Book Review: The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip

Sara Brunsvold is a new-to-me author. This book, The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip, was all things good and wholesome. It was soothing, comforting, inspiring, and encouraging. If you know me, you know my quibble with Christian fiction, where the author deems the message more important than the story. Although faith coursed through the entire novel, it was never overbearing. The novel makes the reader consider how they want to die and how they wish to live.

Rookie reporter, Aidyn Kelley, is desperate for a proper assignment. She knows she could pull off a feature. Yet, her supervisor views her request as presumptuous and overreaching. Instead, she gives what seems a menial task, writing the obituary for a woman standing at death's door. When Aidyn darkens Clara Kip's nursing home, she thinks she'll be in and out. She arms herself with the requisite questions and has her goal in sight. But Clara isn't your typical hospice patient and will not reduce into a paragraph or two. She lives large and wants to die even larger. She makes a deal with Aidyn to answer 3 questions for every extraordinary death the reporter can make up for her. As Aidyn seeks ways to die extravagantly, she learns more and more about Clara. In their precious time together, Aidyn's world expands and her faith grows.

As a reader, you cannot help being drawn in to Clara's magnetic sphere. The characters become like people you know or want to know better. Long after I completed the book, my mind licked over thoughts and lessons gleaned. Thankfully, I read this just as my mother was approaching a time of hospice. It was comforting to read this account of the hospice system. The book had been in my audio queue on Hoopla for quite a while, based on recommendations. Then, I saw the author was coming to a nearby town for a book talk. I listened to the novel prior to the talk and am so glad I did. What a joy it was to listen to the author share about the inspiration and writing process for this touching and inspiring novel. 

Book Review: The Memory Library

What a fabulous idea! The mother in The Memory Library has an established habit. Every year, she purchases a book for her daughter's birthday and writes an inscription inside. The only problem? She cannot give the books to her daughter. Years ago, they had a falling out and the daughter now lives on another continent and has little to do with her.

Kate Storey weaves a touching story of the tenuous mother-daughter bond. Sally Harrison has been building a library for forty-two years. Sadly, that library, intended as a gift to her daughter, lies in ruins. Sally's memory is not what it once was. After leaving the tub to overflow, the water seeps down into her beloved library. Add in a fall that fractures her arms and Sally desperately needs her adult daughter, Ella. When Ella arrives (out of duty), she harbors all the resentments of the past. But will time together seeking to repair the library draw the two of them back together? Will it bring past truths to light?

I wished to have a daughter, or at least a child, who loves books as much as I do. With sons who are not readers, this is a pipe dream. What a cool idea, though! I loved how the inscriptions shared reasons for each book's choice and what the mother hoped the daughter would draw from each tale. This book was a love story to books and their power to change lives. I bought the e-book after reading about it in a Book Bub newsletter. Sadly, it wasn't as absorbing as I had hoped. It took several tries to get caught up in the tale. I'm glad I stuck with it. The story is worth the time, if only for exploring the fabulous idea of gifting books.

Book Review: Jane Eyre - Highly Recommend

I loved returning to this classic that I have neglected since I first read it in high school. This is considered a classic for good reason. What a beautiful and morally uplifting book! When I read it as a teen, most of the beautiful spiritual passages slipped right past me. This time around, I wished I had been reading the book physically, so I could savor those passages. Still, it was a splendid choice for my car time listening.

Jane Eyre tells the chronological story of this character's life from humble beginnings to latter fulfilment and courage. Orphaned early in life, Jane's uncle takes her in but then dies. Her aunt and cousins spurn her and send her away to a harsh and sterile boarding school. I never tired of listening to her take on her surroundings and circumstances. She has pluck! She narrates with honesty and feeling.

Jane completes her education and works for a spell as a teacher at the school. Determined to pursue her own path, she places an advertisement for work as a governess. She has never encountered the feelings stirred by exposure to her commanding master, Mr. Rochester. Yet, secrets linger about the place. Her path is far from certain and life holds further obstacles to surmount.

While Wuthering Heights is full of atmospheric tension, this book fully develops the characters. It stirs relational tensions between intention and desire. As the secrets are uncovered, the reader walks alongside Jane Eyre in her travels and her travails with a desire to remain upright and true to herself. The writing itself is beautiful. The spiritual applications are appropriate. In enjoying this book, I want to seek further books by this fine author. I found a documentary on Kanopy about the three Bronte sisters and their alcoholic brother. It was very difficult to watch and makes me all the more impressed with the skills these sisters possessed and shared with the world.

