The Bookshop on the Corner

by Jenny Colgan
Hennepin County Library
(1/2 on audiobook - 4 of 8 CDs - and half hardcover - ch. 14 to page 332)
audio read by Lucy Price-Lewis
genre: romance fiction

I loved Colgan's The Cafe by the Sea, but then barely got through two chapters of Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery (book 3 in a series, so perhaps I should start at book 1). This one was delightful but different than what I expected. Price-Lewis' vocal work was excellent, but I had to return the audiobook because someone was waiting for it and I had already renewed it enough . . . so glad the print edition was on the shelf when I did return it!

Liked:

• the love of books, reading, and libraries
• Nina's growth as a character
• the literary allusions (many of which went over my head! Clearly, I don't read enough.)
• the joy of the Scottish people in their celebrations and in their love of the land
• not being sure who Nina would connect with . . . I initially assumed Alasdair, the innkeeper . . . 

Disliked:
Not much, really. It's a delightful little romance with an actual story and wonderful characters.

Britt-Marie Was Here

by Fredrick Backman
Hennepin County Library hardcover 324
genre: realistic fiction, relationships

Another gem by Backman! Britt-Marie was one of my least-favorite characters in My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. So naturally, this book starts with Britt-Marie being her usual pain-in-the-behind self. Newly divorced from Kent, she goes to the unemployment office. She ends up in Borg, cleaning the unused recreation center obsessively . . . and connecting with the sad residents of the recession-ravaged small town. It was a delightful book! There was a part that made me cringe, but I won't put any spoilers here. Backman is a master in character study!

The Beekeeper's Ball

by Susan Wiggs
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 CDs
read by Christina Traister
genre: good question . . . read below

Clearly, this book was "good" enough (so subjective!) for me to "read" the entire thing start to finish. It is a bit bizarre, though, in its identity. I see it as an odd three-part story: bee science (and recipes including honey), traditional romance ("bodice ripper"), and historical fiction (WWII, Nazis, and resistance).

There was some very serious content woven throughout the book - women abused by boyfriends (in one case, causing a miscarriage), war and PTSD, infidelity and unwanted pregnancies, . . . and of course, Nazi Germany and all the atrocities of pogroms, concentration camps, etc.

To have that content alongside the cliched attraction between Isabel and Cormac was odd. Of course, they're finally going to give in to their mutual attraction and have sex. Duh.

The reader did an excellent job with the huge cast of characters - male and female, Danish accents, young and old - it was very good.

Bella Vista sounds heavenly, and I liked the themes of community, family, and acceptance.

I liked learning that "Helsingor" became "Elsinore" and was what Shakespeare referenced in Macbeth.

There are too many characters to even go into it here! I'm not sure how I feel about this author's choice to weave such serious historical content into a romance story . . . or even which I liked better! On the other hand, if I liked the taste of honey, I'd be getting a print copy of the book to try some recipes. The bee information was fascinating.

Send Down the Rain

by Charles Martin
Hennepin County Library hardcover 331 pages
genre: Christian fiction, relationships

Martin is a gripping storyteller! That said, he is very subtle about the faith aspect of his communication. I'm not sure if that's intentional to draw in readers who are not Christians, or if he doesn't see his writing as a platform for sharing his faith.

The blurb on the back would have helped me better understand the opening of this story! (I read it after I read the book.) Main characters are Joseph (Jo-Jo) and Allie, with Bobby, Jake, Suzy, Catalina, and others playing supporting roles.

We'll have a lively discussion on Monday, I'm sure! There are a lot of topics going on in this book - the Vietnam War, broken families, abuse, human trafficking, double lives, illegal immigrants, secrets, . . . he definitely wrote a powerful story.

Page 233 - "Long time ago, a friend gave me a gift I can never repay. The longer I live out the reality of that gift, the more I come to understand the enormity of what I owe and what is required to wipe the slate." (The message of grace . . . )

Page 258 - "Anger, rage . . . they're as real as you and me. They don't have bodies like us, but they live . . . live in us. Take up residence in our soul."

Page 270 - At the start of Chapter 39, the first overt mention of any "God-thing" is from Psalm 84:7 "They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion." Frankly, I didn't see how this was particularly fitting for this part of the story . . . but I'll probably be enlightened in our discussion.

Page 299 - The title reference! "'Watch over my boy . . . all the days of his life . . . and let him live to see the rain.' She closed her eyes. 'Send down the rain.'" Again, I'm eager for our discussion of the book. Joseph's mother prayed this for him after their conversation before he left for the war.

Page 312 - "I'd seen what evil could do. Evil never gave itself for anyone. It takes what it doesn't own. Holds your head under the water. Rips your head off your neck and dangles it from the city wall. Evil dominates. Controls. Eradicates. Evil is a sniveling punk, and if you let it inside you then you spew hatred, which is just another name for the poison we drink hoping it'll hurt someone else."

