2024 - Second Quarterly Review

To assist my blog readers, I summarize my reading four times a year, providing a brief description, the page count, and a grading scale (💖5 thumbs up - highly recommend, 4 thumbs up - enjoyed, 3 thumbs up - good, 2 thumbs up - meh, and 1 thumb down - regret, wishing I could get back the time invested). I read the following books during the second quarter of 2024 (links to full reviews can be found in the side-bar, or after 2024, found through the search bar at the right):

Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both sides of the Berlin Wall by Nina Willner - Fascinating, but unnerving, story of a family divided by the separation of East Germans by the Berlin Wall. 416 pages, 👍👍👍👍

The Wish Book Christmas by Lynn Austin - Follow-up novella to If I Were You. I loved returning to the world of the If I Were You characters and enjoyed the message about the true meaning of Christmas. 304 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 4-3/4 hours), 👍👍👍👍

If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland - Positive affirmations of hidden talent when we tap into our true and authentic voices. Don't let criticism or self-doubt keep you from writing. Great pep talk for writers! 188 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 3-1/2 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg - How to be a better communicator and foster deeper connections. 320 pages, 👍👍👍

💖Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan - A young missionary daughter finds herself entangled in the schemes of her wicked neighbors and separated from the country and family she loves. 208 pages, 👍👍👍👍👍

The Heart Between Us by Lindsay Harrel - Twin sisters travel around the world to fulfill the bucket list left by the previous owner of one sister's transplanted heart. A tale of sibling relationships, second chances, and spiritual insights. 336 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 9 hours), 👍👍👍👍

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan - I didn't like this book nearly as much as Listening for Lions. A young girl in India faces marriage to a sickly young man and a life of hardship. 212 pages, 👍👍

The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away my Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders - This book provides a pep-talk on mindful spending, possession purging, and intentional living. 179 pages, 👍👍👍👍

The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8 AM) by Hal Elrod - Elrod suggests 7 practices to observe each morning to jump-start your day, increase productivity in your week, and find purpose and fulfillment in your life. 227 pages, 👍👍👍👍

The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel - Three women, bound by the conflicted love of the men in their lives, seek freedom and purpose and a story worth sharing. 336 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 10 hours), 👍👍👍👍

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - The simple lives of two rural British families are upended when Mr. Earnshaw brings home a filthy foundling and sets out to raise him with the others. An enduring classic love story. 376 pages (I listened in audio form, 10 CDs, 11 hours), 👍👍👍👍

The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore - A fictional tale of a forced life of isolation at the Carville National Leprosarium. 384 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 12-1/2 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

The Forever Gift by Brooke Harris - A tight-knit mother-daughter duo face down cancer and the complications it creates in interpersonal relationships. I didn't expect the ending to play out as it did. 352 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 9-1/2 hours), 👍👍👍

Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go by Les Edgerton - A writer's guide to starting well right out of the gate. You must hook the reader in the first paragraph. 236 pages, 👍👍👍👍

New Beginnings at Wildflower Lock by Hannah Lynn - 25-year-old Daisy May inherits a canal boat from a grandfather she never knew. Can she uncover her mother's reason for keeping her from her father and grandfather? Can she forgive for the lost years? 282 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 8 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

Love in Tandem by Becca Kinzer - Hoping to raise funds for her music program, Charlotte agrees to a tandem bike challenge with her ex-fiancé's brother. The challenges mount as opposites attract. 321 pages, 👍👍👍 

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz - Two women backpackers encounter trouble in foreign countries and cover up their actions. Returning to the states, they attempt to keep their secrets and their friendship. 300 pages, 👍👍👍👍

Coffee and Cake at Wildflower Lock by Hannah Lynn - In book two of the Wildflower Lock series, Daisy May opens a coffee shop on her canal boat but must battle rival attractions to two men simultaneously. 290 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 8-1/3 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

Book Review: Coffee and Cake at Wildflower Lock

When I completed New Beginnings at Wildflower Lock, Hoopla offered the sequel Coffee and Cake at Wildflower Lock. Thus, I continued in my stream of light-hearted romances. My brain and heart seem to lack stamina for books with greater substance. It was fun to return to the sweet and conflicted character of Daisy May. I don't know if I'll seek the third in this Wildflower Lock series because it isn't available on Hoopla (and I so enjoy listening to the British accent of the narration).

After losing her job, Daisy May comes up with a brilliant plan to open a coffee shop on her canal boat. The market is ripe, but does Daisy have what it takes to start-up a new business? From day one, she encounters many obstacles. She believes she can tackle them all with the help of her good-looking, kind-hearted neighbor, Theo. Although he's eager to pursue a romantic relationship, she puts him off, worried he is too close to his break-up with his previous girlfriend.

