Reading, Writing & Pondering

  One of my favorite Lynn Austin novels is All My Secrets . If it is one of yours too, then you will be glad to know the story of Adelaide and Howard continues in this Christmas novella, Waiting for Christmas . If you haven't read All My Secrets , I think you would still enjoy Waiting for Christmas . Waiting for Christmas features a young orphan boy named Jack who comes into Howard and Adelaide's life suddenly. Adelaide has a heart for the orphans in the city. When they get to know Jack, they learn that he has been separated from his younger sister. He also has a father who is at sea and doesn't know that Jack's mother passed away and the children have no place to go. Adelaide and Howard are trying to help Jack. I enjoyed this uplifting story set during the Christmas season and featuring the season of Advent with an emphasis on hope. I like how Howard and Adelaide learn to work out some of the kinks in their early marriage as they get to know each other. I also liked t

  The Blooming of Delphinium by Holly Varni is my first book about Moonberry, MN. I enjoyed it as a stand-alone, but I definitely want to go back and read the first book, On Moonberry Lake .  Delphinium owns a flower shop and  the apartment above the shop where her Grandma used to live before she passed away. Delphi, as her friends call her, has a fondness for the elderly. Her elderly friend Henry, brings all of his friends over to hand out in her cooler in the back room, when the Moonberry Gardens Assisted Living air conditioning goes out. Soon, she finds her shop is host to a whole bunch of elderly folks who she feeds and helps in other ways. Delphinium then must face the director of the senior care facility, Elliot Sturgis, who is trying to figure out how to handle the meandering folks.  Delphinium also has a unique talent where she can tell someone's most admirable characteristic by getting a whiff of them. Elliot carries the scent of love and loyalty, which smells like violet