Bruno, Chief of Police

by Martin Walker

Libby audiobook 8 hours

read by Robert Ian MacKenzie

Published: 2008

Genre: Detective, murder mystery

This was interesting. Set in rural France, it was unlike other murder mysteries I've read. The themes of racial violence and history actually paired incredibly well with the book club book I just finished. 

I liked the descriptions of food and wine. I liked Bruno's somewhat unethical approach to life and policing . . . but it totally fit the small town vibe. I don't know that I liked it enough to read other books in the series (at least right now), but it was significantly better than the pseudo-mystery romance garbage that I got on my previous two tries of mystery audiobooks!

I should probably stick with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie for a while. . .

The Curator's Daughter

by Melanie Dobson

Libby ebook & Scott County Library paperback 399 pages

Published: 2021

Genre: Christian historical fiction

I didn't finish reading this before book club discussion, but it was definitely worth finishing! This book travels between 1999 Idaho, WWII France and Germany, and modern day Washington DC. The main story travels between Sarah / Ember, Hanna, and Lilli . . . but they are very intertwined. The male characters have a lot of connections, too. I almost made a character map! The main themes are racial purity, archaeology, secret-keeping, and second chances.

Chapter 2 - "She had to keep her eyes on preserving the past, not trying to control the future." (Hanna)

Chapter 2 - "The female curse of tears, a swift current of them, threatened to flood across the banks, and she blinked back the surge before it ruined her." (Hanna)

Chapter 3 - "Parents often brought their kids to remember alongside them, and that, to Ember, was the greatest tribute of all. These children would learn, she prayed, and not repeat the horror, this knowledge defeating any hatred in their hearts." (Ember at the Holocaust Museum)

Chapter 4 - "Perhaps she wouldn't have been afraid of this lion if she'd realized it was offering her life." (Hanna getting a drink of water from the scary lion fountain. Made me think of C.S. Lewis' Aslan!)

Chapter 21 - "'. . . the more we can work together to expose and end this cycle of hatred.'  'I'm afraid it will never end, Ember. Not if people continue to turn their backs on the love of God for all of His creation.' . . . . 'Words will never penetrate a hardened heart,' she said. ' The persecution won't end until people are willing to humble themselves and love their neighbors.'" (Conversation between Ember and Mrs. Kiehl - aka Lilli.)

 

Chapter 36 - "'Hitler knew the power of art and entertainment.'" (Dr. Graf explaining the collection of stolen art to Ember.)

Chapter 38 - "If, by a miracle, Elsie was still alive, she prayed that her daughter had chosen to love instead of hate. That she had stood up against evil." (Ember)

Chapter 42 - "Courage like that, Ember thought, could change the world." (Ember)

Chapter 45 - "There were good and bad members of every people group." (Lilly)

Chapter 46 - "And she prayed for Elsie, if she was still alive, that she would know the true love of a father and it would wash away any hatred from her heart, capturing her soul." (Ember)

Chapter 46 - "Love, overwhelming, swallowed her as she sank back into the leaves, the center stump steady beneath her hands. Beloved." (Ember in the labyrinth.)

Chapter 49 - "The Nazi officers ultimately hung themselves with their own pride." (Nuremberg trials - video footage)

Chapter 49 - "How could anyone do these things to another person? Nothing could justify this evil." (Nuremberg trials - video footage)

Chapter 53 - "But in her weariness, in the depths of exhaustion and despair, God stepped into her sorrow. No matter what happened tonight, she was in His care." (Hanna)

Chapter 53 - "As she looked up at him, an unexpected peace settled in the cool air like snowflakes on her meadow back home." (Hanna)

Chapter 54 - "Ember's dissertation had been focused on the past, but her gaze was on the future now. On the importance, the simplicity, of looking someone of a different nationality, a different background, in the eye. Talking with instead of at them, hearing their story. Replacing an identity of hatred with one steeped in God's love." (Ember)

Author's Note - "History is circling back around one more time, and I can't ignore the revival of hatred around our world. Nor do I want to forget the hope of God's redemption and love for all. That a spirit of fear does not come from Him (2 Timothy 1:7)."

