Linda the Librarian

Bittersweet October.  The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter. ~Carol Bishop Hipps

When Mr. Krauthammer died earlier this year, this book enjoyed a new popularity in our library system.  I put it on my "want to read" list and now I've finally read it.  This is a book of essays about many things including politics, baseball, dogs, and people who influenced him along the way.  I enjoyed a walk down memory lane of sorts.  Essays dealing with the cold war, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and other people and incidents had me saying, "Oh, I remember that!"  I couldn't help but notice the truth of the adage, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."  Some of the issues of the last three decades (abortion, partisan politics, monuments) are still in the forefront of our news broadcasts today - and we still haven't resolved the debates. I found his essay about Soviet funerals for heads of state compelling.  I'll quote from it here, because my description won't do it justice: It turns out I'm not the

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. ~L. M. Montgomery

I've been struggling with a cold lately.  I spent the weekend reading and drinking tea and hot cocoa with extra mini marshmallows.  This series is just what the doctor ordered for a lot of relaxation.  The first book, Treasured Grace begins in 1847.  The Flanagan sisters are on a wagon train headed to Oregon territory when illness strikes.  Oldest sister, Grace, loses her husband to illness, she and some of the travelers opt to winter at the Whitman mission.  Some local Cayuse attack the mission, because they're convinced Dr. Whitman is trying to poison them when he fails to cure their people of the measles.  Life for the sisters changes drastically.  Can they overcome?  Will they heal?  The next two books in the trilogy Blessed Hope and Cherished Mercy complete their story. This was a lovely way to spend recovery.  The main story about the Whitman mission attack is based on a historical event.  The Flanagan sisters are fictional characters, but Ms. Peterson worked to make

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. ~Emliy Bronte 

I read The Clean 20 by Ian K. Smith and 100 Days of Real Food on a Budget by Lisa Leake over the last week.  These are great books to read together.  Ms. Leake's book zeroes in on strategies to eat more real food and less processed without breaking the bank.  Dr. Smith's book takes the idea of eating real food and adds weight loss and fitness.  What I liked, the books' eating plans are very similar.  In a world of conflicting nutritional advice from experts this was a welcome change.  Neither author advocates a diet that removes any food group.  Both allow meat, dairy, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.  Neither plan restricts the number of times you eat or has a "no snacks" policy.  Both present a mindful approach to eating.   I thought both authors were clear and easy to follow.  Dr. Smith includes exercises in his book.  I felt that the directions made sense.  I'm currently participating in a 10,000 steps a day challenge in the county where I wor

We're moving into the season of donating money, time, and goods in part to lighten our own load and, hopefully, do some good for others less fortunate.  Before you decide to donate your used items to your local library, women's shelter, rescue mission, etc here are a couple of things that you may not think about if you have never been on the receiving end of such donations. Before you give your item to the library, women's shelter, rescue mission, etc, look at it with the eyes of the person receiving it.  Seriously, if you would be grossed out or offended if you received those books, clothes, baby gear, etc chances are really great that the person on the receiving end will not feel blessed by your "gift."  Before you give your item to one of the aforementioned charities, ask yourself if you'd be willing to pay to have it hauled away with the recyclables or trash.  Your "gift" is more than likely costing your charity of choice money to have it hau

Oh dear!  I forgot to post about this book!  This is the third book in the Hawthorne series.   Lord Trent finds himself in a pickle when he must propose marriage to Lady Adelaide after being trapped in some ruins alone with her overnight.  He must do the honorable thing and save her reputation.  He had so hoped that he could, like his parents and sisters before him, marry for love.  Can this hasty match turn into a union built on love?  There's only one way to find out! Until next time...

I really didn't feel well Sunday.  I stayed home from church and stayed on the couch for the whole day.  I don't like feeling punky, but on the positive side I did finish this book that I had started a few days before.  An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter is the fourth and last in her series about the Hawthorne family.  Griffith Duke of Riverton is the last of the Hawthorne siblings to remain unmarried and is finally looking for a wife.  He is a thoughtful man and logically decides which of the available marriageable women should be his wife.  It's too bad another lady captures his heart!  It might spoil all of  his well thought out plans!  This was a pleasant way to spend my recovery day.  I now recommend it to you. Because I finished my other book early in the day, I started and finished My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley.  This is a Young Adult novel set during the girlhood of Queen Victoria.  It's a story of re-imagined history, what if everythin

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

Book number 79 for the year!  One more book and I'm back on track!  That will happen before the end of the week, I'm sure.  I'm half way through a work of fiction and I have two works of nonfiction waiting to be enjoyed. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to you.  It's 10 chapters in length, each chapter talks about a different area of life that can bring joy (color, play, surprise, etc).  If you're like me and don't always have large chunks of time to read, you'll appreciate that each chapter had natural stopping points so you can read a complete thought and bookmark your spot for later.  I loved that this isn't a "get your life in order plan" or "buy these gadgets to make you feel better plan."  This is mindful seeing.  I came away feeling encouraged to open my eyes and look around me for the beauty that's mine for the enjoying.  I was also encouraged to really think about color, pattern, texture, order and how the

This is new to me author recommended to me by my 85 year old friend who enthusiastically told me, "Oh! I think you'll like this one!"  Who was I to argue with a recommendation like that? She was right.  I did enjoy this new to me author.  The book is set in Williamsburg, Virginia right before the Revolutionary War began.  A young Tory woman is preparing for her arranged marriage; she finds herself left behind when her father, the lieutenant governor, flees the city to save his own skin.  She, like her mother, has patriot leanings, which are solidified when the only person who comes to her aid is a patriot.  The story itself is fictional, but the setting is accurate to the time.  It was not only an enjoyable read, but a plausible story.  Many families did find themselves divided because of politics, some never to be reconciled.  This was a good read.  It was both relaxing and able to hold my attention.  I recommend that you head to your library and check it out!

I can't decide if I liked this book or not.  I didn't know much about it going into it, but considering the title is Love Does, I expected it to have more practical ideas of how to actually express love.  There was some of that, but there were also a  number of essays about the quality of love, and God's love.  I know those topics are necessary in learning how to express love.  It felt like the essays lacked order, ideas jumped around a bit.  His writing voice was hard for me to settle into and learn from and enjoy.  Having said that, there were a lot of good things that I gleaned from the book.  Mr. Goff shared a story about hitchhiking and a lesson he learned: I learned something hitchhiking that day.  I learned that even though I needed a ride to get somewhere, I had a lot of power over who I'd hitch a ride with.  I know it sounds simple, but life is like that.  You become like the people you hang around, and to a great degree, you end up going wherever they