I need a plan.
The newness of the new year is over. I've made some major headway in some areas of my life (reading goals: check! attempts at bravery: check!) and have slacked in others (decluttering something every day--oops!).
Overall, though, the neverending winter of the northern plains, coupled with concerns over flooding in the area, have conspired to make me feel ennui instead of joy.
So I need a plan. I need to formulate a better way of dealing with the clutter and the cleaning of the house. We're hoping to get our downstairs carpet replaced with wood laminate soon, which has motivated me to go through my lone overstuffed bookshelf downstairs and pack up my books. It's sad, but necessary. I've pulled a few which once I've read them, I don't plan to keep them. But I can only read one book at a time...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Quotation for Today
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours." ~Eric Idle~
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Michal
Michal is a riveting Biblical novel. I absolutely enjoyed reading this account of David's first wife and the beginning of his reign in Israel, told from Michal's point of view. It made the Biblical account come alive for me in a new and exciting way.
I found myself really enthralled with the book and with the character of Michal. Saul's daughter did not have an easy time of it. The journey she takes is long and dusty and fraught with frustration. Yet the author gives her a spiritual resolution to her story that is immensely satisfying.
I highly recommend this novel if you're interested in reading some politically-charged, action-packed Biblical fiction.
I found myself really enthralled with the book and with the character of Michal. Saul's daughter did not have an easy time of it. The journey she takes is long and dusty and fraught with frustration. Yet the author gives her a spiritual resolution to her story that is immensely satisfying.
I highly recommend this novel if you're interested in reading some politically-charged, action-packed Biblical fiction.
Turning the Paige
I will be giving away my ARC of this novel! To be eligible, all you need to do is leave a comment with a link to YOUR blog and I'll choose a winner!
Congratulations, Carole! I'll be emailing you for your address!
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Turning The Paige
Zondervan (March 1, 2009)
by
Laura Jensen Walker
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Laura Jensen Walker is an award-winning writer, popular speaker, and breast-cancer survivor who loves to touch readers and audiences with the healing power of laughter.
Born in Racine, Wisconsin (home of Western Printing and Johnson’s Wax—maker of your favorite floor care products) Laura moved to Phoenix, Arizona when she was in high school. But not being a fan of blazing heat and knowing that Uncle Sam was looking for a few good women, she enlisted in the United States Air Force shortly after graduation and spent the next five years flying a typewriter through Europe.
By the time she was 23, Laura had climbed the Eiffel Tower, trod the steps of the Parthenon, skied (okay, snowplowed) in the Alps, rode in a gondola in Venice, and wept at the ovens of Dachau. She’d also learned how to fold her underwear into equal thirds, make a proper cup of English tea, and repel the amorous advances of a blind date by donning combat gear and a gas mask.
Laura is a former newspaper reporter and columnist with a degree in journalism who has written hundreds of articles on many subjects ranging from emu ranching and pigeon racing to goat-roping and cemetery board meetings. However, realizing that livestock and local government weren’t her passion, she switched to writing humor, which she calls a “total God-thing.”
Her lifelong dream of writing fiction came true in Spring 2005 with the release of her first chick lit novel, Dreaming in Black & White which won the Contemporary Fiction Book of the Year from American Christian Fiction Writers. Her sophomore novel, Dreaming in Technicolor was published in Fall 2005.
Laura’s third novel, Reconstructing Natalie, chosen as the Women of Faith Novel of the Year for 2006, is the funny and poignant story of a young, single woman who gets breast cancer and how her life is reconstructed as a result. This book was born out of Laura’s cancer speaking engagements where she started meeting younger and younger women stricken with this disease—some whose husbands had left them, and others who wondered what breast cancer would do to their dating life. She wanted to write a novel that would give voice to those women. Something real. And honest. And funny.
Because although cancer isn’t funny, humor is healing.
A popular speaker and teacher at writing conferences, Laura has also been a guest on hundreds of radio and TV shows around the country including the ABC Weekend News, The 700 Club, and The Jay Thomas Morning Show.
Another book in this series is Daring Chloe
She lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband Michael, and Gracie, their piano playing dog
ABOUT THE BOOK
At 35, Paige Kelley is feeling very "in between." She's still working her temp job after two years, still not dating three years after her divorce, and still melting at every chubby-cheeked toddler she sees while her biological clock ticks ever louder. Paige even moves back home to help her ailing, high-maintenance mother.It's not exactly the life she'd dreamed of!