Typically, I write my thoughts on each of my "notes" from the text. But right now, I don't want to. My main takeaway is to love God and love others. I want to seek to understand and listen, especially when it's easier to argue or ignore.

One niggling irritation - would Ember's advisor actually let her work on a thesis when she doesn't even know the focus of it? She's "looking for" a heroic German who made a difference during WWII. What did she spend her time on researching and writing before she stumbled on Mrs. Kiehl's story?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I was super curious about the cave with the potential "Holy Grail" from the start of the book. This one was well-written and thought-provoking.

Santa 365

by Spencer Quinn

Libby e- short story

I didn't enjoy this little story as well as some of the others. An ex-con talks Bernie into his "Santa 365" service. A crabby elf shows up and Bernie and Chet try to get to the bottom of what's going on. They find money that they return to an extortionist's victims.

The Unadoptables

 by Hana Tooke

Libby audiobook 9 hours

read by: Fiona Hardingham

Published: 2020

Genre: YA historical fiction, mystery

What an unusual book! Five children are left at the Little Tulip Orphanage in Amsterdam in the 1880s under strange circumstances (one in a tin toolbox, one in a coal bucket, one in a picnic hamper, one in a wheat sack, and one in a coffin-shaped basket). The matron in charge of the orphanage (Elinora Gassbeek) is cruel and tells the children as they are turning 12 that they are "unadoptable." When she tries to sell them as laborers to a merciless shipper, Milou, Lotta, Egg, Fenna, and Sem decide to strike out on their own.

There are lots of dark themes, but Tooke is such an effective storyteller that I was drawn in and really enjoyed the story. The puppet show and the climax of the story - wow. It definitely makes me want to read more by this author. The vocal work was also fantastic.

Off The Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim's Route into Spain

by Jack Hitt

Hennepin County Library hardcover 255 pages

Published: 1994

Genre: Non-fiction, memoir, history

 

I got this after reading and enjoying The Promised Land by Elizabeth Musser and watching the movie  The Way. They made me curious about the Camino de Santiago and this book seemed to be highly recommended. It was pretty disappointing.

Right from the get-go, he disparages and discounts religion. I read the entire book, hoping that there would be a moment when he had some revelation about life and God. He seems too self-absorbed to be open to faith.

Page 46 - "Despite its literalness, the idea of the pilgrim's journey is a metaphor bonanza. Everything that happens on the road seems to translate itself instantaneously from what it is to what it means. I get lost! Yellow arrows! Fleeing dogs! Metaphor? Friend, I'm slogging through it."

 

He definitely has great command of language. (He is a professional writer.) My favorite parts were when he was writing about his own experiences rather than the sections were he has researched some of the history of the road, the churches, etc.

 

Page 83 - "On foot, a pilgrim finds that his mind can get so blurred by the stroke-inducing sunshine that in his reverie he almost believes that he can control these coincidences. Wish hard enough, and that horse will gallop right up. On several occasions I have eaten all the food in my pack, opened it, and found that my stash has reappeared. Empty bottles of water have filled themselves. Money has appeared when I had none. On precisely those occasions when I was out of hard currency and hungry, strangers have offered me meals without prompting. I could go on."

So . . . the sunshine tricks you into believing that you can control coincidences? You can have a firm belief in coincidence but not in Almighty God? It's kind of sad, actually.

Page 115 - "Most are unoccupied, unused, and unwanted." (This is in reference to the churches along the way.)

Sometimes he states his opinions as though they were immutable facts. He is clearly antagonistic toward organized religion, but he also has no time for God or for other pilgrims who believe in God. 