Page 320 - sweet passage. "The place where the tears come from is full again."

Page 325 - Epilogue "As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools."

Page 329 - "'Thank . . . you.' The words were separated by pain and they were long and hard in coming. The empty tequila bottle bobbed in the distance. Glass reflecting sunlight. A diamond floating on the surface of the world. 'For giving me what I needed.' He swallowed and dug his hand into the package. 'And not what I deserved.'" Yes! This is how God loves us, by giving us what we need instead of what we deserve.

To be honest, a lot of this book was predictable. But it was very well-written and intense in parts. My favorite was Catalina and her children and how Jo-Jo interacted with them.

Wild Rover No More

Bloody Jack #? . . . the last one
by L.A. Meyer
Scott County Library hardcover 355 pages
genre: YA historical fiction, adventure

Meyer spent a lot of this final book in the series recounting adventures from other titles in the series. I liked the governess portion and how Jacky dealt with Edgar and Cathy. I would have liked even more follow-up from this part. The circus section was less engaging, but still some new ground. The life or death parts toward the end . . . just helped bring the bigger story arc to a close. Done!

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

by Timothy Keller
Hennepin County Library hardcover 241 pages plus end notes, etc.
genre: non-fiction, Christian apologetics

(At least, I think it's called "apologetics.")
Timothy Keller is amazing to me - calm, rational, firmly fixed on God's Word. This book was not a quick and easy read, but very, very worthwhile. I may buy my own copy. It's one I would definitely recommend for intellectual people who have issues with faith.

Page xii - "The people most passionate about social justice were moral relativists, while the morally upright didn't seem to care about the oppression going on all over the world." Ouch! Keller is writing about his own spiritual journey in the 1960s, but it's a fair criticism. Having grown up in a non-believing but social justice passionate household, I see too many believers who are indifferent to the suffering of others throughout the world.

Page 79 - "The people on the bus from hell in Lewis's parable would rather have their 'freedom,' as they define it, than salvation. Their delusion is that, if they glorified God, they would somehow lose power and freedom, but in a supreme and tragic irony, their choice has ruined their own potential for greatness. Hell is, as Lewis says, 'the greatest monument to human freedom.' As Romans 1:24 says, God 'gave them up to . . . their desires.' All God does in the end with people is give them what they most want, including freedom from himself. What could be more fair than that?" This is from the chapter "How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?" It reminds me of people who say they would prefer to go to Hell, because it will be a big party of sinners having fun. This "logic" makes me so sad . . . I like how Keller puts forth the answer to this commonly asked question.

Page 94 - "Since Christian believers occupy different positions on both the meaning of Genesis I and on the nature of evolution, those who are considering Christianity as a whole should not allow themselves to be distracted by this intramural debate. The skeptical inquirer does not need to accept any one of these positions in order to embrace the Christian faith." Keller goes on to give a great perspective on keeping focused on the central claims of Christianity.

Page 95 - "Jesus's miracles in particular were never magic tricks, designed only to impress and coerce. You never see him say something like: 'See that tree over there? Watch me make it burst into flames!' Instead, he used miraculous power to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and raise the dead." I love how he talks about Jesus wanting to restore the world to the condition of wholeness and wellness that God intended.

Page 103 - The who section on The Da Vinci Code bugged me . . . how did a work of fiction come to have so much influence on people's beliefs?  This whole section shows the depth of scholarship about what we can know about Scripture and its reliability. Powerful!

Page 122 - In the section Keller calls "The Intermission," I love this observation! "Which account of the world has the most 'explanatory power' to make sense of what we see in the world and in ourselves? We have a sense that the world is not the way it ought to be. We have a sense that we are very flawed and yet very great. We have a longing for love and beauty that nothing in this world can fulfill. We have a deep need to know meaning and purpose. Which worldview best accounts for these things?"

Page 168-9 In "The Problem of Sin," Keller writes about something that sneaks in to my attitude sometimes! Ouch again! "If we get our identity from our ethnicity or socioeconomic status, then we have to feel superior to those of other classes and races. If you are profoundly proud of being an open-minded, tolerant soul, you will be extremely indignant toward people you think are bigots. If you are a very moral person, you will feel very superior to people you think are licentious. And so on." Wow! Help me to keep my eyes on You, Jesus! Humble my heart.

Page 170 - "The Hebrew word for this perfect, harmonious interdependence among all parts of creation is called shalom. We translate it as 'peace,' but the English word is basically negative, referring to the absence of trouble or hostility. The Hebrew word means much more than that. It means absolute wholeness - full, harmonious, joyful, flourishing life." I love this! I've always thought of "shalom" as just meaning "peace." This definition is so much richer!

