Category: Books

Dear Santa, I know you probably have your sleigh all packed and ready to go, and I'm sure you've got all kinds of goodies in there for me, but just in case you're looking for some last-minute ideas, here are some books I would love to see under the tree. Of course, I do love to see just about any book under the tree, or gift certificates for books, or book accessories, but that's beside the point. Brunetti's Cookbook by Roberta Pianaro The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet by Kirk Scroggs The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer Little, Big by John Crowley Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini Buy Back by Brian M. Wiprud But I know I'll be thrilled with whatever I find Sunday morning. And don't worry, we'll leave cookies out for you. Love, Carol   Top...

"O Jacob Marley! Heaven and the Christmas-time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!" Most of us know the story of Scrooge's redemption in Dicken's A Christmas Carol. AFter being visited by 3 spirits, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, he vows to keep Christmas in his heart all year long and he truly is a new man. But so often we forget the first ghost who visits him, who announces what is to come, who prepares the way for the others Jacob Marley, a man as shrewd and cold-hearted and self-centerd as himself. We don't really know much about Marley aside from the fact that he regretted how he had lived and that he carried chains wrapped around him in the after-life as a result of his sins. Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett seeks to change that. Bennett introduces us to Marley and tells about his childhood and the chance compliment that set...

There are only two places where the powerful and great in this world lose their courage, tremble in the depths of their souls, and become truly afraid. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ. I've been reading an Advent devotional this year, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I had heard the name Bonhoeffer before, but didn't really know much about him. Bonhoeffer, born in 1906, was a German Lutheran pastor. He became part of the resistance movement against Nazism and was arrested in 1943 for his participation in a plot to assassinate Hitler. He was executed in April 1945.  He left behind many writings, letters, lectures, papers and his diaries that show his theology clearly. This devotional brings together bits of those sources and, combined with scripture, highlights several of Bonhoeffer's beliefs: "that Christ expresses strength best through weakness, that faith is more important than the beguiling trappings of religion,...

It's been 100 years since Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie was first published, so it seemed only appropriate that I finally get around to reading this children's classic with Amber (11). I knew the basic story, mainly from the Disney movie, and Peter Pan is just as daring and fun as I pictured, but for me the movie wins. Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up, lives in Neverland but visits London occasionally and it is during one of those visits that he meets the Darling children and eventually whisks them off to Neverland to live with the Lost Boys, Peter's tribe of children. Wendy is to be their mother. Of course in a land of Indians and mermaids, fairies and pirates, adventures abound. The sad part is that some kids books I just don't get. They should be magical and light-hearted, but to me this one just fell flat. The writing is beautiful, if a little dated, but...

I do most of my traveling through the books I read. I've been to Asia and Africa, seen the castles of Europe and the rainforests of South America, across America and Down Under, but sometimes a setting just grabs me, makes me fall in love with a place I may never get to see. Haida Gwaii is one of those places. I'm currently listening to The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny and Chief Inspector Gamache, the main character, has taken a short trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands In British Columbia. The islands were officially renamed  after the book was published, becoming Haida Gwaii, which means "People of the Island" in the native language. I know that when I get around to reviewing the book, I'll concentrate on the characters, the plot, and the main setting, the small town of Three Pines, so I wanted to take minute to talk about this beautiful land, one that, at least from the story...

I love Christmas, as I've said many times, but I don't have those wonderful memories of Christmas as a child. It's not that my Christmases were not marvelous, I'm sure they were, my memory just honestly sucks. I remember bits and pieces, but that's all. I think that's part of the reason I enjoyed "Dakota Christmas" by Joseph Bottum. In "Dakota Christmas," Bottum shares memories of his childhood on the cold South Dakota plains, of the food and gifts, of books and toys, of family and friends, of the joy and sometimes tears of children during the holidays. He brings those memories to life with humor and sharp details. He makes me hope that our holidays are special ones that stay with Amber through the years. Bottum also reminds us that while it's easy to get caught up in the glitz and glitter, or plastic and jello, of the season, the focus still need to be on that babe in the manger. And...