One night, a drunken stag party leads to further disasters on her boat, compounding her financial woes. A dapper young man, Christian, appears to purchase a painting his mother saw while getting coffee on the boat. Now, Daisy's romantic quandary intensifies as she feels attracted to both Theo and Christian. Which man will win the day? How can she decide between two attractive and endearing options? This novel is perfect for fans of British contemporary romance. Almost makes me want to live on a canal boat, despite the many challenges Daisy encounters.

Book Review: We Were Never Here

I read Andrea Bartz's We Were Never Here for my May book club meeting. An endorsement on the front cover, by bestselling author Megan Miranda, bills it as "Incredibly tense and atmospheric; a sharp, unsettling thriller about power, obsession, and the inescapable grip of the past." This psychological mind-trip was intense. I described the book to my youngest son, saying it isn't my usual fare (not that I'm against thrillers - I love a wild ride - but haven't been in the mood for intense). Then, I added, "They'll probably make it into a movie, so you won't have to read the book."

We Were Never Here is about best friends Emily and Kristen, who take backpacking trips to foreign countries. Compulsively readable, the book spins a tale of trauma that tests the bonds of trust and friendship. A sexual assault during their travels the previous year left Emily deeply disturbed. Kristen had interrupted the assault and killed the assailant. Fearful of foreign justice systems, they hid the body. The book opens with their current trip to Chile. Kristen takes a man back to the room and Emily leaves her time and space. Yet when she returns to their shared room, she finds Kristen has killed a second time to foil an assault. Once again they dispose of the body.

When Emily returns to her home in Wisconsin, the only person she can talk to about this traumatic event is Kristen. But they must be careful. Moreover, Kristen is acting like nothing happened at all. Emily questions how well she really knows her best friend. Will their heavy secret keep Emily from developing her relationship with her boyfriend, Aaron? Why is Kristen stalking Emily and her friends?

I do expect this to be made into a movie. Yet, the Netflix plans never got off the ground. It would make for a very engaging drama with lots of psychological tension and plenty of twists and turns. If only they could make the movie without overexposure during the sex scenes. The book handled them discreetly, focused primarily on the women's feelings of danger. The assaults serve as springboards for the psychological games that follow.

Mid-month Mention: Powerful Preaching in Dallas

 (Image from Eastside Community Church sermon menu)

I must admit, I'm jealous of my son Bryce. He has joined a wonderful church. In all the years we have lived near Indianapolis, I've never found a church home I would enthusiastically wish to join. You'd think living near a large metropolis would solve this dilemma. Alas, despite many spells and stretches of attending various churches near and distant from our home, the pickings still feel slim. 

In the beginning, when my husband was not attending church and my youngest was an infant, I took my boys to The Salvation Army. This was the church of my childhood. I will forever be tied to the music of the Army. In Indianapolis, I expected a vibrant congregation with a band I could join. Of course, if they had a band, I would not have been able to join because there was no child care. This was part of the attraction, though. I would always sit at the back because the service often coincided with my son's feeding schedule. Nobody there minded if I donned a blanket and discreetly fed my infant. There was some comfort and familiarity, and I felt less guilty for our inclusion at the Army's Central Bible & Leadership Institute (CBLI) every July. (I attended this family camp with my sons for two solid decades, even in times when we weren't attending The Salvation Army.)

Over time, it became less of a good fit. They aligned with some beliefs I could not espouse. I tried several others closer to home (the Army was a good 20-25 minute drive on Sunday mornings). Oh, the interesting scenarios! In one church, someone accosted us because we took their weekly established seat in the sanctuary. In another, they would not release my pre-teen from the classroom because I didn't know the requirement of picking him up. His pleas fell on deaf ears for a half hour. We never attended that church again. In yet another, the sermons invariably veered political with great vehemence about how one should be voting. I don't go to church to learn how I should vote. Moreover, God deserves more attention on praising Him for releasing us from the troubles of the world than on trying to find a human solution for the troubles in our world. There will never be a human solution! Christ is the only answer!

On Mother's Day, I relished the blessing of attending church with my son Bryce and his fiancée at Eastside Community Church in Dallas. While I prefer smaller churches, with a more intimate and connected feel, I am intensely grateful for the preaching we heard that Sunday. So, for my Mid-month Mention in June, I am highlighting this church and especially the sermons accessible on-line. The sermon we heard on Mother's Day exemplified their commitment to God and His Word! (They express this in their story of how the church came to be.)

One sermon wasn't enough, so I located the sermon library on their website. The sermons I have listened to are all from the Help Us sermon series they were in during our visit. This series focuses on the lines of the doxology they sing at the end of every service. I outlined the sermon we heard in-person in a previous blog post. 

