Category: Books

Title: The Fullness of Time Author: Kate Wilhelm Published: September 3, 2012 by Blackstone Audio Category: Science Fiction - Novella Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 Stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon Hiram Granville, a modern Leonardo, secured more than a thousand patents during his lifetime, often just ahead of others who had already been working the same ideas. His son John, an economics genius, never lost a cent in the stock market or any other financial deal and was investigated for insider trading on more than one occasion. Now Cat, a documentarian; her researcher, Mercy; and Cracker Jack, an electronics whiz, are preparing to do a documentary about the Granville clan. What they find as they research the family is madness, suicide, a seemingly total seclusion, and a frightening glimpse about what it means to peer into the future. I tend to enjoy Kate Wilhelm's work, both her standard mysteries and when she veers off into speculative fiction,which is why I borrowed this one from the library. I was disappointed in The...

Title: In the Bleak Midwinter  (Clare Fergusson #1) Author: Julia Spencer-Fleming Published: March 4, 2002 Category: Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars Add: Goodreads Purchase:  Amazon | IndieBound | Book Depository Heavy Snow...Icy Desires...Cold-Blooded Murder Clare Fergusson, St. Alban's new priest, fits like a square peg in the conservative Episcopal parish at Millers Kill, New York. She is not just a "lady," she's a tough ex-Army chopper pilot, and nobody's fool. Then a newborn infant left at the church door brings her together with the town's police chief, Russ Van Alstyne, who's also ex-Army and a cynical good shepherd for the stray sheep of his hometown. Their search for the baby's mother quickly leads them into the secrets that shadow Millers Kill like the ever-present Adirondacks. What they discover is a world of trouble, an attraction to each other—and murder... It's a little odd that this is the second mystery I've reviewed this year and both have had members of the clergy as the protagonist. What makes priests...

In the intro to Jesus: Pure and Simple, Wayne Cordeiro states, "It's time to get back to Jesus. It is time to hear His voice and simplify. It's time we get back to Jesus, pure and simple. That's what this book is all about." I think, for the most part, the book stays true to that purpose. Our lives can be full of distractions, of noise and demands on our time, of the need to check-mark lists and follow the rules, we need stop, breathe, and remember who Jesus really is. Cordeiro reminds us we need to read scripture daily, the Bible is the best way of "hearing" God speak, and he provides an easy to remember acronym to help us not only read, but relate what we read to our lives. He stresses the importance of being a servant and of being a hidden servant. He encourages us to live in a constant state of gratitude, being thankful for all of our blessings...

Poor Father Christmas. First, he's Father Tom Christmas, a vicar in the Church of England, not Santa Claus, but his name, along with the title of C. C. Benison's mystery, Twelve Drummers Drumming, is a nice hook for a cozy mystery even if the story has absolutely no connection to the holiday. Ah, to have your name be reduced to a gimmick. He does have quite a backstory, though. His mother was the winner of a Eurovision singing contest, but then his parents died when he was a baby, then his adoptive parents died, so that makes him an orphan twice-over. He was raised, I think, by his adoptive father's sister and her partner. Fast forward. He becomes a magician but during a stint on a cruise ship realizes that there is more to life and eventually becomes a priest. Then, while serving a church in a city, his wife is murdered, leading him to move with his nine year-old daughter to...

I am finally feeling a little better today. I've had one of the many colds that are going around, coughing, stuffy nose, headache. It's been a joy. Anyway, I received a bunch of books in January, including a couple of Christmas gifts. Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia and is hosted by Lori of Lori’s Reading Corner this month. Here's my list. One Snowy Night Before Christmas by Pamela Fryer - purchased (review) "Christmas in Killarney" by Susan Furlong-Bolliger - purchase (review) India Black and the Rajah's Ruby by Carol K. Carr - from Penguin via Net Galley (review) Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs - purchased A Plain Scandal by Amanda Flower - from B&H via Net Galley A Murder at Rosamund's Gate by Susanna Calkins - from Minotaur via Net Galley Saving Grace by Pamela Fagan Hutchins - from Pump Up Your Book! The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente - from Feiwel and Friends The Annotated Brothers Grimm Bicentennial Edition...

My last read of the year was One Snowy Night Before Christmas by Pamela Fryer, a nice, light Christmas romance . It's a short read at 117 pages, which I tend to gravitate to this time of year when time seems to just disappear. Our Grinch is pretty Jessica Jeffries who hates Christmas, and really I can't blame her; she hasn't had the best holidays. Whe's been robbed, caught pneumonia, broke her leg and last year her fiancé dumped her. This year she's planning on working through the holidays, driving her tow truck. Just a couple of days before Christmas she gets a call about a car stuck in the snow. Enter our love interest, Tom Dunham, who has his six-year old daughter, Amy, with him who he has just gotten custody of after not seeing her since she was a baby. Tom is glad to be rescued, but then Jessica's bad Christmas luck kicks in and the tow truck hits an old man...