First Grave on the Right

by Darynda Jones
Scott County Library audiobook 8 CDs
read by Lorelei King
genre: paranormal mystery fiction

This was fun, but won't become a series I go back to. What I liked: the humor and mystery, as well as the fact that I listened to the first two discs with my sister Louise who *loved* the main character and the author's style.

What I didn't like: the cavalier attitude toward Heaven and Hell, God and Satan . . . that was not apparent at first and yet I couldn't get past it.

"Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it's her job to convince them to 'go into the light.'"

There were many funny lines and parts in the story. (I loved when she called her Uncle Bob "UB" / "Eubie" . . . ) And I was very curious about the "whodunnit" aspects of the story. But I thought her having sex with an incorporeal being was a bit too odd . . . especially when I found out the connections.

I made a cheat sheet about her encounters with "The Big Bad" as I was reading - the day of her birth, when she was four years old and abducted, when she was five years old with the Johnson girl, in high school when a guy tried to run her down with his dad's SUV, in college when a guy attacked her. When she met with Reyes' sister, it was nice to have a little clarity.

As Bright As Heaven

by Susan Meissner
Carver County Library hardcover 387 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

Generalities - well-written, fascinating look at the era (1918-1925), great characters, chapters told from POV of the mom and each of the daughters. Don't remember if any were told by male characters.

Pauline, her husband Thomas, and their three daughters Evelyn (15), Maggie (12), and Willa (6) move to Philadelphia when baby Henry dies at six months old. Thomas goes from working in the tobacco barns for his dad to working as an undertaker with his uncle Fred. The impact of the war and the Spanish influenza affect this family deeply. Death is a main character in this book!

Page 70 - ". . . I think that grief is such a strange guest, making its home in a person like it's a new thing that no one has ever experienced before. It is different for every person." So true! This just struck me. Grief is a strange guest that makes itself at home.

Page 116 - "I am suddenly overcome by my inability to understand why some will survive the flu and some won't. Why some babies live and some don't. Why some people pass away in a warm bed full of years while others have their breath snatched from them before they've earned so much as one gray hair." The essential unfairness of this is something I've struggled with. I trust God completely, but would love to ask Him why things are this way.

Page 180 - Without putting a spoiler here, I'll just say that I was sobbing after reading this page . . .

Page 211 - This was almost too much! "Evie was already home and she was sad. Her favorite teacher, Mr. Galway, is dead. And a boy she liked named Gilbert." Enough with the dying! This started to make me think of Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever 1793 . . . what a wonderful way to study history - through fiction! Even depressing aspects of history . . .

Page 225 - "That's how it is. Something breaks, you fix it as best you can. There's always a way to make something better, even if it means sweeping up the broken pieces and starting all over. That's how we keep moving, keep breathing, keep opening our eyes every morning, even when the only thing we know for sure is that we're still alive." Although this is a somewhat bleak place to be, it rings true. Looking for the positives, looking ahead - that's important.

Page 379 - "When something good happens, and even when something bad happens, you want to share it with the person who holds your heart." This is so true! I'm so grateful that I can share with Louie - the good, the bad, the everyday. This is one of the things that was hard about losing my mom; some of the things I wanted to share with her (about teaching, life, etc.) I couldn't anymore.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but was disappointed that Meissner's writing seems to be getting more secular and less faith-focused. She's an excellent writer, but I want to read Christian fiction that challenges and / or grows my faith. This was just a good book set in an interesting era with interesting characters.

You Need a Budget: The Proven System for Breaking the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle, Getting Out of Debt, and Living the Life You Want

by Jesse Mecham
Hennepin County Library hardcover 200 pages
genre: non-fiction, financial literacy

I read through page 45 before it was due back at the library. Now I'm #31 on the waiting list, so here are some thoughts before they fade:

- this is similar to Dave Ramsey's stuff, but without a Christian perspective and with some small differences.
- the author's style is appealing and accessible
- that said, I thought about buying a copy of this book from Amazon to share with some people . . . except they don't have children and there are lots of references to child care expenses, saving for a child's college education, etc. That might be off-putting for the folks I'm thinking of . . .
- I am curious enough and engaged enough by his writing style to finish the book when I get it again.

I wrote the above in early April 2018, below on 6.11.18:

 His four rules are:
1. Give Every Dollar a Job
2. Embrace Your True Expenses
3. Roll With the Punches
4. Age Your Money

I won't explain them here - just read the book! This is more a reminder for me.