Page 188 - In the section about forgiveness, Keller writes a powerful observation. "But when you try to get payment through revenge the evil does not disappear. Instead it spreads, and it spreads most tragically of all into you and your own character." Wow! So very true.

Page 236 - Another ouch! Examine your heart . . . "I will grant that, on the whole, churchgoers may be weaker psychologically and morally than non-churchgoers. That should be no more surprising than the fact that people sitting in a doctor's office are on the whole sicker than those who are not there. Churches rightly draw a higher proportion of needy people. They also have a great number of people whose lives have been completely turned around and filled by the joy of Christ." I like the analogy to the doctor's office, but still . . . that's a tough statement!

So much good in this book! Keller is incredible. I'm so glad he loves the Lord and strives to get people into relationship with Him!

Folds in the Map: Stories of Life's Unlikely Intersections

by Jeff Bauer
Ann's book paperback 147 pages
genre: memoir, essays

Ann loaned this to me ages ago! Bauer was someone she worked with at The Family Partnership. I wasn't super excited about reading it, but I'm so glad I did. Some of the essays didn't connect for me, but others were thought-provoking and powerful. My favorites were "Secret Wars" and "Beauty and Bread."

In "Living in the Middle," there was a passage I marked. "Children, with all of their curiosity and vulnerability, learning to become themselves while, at the same time, absorbing everything from the world around them. Scared, joyful, insecure, needing of unconditional love and protection. Just children." He is writing about seeing the fear and need in people's faces that reflects a child's need. He writes about the powerful impact of having his consciousness altered . . . but then notes that the intense awareness faded with time and returning home.

This is a lovely book. Kudos to Bauer for writing it and getting it published!

The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth

by Richard Paul Evans
Hennepin County Library audiobook 2 CDs
read by the author
genre: non-fiction, self-help, finance

I took lots of notes on this, but won't include them all here. Louie and I listened to this together on our way to and from Leech Lake a few weeks ago. The first notes I wrote were, "Live frugally" and "Decide to be wealthy."

Briefly, the five things are
1. The Power of Commitment (choose)
2. Take Responsibility for Your Money
3. Keep a Portion of Everything You Earn
4. Win in the Margins
5. Give Back

Like I said, I have a LOT of detailed notes. I still struggle with some of the financial "stuff" I've been reading about . . . because I don't really care that much about money. But I want to be a responsible spouse and citizen . . . and I want to bless others. That's part of why I keep reading stuff like this.

Evans makes some great points, and I believe he's a Christian. Even though wealth is not my goal, he has some very helpful points.

Link to my GoogleDoc with my detailed notes is here. There are lots of other people who have posted info online (that is better organized and/or more concise than my jabbering).

Time Is Too Precious

This isn't the title of a book I read . . . rather it's acknowledgement of the fact that I do not need to complete a book just because I start it!

I can be rather compulsive. I am also curious and I love reading. That said, sometimes I need to recognize the fact that if I'm not enjoying a book or learning from it, I can just be done with it. I started to listen to an audiobook that I had already renewed at least once . . . I had even made notes about it to blog. But then I realized that the book was just bugging me. It was like a trashy romance book that aspired to something higher and better. Back to the library.

Then I started to listen to another audiobook that seemed like a higher-quality type of book. Again, I made some notes. A 75-year-old with a brain tumor, contemplating her life. But whether it was the text or the reader's strident voice, I just wasn't getting into it. Back to the library. Two in a row! That's almost unheard of for me.

The Veritas Conflict

by Shunti Feldhahn
loaned to me by Julie Abbott, paperback, 446 pages
genre: Christian fiction, spiritual warfare

This is going to be another very long post! Julie loaned this to me in March 2013. It sat for a long time on my book shelf! (Partly because 2013 was a rough time in my life and partly because I kept procrastinating on reading it. Spiritual warfare - like in Peretti's This Present Darkness - is not my favorite topic.) This book blew me away! I almost want to buy my own copy to re-read it. My overwhelming take-away is that believers absolutely must be in prayer. We cannot slack off on bringing our own lives and our loved ones' lives (and our neighbors, co-workers, etc.) before the Lord!

