Word Lily

Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren
I loved this book. I mean, seriously: time travel, Italy, and archaeology all in the same book? The adventure, the fun, the ingenuity. Excellent. This is book 2 of the River of Time series (3 books out so far), and while I haven’t read book 1, Waterfall, now that I’ve read book 3, I think part of my enjoyment stemmed from being allowed to fill in those pieces from the bits of background scattered throughout.

Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren
This, book 3, was a letdown. Maybe it’s because the storyline seemed so one-dimensional after attempting to construct book 1 while reading book 2? I also thought book 2 indicated a larger discussion of or focus on elements of faith in book 3, but while there was a bit more, it was still seriously lacking in that department.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games trilogy has been hashed and rehashed countless times while I was getting up the courage to read them. See, I was afraid, when I first heard about them, that they would be too much like The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, which, when I read it early in high school, left me scarred. But the similarities were quickly overcome once I dove in, and I quickly devoured the whole series. The reality TV (a la Big Brother) component is really interesting, but really they’re just great stories. They plumb the depths of what it means to be human.

And, with that, my writing time for today is just about up. Maybe I’ll add some thumbnails to the above and move on with my day. Hopefully this hasn’t drained me too much and I’ll be able to post another set of mini-reviews (or a few) soon. Hey, maybe I’ll even post more than once in a week — now that would feel like a miracle!

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Posted in books, Christian Fiction, fiction, review, speculative, YA

Tagged reading

My Friend Amy posted about this right before Christmas, and I took her up on the chance to be interviewed. I asked her a question, and she sent me five to answer here.

The official rules (this feels a bit of the way-back machine):

• Leave me a comment saying, “Interview Me.” Please include your e-mail address if it is not in your profile. (lol how old school)
• I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions.)
• You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
• You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
• When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Amy asked:
1) Describe your ideal book.
Wow, that’s tough. How about this? A compelling story lyrically told, with real characters, who face thing(s) that force them to examine their faith/walk. Not too long.

2) You’re having a baby! What are some of the books that will be essential in your child’s library?
Actually, I’ve kind of struggled with this! I don’t seem to remember much of my reading (or being read to) before I was reading the Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew or Madeleine L’Engle books; I remember appreciating the phonics books we had when younger siblings were learning to read … So! What read-aloud or whatever books should I add to my library?

But if you’re asking about books for when he’s older, hrm. Most of the ones I own (we were heavy library users back in the day) seem a little girl-centric: Anne of Green Gables, Caddie Woodlawn … Obviously that doesn’t make them bad, but my collection’s still more than a bit scant.

3) Have you ever read a book at exactly the right time?
I’d say the books that coalesced on a theme for me last year were read at pretty much the right time. I’m sure there are other, more precise instances, but they’re not coming to mind at the moment.

4) What is the best thing that’s changed about the book blogosphere since you started? What’s the worst?
I love that there are so many book bloggers now. I think this makes it easier to find one’s bosom buddies — or a collection of people she overlaps with on various genres/subjects — than it used to be. I also think it’s excellent that bloggers now have at least some respect or recognition from publishers.

As for the worst, I hate that so many bloggers now just quietly submit to the increasingly tight hoops that are being placed as restrictions by some publishers (not most) on bloggers (for review copies). I fear they may act as a noose, and it seems to me that these bloggers have little sense of self to allow themselves to be pushed around in these ways. Of course, I also tire of the never-ending drama between bloggers.

5) What’s your favorite Christmas song?
It’s really hard for me to pick favorites of anything, and this is no exception. I tried making a list of my top 10 Christmas songs — in December 2010 — and I still haven’t gotten it figured out. I’m sad, though, that I didn’t hear Mary, Did You Know? even once this past Christmas season.

If you want me to ask you questions, let me know! I won’t ask anything too invasive or personal, promise.

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Posted in blogging, books, WordLily

Tagged reading

Most of the media experiences (not just books, although mainly books) that really struck me this year have a couple things in common. I learned something about myself, particularly through their confluence. They’re all about being an outsider, working on something that others don’t really understand. And yet this work is something that drives [the person], that it’s impossible to ignore. A calling, even.

Although perhaps not traditional (and certainly not all-inclusive), this is my greatest hits list for 2011.

ANGEL

I think the first one was from the TV show Angel. Along Angel’s circuitous journey, one of the guys who assists in his mission of helping people is an Empath demon. Backstory: The demons in this narrative (that starts with Buffy the Vampire Slayer) are various races and/or individuals with special skills or giftings. Taken as a whole, they use these abilities to further their bloodlust and rage, but there are a few here and there who’ve chosen another path.

This particular Empath demon uses his ability to feel other peoples’pain to help them. Later in the narrative the gods see fit to give the empath ability to a human, and it very nearly destroys her. (Actually, I’m not sure I’ve seen the end of that story line. I know it comes close, but I’m not sure if it eventually does or not.) She should die because a human can’t bear that burden of feeling so much the pain of others.

