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What I’m Reading – June 2nd

What I’m Reading Now:

A Garden to Keep by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is book four.

What I Recently Finished:

The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan – Book 2 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. I am enjoying this series. It’s not totally realistic because the 15 year olds save the day on more than one occasion, but they are still a lot of fun to read.

The Icebound Land by John Flanagan – Book 3 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. Another good book, although the way it shifted between the two storylines every other chapter was disconcerting. I would just be getting into it and the chapter would end, and I would have to switch gears to the other characters.

Someone Like You by Karen Kingsbury – This novel is part of her Baxter Family series. It was a sweet story and a quick afternoon read.

By the Light of a Thousand Stars by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is her third one. I got so engrossed in it that I finished it in one day.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner – A few weeks ago, I shared a blog post about things that make me not want to read a book, and one of those things was a WWII setting. Well, this book is set just after WWII plus it’s about one of my favorite authors, so I am going to take a chance on it. My library only has it available as an audiobook. I have enjoyed audiobooks in the past, so I think that will be okay.

The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan – Book 4 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Karen Kingsbury – the next book in the Baxter Family series due out in October (no image available yet)

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

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Moving to Yellow (May 31st Update)

I don’t have much to report this week.

I had a very productive week at work. Splitting my time between new product entry and new system testing breaks up the monotony of doing one thing all the time.

Michael finished up his assignments for the fourth quarter, so all that is left is to return his library books and pay his fines, which are less than $1.00 in total.  That will be on Wednesday.

Our county is now in the yellow zone, which means the stay at home order is lifted and some businesses can reopen while following social distancing guidelines. People are encouraged to continue working from home if they can and are supposed to limit gatherings to 25 people.

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Jane Austen (Author Spotlight)

Another of my all-time favorite writers is Jane Austen. I tend to be the kind of person who perversely avoids things that everyone is raving about, but in this case, I don’t mind being part of the crowd of admirers. Here is a list of her books with their publication date:

She also had two unfinished works, The Watsons and Sanditon (included with Lady Susan in the book I linked to above). Although Pride and Prejudice is probably her best known book (who doesn’t love Mr. Darcy?), my favorite of her novels is Persuasion. I have always identified with the personality of Anne Elliot and love the way the romance unfolds between her and Frederick Wentworth. I especially enjoyed the 1995 movie version of Persuasion with Amanda Root.

Her novels have been retold and added onto by countless writers and filmmakers over the years with varying amounts of success. I have read (and viewed) lots of these and enjoyed many of them, although sometimes they are overwhelmingly bad.

Do you like Jane Austen? Do you have a favorite novel of hers?

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What I’m Reading – May 26th

What I’m Reading Now:

The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan – Book 2 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series I started a couple of weeks ago.

What I Recently Finished:

Some Wildflower in My Heart by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is her second book. I have read this one several times, so I knew the story details pretty well, but I still enjoyed the writing and the characters.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott – A memoir in essay form, this was recommended by Nick & Hanna True from Mapped Out Money.  They read sections from the book on a recent podcast, and I was intrigued to read more of it.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – Just released prequel to The Hunger Games series. The wait on my library app is more than 6 months, so it will be a while before I get to read this one!

Added to DNF list:

The Truth About Us by Brant Hansen – Fairly recent arrival by the author of Blessed Are the Misfits, which I enjoyed. The book has a good message and prompted me to recognize times I think I am better than other people in some way. I enjoyed the social science aspect of it as well as how he integrates Biblical wisdom on the topic of self-righteousness, but I just felt like he made his point pretty early on and was just restating it in different ways, so I didn’t finish this one.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

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Making Progress (May 24th Update)

I switched from part-time to full-time hours this week.  In addition to entering new products for our website, I am also needed to test the new computer system we will be switching to later this year.  I had definitely gotten used to my lazy afternoons reading and relaxing with Baxter, so this week was an abrupt change to my system!  I am very glad to have full-time work, though, especially with Joe’s job ending in just a few weeks.

Michael has one more week to finish up his school assignments. School was originally supposed to end the first Friday in June, but I’m not sure now if he will be doing anything that last week. I’m waiting to hear when we can return his library books. His case manager did tell me he can just hold onto his laptop for next year.

Baxter’s first birthday is coming up in just over two weeks, so I purchased a couple of birthday presents for him and got the supplies I needed to make a dog-friendly cake. He has been making a bit of trouble lately, pulling insulation out of a hole in our wall and somehow even detaching a couple of pieces of trim from the wall as well. I’m hoping Joe can get those all fixed soon so Baxter can’t bother them anymore. Here’s a picture of him being good, lol!

The Governor announced Friday that our county would move from red to yellow on May 29th. I don’t think much will change for us though. The only thing I’m hopeful for is that they will open the dog park, but I’m not sure if they will.

