Exceedingly Mundane

I thought I would post a quick review of a really good Christian fiction book I completed late last night. I am also happy to report that this book finishes out the books I chose in January for the “What’s in a Name” challenge that I set out to read in 2008. You can see my original post and what books I read here (along with when I read each book). Thanks to Annie for hosting this challenge, I had a really good time choosing and reading these books 🙂

Here’s the quick review I wrote up at GoodReads about this book, Julia’s Hope:

Julias Hope by Leisha Kelly

rating: 5 of 5 stars
First in the Wortham Family series by new-to-me author Leisha Kelly. This is good old-fashioned Christian fiction at its best, at least for me. Sweet, charming, quaint, old-fashioned, simple, heart-warming. No action, just lots of details about life and faith.

The premise – the Wortham Family (father Samuel, mother Julia, children Robert and Sarah) have lost everything in the Great Depression, including their home in Harrisburg PA and their entire life savings. They leave with the barest of essentials in a bag, and try to reach a cousin in Illinois, with the promise of a job in a factory. They hitchhike, sleep in churches, eat in soup kitchens, and finally take refuge one stormy night in an old farmhouse that seems abandoned. Julia immediately is drawn to the farmhouse and land, and the hope of what they could build there. But without a dime to their name, how can they convince the owner to let them live there and work the land? Well, since this is wonderful old-fashioned fiction, the owner is, of course, an 80-something widow lady named Emma, who is having health problems and cannot remain on her beloved farm as she wants and hopes for. Easy solution, yes, but not everyone is happy to have strangers come in and start “taking advantage” of sweet Emma.

There’s 2 more in this series that I plan to read, and I really think I’ll enjoy them as much as this one. Great read, if you like this kind of story.

View all my reviews.

It’s time for another book-related post! I promised in a recent post to try and be better about blogging about the books I read. I’m going to cheat and take the easy way out, and post the quick blurbs I’ve been writing over at GoodReads about the last 3 books I read.

Two of the books (“Rematch” and “Match Point”, by Erynn Mangum) were part of a 3 book series, and I enjoyed this whole series immensely. If you like Christian chick-lit, then I’d recommend these books. The main character, Lauren Holbrook, is a committed Christian single girl who loves setting up her family and friends and playing matchmaker. She’s a fun character and the witty dialogue in these books really won me over 🙂

The other book is another Christian fiction one, albeit historical fiction, and I enjoyed it as well. I have read one other book by this author (I read “Courting Trouble” by Deeanne Gist earlier this year) and enjoyed it too. This one was called “A Bride Most Begrudging” and was about an earl’s daughter who ended up on a boat from England to the colonies in the 1600’s, as a “tobacco bride”. She is married off, thankfully, to a Godly Christian man and of course, they end up falling in love. I always love predictable books with happy endings 🙂 What I enjoyed most about this book was the description of life at this time, very harsh conditions, where the women had no say and the living incredibly primitive. I also had not heard of this concept of tobacco brides, so I enjoyed reading a little about that.

My reviews from GoodReads (although quite similar to what is above!) are on the extended page….

For the record, I’ve read 66 books so far this year, for a total of 21,880 pages. Up next, I’m trying to decide between a cozy mystery or the next Cedar Cove book by Debbie Macomber, 8 Sandpiper Way. I’ll probably read that one first, then a cozy, and then I might dive into another series of Christian fiction books. 🙂

Happy Reading!!!

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I’ve read so many books since the last time I posted a book review, that I really don’t even know where to begin. 🙂 I think my last book-related post was sometime back in June, and I’ve read a lot of books since then. If you’re a member of GoodReads and linked up to me, then you’ve heard all about them before 😀 I have been trying to rate and do a quick review of the books I read over there.

The latest book I read, I will post a link to my review here. That’s because this book is also part of the one challenge I am participating in, Annie’s “What’s In a Name” Challenge. I read most of the books for this challenge earlier in the year, but I still lack two. This book, “The Snake, The Crocodile and the Dog” was my entry for the category of a book with an animal in its title. I think I should get brownie points since the book I chose has not one, not two, but three in its title, LOL!

