Few Favorite Reads of 2018

I love the structure of my book club. We use our January meeting to select ten books for the year and our December meeting for fellowship and title reviews. We had a lovely visit this month and were even blessed with a musical offering from one member who has taken up the dulcimer. Sadly, the year wasn't one to write home about. Apart from two books that stood out as excellent reads (and indeed, made my blog favorites list), the other books were less-than-stellar. We ended up observing that 2016 was a far better year for book club selections (indeed, that year, I wrote this favorites post where I couldn't narrow them down to fewer than 16 excellent reads).

As  I perused my list from 2018, I could only come up with three young adult titles, two adult fiction titles, and one adult non-fiction title billed as highly-recommended. I'm hoping I make better use of my time and reading energies (flagging at the moment) in 2019. Here are the 2018 favorites I CAN highly recommend (for reviews, simply click on the title):

Young Adult:

Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Adult Fiction:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Adult Non-fiction:

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

In looking back over my list of titles, I would give honorable mentions to two middle grade novels:

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Nayor

Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm

one adult fiction title:

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

and three adult non-fiction titles:

The Genius Factory by David Plotz

I Can Only Imagine by Bart Millard with Robert Noland

She Has Her Mother's Laugh by Carl Zimmer

What were your favorite books read in 2018?

May your 2019 be a stellar reading year! If you add any of these books, it will certainly boost it along.

Book Review: The Mistletoe Secret

It just seems fitting to seek out Christmas novels during the holiday season. Moreover, Richard Paul Evans is billed as "the master of the holiday novel." So, I embarked on my second audio experience of an Evans Christmas story with The Mistletoe Secret. Sadly, I thought this tale was more tiresome than festive. It was a quick and easy experience, but several things grated on my nerves.

I'm not sure why, but I have found this true of several other novels by this author - there is a fixation on food and travel elements. The story comes off sounding like a sales brochure by a travel company. But, even more annoying than that are the constant references to what the characters are eating in the moment. Jerry Jenkins (an author eager to assist other authors) calls this "on-the-nose" writing. You really don't want to tell the reader every single detail of action, down to the food consumed and the toiletries purchased at the drugstore. You want to cut to the chase, make every word count. Otherwise, the reader tires of hearing the mundane and unnecessary details. It slows down the story.

Having said that, it wasn't a total waste. After all, it was about hope and love and the holiday season. Moreover, Evans always manages to provide a clean read and I value that immensely.

When Alex Bartlett stumbles onto an anonymous blog about loneliness, he is drawn to the woman behind the words. He is still smarting from the wounds of his recent divorce and can easily identify with her thoughts on loneliness. She, unwittingly, lets slip a few clues and Alex is off to Midway, Utah to seek out the woman who signs her blog posts with the simple initials LBH. While on the hunt for a woman with those initials, Alex meets Aria, a waitress at the Mistletoe Diner. The two hit it off immediately, but will Alex's interest in Aria keep him from concluding his search.

I think next year, I'll seek out some Karen Kingsbury Christmas novelettes - I know her Red Glove series is fantastic because I've read them before. For now, I'm swearing off R.P.E. for a while. Now that I've met him, like Alex, I'm thinking I was really seeking someone else entirely.

Merry Christmas 2018!

One of the best things about Christmas is having all my boys together in one place. Last night, they spent most of their Christmas Eve playing Rock Band together (Bryce on drums, Trevor on bass, and Sean on guitar). I love to watch them in this endeavor. If only it had remained an observation activity. Alas, they wanted to break 1,500,000 on a song, so they asked me to be a fourth player and sing into the microphone. What a horrible experience! First off, I didn't even know the song and the words come at you quickly and you just have to sort of guess what pitch you should be on. I hated every minute of it (felt like a detriment, rather than a help to them) and was so glad when they decided to put Trevor on drums and prop up the microphone so Bryce could play bass and sing at the same time. Finally, they reached their goal.

One of my gifts to John this Christmas is a small squirrel photo holder (he loves his birds and squirrels and feeds them daily). I needed a decent photo of the boys together. Here they are, with Toby, in front of the tree (no, those gifts beneath the tree aren't exactly "pared down" the way I intended - oh well):

May you have a blessed Christmas and may 2019 bring peace and joy. Thanks for reading my paltry offerings and opinionated book reviews.

