Linda the Librarian

Born for This by Chris Guillebeau I needed to break out of my reading rut.  I came across this book about business building.  He had great ideas for making more money and diversifying for greater and more stable income and it was clearly written and practical.  I struggled with the attitude that you should not only love what you do, but also get paid big bucks to do it.  There's a difference between making a living and making a life.  Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better and simplicity isn't a dirty word.  I can absolutely recommend his ideas for making more money and that you should find something you love to do.  Just know that I think it's OK if you don't want to buy the big house, shiny car, and wild vacations.  Build a life that makes you happy. Until next time...

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows I decided to watch something on Netflix last week and I saw a trailer for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society starring Lily James.  I loved Lily James on Downton Abbey, I loved her as Cinderella, and I loved her in The Darkest Hour.  Naturally I want to see her latest role, but first I needed to read the book.  Off to the library for a lovely weekend read! The story takes place right after World War II. Juliet Ashton is a writer who had a successful morale boosting column in the London paper during the war and is now getting ready to embark on a book tour around England.  Her publisher is waiting - not very patiently - for her next book to be ready for the presses.  A chance letter from Dawsey Adams sets her on the path to an end to her pernicious writer's block.   The book is written completely in letter format.  Even so, I felt that the story was complete and didn&

Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler All three of my children have been safely deposited at their respective institutions of higher learning.  That meant a lot of travel for us, which is tiring.  On the upside, that also meant a lot of miles of reading time!  I read three books.  Actually, I read two books beginning to end and I completed a third that I had started before the trip.   I really wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book at the library.  I haven't read Ms. Bowler's other book nor had I heard of her before coming across this one.  I was a little afraid that I was in for a whiny "woe is me" book that I'd have to return to the library unread.  I was wrong Ms. Bowler was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.  She has a husband whom she met as a middle school aged girl and a preschool aged son.  Life should be just starting for her not possibly coming to its conclusion.  She wrestles

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future. J.R.R. Tolkien

I've been struggling to get my reading time in the last week and a half, so I'm about a book and a half off of my schedule right now.  I was happy to have a lazy Sunday afternoon to finish the third book in the Amory Ames mystery series by Ashley Weaver.  I know I've already told you how much I enjoy these light reads. Amory and Milo are invited to a house party at Lyonsgate, the scene of a suspicious death seven years earlier.  When one of the house guests is brutally stabbed to death during the current house party, Amory and Milo are once again on the trail of a killer.  What I loved about this book is that I didn't even come close to guessing who the killer was!  Until next time...

The Secret of getting ahead is getting started.   Mark Twain

Can we see God in the middle of adversity?  Can we hear Him?  Is He there?  Does He care?  Ms. Couchman's book is an experiential answer to these questions.  This would be a great book to use as part of your daily devotional time.  It's divided up into eight sections with essays that range in length from two to four pages each.  Most of the essays were penned by Ms. Couchman, but she sprinkles the thoughts of others throughout the book.  I'd like to leave you with two thoughts from the book. Even the teacher who sentenced me to performance nightmares dispensed wise advice to choir members after he announced the leads for our musical.  "If you didn't get a part, give yourself time to feel bad."  He believed that when we're hurt we should allow ourselves enough time to grieve in proportion to the event that stabbed us.  "Then pick up and go on."  I've followed that advice most of my life, recognizing the chasm between grieving a death and

This is the sequel to Ms. Higgins' book The Great Hunt.  We're back in the fictional kingdom of Lochlanach.  The magical beast controlled by Rozaria was killed and Princess Aerity is to be given in marriage to Lord Alvi of the Coldlands.  All should be well and they should be rebuilding, but more is yet to come.  Rozaria herself was not defeated, she has issued her demands - the lists of magical families should be burned and those possessing magic should be able to practice magic freely - and war has begun. I liked the pace of this book.  I needed to know what was going to happen next and ultimately how it would end.  There was nice character development - there were no caricatures.  It did end neatly (as in the couples you wanted to end up together did).  My only caution is that there is a sex scene in the book.  The full sex act was not described, but you didn't have to wonder where they were going to end up.  If you are a parent of a younger teen and this bothe

Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. - John Wayne

Prepared for a Purpose by Antoinette Tuff If you follow the news, you probably already know what happened on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at McNair Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia.  A young man entered the elementary school armed to the teeth ready to end as many lives as possible, including his own.  Ms. Tuff was the fill-in receptionist during the lunch hour that day.  She calmly talked the gunman to a place of surrender and no one was hurt. My take away from the book had less to do with the story of that day and more to do with how God had specifically prepared her to speak to the gunman.  Ms. Tuff's life had been filled with difficulties that God had graciously carried her through.  She could speak life to the gunman, because she knew from personal experience how God had spoken life into her own heart and mind.  We all go through difficult situations that we want to end immediately.  God has plans for those difficulties.  He is using them to teach us about Himself

Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver This is the second book in Ms. Weaver's Amory Ames mystery series.  I have so enjoyed her books.  I'm absolutely a fan of Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man movies and these books are similar in feel to Nick and Nora stories.   Amory Ames is invited by a long time friend of her mother to a dinner party.  While there Mrs. Barrington asks Amory to investigate the theft of several pieces of jewelry.  They lay a trap for the thief, but when someone is murdered as they wait for the thief to take the bait....  Well, you'll have to read the book to find out! This book has a nice pace.  It kept my interest throughout.  I liked the character development of Amory and her husband Milo.  It was just a fabulous way to spend a Sunday afternoon relaxing.  Throw a cup of tea into the mix (which I did!) and you have a perfect day. Until next time... 

Freedom is the oxygen of the soul. -Moshe Dayan

Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges I'm not even going to add my words to this, I'm just going to quote a passage from the book itself. In Proverbs 18:10-11, there is a very interesting and instructive contrast drawn between the righteous and the rich.  The passage says: The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall. The contrast is not between the righteous and the rich in an absolute sense, as there are many people who are both righteous and wealthy.  Rather we should see the contrast drawn between the two primary objects of man's trust:  God and money.  Those who trust in the Lord are  safe; while those who trust in their wealth only imagine  they are safe.  There is a much wider principle for us in this passage.  All of us tend to have our fortified cities.  It may be an advanced college degree with its ticket t