"A heavenly battle is raging for the heart and mind of a young co-ed, a college, and a nation. In this work of fiction, Harvard University is a centuries-old battleground in the struggle between good and evil, and one student has no idea she's about to be thrust onto the front lines. Claire Rivers arrives at Harvard an enthusiastic freshman but is ill prepared for the challenges she encounters to her Christian faith. Students and professors who proclaim 'tolerance' and revel in alternative lifestyles greet her beliefs with disdain - even hostility." (from the cover blurb)

This book was not at all what I expected and I loved the nuance and love that flowed throughout the story. Feldhahn went to Harvard and dealt with some of the challenges she gave to Claire in her story. Here are some of the many passages I post-it noted:

Page 23 - From a letter written by Cleon Grindley in the olden days after the school shield was changed to just "Veritas" (truth) from "Veritas pro Christo et Ecclesiae"  (Truth for Christ and Church) - "We can already see a change - subtle, but real. Those who do not know Christ feel much more comfortable with the university now, and those who are devout are beginning to feel as if they are somehow keeping their fingers in the hole of a dam." This sense of how confident, strong, or comfortable we are interests me. I completely understand the Bible's command that we GO and SHARE the Good News (as opposed to just hanging out in our churches with other believers), but there are times it is so very nice to share and celebrate with people who also love the Lord! The idea that when we dis-invite God from our lives, He obliges . . . and then we are bereft of His power, presence, and love as we try to make progress without Him . . . this passage just really caught my attention.

Page 51 - Claire's dad talking to friends - "We've always said that we were raising the kids to be salt and light in a decaying world, right? Well, at some point we have to let them go out into the darkness and trust God to care for them. After all, He's had the harder job trusting us with them all these years. Us trusting Him should be a piece of cake." This makes me laugh at myself! As I deal with the challenges of parenting adult children (who don't necessarily want any parenting from me), I realize that I need to trust God to guide them. I can't go back in the past and give them a more firm  foundation of faith. I need to trust God, love my kids, and pray for them.

Page 62 - I like how Mansfield communicates with Sharon, even when she's hostile. "Sharon took a big swig of her coffee and set the cup down. 'I have a hard time being friends with people like you.' 'Well, at least you're honest about it.' Mansfield raised his glass to her." There were so many really challenging concepts in this book. I love how Feldhahn handled them all!

Page 81 - "Harvard makes such a thing about tolerance and the freedom to express all viewpoints. Gays, communists, humanists, Buddhists - all are invited to participate in the 'marketplace of ideas.' But get some conservative Christian in here, and the marketplace of ideas is curiously closed." This is another truism in the current age and push for diversity. Too often, a Christian worldview is rejected as "hateful" or "narrow-minded" and not even listened to or respected.

Page 125 -"She has become wrapped in confusion and fear. But she must gain the knowledge to win the fight for her mind. She must develop the courage to take a public stand. God has not given His people a spirit of timidity or fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind! God has given her all those things, but she must learn how to walk in them and how to stand on them." One of the angels watching over Claire . . . and 2 Timothy 1:7 is one of my absolute favorite verses! Even though this is in reference to a young woman (less than half my current age), I too feel as though I need to learn how to "walk in" the things God has given me in the spirit.

Page 157 - "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning." - from Harvard's College Laws dated six years after the founding in 1636! I didn't know that Harvard was founded as a Christian college!

Page 200 - This passage made me think of Financial Peace University and Dave Ramsey! "See, my dad had gotten hooked on credit cards. It sounds stupid, but it seems a lot like Teresa's mom and her gambling addiction. These credit card companies were throwing themselves at him, sending preapproved cards with limits of thousands of dollars. He started using the cards for convenience but ended up spending way more than we made. I don't know all the details, you know, but it became a stretch just to pay the minimums each month, and eventually we couldn't even afford those. And the more he got himself in debt, the more the card companies seemed to like him." Claire is confiding in Brad. The friendship and trust between these two characters was another part of the book I really liked.

Page 247 - '"How do you react when you're busy with your daily life and come across someone's urgent, now-or-never sort of need? Do you tell the oppressed prisoner of the dark world that you're busy now but you'll come back to your underground espionage job at two o'clock next Tuesday? Or do you prayerfully rearrange your daily life to fit the calling of your true job? I have news for you, dear saints." He leaned forward on the podium. "Ministry is always inconvenient."' The pastor in a church Claire was visiting . . . so very true! I loved the sermon he gave.

Page 253 - " . . . have the courage to speak the truth in love. It takes guts, Claire. Guts to publicly defend an unpopular position, especially when you're defending yourself to a professor. But 'always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within you.' And when you speak for the Truth, pray for those you're talking with and trust the Holy Spirit to give you the words to say. But always, always speak in love. If they're abusive - and trust me, Claire, they sometimes will be - -respond with the grace that Christ showed, and you will be blameless before God and man." Ian giving advice to Claire. There were so many passages that resonated for me in this book.

Page 282-3 - This letter to Claire from Miss Gana from Nigeria who had been her camp counselor. What a powerful impact godly believers can have on the people in their lives!

I especially like where she wrote "You must cling to Him. If in your future there is a fight against what GOd has for you, you must cling even more strongly to Him. Psalm 91 says that He will send His angels to protect you, but it also says that protection is for 'he who dwells in the shadow of the Most High.' So dwell there."

