

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?
Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

My reading habits pretty much stay the same all through the year. I am always up for a good, juicy saga of a novel no matter the season. Although, I will say that I like to stay away from books set mostly in cold seasons or climates during the Spring/Summer months. In the winter I also like to read mostly "wintery" books. I like my seasons to match up.

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

10/10

I really am having a tough time thinking of what I can say about The Screwtape Letters. A masterpiece, really. It's like nothing I've ever read before. Completely witty and sobering at the same time.

I am going to venture to say that it can mean vastly different things to different people. To those without a deep belief in or relationship with God it can mean something like this:
A masterpiece of satire, this classic has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below." At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the worldly-wise old devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging and humorous account of temptation -- and triumph over it -- ever written.
(Taken from readinggroupguides.com)

To someone that sees themselves as a spiritual being and not only has faith in but considers themselves in a personal relationship with God the meaning likely goes much deeper. To a reader such as this - such as myself - it can be an enlightening voyage to 'the other side,' a way to gain advice about Christian living and avoiding falling into temptation, a startling description of oneself, a roundabout way to realize anew the gifts and blessings of God. It was all these things and more to me.

I think I need to sit and let this one marinate a bit more. There will be a discussion on it tomorrow night and I'd love to come back after that time and write a bit more about my feelings on it. Sometimes it really helps to gain other's insights.

The Sunday Salon - Relaxed Sunday

An unfortunate observation: it is nearly impossible to see the screen of a laptop when you've brought it outside in the sun. All that is visible is my own sun-splashed face peering back at me.

Ahhh...now the sun has dipped behind the neighboring roof and I can see enough to type and enjoy the freshly mown grass smell, children cheerfully shouting and playful breezes. Life is good. So are books. And that's what I'm here to talk about.

I've been reading the fourth book in Beverly Lewis' Abram's Daughters series. It is called The Prodgial. I am enjoying it as I was craving a light, almost mindless read after having such heavy topics in A Long Way Gone and C. S. Lewis' writings; both of which I enjoyed but felt a little brain-numbed after reading.

Back to Beverly Lewis. She writes novels that are mostly marketed in the Christian bookstores since they have Christian themes. The Abram's Daughters series centers around an Amish family in Pennsylvania in the 1940's and 50's (hence the pastoral Amish scene above). Lewis' writing isn't so profound or imaginative or even literary (in a distinguished sense) she just writes a compelling story and that is the draw. It doesn't hurt that the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle appeals to me. These books are easy. They have a homey feel that is a comfort to come to when my reading journeys have left me feeling a bit scattered and scarred.

Today I began The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis and it has had me bursting with exclamations of "Oh!" and "Yes...so true!" over and over again. What a despicable character Screwtape is and all of the little beings akin to him that believe themselves so big. Here is a bit from the book that I found particularly thoughtful and much too true:

"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

And now, the heady, unmistakable smell of meat on a neighboring charcoal grill is coming to me. It is time to think about dinner.

My review of A Long Way Gone can be found here.
My reviews of the Abram's Daughters series can be found here.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

8/10


I'm heaving a sigh of relief as I finish this book. Not because it was a terrible book, more because the subject matter was terrible. More than terrible; horrifying.

A Long Way Gone is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah, a boy soldier in Sierra Leone in the 1990's. Beah writes from the other side of his nightmare experience serving with the government army.

This recap was taken from alongwaygone.com:

A gripping story of a child’s journey through hell and back.
There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. He is one of the first to tell his story in his own words.
In A LONG WAY GONE, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a riveting story. At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. This is, at last, a story of redemption and hope.

I felt compelled to read this book because I feel that our culture, namely in the U. S., is ignorant of the events in other countries. The news - even rare world news - avoids these dire, important issues, highlighting things like Hollywood drama, the latest fashions and best-selling novels. Its so much easier to ignore the wars that rage in Africa and the orphans that die in China...but should we?

I didn't give this memoir my highest rating just because I felt that there was a gap in some of Ishmael's memories about his rehabilitation. It seemed as if he went from a tormented young man with migraines, flashbacks and anger to an upstanding citizen within a sentence. Strange. I wonder if he did it on purpose. The end was a bit abrupt as well. It was as if he got tired of writing and just decided,"Ah, I'll just end it here."

There were so many times in reading this book that my mother's heart broke for this young man that was literally forced into monstrous acts. I could not read it before bed - I would just toss and turn thinking of the horror. He lost his entire family and most friends within the course of a couple of years and has an amazing testimony on the other side of it all. These are the stories we want to pretend don't exist...they do.

*One of my selections for the Orbis Terrarum Challenge.*

Booking Through Thursday - Vocabulary

I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

It depends on how engrossed I am in the book and how confused the word/phrase makes me.

I can usually determine the meaning through the context of what else is on the page. If not and its really bugging me, I'll look it up right away.

If I'm reading for education I feel obligated to look up whatever it is I do not understand.

With novels usually I just absorb it and pass over.

The Birth House by Ami McKay

10/10

I feel sad that I'm finished with this book. I just love a book that makes me miss its characters and setting when I close the cover. The copy I read belongs to the library but I am tempted to go out and buy my very own copy to keep - something I usually only do for literary classics and Christian non-fiction. Oh, but this one is just so good!

