Advent Illustrated: A Bible Journaling Challenge by Sara Laughed

by Carol3 Comments
I'm new to Bible journaling but I love the concept. Within the past six months or so, I've taken to carrying around a notebook to jot things down, quotes, things I need to remember, sermon notes. For me, Bible journaling is an artistic extension of that. It's another way of interacting with scripture, of responding to what I read, of highlighting what strikes me, of enjoying concepts or images. I'm not good at drawing, but that's not the point. Bible journaling is for me, not to impress anyone. Advent Illustrated is a good beginners book. She talks a bit about journaling and about basic supplies but I never felt like I can't do this. It's an encouraging book, even for those of us who are not as talented at drawing or painting as others. She makes it approachable. It is not a devotional, don't expect it to be. Each day has a short verse, usually a sentence or two, and a couple...
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Early Bird Special by Tracy Krimmer

by Carol1 Comment
I don't go Black Friday shopping, or Thanksgiving Day shopping for that matter, but I thought reading this short story that starts off with Francie and her family in line in the cold waiting for the store to open on Thanksgiving would fit the day. I know "Early Bird Special" is a short story, but at the end I was left with a "that's it?" feeling. I like Francie. Her parents seem nice enough and her brother has the potential to be interesting, but there were too many things brought up and just left off. I would have enjoyed it more if Krimmer had had a bit more time to develop the characters and story. I wanted a romance and I ended up with a woman deciding she needs to give men, and one in particular, a chance, which is not the same thing. I did enjoy it though. It was cute, it just didn't have that complete feeling I'm looking for...
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Gold, Frankincense and Murder by Barbara Early

by Carol2 Comments
This is a cute little mystery. The suspect list is short, and the clues are sprinkled throughout, but I for one didn't put them together until the reveal. Then it all made sense. I like Donna as a main characters. She's not perfect, maybe a bit nerdy, but caring and smart and not too young. I don't know why she was so suspicious of the dead guy's friend so quickly, and of course the missing man turns up murdered not long after it's discovered he's missing. I understood that she at first thought he was out of her league romantically, but she jumped to maybe he was the killer pretty quickly for someone who she meets for the second time in church. Of course, it is just a novella and she had to meet him, suspect him, and start a bit of a romance with him all in a short period, so maybe that explains it. And Sam just kept trying. He's a good...
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Tied Up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh

by Carol3 Comments
As is often the case, Marsh spends a lot of time with the set-up and introducing the characters. This time around, we have a country house murder committed at Christmas. We spend the first half or so of the book meeting all the folks who are spending the holidays at the home. The owner of the house, Hillary Bill-Tasman, is having his portrait painted by Agatha Troy a well-known artist who also just so happens to be the wife of Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn. The house is full of eccentric guests, including the fiancée, Cressida, whose character is the only one that really screams 60s/70s to me. If it weren't for her, it could have been set in the 30s, which might have been a bit more fitting overall. There’s Uncle ‘Flea’ and Aunt ‘Bed’, a gruff old Colonel and his wife who arrive with a devoted manservant. All of the other servants are convicted, but paroled, murderers. On Christmas Eve there...
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Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

by Carol7 Comments
Career of Evil is good, let me say that first off. The mystery, even with its limited suspect pool is engrossing and the episodes from the killer's point of view are disturbing. The characters are well-drawn and I am invested in their personal stories, in addition to the crime-solving aspect, thanks to having read the previous two in the series. And I do think this is a series where it helps to read them in order. But I didn't particularly enjoy Career of Evil. If it wasn't a series I like, with people, fictional though they might be, who I care about it, I probably wouldn't have read it, or at least not finished it. First, I just don't like serial killer books. I read a lot of mysteries, but I avoid that particular trope. I think it has something to do with motive. Revenge, anger, greed, jealousy, need to protect oneself or one's secrets, are all understandable, their normal feelings taken to extreme....
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Morning the Burned House by Margaret Atwood

by CarolNo Comments
I've read several of Atwood's books over the years, but that's not why I picked this one up, even though I do enjoy the short pieces of hers I've read. When we heard Louise Penny speak, she said that several pieces of the poetry in her Gamache series come from Morning in the Burned House. The poems are lovely and dark and sad. They are full of feminine power and grief, truth and mythology, anti-war messages and pro-environment. I love how the words sounds and feel, how the phrases at times are just perfect, although not always. Not every poem struck me, but enough did to make this worth reading. I wanted to give you a few bits, but taking out a few lines from the poetry doesn't really give you the feel, takes away the meaning and most of the feel of the poems. I will give you a middle bit from "The Loneliness of the Military Historian", but you can find the whole...
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