Page 325 - A conversation between Claire and Bethany:
"You know how you thought Christianity was so exclusive and intolerant? Well, I just realized . . . it's actually the most inclusive religion in the world!"
"How's that?" Bethany's voice was flat.
"Every other belief system requires you to meet some standard in order to go to heaven, or achieve nirvana, or whatever their equivalent is. But with Christ --" she leaned toward Bethany, her eyes intent -- "anyone can go to heaven. Not just the good people! Every other faith is so much more exclusive that it is actually mean. They say you have to be good to go to heaven, but who knows how good you really have to be? What they're saying is that you might die and find out, 'Oh, sorry! You're only allowed two hundred lies in a lifetime, and you told two hundred and one. Too bad.'" She jerked her thumb downward.
"Do you see? In Christianity there is one -- only one -- step, and everyone knows what it is: Give your life to Jesus. The good, the bad, the rich, the poor -- they're all God's children. He knows that none of us is going to be as good as He requires -- which is perfect -- so He made a way for anyone to be saved!"
I loved the interactions between Claire and Bethany and the love of Christ that Claire was able to share, even when Bethany was hostile.

Page 448 - I found the author's notes very interesting and worth reading. "One reason I wrote this book is that when I was at Harvard, I had no idea how to defend what I believed, and I got hammered in my classes, as did many of my friends. My prayer is that the 'relationship apologetics' in this book will help others learn how to defend their faith in a welcome and effective manner, while still building relationships with those they actively disagree with."

Wow! It has taken me about two weeks to get this entry done! What an amazing book. I love how Feldhahn has written an interesting story filled with spiritual lessons.

Robert B. Parker's Kickback: A Spenser novel

by Ace Atkins
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 CDs
read by Joe Mantegna
genre: mystery

I got this (as well as several other titles) in preparation for my road trip with my sister Louise. I'm not sure how many (if any) Robert Parker books I've ever read, but I recognized the name as one she likes. Since Parker is dead and this was written by a different person (Atkins), I figured she hadn't read it yet. I was right! She knew the characters and some of the "in" jokes that I didn't get.

Spenser takes on a case for a distraught mom whose son was sent to a juvenile facility for a minor offense. As he looks into the case, there are two "dirty" judges and connections to the underworld.

Some of it was interesting and some of Spenser's attitude was funny. I see why this character resonates for Louise.

Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland

by Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus,
with Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan
Hennepin County Library audiobook, 10 CDs
read by Jorjeana Marie, Marisol Ramirez and Arthur Morey
genre: non-fiction, memoir

This was horrible. The title first caught my attention. Hope is such a powerful entity.

As I was listening to disc one, I thought about stopping. It's just too horrible and depressing. Then I realized that these women survived a terrible ordeal . . . and I couldn't handle "listening" to their story?! That didn't seem right. They deserve to have their story heard. (This made me think of how awful it was to watch the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. I had to pause the video and think, "My stomach is in knots watching this on a screen while I'm safe in my living room. What on earth was it like for the young men who were actually there, seeing the carnage, on those beaches in the 1940s????")

The Sylvia Brown psychic story when she told Amanda's mom on Montel Williams' show that Amanda was dead . . . that loss of hope was so awful.

It's horrific that Arlene Castro and Gina were best friends. Amanda knew another of his daughters. Michelle was friends with Castro's daughter Emily. Yuk. What a hideous man! And Arlene had "behavioral issues" after Gina went missing? Wow. If she'd only known . . .

Timeline. As I was listening, I tried to think of what I was doing and how old my kids were on the dates of these women's stories.
August 22, 2002 - Michelle Knight taken
April 21, 2003 - Amanda Berry abducted the day before her seventeenth birthday
April 2, 2004 - Gina DeJesus was taken (only 14 years old!!! And he knew her parents!)
March 2, 2006 - Amanda's mother, Luanne Miller, died age 43
December 25, 2006 - Amanda gave birth to Jocelyn Jade
May 6, 2013 - they rescued themselves. Ariel Castro was arrested.
September 3, 2013 - Castro killed himself by hanging. (9:18 pm - less than a half hour after the last check on him . . . I can't believe they tried CPR and called for an ambulance. I suppose they had to. Thirty-three days after he was sentenced.)

There's a more thorough timeline at www.cbsnews.com/news/timeline-of-events-the-cleveland-kidnapping-case/ . . . but it's still all horrific.

The part on April 10, 2013 when Castro was visiting with his daughter Angie . . . chilling. How on earth did his four children from his first marriage reconcile his actions with the dad they knew (once they found out, of course)? Angie's last visit to the house on Seymour Avenue . . . how awful.

When Gina started cutting, it just added to the sadness of what she experienced. How did these women survive?!?! Yes, hope. Hope to see their families again, to be free. I'm so glad their families never gave up on finding them.