Christmas Gift to Myself

Ever since my husband voiced his intentions to rid our front hallway of the ancient furnishings there (can be seen in this old blog post when it inspired a poem), I've had my eye out for a storage bench to replace the ancient dresser. I love that I can store the hats and gloves in the lower drawer and all the school supplies in the second and special recognition pages (and all those lovely grade school journals they wrote that I will never be able to part with) in the top drawer of that old dresser, so I'm worried I will actually miss it (though not the appearance of it). I've already bought baskets to move the hats and gloves to the shelves in the garage, but would love to still have ready access to their school supplies right there by the front door (they are forever begging for a pencil just before they leave for school). Although I've scoured the various options available on-line, I also have kept my ear to the ground on Craigslist, checking the listings every other day. So far, no luck.

Instead, it led me to a listing for a beautiful side table with a lyre motif. I have two marble end tables in my living room that have the same lyre motif, so I was smitten at first glance. The difficulty arose when I noticed the location of the seller - Muncie, Indiana - a full hour and a half away. Still, undaunted, I contacted the seller and asked if she is ever any closer to Indianapolis so that we could cut the drive time down. She agreed to meet me in Greenfield, where her son lives. Even though it was still almost an hour's drive, I was determined. This is the beautiful lyre end table I bought as a Christmas present to myself:

And here is a shot of one of my two marble end tables:

So, how about you? Do you buy presents for yourself? What's the best Christmas gift you've bought for yourself?

Book Review: Finding Noel

As soon as I began listening to this Richard Paul Evans holiday book, Finding Noel, I realized it sounded very familiar. After completing the first of four CDs, I checked my blog. Sure enough, I read the book back in December of 2010, but I'm guessing back then (at the outset of blogging) I didn't feel compelled to post with any regularity or to post a book review for almost every book I read. Since I had listed it as one of my favorite reads for that year, and hadn't written a review, I decided to continue on with the story.

Finding Noel tells the story of two seeking souls who meet and fall in love. Mark Smart has just lost his mother but didn't find out in time to attend her funeral. It feels as if his life is falling apart. Estranged from his father, he's at the end of his rope when his car breaks down one winter night. In a desperate effort to track down a phone, he pounds on the door of a closing cafe and the night shift girl, Macy, not only provides a phone, but also consoles him, offers him a cup of hot chocolate, and drives him home. As their lives intersect, Mark and Macy divulge their difficult childhoods and bond over past wounds, but can they forge out a future for themselves when they are both running from so much personal pain?

It is funny how stories sometimes pale for me the second time around. This has happened repeatedly (with The Book Thief, All the Light We Cannot See, Peace Like a River, and now this once favorite holiday read). I enjoyed this book, and the timing was perfect, but I would not select this as a favorite read this year. It was sweet and tender, but not above the bar, by any means. And any character named Tennis who is engaged to a man named Ball? Give me a break! Still, if you're on the hunt for a simple holiday tale, Richard Paul Evans is usually a good bet.

Book Review: The Case for Grace

Several months ago, I watched Lee Strobel's story played out in the movie "The Case for Christ." Strobel, a staunch atheist, was deeply disturbed by his wife's conversion to Christianity. He set out to prove to her logically that her beliefs were based on fantasies and fictions. Instead, the further he dug, the more convinced he became that the accounts of the Bible and the experiences of God's people are true. After a thorough examination of the evidence, Strobel accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior and began to plead "the case for Christ."

In this follow-up book, like other books in his Case series, Strobel explores grace as experienced in the lives of unlikely converts. Through interviews with a variety of desperate individuals, Strobel demonstrates the power of God's grace to transform lives. He talks with an abandoned Korean orphan, despised and rejected by others; a hardened drug addict; the rebellious son of an evangelist; a pastor caught in adultery; and others whose lives were changed when God stepped in. It was amazing to read of the forgiveness these individuals were able to give to the ones who harmed them and even to themselves. Throughout the stories and interviews, Strobel grapples with his own need to forgive his distant father (indeed, many atheists develop under a harsh, fractured father-child relationship). If God's grace could forgive Lee Strobel, then certainly Lee could come to forgive his own father.