Page 154 - "All of us participate in these groupings in some way or another. And in these maneuverings and jostlings, one can feel a kind of low-grade panic. We are trying to assert an approach to the road or an interpretation of it that is in some sense bigger than ourselves. The old vocabulary of the road - that language of suffering, penance, grace, mystery - are terms most of us find uncomfortable in our conversations. There are those who make a show of old-fashioned piety. . . . They are, in short, annoying: they walk the road with an untroubled confidence in what they are doing. The rest of us are anxious."

This guy just rubbed me the wrong way. He is clearly superior to other pilgrims in his own mind, yet acknowledges that he doesn't know why he's making the pilgrimage.

Page 176-7 - I'm not going to quote all of this part, but he's agonizing over his purpose. "While I become less and less confident about being here, the others grow increasingly assured of their enterprise." Yet he is so critical of people whose walk is due to their faith in God. "These few would have no problem describing my free lunch as a miracle. They are an intense lot. One of them saw a statue move. They avoid the rest of us, as we do them."

Pages 190-191 - He makes a list of distinctions between groups on the walk:

all others v. cars

walkers v. bicyclists

mountain bikers v. racing bikers

short-distance walkers v. long-distance walkers

imposing suffering v. accepting suffering

not spending money v. spending money

tradition v. improvisation

past v. present

walking alone v. walking in a group

Catholic absolutism v. non-Catholic relativism

knowledge v. doubt

certainty v. ambiguity

solemnity v. hilarity

Page 248 - When he reaches the portico in Santiago, it almost seems as though he has a breakthrough. He is overwhelmed and goes down on his knees. But then he turns it into a kind of film script and his self-awareness lacks true introspection.

Page 253 - When he talks about the awkwardness of running into people he just spent weeks with, I wonder what this experience would be like for me. "We are strangers again and have little to say." Perhaps if their conversations had been deeper and more personal, there would have been a stronger connection. I don't think I'll ever tackle a walk like this! (But if I did, it would be to seek after God's direction.)

Someone who read this before me marked lots of passages lightly with pencil. Not sure what they were looking for or if they found it.

The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus bk 3)

by Rick Riordan

Libby audiobook

read by Joshua Swanson

Published: 2012

Genre: YA fantasy, mythology

Not sure why I'm continuing on with this series, but it's fluffy fun. (Though it does make me think about how an author could write Christian stories that draw young readers in the way Riordan does with mythology. Thank you, C.S. Lewis, for the Chronicles of Narnia.) This one focuses on Annabeth (sort of). My favorite part was in the aquarium in Atlanta and Frank, Leo, and Hazel warning Percy about the treatment of the sea creatures. Knowing me, I'll probably go ahead and finish the series after I get done with some of the other audiobooks I have loaded now.

The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, bk 2)

by Rick Riordan

Libby audiobook 13.5 hours

read by Joshua Swanson

Published: 2013

Genre: YA fiction, mythology

 

It just occurred to me that I've probably blogged about this book already. Percy is chased by Gorgons, ends up at Camp Jupiter (the Roman counterpart to Camp Halfblood), befriends Frank and Hazel, they go on a dangerous quest, and at the end of the story the Argo II shows up with the people from book 1.

 

It was a more pleasant "listen" than the last book I had, but I definitely need to take time to find good audiobooks that I haven't already read . . . 

Tail of Vengeance (The Iggy Chronicles, vol. 2)

by Spencer Quinn

A Chet & Bernie mystery

Libby e short story

Published: 2014

Genre: short story mystery

Delightful! It didn't have much to do with Iggy, but it did explain the Teitelbaum issue and the Porsches . . . When the girlfriend hires Bernie to figure out if her bf is cheating and he brings back pictures of the man with another woman, that woman is the wife! Then the wife wants to hire Bernie to find out if her husband is cheating . . . it's a quick read and fills a back story that Chet has often referenced in other books. The big party scene at the end is the pinnacle. I love Chet.

The Power of a Half Hour: Take Back Your Life Thirty Minutes at a Time

by Tommy Barnett

Hennepin County Library hardcover 165 pages + 1 page with the 30 principles + 30 pages of Personal Action Plans (1 per) + 7 page study guide

Published: 2013

Genre: Christian, self-help, non-fiction

I should just buy my own copy! This is overdue, but I can't renew it any more. I didn't get through the personal action plans . . . but have too much going on right now.