Mid-month Mention: My Mom's Celebration of Life Service

While none of us relished the reason for this reunion, my family enjoyed catching up on each other's lives during the weekend of my mother's celebration of life service. We had not had such a gathering since the December 2018 post-Christmas gathering in our home. Despite glitches that interrupted the whole family gathering, I think everyone who came was blessed in greeting and spending time with one another. It is quite an undertaking to bring 32 people together. (We were missing 3 from my family and 2 from my sister's. My husband was still battling pain from his hernia site and felt he needed to be near the home-front for our younger boys and dog. My sister's sons couldn't get off work because they had just missed some for their other grandmother's celebration of life service.)

Without much planning time, flight prices were high. To halve our expenses, my younger brother Tim and I shared a rental car and a hotel room. The reason I have billed this post as a mid-month mention is because the hotel we stayed in deserves a resounding mention. The only hotel we found in Largo that could accommodate 5 people was the Home 2 Suites. It was an outstanding room with 2 queen beds and a pull-out couch bed (my billet space for the duration). We kept remarking that it felt as if they had anticipated our every need. The room boasted a full size refrigerator, a microwave, glass dishware, and a dishwasher. It was chock full of space for placing items (with shelves on the walls and drawers beneath counter-top space), plus it had a rolling table/desk and chair. 

It was the breakfast buffet that launched this hotel into top rating in my book. I have never seen such an extensive display of options in a moderately-priced hotel. With choices of fruits, cereals, bread and muffins, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, about 12 choices of hot sandwiches and omelets, a Belgian waffle machine, and a whole host of toppings available (like chocolate chips, strawberry sauce, syrup, peanut butter, etc.), it was hard to narrow in on what you wanted to eat. I had an Applewood bacon/egg/swiss on a ciabatta one morning, and a turkey sausage and swiss on an English muffin another morning. Last time I stayed there (with my sister in January 2023), they had my specific kind of creamer preference (Coffee Mate hazelnut), but this time I settled for the French Vanilla.

On Saturday morning, Tim's kids went to the outdoor pool. On Sunday morning, I used the hotel rec room to walk on a treadmill. We were given a goodie bag of waters and treats upon our arrival and my brother's name was pegged into a welcome screen on the television. Every detail made our stay more enjoyable. I highly recommend Home 2 Suites.

The family was set to meet up for a family lunch my dad had catered at The St. Petersburg Citadel Corps, where the celebration of life service would be held at 3. Sadly, we were all late except for him. He arrived and texted to find out where everyone else was. Tim, his kids, and I arrived first, then my oldest brother and his extensive family (his 3 children have given my dad 5 great-grandchildren):

(Tim's daughter, Amelia, holding Kari's adopted son, Shepherd)

Next, my brother Mark's family (5 of their kids, apart from their oldest son who drove on his motorcycle from KY for the event). Then, we saw Bryce and Elizabeth arrive. We enjoyed the time at various tables. Sadly, my sister and her family only caught the tail-end because she was still finalizing many difficulties with the cardstock programs for the service.

We had hoped to have a video of the service posted on FB, but when we went to view it later, it said, "This video has no sound." Very disappointing, as several who couldn't make it had expressed a desire to watch it later. At the front of the sanctuary, sat a large photo of my mother:

My younger brother went first for the family tributes. Fearing my older brother, Mark, had backed out (his expressed intent on Friday night), I went up next. My niece captured a video:

Then, Mark gave a quite lengthy talk (perhaps more sermon than tribute - ha! I worried he might be taking thoughts Dawn intended to present in her eulogy). I was glad they opened it up for 1-2 sentence tributes by people in the church. Dawn's thoughts were helpful and well-done. Before we knew it, the service was over. Everyone was invited to the fellowship hall for snacks of my mother's favorite foods: burgers, onion rings, and Coke. We were able to snag multiple photos of various family groups (if others had not taken them, I would have nothing to show for this event, as I'm no photographer).