If you are seeking evidence of God's grace in the lives of others. If you don't believe His grace could extend to the likes of you. Think again and read this book. Strobel's writing is clear and engaging. He extracts difficult truths with the skill of a heart-surgeon. Moreover, you can feel his own personal response to the grace demonstrated.  I was especially touched, near the end, by a story he shares about a personal failing he agonized over in shattering guilt. If Strobel can find a way to forgive himself for his perceived wrongs, then perhaps I can learn to forgive myself for the many ways I have failed others throughout my life. Only grace makes that possible and Strobel is just the journalist to present this case for grace.

Book Gifts for a New Adult

As much as I love receiving books as gifts, I also love gifting them. Alas, my boys have never really been too thrilled to receive a book gift. They smile, say thank you, and set it aside as one of the lesser gifts. This year, although tempted to get Sean the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book (he's already read the library's copy and John declared it would just sit on the shelf), I will probably skip book gifts for both of my younger sons (sob). However, I took great joy in researching the gift books I have selected for my oldest, Bryce. He is now out on his own and has said that after a full day of work, he really has a limited selection of options for meals in the evenings. I scoured the library shelves first to locate the best cookbooks to meet his needs.

Spoon University's How to Feed Yourself* When You Don't Know What You're Doing (not sure he'll like the second half of that title, but ... it is what it is) offers "100 fast, cheap, and reliable recipes." Written by a couple of twenty-something girls, it is directed to new adults who are relatively new to the expectations of preparing their own meals. I love the full graphic images of the recipes and the simple "spoon tips." The recipes all seem like something my twenty-two-year-old son could easily whip up in no time. The only thing I would change about this book is the section on vegetables. They offer three easy ways to prepare them, but leave off one of the best options, in my opinion: steaming. Still, the cover is appealing, the book is resourceful, and I think he will get some good use out of it.

The second cookbook I selected, Lickety-Split Meals, gives me a little pause, but only because of the cover. It is a bit more feminine than I would like for gifting to a twenty-something male. If I had been in charge of the cover, I would have selected a minute-timer alongside the spatula and spoon, instead of a perky red-shirted woman. Yet, I still bought it because of the features that really make this cookbook stand out above the rest: the book offers recipes categorized according to time-limitations (1-minute-mini-meals, 5-minute meals, 15-minute meals, and 30 minute meals - I love this option because Bryce will be able to skim the recipes and select one based on how much time he feels he can give to meal preparation that particular day); the recipes are simple and easy foods, not exotic or unusual; the book contains 7 different pizza recipes, five stir-fry recipes, a dozen slow-cooker recipes (yes, he owns a slow-cooker), and a multitude of oven recipes; teaches how to equip your kitchen for speed; and, most unique, has a cardboard mount to prop the book upright for easy reading on your counter. Although I doubt he will use the final feature, I was really impressed with the wipe-erase menu planner on the inside of the front cover - a great place for jotting down necessary ingredients to add to a weekly shopping list. The recipes are geared toward healthy eating and I love the extra tips and discussions sprinkled throughout the book (a frozen grape tip - a treat my grandmother used to always have on hand; best time of day to exercise; choosing between butter and margarine; etc.). This book is a powerhouse! The fact that I managed to snag it for one-third of the price at Half-Price-Books only made this gift sweeter. Hopefully, Bryce will like it as much as I do (despite the girly feel).

The funny thing is, this will be the first year where almost a third of his gifts will be books (he actually plans to send a list of nine books he wants to read - is this really my book-averse son???). Thankfully, he doesn't read my blog - so the surprise is safe between you and me between now and Christmas morning! If you're on the look-out for an additional gift for your new adult, consider these two options. They might just be a perfect idea for you, as well.

