Reading, Writing & Pondering

  I was anxiously waiting for Martha Aldridge's story after reading the first two books in the Checking Out Love series by Sarah Monzon. Bookmarked for Love is the third book in the series and it did not disappoint me.  Martha is the children's part-time librarian. Besides her paid work, she also volunteers her time to provide some extra programs because she enjoys working with the children so much. She lives on a horse farm where she does some work in exchange for her living quarters so she can afford to do that. However, when budget cuts come up and Martha's job is cut, Martha doesn't want to disappoint the children, but she also can't afford to work entirely free either.  Martha decides to talk to a publishing company to see if they could donate enough money to repair a damaged roof and pay Martha. She has a history with this company already as her parents work for the owners. She winds up talking to Julien King, son of the owners, and he hires her to do some co...

      The Vanished series continues with  Shattered : In a turbulent world reshaped by the Rapture, ancient prophecies stir as the ominous Antichrist rises. In a world turned upside down by the cataclysmic events of the Rapture, the unraveling of divine prophecies stirs chaos and uncertainty. Saul Katz, a gifted scientist, finds his life irrevocably changed as he joins the 144,000 chosen evangelists. In the shadows of Istanbul, John Haggerty embarks on his own perilous journey, driven by vengeance. He holds Matthias Vilks, the ominous face of the Antichrist, accountable for the collapse of America and his own heart-wrenching loss. But between the dangerous lures of power and the call to resist the satanic forces gathering, Haggs finds his choices shadowed by peril. As darkness gathers and prophecy, betrayal, and redemption intertwine, faith and courage are the world’s final bastions of hope against impending doom. About the Author Dr. David Jeremiah ...

It's easy for puppies to get distracted by new things. In Willa and the Way Home by Jennifer Moorman, Willa the puppy gets distracted by a butterfly shortly after moving to her new house with her human family.  In Willa and the Way Home, Willa realizes she is lost after following a butterfly near her new house. In the story, a bird and a cat befriend Willa and help her find her way home in this heartwarming story. The story is cute and also is one that could be encouraging to children as the focus is on having courage and getting help from friends. Both of those can be good things for sure. I also liked the cute illustrations. I love dogs, cats and birds, besides humans, and the illustrations in Willa and the Way Home are so cute. They are also vibrant and eye catching with bright colors. It all works together to make a fun new book to read with children. Willa and the Way Home is a hardcover book that measures 8 1/2 by 11 inches in size and is 38 pages long. This book releases f...

  I have been especially enjoying lighter romance novels this year. Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson was a fun and relaxing read--perfect for summer or the beach.  Savannah Cade works as an editor for a non-fiction publishing house. However, her real dream is to have her own romance novel published--and she has a secret manuscript that she has written and is ready to submit.  Savannah's publishing house has a new employee, William Pennington, the son of the house's CEO. He seems stiff, and in their first big meeting where he was introduced, Savannah drops her manuscript pages all over the room when she trips.    Meet Me in the Margins plot follows a series of mishaps. In the beginning, Savannah's manuscript doesn't pass muster with the editor she hoped to impress. The editor then gives her 6 weeks to make it better and re-submit it. Savannah is discouraged until she realizes she has a secret editor who finds her manuscript and pens notes in the margi...

    The Quiet Resistance by Andrea G. Burke seems to me to be a book full of essays written to encourage readers to live a slower life. I am all for living a slower life so I thought The Quiet Resistance sounded appealing. Some of the essays I could relate to and others I struggled to relate to.  The Quiet Resistance covers stories of family history, the night skies, raising children, traveling outside the house to reach out to those close to us and staying home to tend to those near us. It is a big variety of stories. As I said, some of Burke's stories resonated with me and some didn't. The first chapter included a story about something happening in nature that showed nature isn't all pretty--I didn't enjoy that story much. I did especially enjoy the chapter on slow food meals. All in all, it was interesting but it was a different book than I was expecting. I was expecting a book that would encourage me to live a slower more meaningful life. This felt like more auto...

  Do you want to get out of your head and create more? Don't Call it Art by Austin Kleon will inspire you to "create like a kid again."  Don't Call it Art is full of inspiration to be creative in your own way--and to get out of your own way in the process. I enjoyed this book in reading the author's encouraging words to be more creative. I also liked his fun illustrations--and his fun stories he shared in the book. I flew through this book in a day because I just enjoyed his writing. It was just the inspiration I needed as I move forward into creating an art space in my office and to just plain have fun creating no matter where I am or what sort of art I am doing.  Austin Kleon is a new author for me. I was excited to learn that he has several books out so I have a whole list of backlist books that I can now read since I enjoyed this one so much! I highly recommend Don't Call it Art to any other creatives out there who need a boost of encouragement to just...