Here’s the review I posted at Goodreads:

The Snake, the Crocodile & the Dog: An Amelia Peabody Mystery by Elizabeth Peters

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I picked up this book at a library sale (paperback, so just 50 cents), thinking it was the first in this long series by Elizabeth Peters. I mixed this one up with the Crocodile on the Sandbank, which started the series off (this is book 7 in the series). Still, it was easy to pick up who was who and for the most part, what was going on. These are books about famed British Egyptologist Amelia Peabody and her husband Emerson. They live in Victorian England, but spend most of their time on adventures in Egypt, amongst mummies, Pharaohs, tombs and curses.

I’ve learned that I get easily bored with books that go into too much detail on a specific subject. For this book, it was the Egyptology and specifics of archeology. For the John Nance book I recently read (“Saving Cascadia”), it was seismology. With the Robert Ludlum books I’ve read, it’s weapons and guerrilla warfare tactics, etc. I prefer a cursory overview of these things, not the length and width and depth these books go into.

So, this one was just ok for me, not a winner. For once, I won’t feel compelled to collect or check out from the library every book in this series. I can gladly move on to other, lighter books (my favorites being Christian fiction, chick-lit and cozy mysteries).

View all my reviews.

If you’re interested in other books I’ve read this year, I always list them in my sidebar. Here’s the link for all of the books I’ve read so far in 2008, although there are no ratings or reviews, just a plain listing. If you have a question about a book I have read, just let me know! I’ll try to do better in the future with keeping up with my book-related posts 🙂

Deena, a wonderful book reviewer and very generous lady, is hosting a 30 day book giveaway over at her blog, a Peek at My Bookshelf. I’m a little late posting, as it started on Monday. But it’s going on all month, so stop by and try to win some wonderful Christian fiction.

Thanks for doing this, Deena!

This week’s topic: Vacation Spots

Do you buy books while on vacation/holiday?

Do you have favorite bookstores that you only get to visit while away on a trip?

What/Where are they?

I wish I had a really interesting answer for this week’s question. But you know, I don’t think I’ve ever made a trip to a bookstore while we were on vacation! Years ago, when I was in the midst of my scrapbooking phase, I would have Tim take me to a scrapbook store somewhere while we were on vacation. And a couple of years ago when we were in Savannah, we went a couple of times to the “Bob’s Your Uncle” Life is Good store. I LOVE Life is Good products! The idea of an entire store devoted to their products left me nearly breathless! But I’ve never made a special trip to a bookstore, isn’t that sad? I always take enough books with me when we travel and I haven’t run out yet. I hate to admit it, but we have a nice Barnes and Noble very close to my house, and a Borders across town. While I love to go there, I end up buying the majority of my books online or at a local Christian bookstore. I also utilize my local library – a lot.

Happy Reading!

I’ve been on a library kick again. It’s not like I don’t have *ahem* 60 or more books here on my bookshelves to read. It’s not like I don’t have choices. Oh no, I have to keep going back to the library for more books 😀

I’ve checked out several from the library lately that I’ve really enjoyed, so I thought I’d do a quick blurb about them. You know, I read them, I liked them, yada yada yada!

First up was a book I saw mentioned at Deb’s blog, “Garden Spells“. Deb said she really enjoyed it, and I found not only this first book by Sarah Addison Allen at my library, but her new release as well, “The Sugar Queen“. I went ahead and grabbed both, hoping that I would like the first one. I was right, or maybe, Deb was right! I loved both of these books by this new-to-me author. I thought they were good Southern creative storytelling. Very enchanting and charming is what I would call them. You have have your creative side open to them, but I did and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

“Lemon Meringue Pie Murder” is the fourth installment in the Hannah Swensen cozy murder series. Another fun read, with lots of food and a little bit of detective work. The characters are growing and I’m really enjoying this series. I plan to read all of them that I can get my hands on 🙂

“Comfort Food” by Kate Jacobs is her latest release, and I took a chance on it, not having read her first book, “The Friday Night Knitting Club”. I *really* enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, I liked the setting (a group of FoodTV-like celebrities, their families, producers, etc), and as always, I love the references to food. I plan to get her first book soon at my library.