Book Review: The Sunday Philosophy Club

Several things have thrown a monkey wrench into my morning treadmill routine. My mother-in-law came to visit for Thanksgiving and the treadmill resides in the guest room. Although she doesn't mind vacating to allow me to walk, I let my exercise routine slide a bit over the Thanksgiving holiday and then, due to new carpeting and other sundry complications, I missed several more days. Alas, I am wholly out of sorts and need to get back into the game.

All that to say, my sporadic exercise disjointed my listening experience for Alexander McCall Smith's first book in the Isabel Dalhousie series, The Sunday Philosophy Club. Perhaps that contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for the book. I much prefer the Number One Ladies' Detective Agency books. Isabel was likeable enough, but no Precious Ramotswe.

The action begins immediately when Isabel sees a man fall to his death from a balcony. Struck by the fact that hers was the last face he saw, she feels compelled to investigate the strange circumstances of his death, convinced that someone pushed him. She lures her niece's handsome young ex-boyfriend in to assist with her investigation and must ferret out information about insider trading, financial art investments, and tangled love interests.

Although it was a somewhat engrossing tale, I didn't enjoy certain aspects: discussions of sexual morals, tedious philosophical ruminations, and perhaps most unsettling, the older Isabel's private interest in her niece's ex-boyfriend, Jamie. Moreover, the ending felt weak. I must have listened to another Isabel Dalhousie novel because I was familiar with Isabel and the niece, with her unsuitable selections of male companions. I probably won't seek more of the series, but I imagine true Alexander McCall Smith fans or those interested in both Scotland and philosophy might find the series enticing.

Book Review: Almost Everything

Anne Lamott's newest book is called Almost Everything: Notes on Hope, but it felt like it might have been titled Almost Everything I've Ever Said Before. Sadly, not a lot of new material. If you've read Lamott's other non-fiction books, much of this is simply a reiteration of old ideas. Her famous "bird by bird" story appears again, and even though it does my heart a world of good (indeed, I sing that mantra to myself when my writing feels stale and uninspiring or the task before me seems well beyond my writing abilities), I still had hoped to glean new fodder.

While the prose is beautiful, so much of it feels wishy-washy or too nebulous to pin down. For example, here's a paragraph that is supposed to inspire hope:

"To pay close attention to and mostly accept your life, inside and out and around your body, is to be halfway home. An old woman in twelve-step recovery once told me that while there is an elaborate prayer in one of the steps, of turning one's life and all results over to the care of God, as each person understands God, she and some of the old-timers secretly pray upon waking, 'Whatever,' and pray before falling asleep, 'Oh, well.'"

The God I believe in is neither pluralistic nor a figment of every individual's personal interpretations or nicknames (she treats the holy God so casually, calling him "Ed," "Little Tree," "Old Hewlett Packard," or "Mr. Muffin"). She even calls her own faith a "consignment-store faith." In attempting to bring hope, she declares that there is no fixing this messed up world:

"There were moments when I understood that there was nothing much I was going to understand or figure out.... There is no fixing this setup here. It seems broken and ruined at times, but it isn't: it's simply the nature of human life."

Her message of hope: we are in this together and our love will conquer evil. It felt very much like a self-centered gospel as opposed to a Christ-centered gospel. She calls herself a Christian, yet treats God like He is dependent upon her views, her explanations, her names, her dictates. God is on her terms, not His. If there are things wrong in the world (alcoholism, political turmoil, wrongs against people, etc.) it is the result of human nature not sin and the solution is love and acceptance not salvation through Christ's atoning act on the cross.

While her views on religion and Christianity are loosey-goosey, in terms of political perspective, Lamott is fully convinced her personal beliefs are the right ones and anyone whose opinion differs is simply in the wrong. At one point, she boldly asserts that her views are most certainly God's views as well.

In the final analysis, I guess I just don't buy her assessment. She declares "Love is why we have hope." I believe in this sin-fractured despairing world, Christ is why we have hope. A holy God cannot tolerate sin, yet in His love (not ours) He provided the solution by sending His perfect son to die in our place, bridging the gap between a holy God and sinful mankind. As the old hymn declares, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness." My sinful nature has proven time and again that my own efforts to love fall severely short of what is demanded. It is only His love that brings hope to a fallen world.