A Birthday Party for Jesus

by Susan Jones

Illustrated by Lee Holland

Hennepin County Library children's book

Published: 2017

 

Sweet little children's book about gifts for Jesus.  This is one title in a set of four . . . I haven't read them all, but I really liked this one and used it at church in 2021.

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.

Menopause for Dummies

by Marcia Jones, Theresa Eichenwald, and Nancy W. Hall
Hennepin County Library paperback 342 pages
genre: non-fiction health

I wanted to know what was "normal" as I head toward my second half-century on the planet. I feel a lot better knowing that my current symptoms aren't really very troublesome at all. I am also confident that I will NOT be a good candidate for hormone therapy (because of my Factor V Leiden clotting issue.)

page 48 - "Fuzzy thinking is common when you're deprived of sleep or your hormones are in flux. When we say fuzzy thinking, we mean the feeling that you're just not with it today - as though you're walking through a fog or you just can't concentrate on what you're doing. Fuzzy thinking can be the result of interrupted sleep (which is extremely common during menopause)." I'm glad it's not just me losing my mind . . . I hate the feeling of fuzzy thinking! And it has been happening all too often lately.

page 120: "Water-based lubricants, such as Astroglide, are healthier for vaginal linings. Avoid petroleum-based products." Not an issue yet, but good to know!

I marked pages 236-7, but I'm not sure why . . . it's dealing with "controlling cardiovascular disease" and most of this info is old news to me. Perhaps it was the section on dealing with bone loss . . .

page 271-280 - great info on warming up and cooling down / hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds

• walk or cycle for 5-10 minutes to get warm
• stretch upper torso and arms by clasping hands above head, interlocking fingers / push palms upward / stretch until you feel tightness and hold
• clasp hands behind back / slowly and carefully life arms, stretch until you feel tightness and hold
• stand close ot a wall with one leg forward / bend front leg at knee and keep back leg straight / put hands on wall / stretch forward keeping back foot flat on the floor / switch legs and repeat
• lie flat on back / stick one leg up in the air / grab thigh of that leg / slightly bend leg on the floor / gently pull leg toward chest keeping leg straight / switch legs
• sit on floor with both legs extended straight out in front of you / bend one leg so your knee touches your chest / lean forward, reach out, and touch your toes / switch legs
• lie on back / raise legs in the air and bend at the knees / grab both legs behind and below knees / keep back flat to the floor while pulling thighs in toward chest 

Flax seed is highly recommended . . . buy in small amounts because it has a short shelf life. Use a grinder to grind it over foods. Very good for bone density and heart health!

Secrets Over Sweet Tea

by Denise Hildreth Jones
Hennepin County Library paperback 387 pages
genre: Christian fiction

Loved this! She is such a wonderful author! I don't love the style of introducing two major characters per chapter for the first three chapters . . . even though I know the story will weave them together, it's disconcerting at first to try to keep all the characters straight.

Scarlett Jo Newberry - flamboyant pastor's wife, large woman, wears bright clothes, gets into people's business
Pastor Jackson Newberry - almost too-good-to-be-true husband to Scarlett Jo and father to their four (or five?) sons
Grace Shepherd - early morning newscaster, unhappy in marriage, wishes they'd had children
Tyler Shepherd - hockey player, alcoholic, impotent and unwilling to even be affectionate with Grace (unless they're in the public eye)
Zach Craig - lawyer, feels unfulfilled in his marriage, twin daughters always fight, wife is cold and controlling
Caroline Craig - runs a clothing store, kowtows to her mother

There were many more characters, but these are the main ones. I loved Scarlett Jo!

page 23 - I like that Grace can call her friend Rachel to "talk her home" after work. She says "usually I am an advocate for your husband, just as you are for mine. You know Jason always says you're the best friend of this marriage." I think that's a cool idea - to be a best friend to another couple's marriage. To build up and encourage.

page 85 - Never having actually lived in the South, I can only imagine the truth in a statement like this: "The jab was real and purposeful, though delivered with the sugarcoating that Southern women were so adept in adding to insults." This makes me think of the comedian who talked about Southern women adding "bless her heart" to any critical comment . . .

page 122 - "Scarlett Jo watched as Grace studied her. She knew the look. She'd been measured on this scale so many times - the can-I-trust-you? scale. People needed to know that their heart was safe, their story was safe."

page 124 - "Baby, we're all broken. About the time we start believing we're not, that's when it all falls apart and we realize how bad off we are."

page 188 - "Okay, let me make this a little clearer. We come into this world with this carefree child's heart. It's open. Alive. It's connected with God and believes anything is possible. It doesn't know much fear, and it has this kind of abandoned wonder. But then at some point - I don't know when, maybe in high school, maybe in college, maybe after we graduate - something happens to us."

page 248 - "Hold on there, chief. The only one living in the exploding Crayola box is you. Me and Grace here are chocolate and vanilla kind of girls, not rainbow sherbet."

page 252 - made me think of Jodi! "Scarlett Jo read so much, in fact, that her kids said she needed one of those e-readers. But she liked real live books, the kind with paper and ink - which was why she liked Landmark.  They still sold read books."

page 331 - Grace's observation that she was "so consumed" with her own story and problems that she never asked Scarlett Jo about her life. How true! We tend to focus on our own stuff and neglect to realize that other people are dealing with their own issues.

page 368 - I could see it coming . . . ugh! But the scene didn't turn out the way I expected. Thankfully.

page 376 - my favorite scene in the whole book! Scarlett Jo has a heart-to-heart with Caroline. Loved this!

What a wonderful book!

The First Gardener

by Denise Hildreth Jones
Hennepin County Library paperback 414 pages
genre: Christian fiction

This was our May book club title. I didn't get into it immediately, but I'm so glad I read it! Mackenzie is wife to Governor Gray London of Tennessee. They are a loving couple with a wonderful daughter named Maddie. Tragedy and grief knock Mack off her axis. Her mom, Eugenia Quinn, is a nutcase. Jeremiah, the gardener for the mansion, is a gem. What a beautiful story worth reading. We had a good discussion at book club. I may have to find more of this author's books.