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Laura Ingalls Wilder (Author Spotlight)

My absolute favorite children’s writer is Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I have read her Little House series dozens of times starting in childhood and continuing on through the present.  I know that her books aren’t 100% true to her life, but I think they are an amazing story – told in a way that is appropriate for children – of what life was like growing up during pioneer times in America.

Here are the titles of the series in order:

  1. Little House in the Big Woods
  2. Farmer Boy
  3. Little House on the Prairie
  4. On the Banks of Plum Creek
  5. By the Shores of Silver Lake
  6. The Long Winter
  7. Little Town on the Prairie
  8. These Happy Golden Years
  9. The First Four Years

I have read a number of other books related to Little House over the years, including the series that were written in the same style about her daughter Rose, her mother Caroline, her grandmother Charlotte, and her great-grandmother Martha.  I loved all of those.

Two books I have read recently which were inspired by the Little House series are Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life by Shelley Tougas and Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller.  The first one is a middle grade book about a girl whose mother moves them to Walnut Grove, where Laura Ingalls lived as a child, and her experiences there.  The second is a retelling of Little House on the Prairie from the perspective of Caroline, Laura’s mother.  Both were very good.

 

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What I’m Reading – May 19th

What I’m Reading Now:

 

The Truth About Us by Brant Hansen – Fairly recent arrival by the author of Blessed Are the Misfits, which I enjoyed.

Some Wildflower in My Heart by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is her second book.  See below for the first one.

What I Recently Finished:

 

Star of Persia by Jill Eileen Smith – I have read many fictionalized accounts of Esther but am still drawn to them. It’s such a fascinating story, and this one does not disappoint. Smith weaves the Biblical account and other historical documentation together to form an intriguing story.

Daughter of Cana by Angela Elwell Hunt – This is book one in the Jerusalem Road series. It was not as good as the other two Biblical fiction novels I have read recently, but I would still say I enjoyed it somewhat.

Suncatchers by Jamie Langston Turner – I wrote about this author last week and ordered several of her books that I didn’t have on my bookshelf. This one arrived on Saturday and I reread it the same day. So good!

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

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The Shepherd’s Wife by Angela Elwell Hunt – Book two in the Jerusalem Road series

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

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Some Big Changes (May 17th Update)

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After several weeks of things being the same on end, we have had a couple of big changes occur.

Joe found out on Monday that his job is ending in July. His company has been bought out, and the new owner is shutting down his entire facility. It was a surprise, for sure, but I’m trusting that God will provide. We have survived my work getting cut in half, and we can survive this.

In other news, we are getting our house re-sided. There was some major wind damage a few weeks ago and after weighing our options we decided to go ahead with it. Thankfully the insurance company is covering the damaged areas. We chose a pretty light gray to replace the white that we had before.

Everything else is pretty much the same. I might be going back to full time hours soon because we need to restart testing on our new system, but I haven’t been given a date for that yet.

Our county is still in the red zone, which means we are still under a stay-at-home order. No word yet on when we will move to the yellow phase of reopening.

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Jamie Langston Turner (Author Spotlight)

Jamie Langston Turner is hands down my favorite contemporary writer. The first time I read one of her books, I started out very unsure of whether I would like it. It seemed quite unassuming and even slow at times, plus some of the characters were decidedly quirky. But I was quickly drawn into the rich storylines and unexpectedly deep characters, and she soon became one of my favorite writers.

The books are not really a series, but they are all set in the same fictional area of South Carolina. There are also several minor characters that are in many of the books, which lends an air of familiarity even as you are meeting a new main character.

I can’t really name a favorite, as each one holds a special place in my heart. Her way of expressing relationships and faith is simply amazing. According to the newsletter on her website, she is currently working on her ninth book. Here is a list of the eight books Turner has published so far:

I have decluttered a lot of books over the years, but I will never get rid of hers. I don’t own them all yet, but I hope to finish out my collection this year.

Have you read any of her books? What did you think?

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What I’m Reading – May 12th

What I’m Reading Now:

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Star of Persia by Jill Eileen Smith – I have read many fictionalized accounts of Esther but am still drawn to them.  It’s such a fascinating story.

What I Recently Finished:

Daughter of Rome by Tessa Afshar – This was such a good book. I have enjoyed everything I have read by this author. This one is the fictional account of Priscilla and Aquila from the New Testament. I usually like stories like this, so it wasn’t a big stretch for me to pick this one up, and I’m glad I did.

The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan – Recommended by my DM, this is a YA fantasy book that is first in a series called Ranger’s Apprentice. The writing was engaging and the characters were well-developed. I am looking forward to reading more of the series.

If You Must Know by Jamie Beck – This was my pick from the Amazon Prime First Reads list for May. It was a good book with a satisfying ending. I would recommend it.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

The Truth About Us by Brant Hansen – I have previously read his Blessed Are the Misfits, which was a great book about following God when you don’t fit in with the norm. This book is about embracing humility rather than self-righteousness.

The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan – Book 2 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!