I'm sad to not know more of Michelle's story, but I don't think I can handle reading her book. The fact that Castro had beaten her to make her miscarry (multiple times) is just another layer of horror.

"I have no choice." That phrase came up a lot from both Amanda and Gina. Castro was an icky creepy nasty man!

Jocelyn Jade - Amanda Berry's daughter. The key to their escape!

As I'm listening to the part immediately after they're rescued and she is meeting with lawyers at her sister's house, I am in tears hearing the reader say (as Amanda) - "I'm not sure what lawyers can do, but I want a headstone for my mother's grave and I want a birth certificate for Jocelyn."

All the times that Castro insisted that he was a victim, or that the girls had had consensual sex with him, or that his "faith" kept him from being a danger to himself . . . makes me want to puke. What a horrible, twisted human being!

I'm so glad that there was an outpouring of support (and money) for these women once they were free. I cannot begin to imagine how challenging it was for them to rebuild lives after a decade of imprisonment and torture. I remember when they were found - it was all over the news. But to hear their stories and their focus on hope and the future - that's inspiring.

Then Sings My Soul

by Amy K Sorrells
Hennepin County Library paperback 298 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

"When Nel Stewart returns home after the sudden death of her mother, she realizes her beloved father, Jakob, is struggling with dementia."

That's the first part of the back cover blurb. Nel as a character never really resonated for me. I was much more interested in the story of Jakob's childhood escaping the atrocities in Ukraine. "Told partially through Jakob's flashbacks of fleeing genocide-ridden eastern Europe at the turn of the twentieth century . . . " Jakob's life and story were what really spoke to me in this book.

For not having an "I LOVE this book" reaction, I sure put a lot of post-it notes in the pages . . .

I started noting the vocabulary words that were new for me. That was an odd sensation, reading a book and thinking, "what does that mean?" I was not familiar with "lapidary" but quickly used context clues to know that it had to do with gemstones, jewelry, etc. (M-W.com: lapidary - 1:

a cutter, polisher, or engraver of precious stones usually other than diamonds  2 : the art of cutting gems). This further bugged me because I kept thinking of butterflies (Lepidoptera) for some reason. Then "cabochons" came up numerous times! I understood that it was a certain piece of jewelry, but I didn't know what. The author finally defined it on page 168, after using it a half dozen times. Urg! (M-W.com: cabochon -1: a gem or bead cut in convex form and highly polished but not faceted; also 2: this style of cutting). 

Then on page 86, "plangent" vibrations . . . what?! (M-W.com: plangent - 1 : having a loud reverberating sound 2 : having an expressive and especially plaintive quality). I should probably have known that, but I didn't! So I guess you could say this book was educational.

 

Page 45 - "Over the past year or so, it was Catherine who had been covering for him. The lines between past and present, real and not real blurred more and more frequently in his mind." This reminds me so much of my mom's struggles toward the end of her life. It's so sad to see someone you love become confused.

 

Page 47 - "He eventually realized the hole in the heart of a woman who longs for children is not something he - nor any man - could fill." Oh, this makes me think of someone I care about very much who is struggling with infertility. All I can do is pray and try to be supportive.

 

Page 85 - "God seemed to be everywhere around the dead, but Jakob had yet to find much evidence of Him around the living, besides on the countenance of his wife and a few other exceptions like Mattie." The truth of this overwhelms me! For so many people who do not yet know or love the Lord, they don't see the love and life and joy of Jesus! Believers need to shine the Light of the world!

 

Page 92 - "It's only because I say the prayers every morning and every night, whether I feel like it or not, that my heart has not hardened like granite." I love Peter and his attempts to get through to Jakob! I love this idea that you pray whether you feel like it or not. God is so good!

 

Page 94 - Jakob tells Peter about Faigy and what happened and how guilty he has felt. Oh this made me so sad!

 

 Page 97 - "'It's easy when something bad happens, especially when someone you love very much dies, to become bitter and angry at God. . . . Because God does not cause the bad. Man causes the bad. God is always good. And so we are always to praise Him.'" This time, the wisdom comes from Mama before the evil hits home. (This is where Peter gets his faith!)

Page 151 - "'Do not let the evil harden your heart, my son. You must believe God is bigger than all this.'" Luda was another amazing character as the boys fled the Ukraine. 

 

Page 181 - "Men, he knew, could do far more harm to humans than any machine." For Jakob to learn this at such a young age . . . how do children recover from seeing evil?

 

Page 190 - "She learned about missionaries like Stuart Hine from Britain . . . Andrey Sheptytsky . . . " This whole section made me want to do some research! These allusions to people I've never heard of who made an impact for God makes me want to know more.

 

Page 217 - "'Say it always. The words in your head will help the truth return to your heart. . . '" Peter again. I was crying by this point. The theme of forgiveness is so strong on this page!