When her Getaway Girls book club members urge Paige to break free and get on with her life, she's afraid. How will her mother react? How can Paige honor her widowed mother and still pursue her own life? The answers come from a surprising source.
A trip to Scotland and a potential new love interest help launch an exciting new chapter in her life, and lead Paige to discover that God's plan for her promises to be more than she ever imagined.
This latest release in the Getaway Girls collection delivers a smart, funny, and warm account of one woman's challenge to reconcile who she is - a dutiful Christian daughter - with the woman she longs to be.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Turning The Paige, go HERE
Congratulations, Carole! I'll be emailing you for your address!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Laura Jensen Walker is an award-winning writer, popular speaker, and breast-cancer survivor who loves to touch readers and audiences with the healing power of laughter.Born in Racine, Wisconsin (home of Western Printing and Johnson’s Wax—maker of your favorite floor care products) Laura moved to Phoenix, Arizona when she was in high school. But not being a fan of blazing heat and knowing that Uncle Sam was looking for a few good women, she enlisted in the United States Air Force shortly after graduation and spent the next five years flying a typewriter through Europe.
By the time she was 23, Laura had climbed the Eiffel Tower, trod the steps of the Parthenon, skied (okay, snowplowed) in the Alps, rode in a gondola in Venice, and wept at the ovens of Dachau. She’d also learned how to fold her underwear into equal thirds, make a proper cup of English tea, and repel the amorous advances of a blind date by donning combat gear and a gas mask.
Laura is a former newspaper reporter and columnist with a degree in journalism who has written hundreds of articles on many subjects ranging from emu ranching and pigeon racing to goat-roping and cemetery board meetings. However, realizing that livestock and local government weren’t her passion, she switched to writing humor, which she calls a “total God-thing.”
Her lifelong dream of writing fiction came true in Spring 2005 with the release of her first chick lit novel, Dreaming in Black & White which won the Contemporary Fiction Book of the Year from American Christian Fiction Writers. Her sophomore novel, Dreaming in Technicolor was published in Fall 2005.
Laura’s third novel, Reconstructing Natalie, chosen as the Women of Faith Novel of the Year for 2006, is the funny and poignant story of a young, single woman who gets breast cancer and how her life is reconstructed as a result. This book was born out of Laura’s cancer speaking engagements where she started meeting younger and younger women stricken with this disease—some whose husbands had left them, and others who wondered what breast cancer would do to their dating life. She wanted to write a novel that would give voice to those women. Something real. And honest. And funny.
Because although cancer isn’t funny, humor is healing.
A popular speaker and teacher at writing conferences, Laura has also been a guest on hundreds of radio and TV shows around the country including the ABC Weekend News, The 700 Club, and The Jay Thomas Morning Show.
Another book in this series is Daring Chloe
She lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband Michael, and Gracie, their piano playing dog
ABOUT THE BOOK
At 35, Paige Kelley is feeling very "in between." She's still working her temp job after two years, still not dating three years after her divorce, and still melting at every chubby-cheeked toddler she sees while her biological clock ticks ever louder. Paige even moves back home to help her ailing, high-maintenance mother.It's not exactly the life she'd dreamed of!When her Getaway Girls book club members urge Paige to break free and get on with her life, she's afraid. How will her mother react? How can Paige honor her widowed mother and still pursue her own life? The answers come from a surprising source.
A trip to Scotland and a potential new love interest help launch an exciting new chapter in her life, and lead Paige to discover that God's plan for her promises to be more than she ever imagined.
This latest release in the Getaway Girls collection delivers a smart, funny, and warm account of one woman's challenge to reconcile who she is - a dutiful Christian daughter - with the woman she longs to be.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Turning The Paige, go HERE
Pattie's Review:
Turning the Paige is a lovely, yet sometimes difficult, novel to read. Lovely, because its spiritual truths are woven into its tapestry and just beautiful. Difficult, because I have felt the way Paige felt so often, it was occasionally painful.
Single Paige is in-between. Always has been. As the middle child, her siblings left home while she stayed and cared for her widowed, yet overbearing, mother. With her mother's increasing health issues, Paige finds herself tied down at home with few who understand her needs.
Then she meets Marc the florist, and Paige begins to bloom like the proverbial hothouse flower inside their friendship. A surprise trip overseas also begins the necessary healing in her heart.
I really liked this book! Paige is a heroine of my generation: well-read, snarky, and fun. I also found myself teary-eyed as I read certain parts of the book (I can't tell you which ones; that would break the cardinal "don't give it away" rule for book reviewers!).