THE RELUCTANT PROPHET by Nancy Rue

The Reluctant Prophet illuminated what I’d seen in Angel, if that makes any sense. Allison has been asking God what she’s supposed to do, and when she begins to follow through on what she hears, the members of her church aren’t exactly thrilled. It’s a serious examination — in the form of one fictional woman’s story — of what a life of faith looks like and the risks it entails.

It’s a well-written story that I read at exactly the right time. It rings authentic, and I can’t wait to crack open the next book in the series, Unexpected Dismounts. I’ve also been enjoying Rue’s (@NNRue) blog.

THE FALLING AWAY by T.L. Hines

The Falling Away is a truly excellent book (it won the INSPY in December for Speculative Fiction).

This quote will, I think, illustrate how The Falling Away fits into my list: “we’re almost magnets for pain and suffering, but because we have ways to control it, there’s a design to it all” (page 97).

WINTER by Keven Newsome

Winter isn’t really of the same calibre as the aforementioned books writing-wise (or editing-wise), but it does dwell in the same vein, of prophecy. Enough so to earn a place here. It may not speak to everyone as it did to me — the appeal of the others is probably more broad — but that’s not necessarily the point of this list. So.

Switching directions a bit, Passport through Darkness: A True Story of Danger and Second Chances by Kimberly L. Smith (2011 INSPY winner for Creative Nonfiction) also deserves a spot on the list. It doesn’t quite fit with the others in that, while the others taught me something about myself and showed a bit of the way I should go, Smith voiced so much of what I’ve felt leading up to this time. It’s almost like her words were echoing what my soul had been crying out. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been working in Darfur unbeknownst to you, but I did find significant parallels.

Summary: Several books I read in 2011 seemed to coalesce around a theme, enough so that it made me sit up straight and take notice. Through these books, plus the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, God spoke to my identity, my place/role in the Body of Christ. I don’t have it all figured out yet(!), but it was encouraging to learn. One piece: an implementable way to channel my empathy.

So, there you have it. Not a traditional best-of list — I read lots of other terrific books — but the ones that most stood out to me.

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Posted in books, Christian Fiction, fiction, memoir, nonfiction, speculative, WordLily

Tagged Best of 2011, empathy, reading, television

About the book:
Bandit troubles intensify as Caleb Bender’s family attempts to settle into their new life in 1920s Paradise Valley. When El Pantera kidnaps Rachel and leaves her brother Aaron for dead, Jake Weaver and Domingo pursue the bandit leader to his mountain stronghold in a hopeless rescue attempt.

Read an excerpt of The Captive Heart by Dale Cramer.

I received this book from the publisher as part of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small commission on sales through my affiliate links.

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Posted in books, Christian Fiction, fiction, historical

Tagged Amish, book spotlight

I had grand plans of posting frequently in December, catching up on reviews, writing about the books that were important to me from my 2011 reading, talking about my knitting.

And then I was in a frenzy to finish a few last-minute Christmas gifts; plans were up in the air and went through several iterations before touching down. The funeral for my husband’s grandma (that he traveled to but I didn’t) didn’t exactly help keep things calm and orderly, either.

Other things played a part, too, but I won’t bore you with a full recitation. Now, it’s post-Christmas, post-New Year’s, and my deafening silence has been keeping me from posting. How do I decide what to post, when it’s been so long? Is it possible to catch up, or should I just declare bankruptcy? Is there any middle ground, and if so, how do I determine what things absolutely get posts while others fall away?

I’m not sure, honestly, that this post will help the situation, either. I laid out a scenario for my husband last night, wherein I end up posting 12 of these back to back. Sigh.

So, what do you do? Where on the continuum of no-reviews-left-behind to start-from-scratch do you fall?

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Posted in blogging, WordLily

The Pawn by Steven James, book 1 of the Patrick Bowers Files (Revell, 2007), 432 pages

Summary
FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers is called to North Carolina to consult on a serial killer case. The guy calls himself The Illusionist, and he’s one of the toughest Bower has ever been up against. On top of that, turmoil from his personal life — his wife died of cancer, leaving him with a teenage stepdaughter he hasn’t really figured out how to communicate with yet — keeps breaking in on his thoughts.

Thoughts
I’ve heard so much great buzz about this series (mainly from Deborah and Tami, I think) over the last couple years, and I’m glad I finally got around to starting it.

Patrick Bowers, our protagonist, is a coffee snob, a man grieving the loss of his wife. His specialty is environmental criminology, which at times reminded me of Numb3rs.

The story is well-written and gripping.

I enjoyed it so much I immediately picked up the second book in the series, The Rook.

Really an excellent read.