I’d be hard pressed to pick which of these was my favorite. They’re very different books, although the two by Allen were similar in their writing style, although different characters and settings. I’d recommend them all, but that’s just me. I really do mostly like every book I read, so maybe you can’t put any stock in my book recommendations! 🙂

For the record – well, I’m having to guess at this. I had my book information stored on my laptop, which died and is hopefully being repaired. I keep a separate list on my blog, but I’m not sure it’s accurate. My best guess is that I’ve read 45 books, for a total of 14, 487 pages (I think I’m missing a book in here, so I may revise this page count later on). Up next is the latest Stephanie Plum novel, “Fearless Fourteen“. I put a hold on it at the library when I saw it being added to their online listing. I think I’m one of the first ones to get a copy, and I know I’ll enjoy it. Despite the language, I always like these books! After that, I’m going to read book 2 and 3 in the Restoration series by Terri Blackstock, that I also picked up from on hold at the library. I really enjoyed the first book and have high hopes for the next three in the series.

Happy Reading!

Well, I haven’t talked about books much lately. I’ve been reading quite a bit, so I have a bunch to catch up on! I’ll as brief as I possibly can, though 😀

In my last book-related post (over a month ago), I blogged briefly towards the end that I had picked up several books at the library. I read them all, picked up a few more in the next week or so, and enjoyed them all! I read:

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky – I really liked this one. Good plot, good characters, and it was a very quick read for me.
The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith – the latest in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series; always a good read
Courting Trouble by DeeAnne Gist – a Christian historical fiction book, set in Texas in the late 1800’s; I liked it and hope to get the follow-up book
Miss Julia Paints the Town by Ann B. Ross – if you’ve read a single Miss Julia book, you know how great they are!
Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber – a Blossom Street book; I love these books. Great characters, easy, comfortable read
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear – recommended to me and I did like it. First of a series about a lady detective in England in the 30’s, part psychologist, part detective
Looking for Cassandra Jane by Melody Carlson – a very different themed book than what I normally read, but I did really like it. Cassandra Jane is a very lost girl of the 60’s and 70’s, with no family to speak of, who gets sucked into a cult.
A Penny for your Thoughts and Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels by Mindy Starns Clark – the first two of the Million Dollar mysteries. I really loved these, but my library doesn’t have the rest in the series. Boo-hoo

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I have “acquired” a few books in the last month or so. I was pleasantly surprised to find some good Christian fiction at Walmart, of all places. I came home one week from grocery shopping with these three books (and yes, they did fit in with my groceries in my three reusable shopping bags!):

I also made it to a local library sale in May – I just love going to the book sales at the library! I live between two good branches, and between them, they have 3 or 4 book sales a year. They are spread out too, one every 3 or 4 months. I don’t NEED any more books. I haven’t read the dozens that I have bought and are sitting on my bookshelves. If you look at my LibraryThing account, you’ll see over 60 books tagged with TBR – to be read. What’s more, I am about out of bookshelf space, and have taken to stacking them on the floor in corners, next to my nightstand, etc. 🙂

However, I can’t resist. I got all eight of these books for $4.50:

I will read them, and more than likely, my sister Gail will read most of them. After that, I’m still undecided about the whole PaperbackSwap or BookMooch type thing. If you use one of these programs, do you like it? Is it worth the effort and expense to mail them? And mostly – are books like the second stack, those from a library, that still have several stickers affixed to them as well as the library info stamped on an inside page of the book, are they eligible for PaperbackSwap? Do they need to be in more pristine condition? Three of the four larger trade size books in this photo are from their library shelves, and have stickers (with big X’s on several of them), as well as labels with bar codes and other things affixed to them. It doesn’t bother me at all, but I didn’t know if they would be a good candidate for the PBS type program. Inquiring minds want to know, so leave me a comment if you have any feedback! 😀

I’ve started the first of the “Restoration” series by Terri Blackstock, and so far, I’m hooked. This first book has been hard to put down. I don’t own all of the others (yet!) in this series. They do have them at my local library, since she’s a local author. But they seem to stay continually checked out. I will probably get on the list for the others after I finish this one. Then again, I may just have to go to the bookstore and “acquire” them 🙂

Here’s a quote that I marked, that I really liked. It’s the father, Doug, speaking to his son, but really, this could apply to all of us:

Doug’s voice softened. “Jeff, every day of your life you’ll have to make decisions about what kind of man you want to be. It’s not going to start when you’re older. It starts right now. And every time you make a decision to be less than what God wants for you, you’re denying yourself some of God’s blessings. It’s up to you. You can live a life with God’s blessings, or just exist with all the consequences of choosing wrong.”