Page 53 - "Question everything. Once a year (I like to do this in January), question every one of your expenses. . . . Every single item should be on the table. Following the tactic of asking why six or seven times as it relates to any one of your line items will help you peel back the layers of that priority and really see it for what it is." This is tough for me because Louie and I have different priorities and perspectives. It's good for us to talk about it, though!

Pages 106-7 - ways to "sprint" to get where you need to be with budgeting: pick up freelance work or do odd jobs, sell your stuff, get intense about not spending, outsource your stuff. I'm not good about these things, but then we aren't in a really tough place right now, either.

Page 121 - "Navigating Yours, Mine, and Ours" - I thought about scanning or copying this entire section. Or just asking Louie to read it. This is a bit different from how we currently plan our budget. "It's too easy to assume that your priorities are the same as mine. Or that our priorities are always more important than mine. These quiet assumptions are what make budgeting as a couple stressful when it absolutely doesn't have to be. The key to keeping your priorities clear, and your budget stress-free, is communicating."

The chapter on "Budgeting as a Couple" is another one I wanted to copy from . . . "Technicalities aside, joint accounts also keep you from worrying about who earned what money. You've committed to being partners for life. It doesn't matter who earned what. It's one shared pool of money that is funding your shared life together. Embrace that and support one another on the journey." (pg. 125) 

I also really liked the chapter on "When You Feel Like Quitting." Good stuff here. I may still want to buy a copy of this book!

Pages 199-200 have lots of other resources:
www.youneedabudget.com/classes
www.youtube.com/YouNeedABudget
www.youneedabudget.com/blog
etc. . . .

Glass Sword

by Victoria Aveyard
Scott County Library audiobook 12 CDs
read by
genre: YA dystopian

Ugh! This has taken me forever to get through! Louie and I started it on a car trip, but didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. Then we listened to some more on another car trip. Then I fell asleep and got the CDs from the library again to re-listen. Why wasn't I getting into this story? Why didn't I care about Mare and Cal? Who was this nasty Colonel dude?

Here are some notes to my "re-listen":
- Gisa's broken hand is Mare's "fault" . . . how? Why does she think everything is about her? Gisa made her own choices and the silver guards were cruel.
- so much of this is overwrought, filled with self-recriminations, teen angst . . . how much is the text and how much is the narrator? Would I like this story better in print?
- Bree, Tramy, Shade, Mare, and Gisa . . . the Barrows are quite the family.
- She is so condescending to Kilorn! "Fish Boy" and thinking she has to protect him all the time
- She's a bit bloodthirsty about wanting to exact revenge on Maven by killing him with her own hands . . . then she's still somewhat lovelorn toward him and the closeness they shared. Yuk on both.
- she agonizes over stupid stuff, then kills mercilessly (the silvers in the control tower at the prison)
- I actually appreciate that I know the ending of the story already (I was awake for that part) because there are little snippets that make sense in light of how the ending goes.
- I'm pretty sure Louie and I totally skipped disc 8 by accident! I kept asking him "Who is John?" and he didn't know . . . but there was a large chunk of the story that we didn't get. It makes a bit more sense when you hear it all.
- Her lack of logic in cause / effect reasoning and if / then statements . . . this was crazy-making!
- This isn't a spoiler alert, but rather an idea that the text suggested . . . We infer that Shade and Farley were both in love and physically intimate, but there's a part toward the end that made me think, "Is Farley pregnant with Shade's child?!" I may have to read the next book to find out!

Viva Jacquelina!

by L.A. Meyer
Scott County Library hardcover 360 pages
genre: YA historical adventure
(Bloody Jack #10)

I enjoyed this one a bit more than the last few . . . but they're all quick little adventures that are very readable. In this book, Jacky is again sent as a spy. This time she ends up in Spain with the very unpleasant General Wellesley. Richard is near and dear until he is injured in battle. Jacky ends up in Madrid at Goya's studio (where she works, models, learns, flirts, etc.). The author brings in fine art and the Inquisition as well as the French and Spanish fighting forces and politics. Jaime, meanwhile, is recuperating at Charlie Chen's in the Far East. Oh, and there's also a little bullriding at the running of the bulls . . .

My notes said "more innuendo, flirting, etc. / Spain / Goya / gypsies"