Prophet

What I'm reading...probably all through the night.  I've had a bout of insomnia lately with school approaching and have decided that if I'm going to be awake, I cannot sit like a zombie in front of the television.  So I will read something that will keep me awake!  LOL
Prophet by Frank E. Peretti should do it.  I've had this book for a while and it's sheer intimidating length have kept it in my stack.  I enjoy so much a Peretti novel, but have very little time for personal reading anymore.  Making time now!  

What's a Peretti novel?  Well, first of all...it will be scary.  So spooky I'll have the "oh Lord please protect me from all the invisible demons that are probably waiting to attack me right now" prayer on my lips constantly while reading and for days thereafter.  Peretti writes of supernatural battles that occur around us between angels and demons.  His fiction is Biblically impeccable in my humble and ignorant opinion.  His work is not cheesy or meant to scare, but it's intent is to get the reader to think...really think about the decisions you make every day.  Where are those thoughts coming from?  Are you doing God's will?  How powerful is prayer?  Oh yeah...it's good stuff.  If you'd like to try one, I would suggest starting with This Present Darkness.  Without spoiling it for you, just know that I stopped doing my morning yoga for a while after reading it...and began to pray before meditating.  Uh yeah.  Scary stuff.  

I don't read a lot of this genre.  I don't generally like scary/horror/spooky/ghost stuff.  My mother would call this a "devil book".  haha  However, I do plan to enjoy this one.  And what's great about Peretti books is that they're Christian fiction and perfectly fine for teenagers who don't scare easily and have a firm grasp on their salvation.  (Seriously would talk to my high schooler before letting him read this...just to make sure he understands how powerful this content can be in the wrong hands.)

If you or your high school reader want to read books that lead to lots of spiritual discussions, then here's a new author for you.  You can check out his other titles at this website.


Happy Reading.  I'll be keeping the lights on while I read!
RC

 

Death Comes to Pemberly

This title has been in my stack since 2011.  Finally took the time to read it!  If you love Jane Austen, you'll enjoy this author's "sequel" to Pride and Prejudice although this story stands well on it's own.  I appreciated that James revisited P&P several times to refresh my memory as to certain conversations, events... and I LOVED that she included some of Austen's Emma as well.  

This author is well known for her mystery and crime novels.  Rightly so!  This is the first I'd read of hers and was pleasantly entertained throughout.  Never did figure out "who dunnit" or why!  Now, I have to warn you that it's very Austen-like.  Very high brow.  Very slow reading.  She does Darcy and Elizabeth justice with the continuation of their story and I believe Austen would be thrilled to know James' theory of what happened with Wickham and Lydia next...because readers of P&P knew they were gonna be nothing but trouble in the days to come.  Love this author's ability to bring back a classic in a refreshing way and with no zombies.  :)  Thank you. Thank you.  Thank you.  (I refuse to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies btw.  Just cannot do it!) 

And did I mention the author is 91 years young?  Oh yeah.  She's fierce.  

Here's a copy of an excerpt I located online through The Huffington Post.  Just in case you wanted a glimpse of the prose...

 
From the prologue:  "A family of five unmarried daughters is sure of attracting the sympathetic concern of all their neighbours, particularly where other diversions are few, and the situation of the Bennets was especially unfortunate. In the absence of a male heir, Mr. Bennet’s estate was entailed on his nephew, the Reverend William Collins, who, as Mrs. Bennet was fond of loudly lamenting, could turn her and her daughters out of the house before her husband was cold in his grave. Admittedly, Mr. Collins had attempted to make such redress as lay in his power. At some inconvenience to himself, but with the approval of his formidable patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh, he had left his parish at Hunsford in Kent to visit the Bennets with the charitable intention of selecting a bride from the five daughters. This intention was received by Mrs. Bennet with enthusiastic approval but she warned him that Miss Bennet, the eldest, was likely to be shortly engaged. His choice of Elizabeth, the second in seniority and beauty, had met with a resolute rejection and he had been obliged to seek a more sympathetic response to his pleading from Elizabeth’s friend Miss Charlotte Lucas. Miss Lucas had accepted his proposal with gratifying alacrity and the future which Mrs. Bennet and her daughters could expect was settled, not altogether to the general regret of their neighbours. On Mr. Bennet’s death, Mr. Collins would install them in one of the larger cottages on the estate where they would receive spiritual comfort from his administrations and bodily sustenance from the leftovers from Mrs. Collins’s kitchen augmented by the occasional gift of game or a side of bacon."

This one is a keeper for me.  
Happy Reading!
RC 

The Lightkeeper's Daughter

Great Christian historical fiction murder mystery romance.  Spans many genres!  Mercy Falls Novels by Colleen Coble.  I enjoyed the first book in this series very much.  Will be ordering books 2 and 3 soon.  Highly recommend this author to tweens, young adults and ladies who love historical romance. Here's what Library Journal has to say about this first installment...

