The Printed Letter Bookshop

by Katherine Reay
Carver County Library paperback 315 pages
genre: Christian realistic fiction

I like Reay's writing, but found this book both more complex than previous titles of hers and less enjoyable . . . perhaps a sign of my summer mood? We had a good discussion last night at book club.

Alternating between Madeline, Claire, and Janet, this story shows the personal development of these women as they navigate life together.

 My favorite character is Maddie, even though the story opens with her funeral. What an amazing woman to inspire such love and devotion! I want to love Jesus and love people like she did.

Page 138 - "Please, I'm a mom. We know no limits." This made me laugh! As Claire is trying to set Janet up on a date, Madeline observes that "There might be a limit to meddling." My kids are constantly telling me to back off!

I loved Greg Frankel (the lawyer) and how he helped guide Madeline to a new way of using her talents as a lawyer. He was delightful!

Page 170 - "Dear World, This may sound slutty, but I want to be used. Love, Grammar." I had to read this a few times to decide if I liked it or not, but I definitely liked it. Both Jodi and Jes also appreciated this quote! We're such nerds.

Page 236-7 "You're a good lawyer. Here. Doing this." There's so much about this chapter that I appreciate. I think my favorite aspect is Janet's changed attitude as she seeks God and He does a work in her heart. When she says this line to Madeline, things shift into focus for her as well. I love Janet's return to creating art. I love how God can take the broken parts of us and make new life.

Page 298 - "One word. Brian says nothing more." When Brian tells Claire "yes" to her proposal about the Printed Letter, it was so joyful. Their conversation is such a delightful resurgence of love and connection in their marriage.

This is a wonderful book, though I'm not reviewing it well. I enjoyed it and appreciate Reay's literary talents and love of literature. I would definitely re-read all her books. She includes a list of titles alluded to . . . and I'm resisting the desire to see which I've read and which I would add to my list. . .  

Break No Bones

by Kathy Reichs
Carver County Library audiobook 10 CDs
read by Dorothee Berryman
genre: murder mystery fiction

This book really bugged me . . . but I'm not sure how much was the text and how much was the reader's voice. Berryman did a great job with differentiating voices, speaking French, etc. but I found Dr. Brennan to be incredibly irritating. She was a pathetic and stupid character. Perhaps my perception was formed too firmly by the character portrayed on TV's Bones.

She was irrational, bossy, and impulsive. The murders and detective work had interesting elements. There were lots of clues. It kept my attention. But I won't seek out other Reichs' books, no matter how talented or popular she is. (I wonder how much of herself she writes into her protagonist . . . the pathetic "romance" stories between her and her estranged husband, and her lover Ryan . . . she was just too pathetic to me.)

Each chapter ends with a mini-cliffhanger. Interesting tactic. 

And seriously. Why didn't she bring Boyd out with her at the end of the story? She always had the dog with her. Stupid storyline. What a shocker when we find out who the attacker / murderer is . . . dude!

Nicholas Nickleby

by Charles Dickens
Hennepin County Library audiobook 25 CDs
read by Robert Whitfield
genre: historical fiction (sort of)

Whitfield's vocal work is phenomenal! Such a range of characters and voices!
I love Dickens and had never before read this one. I almost wish I'd had the print edition . . . this was a LOT of CDs and car time! (If I'd seen "Dotheboys" hall in print, I'd have mentally pronounced it "dothe boys" but it was read as "Do the boys" and I had to Google it because it sounded so weird!)


Random notes:

• Mrs. N is ridiculous! And she has no idea how clueless she is . . . ugh! How did such a mother raise two such wonderful children as Nicholas and Kate?
• Smike (?) - I'd love to know more about his sad story. (By the end, I did! So very sad.)
• Sir Mulberry is hideous. I actually thought, "I hope he died in the carriage crash." 
• Mantolinis are crazy . . . and frustrating. 
• pence / shilling / guinea / pound farthing / tuppence - what are the monetary values? I need a way to compare these to better understand so many things!
• Ralph is such an evil nasty man. He gets worse and worse as the story goes on! 
• Squeers is also awful. What a horrid man! And spending so much time talking about morals! Yuk.
• Names . . . "Tim Lincolnwater" repeated so much. 
• Scoundrel! The whole part with Gride . . . and Ralph . . . and poor Madeleine Bray. 

