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 th...

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 co...

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 griev...