"Orphaned after her parents die in a shipwreck, two-year-old Addie Sullivan is raised by lighthouse keepers near Crescent City, CA. She grows up wondering about her past and the family she doesn't remember. Then an injured stranger shows up at the lighthouse and recognizes Addie's locket. Determined to uncover her past, she finds not only employment as a governess at the lavish Eaton estate in 1907 Mercy Falls but also danger and romance. VERDICT This historical is one of Coble's ("Rock Harbor" series, "Aloha Reef" series) better novels, full of intrigue. Those looking for a wholesome story with some suspense will enjoy the book's gothic feel" - Library Journal.

Fast read with lots of mystery...loved it!

Happy Reading!
RC 

The Thing About Luck

National Book Award Winner.  Author Susan Patron said it would give me insight into the typical 12-year old brain.  A reviewer said we should steal this from the nearest pre-teen.  I agree.  In addition, I would advise any girl who has ever been on a farm, worked on a farm or was raised on a farm to read this wonderful story about Summer and her family.  

During the wheat harvest season, Summer and her family are hired out to drive semi's, combines and tractors.  This year, her parents are pulled away to Japan to help take care of elderly family members and Summer and Jaz (her younger brother) are left with their grandparents to carry on the work.  Not only was I mesmerized by the simple, straight-forward text, I was impressed at the farming knowledge and Japanese culture imbedded in the text.  

I started this book at exactly 6:15 this morning.  Finished it in 2 hours.  Will definitely recommend this book to my students.  Such a sweet story!

Happy Reading!
RC

American Gods

Wow.  What can I possibly say about a Neil Gaiman book other than...wow?  Immediately drawn in by the tree on the cover, I gladly entered the 500 + page journey of this author's preferred text version of American Gods.  Having read Gaiman before, I knew what to expect...a wild imaginative plot with characters so real you swear they're based upon people you really know.  Afterwards, I always have the surreal experience of wondering if I dreamed the story, read it or actually lived it!  It's quite an adventure a reader takes upon themselves to read a Gaiman novel.  My students love Coraline and The Graveyard Book.  I'm pleased to say I'm a fan of his adult work as well.  

In this novel, we meet Shadow, a prisoner soon to be released from prison.  His story is mysterious and hidden.  Gaiman always does a great job of peeling a character like an onion.  There's always lots of juicy layers!  Once Shadow is released from prison, he is taken on a whirlwind road trip across the United States, visiting many roadside attractions.  I recognized several.  The people he encounters are really ancient gods once worshipped by cultures but are no longer powerful because people have stopped believing.  They've moved on to "worshipping" technology, the media, transportation, music, etc...  The gods fight for survival and it was so much fun to read and try to figure out which character represented which ancient god/goddess.  

I couldn't put it down!  Loved it so much!

Happy Reading!
RC

A Wizard of Earthsea

In one of my favorite movies, The Jane Austen Book Club, one of the characters suggests another read author Ursula K. LeGuin's books.  I have never, so now I shall.  I'm previewing the Earthsea Cycle for the middle school library and am finding many interesting similarities to Tolkien's work.  Also, since this series was first copyrighted in 1968, I'm guessing J.K. Rowling also read this as a young girl because the Harry Potter plot sounds remarkably similar... a young wizard with unbelievable power is nurtured by an older wizard and sent to a school for wizards to learn the magical trade.  He encounters many foe along the way and battles one particularly evil creature in book 1.  Reminds me so much of the summer I read the HP series.  I can see why so many people love the Earthsea Cycle...the plot is quick, the prose perfect.  

Although, I have to admit that I had a bit of trouble getting into it up until page 108.  That was when it "clicked" for me.  That's when the plot became really interesting and I felt like all the necessary foundation had been laid and the author was ready to take me on an adventure with Ged, the main character.

I have just a few more chapters before I'm finished and I'm still undecided as to whether or not I'll read the other 5 books.  Just in case I don't, I've included a picture for reference.  (This is not my photograph and I only ordered books 1-6.  Not sure quite yet what that 7th is about.  I did,

however, order the DVD for the library.)

Happy Reading!
RC

To Heaven and Back

A couple of years ago, I came across this book while searching for something unique for my mother to read.  She enjoys biography and true accounts of angels, near-death experiences, etc...  So when I saw this title, I knew it was right up her alley.  She read it and immediately brought it back to me to read.  She was so excited to share it.  For whatever reason, I couldn't get to it at that moment and it found it's way to my bedside book stack.  And eventually, it sank to the bottom of the stack and was just this month picked back up.  I sure did miss a blessing not reading it two years ago.

About this true story:  Dr. Mary C. Neal writes about her death experience while kayaking.  Without giving too much of the story away, please know that I believe every word she says about her son, what happened to her when she died and the messages God sent to her afterward.  She struggled with sharing this story, because it was HER story...her experience with the Lord and that is sacred.  However, He must have wanted her to share it because she reluctantly did and I'm so glad.  

If you want to take Dr. Neal's journey with her, be prepared to read for a while...you won't want to put it down.  You'll have to finish it in one sitting like I did.  It's that poignant.  It will definitely make you think about all the "coincidences" and "encounters" you've had so far in your own journey.  

To me, it's as good as Heaven is for Real in that she writes so purely and there's an innocence about her experience that you won't doubt.  So, if you're a fan of that book/movie, you'll want to pick up your own copy.

Happy Reading!
RC