Because of Pastor Adam Griffin's powerful illustrations, his emphasis on the gospel and the gift of grace, together with his reliance on God's Word, I was eager to hear the entire series. Every sermon encouraged and fed my soul. I so needed to hear that God is always with us. I needed the pastor's emphasis on the dynamics of that. He used Joseph's life and trials as an illustration. How encouraging that although my trials mount, and the prison doors seem to hold fast, God is with me, has aligned Himself with me, despite my sin and undeserving standing.

I also desperately needed the reminder to be steadfast. I don't want to have, like Peter's walk on the water, a "brief belief." My soul needs to cling to my Papa God, just as children entirely trust their parents to help them. In another sermon by Adam Griffin, he talked about our need to direct our worship to the proper place, God alone. How easy it is to turn God's good gifts into idols when we put work, wealth, recreation, or relationships above God or in the place of God within our lives.

Perhaps you, too, need a good dose of encouragement and a spotlight on God's Word. Some preach God's Word, but it comes off condemning, always leaving one feeling like they are not all they should be and will never be close enough to the Lord. My soul is weary. I need inspiration. My soul longs to be drawn compassionately in focus on the Lord. This sermon series has met some of my needs and pointed me to the source of all help. If you have extra time, take a listen to Pastor Griffin's fine teaching. 

Book Review: Love in Tandem

Looking for a sweet, light-hearted romance? Becca Kinzer writes wholesome Christian romance. After enjoying her epistolary novel, Dear Henry, Love Edith, I signed up for her newsletter. As a thank you, Kinzer offers two novellas. I only read the first one on offer, but have continued to follow this author through her newsletters. In addition, when she challenged readers to ask their library to purchase her upcoming title, I reached out to my local library. They agreed and the book must be gaining buzz because my due date is looming with no renewals available. Someone else is in line waiting to read Love in Tandem.

I think a cross-country tandem bike ride sounds horrific (after ten minutes on my bike, my bum shouts resistance). Still, the story idea was ripe for plenty of obstacles and laughs. In a standard tale of "opposites attract," Charlotte Carter and Zach Bryant end up on a 500-mile bike trek together. Charlotte hopes to win the prize money to save her beloved small-town music program. Zach is only back in town for his brother's wedding, a wedding Charlotte envisioned for herself until Zach's brother broke their engagement. He can't wait to get back on the road, far away from his Illinois roots. Can they set aside their differences enough to power through and win the challenge? Will an endless stream of difficulties hold them back?

I'm not sure what keeps drawing me to rom-com. Maybe I'm not prepared for deep or intense emotional engagement. When things are difficult, I appreciate submerging into a light-hearted journey. Sure, it often requires the willful suspension of disbelief, but it dulls the senses from more extreme realities at the same time.

Book Review: New Beginnings at Wildflower Lock

I've emphasized before that I'm not terribly interested in rom-com. Yet, here I am again, reading a delightful romantic comedy, mostly because it was billed as clean romance. I believe I noted the title from a Book Bub email and then found it available in audio form on Hoopla. My treadmill time slipped away as I listened to this conflicted character face her many challenges. New Beginnings at Wildflower Lock is now available in Kindle form for only 99 cents.

Daisy May feels dissatisfied with where her 25 years of life have taken her. Unable to settle on a fulfilling career, she has tossed aside her aspirations in art, and pines a lengthy romance that dissolved in her hands. One day, she receives a legal envelope bearing news of the bequest of a canal boat that belonged to her now-deceased grandfather. She never knew this grandfather. In fact, her mother shut down every attempt to discuss her father or his family. She leaps at the opportunity to repair and sell this canal boat. Meanwhile, the truth about her past becomes clear and new relationships develop.

This conflicted character drew me in right away. She wants so much more from life than she can grasp. Her difficulties stem from the dynamics of her past relationships, or the void left by their absence. I adored her relationship with her canal boat neighbor, Theo. It begins in a prickly manner, yet grows in warmth and affection. I loved the character growth amid the blunders Daisy makes. This is the first book in a series and I will seek access to more of Daisy May's story (from a new-to-me author). 

Book Review: Hooked

It has been a year since I've worked on a writing project. This activity that informed my identity for so long is now inaccessible. Despite distance and therapy, the trauma of finding my son mid-opioid overdose last June and the ongoing struggles we face with him have sucked my writing dry. I've made a few attempts, but the motivation and spark have vanished. The only image I can use to illustrate where I'm at is a PBS documentary I once watched called Victorian Slum House. In it, modern day families shed their current conveniences and schedules to live in a mock Victorian community. This is the level of hardship I face when I contemplate working on a piece of writing or a new project. It is like asking me to leave behind all the amenities I'm used to for a hard-scrabble lifestyle. Writing is just too arduous!