This is a description of The Birth House taken from thebirthhouse.com:

As a child, Dora Rare, the first female in five generations of Rares, is taken under the wing of Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for storytelling and a kitchen filled with herbs. As she grows into adulthood, Dora becomes Miss Babineau's apprentice, and together the pair help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labour, breech births, unwanted pregnancies, and even unfulfilling marriages.
But their idyllic community is threatened with the arrival of Gilbert Thomas, a brash medical doctor armed with promised of sterile, painless childbirth. Soon some of the women begin to question the midwives' methods - an uncertainty that erupts in a war of gossip, accusations, and recriminations after a woman dies. Overshadowed by this powerful, determined male doctor, Dora must summon all her strength and wisdom to protect herself and the birthing rituals of her ancestors, and the village she loves.
An enthralling tale with deep resonance for today, The Birth House brings to light the struggles women have faced to control their own bodies, and to keep tradition alive in the face of modernity.

This is Ami McKay's debut novel. Her writing is so lyrical it could rock you to sleep if the actual things you were reading weren't keeping your eyes wide with wonder. This book is heart wrenching and hilarious in turns. There were more than a few times that I found myself stopping Mr. B. so I could read him a page or two. Now, if a man has interest in a novel called The Birth House, you know its good!

Dora Rare and the eccentric Miss Babineau took me along with them as they delivered babies. Big, red, bawling babies; little, mewling babies; pathetic babies that never got a chance to take a breath. The remedies Miss B. and Dora administer with chants and love to their patients are earthy and mystic. The 'remedies' that their rival, Dr. Thomas, administers are unbelievably ridiculous. The war between the midwives and town doctor of Obstetrics rages right along with World War 1. I will not give away the end...you must read this one to find out.

Here are a few quotes from the novel:

"My house became the birth house. That's what the women called it, knocking on the door, ripe with child, water breaking on the porch. First-time mothers full of questions, young girls in trouble, and seasoned women with a brood already at home. (I called those babies 'toesies,' because they were more than their mamas could count on their fingers.) They all came to the house, wailing and keening their babies into the world. I wiped the feverish necks with cool, moist cloths, spooned porridge and hot tea into their tired bodies, talked them back from outside of themselves."

* * *

"No matter what you do, someone always knew you would."

* * *

"A rumor is about as hard to unspread as butter."

* * *

"There were many times that I had thought to myself I'd do anything not to end up like her, to keep from being pushed aside like some sad have-not, forced to live alone in a leaning, aching, rundown shack. That was before I came to know her. Many times over these past few weeks, while everything seemed to be ending for her and beginning for me, I wished that the moon she worshipped each night would come and put some of Miss B. in me - that I'd wake up wise, with silvery prayers on my lips, saying whatever I wanted (whenever I wanted). Next to Mother's sensibility, she seemed half and angel, half fright, somehow always knowing what I needed."


This is one of the most quotable novels I've read in a long while and probably my most recommended of the year so far. Look for Ami McKay's next novel, The Virgin Cure. I know I will be!

*One of my selections for the Orbis Terrarum Challenge.*

The Sunday Salon - A Sunday Under The Weather

The threadbare blanket resting on my shoulders is doing its job to keep the uncharacteristic April chill away. My coffee is fresh and hot. I sip it with a twinge of guilt; I should be drinking tea instead. Isn't tea better for you when you're ill?

Come, sit. Oh, but don't sit too close, I don't want you to catch what I've got. The sniffles, a groggy headache, aches...
The empty rocker is just calling your name. Would you like tea or coffee? Yes, there are some left-over cinnamon rolls on the stove. Still warm! I know, I shouldn't be eating cinnamon rolls either...

Okay, now that you're settled; what did you read this week? Something alarming? cozy? silly? sobering? Did you read on a beach or bundled in your bed? Did you share your thoughts with friends or keep them tucked away to yourself?

I finished The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman. I enjoyed it but wasn't blown away. My review is posted below.

Last Sunday I wrote about beginning Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. The first few chapters are behind me and I am so glad I've finally dived into one of C. S. Lewis' non-fiction writings. I love this. The intricate thought, the witty use of words. Its filling a spot in my reading that I didn't even realize was empty until just a few weeks ago. Wonderful, simply wonderful. Remember how excited I was to join the discussion group at my church? Wouldn't you know it...I'm sick on the first week of discussion so I had to miss! Phooey. Mr. B. is sitting in for me and will fill me in on all the dirty little details, I hope.

This week I began The Birth House by Ami McKay. This, friends, is my type of book. The characters are eccentric but believable. The plot is subtle but driving. The use of language is entrancing. I will review it sometime this week. Expect a high rating!

I ordered a few books from Amazon this week. The Vaccine Book (Dr. Sears) being one of them. Can't wait to get my hands on it and learn from it what I can. I can't remember what else I ordered...terrible, I know. I think maybe Beth Moore's Believing God is in there too.

I think that about covers my Sunday Salon for the week. I'm going to mosey quietly to your corner of the Salon and peek my nose into your stack of books. Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth covered and my sneezes to myself. Refill your tea and take some to-go if you wish. Happy Sunday to you.

*The picture is of my sweet baby last August. She loves books too...*

Booking Through Thursday - Writing Challenge

Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
Turn to page 123.
What is the first sentence on the page?
The last sentence on the page?
Now . . . connect them together….

The book nearest me was The Birth House by Ami McKay. The actual sentences from the book are in bold, the rest is just me...not Ami McKay...although I'm sure no one would mistake my halting words for her masterful ones.

No, the attraction lies in finding the flaw, seeing it set right next to his confident swagger. Because if you're going to do it - if you're going to ask the gutsy question of questions - you must come up with some flaw to make you despise him in a small part of yourself. You couldn't ask him if you didn't detest him.

Think it over - then ask him to join the Army today.