I really liked that one. 🙂

Have a good day, and Happy Reading!

This week’s topic: Springing

Well, here where I live, Spring is sprung–weeks early, even. Our lilac bush looks like it will have flowers by this time next week instead of in the middle of May as usual. The dogwood trees, the magnolia trees–all the flowering trees are flowering. The daffodils and crocuses are, if anything, starting to fade. It may only be April 24th but it is very definitely Spring and, allergies notwithstanding, I’m happy to welcome the change of season. What I want to know, is:

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

Good question this week! I wish I had an interesting answer 🙂 While I do read some seasonal stuff, I don’t read gardening books, and I don’t really read travel books. I like light, fluffy books year round! I don’t really change what I read from month to month, with the exception, maybe, at Christmas. I do like reading some Christmas-themed books or short novels around the holidays. It always helps me get more into the spirit!

Happy Reading!

I have read several books lately that I have not blogged about. The last one I finished is also a book I included on Annie’s “What’s In a Name Challenge” that I joined in January. This book qualified for a plant in the title, as sweetgrass is a coastal grass that grows in the Lowcountry of the Carolinas. I’ve now read four out of the six books I chose for this challenge.

I liked “Sweetgrass” – it’s what I term good “women’s fiction”. About a family, relationships, the trials and tribulations, along with a secret from the past that is revealed and everyone has to deal with. It was a good read, and reminiscent, for me, to other books I have read by Dorothea Benton Frank. They are all set in the Carolinas, in the Lowcountry, and have that slow, easy Southern feel to them that I really enjoy.

I’ve also completed several other books lately. I’ve been reading almost exclusively from my TBR pile, which is good for me. I did go to the library today, to pick up some new books, but the majority of what I’ve read this year are books from my own, overflowing bookshelves. I finished up the 7th and then 8th (and last) book in the “Southern Sisters Murder Mysteries” by Anne George. I really hated to see the end of these southern cozies. I loved the characters and her writing. I hate that the author has passed away and there are no more of these delightful books for me to look forward to.

I also finished my third Jodi Picoult book, “The Pact“, which I picked up last year at a library sale. I really enjoyed this book, and it was very engrossing, as her other two books that I’ve read have been. I definitely plan to read more of her stuff in the future, but I have to space it out with lighter, fluffy kind of books.

I’ve read the first two books in the Hannah Swenson murder series, “Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder” and “Strawberry Shortcake Murder.”. A good cozy series that I’m really enjoying so far and plan to read all of them, eventually. I like the characters, I like the setting and the writing, and I love that the author includes baking recipes in each book! 🙂

In January of this year, I went to the library and got 3 books, a trilogy by Tracie Peterson. I read them all in the first couple of weeks in January and had not been to the library since. I put some newer books on reserve at the library though, and two of them came in. I went today and picked them up, along with one by Deeanne Gist, a new-to-me Christian author that is on my to-read list. So, up next for me is the latest by Barbara Delinsky, “The Secret Between Us“. I’ve enjoyed her books in the past, although I haven’t read many lately. The other book I picked up is the latest in Alexander McCall Smith’s series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I’ve read all of the other ones in this series, and enjoyed them, so I am sure I will like this one, too.

For the record, I’ve read 27 books so far this year, for a total of 9,020 pages. Happy Reading!!!

My sister Gail was cleaning out some stuff at her house recently and ran across two books that had my name on them. I think they were in her girls room, so I probably loaned them to her daughters to read when they were younger. One of them wasn’t as familiar, but when I saw this one, I immediately remembered this book!

I even found a link to it, here at Amazon.com. I would have thought this thing was out of print or unavailable, as it says in the front that it is part of the “Weekly Reader Children’s Book Club.”