Page 295-6 - "It's a grand shame most of us don't know the impact of what we're doing with a person until it's too long past or too painful to revisit, Jakob thought. Then again, maybe it's better not knowing and having done the thing anyway." I want to be intentional in loving people and sharing God's love to the best of my ability! 

In her afterwords, Sorrells writes about her inspirations in writing this story. One of them references her grandfather. "The metaphor of a rough and unsightly rock or mineral being faceted and polished into something beautiful, and how Yahweh does the same thing with us is one that never grows old or cliche' to me." I'm so thankful to God for shaping and polishing me!

Also in the afterword, she listed books on different topics that came up in the story. Here are her recommendations on dementia:

* Still Alice by Lisa Genova

* No Act of Love Is Ever Wasted: The Spirituality of Caring for Persons with Dementia by Jane Marie Thibault and Richard L. Morgan

* Not Alone: Encouragement for Caregivers by Nell E. Noonan

 

Boston Jacky: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Taking Care of Business

by L.A. Meyer
Scott County Library hardcover 364 pages
genre: YA historic fiction, adventure

This was #11 in the series and one of my least favorites. Jacky is back in Boston, but the ladies of the Women's Temperance Union are on the move against her. The "protection" groups / gangs are also causing trouble for her and her newly purchased Pig and Whistle.

While I appreciate how Meyer includes relevant historical information in these entertaining tales, I was a bit surprised this time around. From page 178: "'Ah well, yes, there are several jewel merchants, all of a Hebraic persuasion here in Boston, and they were most avid in examining the collection, a loupe to every eye. I perceived them to be honest brokers, and since their business was global in nature, very few questions were asked.'"  I can't imagine too many teen readers are aware of the historical punch that this observation packs.

I have never liked the nasty Constable Wiggins and the meanness of some of the characters in Boston. When Joanie and Ravi are taken from Jacky and put in horrible institutions, I expected Jacky to rescue them immediately. But the fight for their liberty took much longer and became quite convoluted. On page 225, "I stand there totally perplexed and wounded, too. I have been called many things in this life, but this is new to me and it cuts me to my core . . . unfit mother . . . " I felt a bit sad for Jacky here.

Clarissa's double-cross, yet another misunderstanding between Jacky and Jaimy, the destruction of her hard work, the arsonist, . . . there were so many more unpleasant parts to this story than there were fun, funny, or heroic parts.

Theoretically, the next book (#12) is the last one. Hooray! May it all end on a high note.

The Cafe' by the Sea

by Jenny Colgan
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 CDs
read by the author
genre: realistic fiction, romance

What a fun book! I think my favorite part may have been listening to the lovely accents. I didn't realize that the author was also the vocal talent until I started this blog entry. Beautiful!

Flora is a paralegal in London when her boss (whom she has a huge crush on) asks her to go to the small Scottish island of Mure to help a wealthy client. Flora does NOT want to go back to the island she grew up on and has not been back to since her mother's funeral. Once she goes, though, old and new collide in her life.

I loved this book!

Lorna is such a wise and wonderful friend.

"You're in a different world when you lose a parent." Yes! And grief is an odd thing.

I *love* the Scottish tongue! I could listen to this book over and over just to hear her voice!

Wow. Flora is grumpier than me!

Joel is such a jerk! I liked learning more about him as the story went on.

Agate - cool name! Flora, Fenton, Innis, Hammish, and Eck? (I couldn't find a list of the characters online . . . not that I looked super hard. That's one of the challenges of audiobooks and not seeing the words in print!)

I didn't realize she had written so many books! I'll have to find some more. Reading this one made me want to make scones!

(Above written 7.16.18. Below added 9.18.18.)

Some notes from listening a second time:

• I looked on a map of Scotland for an island called Muir or Mure or anything like that. Nope. But very interesting to learn more about Scotland!
• I dislike how much the characters used the Lord's name in vain! Not a lot of other swearing, but it's hard to hear His name used as an expletive.
• Benefits of fresh air, outdoors, etc.! Loved this! Made me want to go outside for a hike.
• Title . . . it takes quite a while to get to the cafe' part of the story.
• "Nobody could conceivably fancy someone who didn't like dogs." - I love when Flora makes this comment. I too am a dog lover!

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

by C.S. Lewis
personal paperback 248 pages
genre: YA Christian allegorical fiction / fantasy

My pastor referenced this book a while back. It had been quite a while since I had read any of the Chronicles of Narnia, so I put it on my reading pile. Now that I've re-read it, I don't know what pastor had referenced!

I remember liking Reepicheep and his sassy, saucy attitude. It's nice to see Eustace transform from a brat into a decent kid (via life as a dragon . . . ).

In Chapter 7, Eustace is telling about what helped him transform back into a human from dragon form. Tearing off the dragon skin and being tender underneath . . . sounds a lot like the old man becoming a new creation.