The other day, I thought, "Well, if I cannot rouse myself to work on something new, maybe I should polish something old." So, I brought up the middle grade novel which holds the most promise. Formatting it into the proper manuscript form for submission might be a worthy project. I hoped to rekindle the dying embers of my writing passion, submerged from trauma and tension. Alas, this depressed me all the more.

My old writer's group helped polish the first paragraph several years ago. I had offered three different opening paragraphs and welcomed their insights and votes. Yet, when I opened the file now, I realized even the best of those three attempts was pure rubbish! Garbage! I set the paragraph aside as if it might explode in my hands if held too long.

Instead, I picked up a book on my personal shelf called Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, by Les Edgerton. The book made my task feel even more daunting. It focuses on inciting incidents, initial surface problems, and story worthy problems. It encourages you to consider anew where your story should begin. The book provides so many excellent examples. Indeed, when Edgerton dissected the story elements and beginning finesse in a few movies, I sought those movies and watched with a writer's eye. Now, I had more aspects to digest. My opening was truly boring; it needed a complete overhaul. 

Somehow I wrote an opening that is better. I may still work it up more, but it is sound enough to escape the excuse against starting the manuscript re-write. Before I begin, however, I may seek even more instruction. I plan to re-read another one on my shelf, The First Five Pages. If I'm going to get back into writing by the back door of editing old manuscripts, I might as well make the first five pages count. Besides, my mojo for reading hasn't failed me like the writing energy has!

Watching my Youngest Soar

Sean is now considered a senior in high school. How can my youngest be at that point? Where did the time go? The upcoming year will be full and challenging, but he has ended his junior year on a good note, receiving straight A's in both terms, even for the AP level classes (AP exam results don't arrive until July). He's whip smart and has a weighted cumulative GPA of 4.101 out of 4.

Bryce and Elizabeth needed to attend a wedding in Austin, Texas, over Memorial Day weekend. They invited Sean to join them there, so they could show him the University of Texas. My nerves were a mess (he's never flown alone before and my brain always goes to things that could go wrong), but I wanted him to enjoy the opportunity. Thus, we secured non-stop flights on 2 different airlines (Southwest on the way to Austin and American on the way back to Indianapolis). As I dropped him off, I verbally attempted to walk him through the process of getting to his gate and onto the plane. 

Somehow, I neglected to emphasize how important it is to get to the gate ASAP. Twenty minutes before boarding time, I received a text saying he had gotten a bite of lunch and was approaching long lines in the security area. He shaved a full year off my life - ha! Thankfully, despite this laid-back approach, he arrived at his gate with ten minutes to spare. He said several things made the first flight horrible. A woman with a husband and 2 kids approached and demanded that he move from his aisle seat to the middle, so her 10-year-old son could sit in the aisle seat in front of the row she selected for herself, her husband, and the other child. Not wanting to create a scene, he complied and wedged himself (the biggest of the 3 passengers in that row) into the middle seat and rode uncomfortably the whole 2-hour trip. With his phone on airplane mode, he was bored and also said the pilot's flying was erratic. Once he landed in Austin, he had to wait 3-1/2 hours in the airport until Bryce and Elizabeth could pick him up (they couldn't leave Dallas until after work).

They were having a wonderful weekend (lots of delicious meals out, a lengthy walk around the University of Texas campus, and a break from the oppressive heat in an outing to Barton Springs). Then, the weather forecast sent me into a tizzy. With severe storms expected in Indy on Sunday (Indy 500 race day), I worried they might cancel his flight, stranding him alone in Austin (with Bryce and Elizabeth already returning to Dallas). The next available non-stop flight didn't depart until 6 p.m. on Monday. At 17, would he be able to check into an airport hotel on his own? Would the airline pay for the overnight accommodation? Would he be able to get himself to the lodging and back to the airport? 

All those concerns were for naught. The flight remained in "on-time" status. He arrived well in advance and boarded at the appointed time. This flight was more comfortable. He made a friend in the young 30-something man seated next to him, who helped him get a movie on his phone through the free in-flight Wi-Fi. 

I was a bit chuffed because they no longer allow you to sit and wait for your arriving passenger on the arrivals deck. Instead, they force you to continue circling the airport until you see your passenger standing there. I could understand that, if there was a bottleneck of traffic, but it was ridiculous because the entire arrivals deck was empty, with maybe 5 cars picking someone up. Not only a hassle, but unsettling for an unaccompanied minor, unsure if he's even waiting in the right place. Of course, Sean said it was fine. I shouldn't worry, yet I do.

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In looking up the meaning of "chuffed" to see if I was using it correctly, I discovered that the British use of this word and the American use are diametrically opposed. I use it in the American sense of greatly displeased or irritated.