Anyway, seeing this book and remembering I liked it is really a feat in and of itself. My memory is atrocious, especially in regards to anything from my childhood, even through high school. I don’t remember people, places, things I did, places I went, etc. So for me to remember this book means something 🙂 I’m going to reread it soon and see if I enjoy as much as a forty-something year old as I did a whatever-year old. The book is dated 1971, but I’m not sure when I read it. I hope it’s good 🙂

How about you – do you have a favorite book from childhood? One you remember reading and loving as a child, or one you read to your own kids? That’s today’s Question of the Day, so leave me a comment and let me know 🙂

This week’s topic: Cover-Up

While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?

Well, that’s a good question! As far as it affecting my reading enjoyment, that’s probably close to a zero. How it affects what catches my eye at a store, or more importantly, a library sale, now that is more important! I definitely love cute covers and those with good colors and those that are eye-catching. But it really has to be the author or story or content that affects how I enjoy the book. I like to “collect” hardcovers of certain authors, like John Grisham. I prefer holding the trade paperback size the best, and probably like the regular mass-market paperback the least. But I have plenty of those, as I tend to pick them up at library sales for 50 cents each. I’m trying to get more of those, with the intention of one day joining paperbackswap.com. But back to design – certain books just catch my eye, and might make me look at the back cover or inside excerpt and read what it’s about, whereas I might not have picked it up if the cover or title didn’t catch my eye.

Case in point – the books I’m currently reading. Don’t they have the greatest covers?

Happy Reading!

Here it is, Thursday already. I did a “Book Chatter” post on Thursday of last week . But last week, I had not posted about books in quite a while, so I had a lot more books to post about! I’ve only read two books since then, but I thought I’d go ahead and do another quick post 🙂

Since this time last week, I’ve read “Lost in NashVegas” by Rachel Hauck and “As I Have Loved You” by Nikki Arana. Both of these are books that my sister Gail loaned me to read (thanks Gail!). Both are Christian fiction books. Both are the larger trade size paperback, which I really like reading. Surprisingly, there was one hit and one miss. Hit: “Lost in Nash Vegas”. Miss: “As I Have Loved You”.

I personally really liked “Lost in NashVegas”. I really liked the characters, and I loved the story because it involved country music, songwriting, and Nashville. Although I’ve never visited Nashville, it’s still very Southern, and I’m a Southern girl through and through. I do love country music, so that is probably why this book appealed to me so much.

The other book, “As I Have Loved You”, just didn’t resonate with me at all. I didn’t like the characters. I didn’t feel empathy for them when something went wrong, nor joy for them when something good happened. I understood the message that she was trying to convey and while “I got it”, I didn’t like the way she wrote the story. I thought several of the characters were underdeveloped. There was a couple of issues that she brought up, and then didn’t flesh out. I’m sure it was just me, but I just didn’t really like the story or the characters. Even though I didn’t hate it, I wouldn’t really recommend it.

For the record, I’ve read 17 books so far this year, for a total of 5,691 pages. Up next is the first in yet another series of books. I don’t know why I have this “thing” for series books, but I do. And unfortunately, I have this anal sort of completion thing about a series. I like to have them available, and I like to complete them. Well, if I like the first or second book. Anyway, I digress. I’ve started the first Hannah Swenson cozy mystery by author Joanne Fluke, “Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder”. I normally like cozies, so I think I will enjoy this one. It’s a small paperback, but hopefully I will be ok! After this one, I’ll try to start getting the others (in order!) from my library system.

What are you currently reading, if anything? Have a great day, ya’ll, and Happy Reading!

I mentioned in a previous post that I had ordered a couple of books from Amazon. They came in the other day…. not very exciting for others, but they are to me! I love getting new books 🙂 All of them are part of series books that I am reading or going to read. All of them are Christian fiction, which I love to read.

One is the first book in the “Smart Chicks” series by Mindy Starns Clark, which I have not started yet. The Kristen Billerbeck book is the third book in the “Spa Girls” series. My sister Gail gave me the first two for Christmas, but I have this weird thing about having all of the books in a series available, in case I want to read them all together, back to back. The other two are the latest in the Grace Chapel Inn books (Guideposts books). Ahhh, new books!

Happy Reading!