It wasn't until I got the CFBA information that I realized Walker was former USAF! (Nothing can stop the US Air Force!)
I will most certainly seek out Laura Jensen Walker's other titles. She's found a new fan here at Fresh-Brewed Writer!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
CFBA presents Michal
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jill Eileen Smith is the author of several articles, poems, and stories, and her unpublished novels have placed in five writing contests in the past five years. A children’s story, which she wrote for her church led her youngest son to faith in Christ several years ago; much like a gospel tract led her to the Lord at a similar age.That story, “Seeking Treasureland,” is now available. Jill is a member of several online writing groups and helps promote fellow authors’ works through monthly interviews on the "Spotlight" page of her website. She, along with her husband and children, are active members in their local church. A stay-at-home mom, she homeschooled the couple’s three sons for twelve years through high school, seeing them go on to higher education.
In her spare time, Jill teaches piano, reads, does picture scrap-booking, and enjoys trying out new recipes, especially those that include dark chocolate. Jill and her family make their home in Southeastern Lower Michigan.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Can their epic search for true love survive a father's fury? The daughter of King Saul, Michal lives a life of privilege--but one that is haunted by her father's unpredictable moods and competition from her beautiful older sister.
As a girl, Michal quickly falls for the handsome young harpist David. But soon after their romance begins, David must flee for his life, leaving Michal at her father's mercy in the prison that is King Saul's palace.
Will Michal ever be reunited with David? Or is she doomed to remain separated from him forever?
Against the backdrop of opulent palace life, raging war, and daring desert escapes, Jill Eileen Smith takes you on an emotional journey as Michal deals with love, loss, and personal transformation as the first wife of King David. Jill Eileen Smith has more than twenty years of writing experience, and her writing has gathered acclaim in several contests. Her research into the lives of David's wives has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Michal, go HERE
Pattie's Review:
I have begun the book and it's fascinating. I have always enjoyed Biblical fiction, and this book I'm sure will be no different.
I'll post a review when I'm finished. :) Here is my review.
Spring Reading Thing 2009
Yay for Spring!
FICTION:
[X] Turning the Paige by Laura Jensen Walker (review)
Nothing but Trouble by Susan May Warren (review)
[X] Waiting by Ha Jin (book club)
[X] Channeling Mark Twain by Carol Muskie Dukes (book club)
[X] Fax Me a Bagel by Sharon Kahn (Jewish lit challenge)
[X] Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot (review)
[X] Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (reread before sequel...)
Knit Two by Kate Jacobs (sequel to FNKC) (TBR Challenge book)
NONFICTION:
The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield (review)
Experiencing the Spirit by Henry and Melvin Blackaby (review)
Clutter-Free Christianity by Robert Jeffress (review)
[X]GOD Strong (for military wives) by Sara Horn (advance manuscript! woohoo!) - No review because it isn't published yet. The review will come when it comes out.
Sign up HERE and join...you know you want to!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Something Different
I have been blogging only book reviews for a bit, and I thought I'd break the monotony and write something different for a change. Try to get over your shock...ha ha!
I had the best fun preparing for my book club's discussion of Lorna Landvik's Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. This is Nattie's book. She first told me about it, and it was in her memory that I gave away ten or so copies last summer around her first heaven-birthday. Anyway, I had a great time with my book club gals, and they all seemed to have a fun time also.
I was saddened to hear about Natasha Richardson's death. I've always thought she was a great actress to watch. How sad I feel for her husband and children.
I found out about a book giveaway! So I'm posting the link so you can also enter to win a copy of the book everyone's talking about, The Shack. Click here to go to Shelley's blog.
And finally, I get to attend a regional Curves meeting this weekend. How fun will that be! My manager wants me to get the big picture about Curves. We shall see...
I had the best fun preparing for my book club's discussion of Lorna Landvik's Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. This is Nattie's book. She first told me about it, and it was in her memory that I gave away ten or so copies last summer around her first heaven-birthday. Anyway, I had a great time with my book club gals, and they all seemed to have a fun time also.
I was saddened to hear about Natasha Richardson's death. I've always thought she was a great actress to watch. How sad I feel for her husband and children.
I found out about a book giveaway! So I'm posting the link so you can also enter to win a copy of the book everyone's talking about, The Shack. Click here to go to Shelley's blog.
And finally, I get to attend a regional Curves meeting this weekend. How fun will that be! My manager wants me to get the big picture about Curves. We shall see...
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