I love Charles Dickens' storytelling. He also has a bit of an expose' in his writing. He has a lot to say about greed and evil. I will almost certainly re-read this at some time in the future!

How the Light Gets In

by Jolina Petersheim
Scott County Library paperback 368 pages
genre: Christian Fiction

Warning: there WILL be spoilers at the ***, so don't read past them if you plan to read this book!

This was our book club title for April, but I just got it recently from the library. Luckily, I forgot what was talked about during book club, so the plot twists were "new" to me! Unluckily, I didn't like how it ended . . . for such a talented author, I wish she'd made different choices.

First of all, I'm never thrilled with the Amish / Mennonite setting for Christian fiction. I guess I just can't relate to it as much. Although the main character, Ruth, is a modern "English" gal, the setting is primarily the cranberry farm in Wisconsin where her husband Chandler grew up.

On the positive side, I loved how this was a modern retelling of Ruth. I loved the relationship between Ruth and Mabel and how it paralleled the Biblical story.

Page 53 - "Ruth knew the odds of anyone getting through were slim. This pleased her." Yes! There are times when I love going to the lake simply because our reception is so bad that I just shut my phone completely off. And it feels great!

Page 53 - "Ruth yearned to capture this moment through any medium she could - " I'm in too much of a hurry now to capture the two paragraphs that inspired me to note this page. I love that she recognizes natural beauty and is inspired to make art. I love that God gave us the desire to create!

Page 93 - "'Oma Mabel loves us,' Sofie said, one of the simplest ways children categorize acceptance." Love truly is the hallmark of what God calls us to be and do. I want love to be the way I am known by my children, grandchild(ren), friends, etc. . . .

Page 116 - "But now, at thirty, Ruth had a different view. The adventure did indeed stop - or at least change - after children, and to try to deny that was like trying to deny the sun rising . . . "  This resonated for me! I would argue that the adventure changes. A lot. Children change your life. I wasn't ready to become a parent at 21, but it's been absolutely grand! It's fun to be a grandma now - a completely different adventure!

Page 176 - ". . . finding someone to love you wholly was one of the greatest mysteries of all." When Elam has the realization that falling in love with Ruth and her falling in love with him is such a blessing. Yes! I love being married to the love of my life!

Page 177 - I won't quote the whole conversation, but it's wonderful how Elam shares God's love and the simplicity of living for God. "By loving him and loving those he puts in our lives." Simple! I'm grinning as I type this, because sometimes it's very hard indeed. And yet, it doesn't need to be. We just need God's power working in us.

Page 212 - I like to note where the title comes from. ". . . from a Leonard Cohen song, 'Anthem.' There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

Pages 304-5 - Marriage. Praying for your spouse. These pages are great for discussion . . . but I don't want to dig into them now.


*** Pages 362-3
When I got to the end, I was so frustrated! She never fell in love with Elam? And Chandler never survived? And she spent six months writing a novel which she promptly put into the fire and let burn up? What?!?!?! That felt as though the whole book was pointless. I wish I'd been able to discuss this back in April!

Love Among the Walnuts

by Jean Ferris
paperback, PRMS discard 216 pages
genre: YA fiction

I had this up at the lake and wanted a quick read. It was goofy, fun, and very very very middle-school oriented. It reminded me a bit of the Brendan Fraser movie Blast from the Past. Sandy was raised by his wealthy reclusive parents on an isolated manor out in the countryside. When his scheming uncles try to do away with the family so that they can inherit, Sandy is spared but now has to deal with the "real world." Adding to the oddness of the story is the presence of Walnut Manor next door, a convalescent home of sorts with strange patients and weird surprises.

Fun story. I'll put it back on the shelf . . . it has a nice message about relationships being more valuable than money. (Though it's always amusing when incredibly wealthy people are the ones making this observation . . . ) Still, I like Ferris' writing style.

Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work

by Timothy Keller with Katherine Leary Alsdorf
Scott County Library hardcover 253 pages
genre: non-fiction Biblical living
published: 2012

This book was incredible. I've always liked Keller's stuff, but I think this is the first book of his I've read. I was surprised at how many life lessons and Scriptural applications it contained. I'm nowhere near being a pastor, yet Sunday sermon topics kept jumping out at me!

Having quit my full time job over two years ago, I still feel as though I'm trying to find God's purpose for my life. I struggle with wants vs. needs and spending less money since I now earn so little money. What are my gifts and talents and how does God want me to use them for His glory?

This book really helped me see that "work" isn't just how I make money. It's about why I work. What's the purpose? If it's ever just for a paycheck, then I'm not doing it the right way. Whether I teach full time or ring up people's purchases at McDonald's, there is so much more to the concept of work.

I love how this book is structured! I would definitely re-read it. I recommend it for anyone looking for their direction in terms of work. I recommend it to pastors for a wealth of sermon ideas with lots of great Scripture references!

Toward the end, he recommends two books that I may or may not get: The Call by Os Guinness and Creation Regained by Al Wolters.

All Quiet on the Western Front

by Erich Maria Remarque
personal copy, paperback 175 pages
genre: historical war fiction
published: 1929

This book sat on my "should read" shelf for a long, long time. I wanted a quick fiction read since I've got a lot of non-fiction on my reading shelf right now. Wow.

This book was intriguing and made me do some searching right away. Set during WWI, I was a bit confused about its origins. I'll just grab info from Wikipedia:

All Quiet on the Western Front (German: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit. 'In the West Nothing New') is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.
The novel was first published in November and December 1928 in the German newspaper Vossische Zeitung and in book form in late January 1929. The book and its sequel, The Road Back (1930), were among the books banned and burned in Nazi Germany. All Quiet on the Western Front sold 2.5 million copies in 22 languages in its first 18 months in print.^[1]


Translated into many different languages and universal with its raw human emotion, I see why it's referred to as "the classic war novel of all time." It is horrible and amazing. I wonder what modern day soldiers think of it (or if they even read it). How interesting that it was banned and burned in Nazi Germany. I may need to read more about him . . . the little I already saw fascinates me. He left Germany for Switzerland in the 1930s, remarried his ex-wife so she wouldn't have to return to Germany, went to America and became a naturalized citizen, and didn't find out that his sister was tried and decapitated for "unpatriotism" until after WWII was over. Whew!

Back to the book. I found it very readable and horrible (as war is). I only marked three places, but could definitely see re-reading it!

Page 100 - when he is home on leave and his mother wants to hear about his experiences, he simply cannot relate to any civilian about the reality of war.

"Was it very bad out there, Paul?"
Mother, what should I answer to that! You would not understand, and never realize it. And you never should realize it. Was it bad, you ask. - You, Mother, - I shake my head and say: "No, Mother, not so very. There are always a lot of us together so it isn't so bad."

This is in such direct conflict with what he has just left. The reality of pain, fear, hunger, death . . . but he simply cannot explain it and does not want her to have to understand it.

Page 104 - While in the midst of conflict, the men often dreamed of their "other" life and its pleasures. But on leave, Paul is continually brought up short. He even misses his comrades.

I imagined leave would be different from this. Indeed, it was different a year ago. It is I of course that have changed in the interval. There lies a gulf between that time and to-day."

Page 154 - the only part of the book that made me laugh out loud!

When they are laying in the hospital ward, recovering, and Paul throws a bottle at the praying nuns who are keeping the soldiers from sleeping, a different man takes responsibility for the action. Later, he explains that he has a "shooting license."

"I got a crack in the head and they presented me with a certificate to say that I was periodically not responsible for my actions. Ever since then I've had a grand time. No ones dares to annoy me. And nobody does anything to me. I reported myself because the shot amused me. If they open the door again to-morrow we will pitch another."

This little bit of humor helped lighten a very heavy, but worthwhile book about the horrors of war.

One last thing I'd like to know - who did the translation to English and did Remarque agree with it? I may need to get a book about him and his life . . . after I finish all the other non-fiction I've got!