Flights were more expensive on Sunday, so many of us stuck around until Monday. Tim, his youngest daughter Amelia, and I all spent the day with my dad. We took him to church, then out for lunch and then sat in his apartment together. 

I'm glad we were able to share time with him before we departed on Monday. I'm glad I spent most of my time with my youngest brother and his kids (they are a hoot and provided some much-needed levity for my weekend away). Although the circumstances bringing us together were sad, I think everyone really felt blessed by the time we were able to spend with one another.

Book Review: Tree. Table. Book.

As soon as I saw this new title from Lois Lowry (Newbery award-winning author of The Giver), I put my name on my library's hold list. I read Tree. Table. Book. in one day. Lowry weaves an intergenerational tale of an 11-year-old girl, Sophie, whose best friend is her 88-year-old neighbor with the same name, Sophie. The young Sophie is anxious because the old Sophie is experiencing cognitive decline. Older Sophie's son is coming for a visit to take her to the doctor for some tests. Young Sophie decides she will test her best friend all on her own, using the Merck Manual. As she prods Sophie's memory, she learns stories of her past that have been long kept hidden. While the story is heart-wrenching, it provides a touching account of a child's encounter with dementia. Lowry once again taps in on deep emotional truths and presents a flawless story.

Book Review: The Getaway Girls

 

I can't remember how I happened upon Dee MacDonald's The Getaway Girls. Perhaps I searched for "light-hearted reads," or "wholesome and funny." The cover (maybe glimpsed on Amazon) may have pulled me in, with blurbs like "Feel-good," "Wonderful," "Inspirational," and "Laugh-out-loud." I mistook the word inspirational, to have religious implications. It did not, but was none-the-less a funny, easy read.

Connie McColl is wrapping up a flower arranging class. With a sudden strike of wanderlust, she purchases an RV. Before she knows it, two of the class members, Gill and Maggie, have invited themselves along on her adventure to Italy to seek for long-lost relatives. Both Gill and Maggie have their own reasons to get away, and their own diverse personalities as well. The obstacles Connie, Gill, and Maggie encounter along their journey only solidify their newfound friendship. If you are looking for a simple beach read for your vacation, Dee MacDonald delivers.

Book Review: Origins of a Story

What a fun little book exploring the idea of story germs that led various authors! In Origins of a Story, Jake Grogan compiles 202 stories of inspiration for some truly great works of literature. Of course, the explanations behind books I knew (having read or watched 77) were more interesting than unfamiliar ones. Still, I came away with appreciation for the various ways writers encounter a creative impetus, as well as more titles on my to-be-read list. Some stories were familiar (the advice given to Dickens to change the ending of Great Expectations or the Reys' transportation and transformation of Curious George). All were interesting.

I identified with many of the vignettes listed in this book. Although I have only published one book, I have written ten complete and two partial manuscripts. For one, a title popped into my head, just like Madeleine L'Engle's eureka moment with the names of her characters. (I found it intriguing that L'Engle wrote A Wrinkle in Time one year after she had "sworn off writing for good, citing her inability to earn a living as a forty-year-old woman despite all the of the time and effort that she put in." And she still persevered because that manuscript received 25 rejections before finding a publisher.) For me, one what-if premise sprang from a difficulty a relative was facing. My middle-grade novel grew from my experience as a pre-teen and one of my YA novels came from finding a stray bone during a walk with my husband. Everything I have written has an autobiographical element. Yet, one action some of these authors took was foreign to me. Several authors threw out manuscripts and rewrote them again from scratch, something I have never done.

So many of these brief stories were fascinating. In the section discussing Ordinary People (one I've heard of but neither read nor seen), the author explains her desire to write about the difficulty one has when experiencing the fluctuations of depression. Although I don't relish reading about suicide, the book sounds more intriguing after reading the impetus that motivated the author. In outlining Stephen King's story germ for Misery, it made me want to read Evelyn Waugh's short story, "The Man Who Loved Dickens." Holes grew from the anguish of yard work in the summer in Texas. (Perhaps I should tell Bryce to avoid this, ha!) In discussing Jane Eyre (a book I was listening to while reading Grogan's book), I learned that Charlotte Bronte's two younger sisters died of tuberculosis, just like a character in the book, something I didn't know. I wasn't aware that S. E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders when she was 15-years-old. All in all, this was quite an interesting read, especially so for a writer.