Chapter 6 is "Make a Regular Connection" and has to do with pursuing a relationship with God. I love this! I need to keep it here:

I actually need to keep it in my heart. Drawing near to the Lord, building that relationship, is the most important part of this book.

In the principle of listening to God (not just talking), I liked this quote:  "I'm a product of my society, so I'm very much a doer, so to break away from that routine and stop it has to be a definite commitment, something I do on purpose."

I get too focused on my to-do lists and my goals. I listen to audiobooks and push myself. But I know it's all pointless if I'm not focused on God and seeking His will.

Chapter 11 is titled "Own a Great Attitude." The half-hour power principle is "shift your outlook to change your destiny." There's a quote from Scott Hamilton that says "the only disability in life is a bad attitude."

I liked his section on thirty-minute meetings. Preparation can help save time so that people aren't sitting in pointless meetings for too long.

Chapter 19 "Sustain Hope" is about the half-hour power principle "Hope results from God's grace and your effort." I marked this part: "Part of my morning prayer regimen is to pray, 'God, please help me to help somebody today. I don't want to waste Your time or the opportunities You have reserved for me. I'm going to try to make my life really count today. Please bless my efforts.' At the end of each day, as part of my final prayer, I ask myself, Now did I help anybody today? If I didn't, I ask God to forgive me and to strengthen and prepare me to do better tomorrow."

Chapter 26 "Serve in a Loving Church" / help make your church relevant. This caught my attention because it's contrary to what I've been reading from Karl Vaters about small churches. Spirit of Life is a small church. Bigger isn't always better.  "I've also been asked if I think there is anything wrong with a small church. I do have a favorite answer for that one: 'No, if it only stays small for a week!' For if you have a New Testament church, you cannot stay small. In the book of Acts, we see how people were added daily to the church (see 2:47). That says to me that in seven days, then, a small church will be getting bigger."

Later in that same chapter, there's a section titled "Be Creative in Finding Needs to Fill." I love the work they do at the Dream Center and in ministering to foster children. I'd love to be doing more of this myself! Blessing others. Reaching out to meet needs.

Chapter 30 "Act!" / "Follow God into His amazing adventure for you." Barnett again writes about the importance of preparation. 

"I have to confess that I get tired of hearing people say that they're not doing anything about a situation because they're 'waiting on the Lord.' Too often that becomes an excuse to do nothing. Yes, it's important to move in God's timing and rhythm, but while you're waiting, you also need to be preparing for action, whatever that action might turn out to be."

I may still buy a copy of this and work through the action plan. I could also see myself leading a Bible study of this book. Food for thought!

Oh! Here is the list of the 30 principles.

A Murder for the Books

by Victoria Gilbert

Libby audiobook 11:12 hours

read by Melissa Bentley

Published: 2017

Genre: read the blog entry! Grr!

I *thought* this was a murder mystery. It was, but that's just a front for a bad romance novel with some ghost story tucked in. I really strongly disliked this story! Why (oh why) did I listen to the entire thing?!?! Because it was the only audiobook I had on my phone and I drove to Abbott Northwest Hospital twice and Forest City, Iowa twice and it was there. (Now I'm more careful to have more options on my phone!)

I initially liked that Amy was a librarian and there were so many book nerd references. But then it was clear that the research skills part was going on and on . . . and it was boring. (Part reference manual?) The romance was forced and dopey. The southern drawls were fine - the reader did a fine job. Amy finding everyone a possible suspect (except the real killer) was irritating. Amy getting her 30-something year old butt kicked by her 60-something year old cousin was just embarrassing. Doesn't this woman know any self-defense skills other than locking the house door?

The Amy / Sylvia and Eleanora / Rose comparison seemed a bit much, as did the connections between the 1920s story, the 1950s story, and the current story. I just did not like this book.