Rating: 4.25 stars

About the author
Steven James (@SJamesAuthor) lives in Tennessee with his wife and three daughters. When he’s not writing or speaking, he’s rock climbing, playing disc golf or slipping away to a matinee.

Other reviews
Tree Swing Reading
A Peek At My Bookshelf
Window to My World
Genre Reviews
Have you reviewed this book? Leave me a link and I’ll add it here.

I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small commission on sales through my affiliate links.

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Posted in books, Christian Fiction, fiction, mystery, review

Tagged cutting, North Carolina, reading, thriller

By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman, book 8 in the Tess Monaghan series (William Morrow, 2004), 368 pages

Summary
Mark Rubin, orthodox Jew and wealthy Baltimore furrier, insists that he had a perfectly happy marriage, despite the fact that his wife and three children vanished. The police won’t help, so he comes to Tess.

Thoughts
I blew through most of this series this fall. I’m not planning on reviewing most of them, though; I just don’t feel like I have much to say about them. They were all enjoyable, but mostly quickly forgotten. And since I read five of them back to back, they kind of blend together in my mind.

Really, this one is no exception. I have but one rant, and it’s really more of an editing rant than a beef with the actual story, but it won’t leave me alone, so here I am. Note: I read the hardcover, so maybe (hopefully!) this was fixed in later editions already.

Speaking of Tess’s newly formed country-wide group of female private detectives, the book states:

“There were still some wide-open places to be filled — they had no one to cover the vast swath west of the Mississippi and east of the Rockies, and an Atlanta connection would have been helpful. But they were otherwise solid along the eastern seaboard and could do most of Texas and the Pacific Coast in a pinch.”

~page 30, By a Spider’s Thread

See the problem?

Yes, I’m probably more attuned to it than some, since I live in that vast wasteland known as the Midwest. But there’s no excuse for screwing up (so badly) on geography. Look at a map! Most of Texas lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River.

I understand that Tess lives in Baltimore and hasn’t ever ventured far from there and is probably clueless about this, as so many people who live on the coasts are. But this paragraph wasn’t really in her words. It should have been accurate.

Anyway, like I said, I’ve generally enjoyed this series. I like how rooted they are in their place, and Tess and her family are delightfully flawed.

I think my favorite aspect of this book is how her partly Jewish, partly not, background tugs on Tess in various scenarios.

Rating: 3 stars

About the author
Laura Lippman grew up in Baltimore and returned there in 1989 to work as a journalist. She has won numerous awards for her work. I interviewed her last year. Her most recently published is The Most Dangerous Thing.

My reviews of other Lippman books
Baltimore Blues (book 1 of the Tess Monaghan series)
Life Sentences (a standalone)

Other reviews
Rhapsody in Books
A Worn Path
Have you reviewed this book? Leave me a link and I’ll add it here.

I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small commission on sales through my affiliate links.

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Posted in books, fiction, mystery, review

Tagged Baltimore, midwest, mistakes in print, private investigator

The Informationist by Taylor Stevens, book 1 of the Vanessa Michael Munroe series (Crown/Broadway, March 2011), 320 pages

Summary
Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information. If you need to find out something undiscoverable — and have the resources to pay — she can figure it out for you. She grew up as a missionary kid in Cameroon, and she still bears the scars of her past life (literally and figuratively). Her gift for languages comes in handy in her work. When a Texas oil man wants her to find his daughter, who disappeared in Africa, she’s thrust back into the jungle haunted by her past.

Thoughts
I knew I wanted to read it when I heard the first whisperings of the hardcover. When I had the chance to read the paperback, I was thrilled. When I cracked open the pages, I wasn’t disappointed.

I love so many things about this book, about Vanessa Michael Munroe. I love the West African setting, the heart-pounding story arc, the genuine pain of past hurts that comes through (not that I’m glad the pain exists, but I’m glad it shows up and feels real). I love Munroe’s skill with languages and reading people. I enjoy the [few] personal connections she does have.

While the blood and sex and language might make this book an uncomfortable read for some, I found it generally appropriate for the setting and the characters.

I finished reading this book a couple weeks ago, and I’m still over the moon about it. Love it!

My biggest problem with this book is that, when I finished it, I couldn’t yet get my hands on the second book in the series, The Innocent, due out December 27. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but I want more! I can’t wait.

Rating: 4.75 stars

About the author
Taylor Stevens (@Taylor_Stevens, Facebook) was raised in communes across the globe and denied an education beyond the sixth grade; she broke free of the Children of God and now lives in Texas. She’s working on the third Vanessa Michael Munroe book.

Other reviews
Jenn’s Bookshelves
Leeswammes’Blog
S. Krishna’s Books
Beth Fish Reads
Toothy Books
Have you reviewed this book? Leave me a link and I’ll add it here.

I received this book from the publisher. I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small commission on sales through my affiliate links.

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Posted in books, fiction, review, review copy

Tagged Africa, Cameroon, debut novel, missionaries, thriller