In Chapter 10, when Lucy is reading in the Magician's Book, I like how her defiance and determination to do something she knows is wrong has sad consequences. I can relate! I hate it when I ignore that "still, silent voice" of the Holy Spirit and do something I know is wrong . . . and the results are predictable.

Chapter 12 and the Dark Island was very interesting. I love that they were rescued by Lucy's prayers to Aslan when they were trapped in their darkness and fear.

Ashes

book three of the Ashes trilogy
by Ilsa Bick
Scott County Library hardcover 671 pages
genre: YA dystopian fiction

I'm finally done. This was as gory and horrid as book two. I'm such a glutton for punishment!

I should have made a character map. I found out what happened to Alex, Tom, and Ellie. And Mina, Wolf/Simon, Peter, Finn, Jess, Kincaid, and about fifty other characters. Lots of murder and mayhem. Lots of dystopian darkness. My curiosity is appeased.

The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy

by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D.
Hennepin County Library hardcover 258 pages
genre: non-fiction sociology

This book was referenced in a number of different places and I'm glad I read it. My two biggest take-aways (personally) were to live below my means and I just don't care that much about wealth. Yep. My personal takeaways.

On page 22,  the table "The top fifteen economically productive small population ancestry groups" lists people groups from primarily Caucasian countries. Perhaps it's because people from African and South American countries are larger population groups in the U.S.? Or because these people have not been able to attain great wealth?

Page 24 really caught my eye! "They are the opposite of their father, the blue-collar, successful business owner. His children have become Americanized. They are part of the high-consuming, employment-postponing generation. How many generations does it take for an ancestry group that today contains thousands of Victors to become Americanized? Only a few. Most move into the 'American normal' range within one or two generations. This is why America needs a constant flow of immigrants with the courage and tenacity of Victor. These immigrants and their immediate offspring are constantly needed to replace the Victors of America." And these authors are pretty conservative! I wonder what they think of Trump's isolationist policies . . .

I love how the parts on children of wealthy parents differentiate by career. As wealthy parents give financial gifts to their children, many just waste that money! (Easy come, easy go.) "In spite of having lower incomes than nonreceivers, gift receivers who are high school / elementary school teachers have higher net worths than nonreceivers." Yep. Because teachers know how to scrimp!

There are actually a lot of really interesting observations they have made from their research into millionaires. Despite what we see from Hollywood, there are only a very small percentage of the ultra-wealthy with the high lifestyle. Most millionaires are self-made through entrepreneurial efforts. They generally buy used cars and keep them several years, work very hard, and live below their means so they can amass wealth.

At many points in this book, I thought, "But I just don't care that much about money!" Life is short and precious and I want to store up treasures in Heaven. Eternity is more important than stuff.

Page 219 had some really interesting things to say about immigration law . . . and this was published in 1996. It would be very interesting to see a revised book. Stanley has died (his daughter wrote the forward on this 2010 publication).  If they were able to replicate the research, would their findings be the same? What about all the dot-com entrepreneurs? I think it's interesting to see that Bill and Melinda Gates do not plan to just hand their wealth to their children. This book really has a lot of sad observations about the generational impact of wealth. It's easy to spend someone else's money . . .

Treasure Mountain

by Louis L'Amour
Scott County Library audiobook 5 CDs
read by David Strathairn
genre: western

1890s? I haven't read a Louis L'Amour book for a while. This was a Sackett book, but it started with Orrin and then shifted to William Tell . . . as they tried to discover what had happened twenty years earlier when their dad disappeared. Here are some impressions I had while listening.

The hotel worker / former slave is named Judas Priest . . . I wonder what that meant to the author when he wrote this. It made me think of the heavy metal band, and the Bible.
In chapter seven, when they talked with Phillip, I laughed at the characters who had gone out west twenty years ago - Mr. Sackett with Pierre, Andre Baston, Hippo Swan, Angus Priest, and Pettigrew! (I instantly thought of Harry Potter with that one . . . )

They're seriously trying to uncover what had happened out west in the mountains twenty years earlier?

I had to look up "dido" because he used it at least twice. Here's what Merriam-Webster says:

1: a mischievous or capricious act : prank, antic —often used in the phrase cut didoes

2 : something that is frivolous or showy 

 

It was funny how L'Amour seemed to be trying to show how enlightened he was in terms of his attitudes toward racial differences (as shown in how the noble Sacketts treated former slaves). Yet coming from the very PC 20teens, his language choices are just so NOT as enlightened. 

 

Why on earth would Tell insist on going out alone to face murderers when there are capable friends who could help? He's not much of a strategist.

 

This is the eleventh Sackett book (according to the end blurb). I like the Sacketts, but the ending was so abrupt and the western macho just not my favorite style. It was a fun, quick change of pace.

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.