Bookfoolery and Babble

A Novel Idea by Various Best-Selling Authors (sneak peek & mini review at end)

2009-11-25T06:00:00.001-06:00

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card authors are:

Various Best-Selling Authors
(contributions from best-selling authors including Jerry B. Jenkins, Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury, Randy Alcorn, Terri Blackstock, Robin Jones Gunn, Angela Hunt and more)

and the book:

A Novel Idea

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (November 1, 2009)

***Special thanks to Vicky Lynch of Tyndale House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Best-selling Christian fiction writers have teamed together to contribute articles on the craft of writing. A Novel Idea contains tips on brainstorming ideas and crafting and marketing a novel. It explains what makes a Christian novel “Christian” and offers tips on how to approach tough topics. Contributors include Jerry B. Jenkins, Karen Kingsbury, Francine Rivers, Angela Hunt, and many other beloved authors. All proceeds will benefit MAI, an organization that teaches writing internationally to help provide literature that is culturally relevant.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (November 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414329946
ISBN-13: 978-1414329949

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Chapter 1: Plot

The Plot Skeleton

Angela Hunt

Imagine, if you will, that you and I are sitting in a room with one hundred other authors. If you were to ask each person present to describe their plotting process, you’d probably get a hundred different answers. Writers’ methods vary according to their personalities, and we are all different. Mentally. Emotionally. Physically.

If, however, those one hundred novelists were to pass behind an X-ray machine, you’d discover that we all possess remarkably similar skeletons. Beneath our disguising skin, hair, and clothing, our skeletons are pretty much identical.

In the same way, though writers vary in their methods, good stories are composed of remarkably comparable skeletons. Stories with “good bones” can be found in picture books and novels, plays and films.

Many fine writers tend to carefully outline their plots before they begin the first chapter. On the other hand, some novelists describe themselves as “seat-of-the-pants” writers. But when the story is finished, a seat-of-the-pants novel will (or should!) contain the same elements as a carefully plotted book. Why? Because whether you plan it from the beginning or find it at the end, novels need structure beneath the story.

After mulling several plot designs and boiling them down to their basic elements, I developed what I call the “plot skeleton.” It combines the spontaneity of seat-of-the-pants writing with the discipline of an outline. It requires a writer to know where he’s going, but it leaves room for lots of discovery on the journey.

When I sit down to plan a new book, the first thing I do is sketch my smiling little skeleton.

To illustrate the plot skeleton in this article, I’m going to refer frequently to The Wizard of Oz and a lovely foreign film you may never have seen, Mostly Martha.

The Skull: A Central Character
The skull represents the main character, the protagonist. A lot of beginning novelists have a hard time deciding who the main character is, so settle that question right away. Even in an ensemble cast, one character should be featured more than the others. Your readers want to place themselves into your story world, and it’s helpful if you can give them a sympathetic character to whom they can relate. Ask yourself, “Whose story is this?” That is your protagonist.

This main character should have two needs or problems—one obvious, one hidden—which I represent by two yawning eye sockets.

Here’s a tip: Hidden needs, which usually involve basic human emotions, are often solved or met by the end of the story. They are at the center of the protagonist’s “inner journey,” or character change, while the “outer journey” is concerned with the main events of the plot. Hidden needs often arise from wounds in a character’s past.

Consider The Wizard of Oz. At the beginning of the film, Dorothy needs to save her dog from Miss Gulch, who has arrived to take Toto because he bit her scrawny leg—a very straightforward and obvious problem. Dorothy’s hidden need is depicted but not directly emphasized when she stands by the pigpen and sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Do children live with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em if all is fine with Mom and Dad? No. Though we are not told what happened to Dorothy’s parents, it’s clear that something has splintered her family and Dorothy’s unhappy. Her hidden need, the object of her inner journey, is to find a place to call home.

Mostly Martha opens with the title character lying on her therapist’s couch and talking about all that is required to cook the perfect pigeon. Since she’s in a therapist’s office, we assume she has a problem, and the therapist addresses this directly: “Martha, why are you here?”

“Because,” she answers, “my boss will fire me if I don’t go to therapy.” Ah—obvious problem at work with the boss. Immediately we also know that Martha is high-strung. She is precise and politely controlling in her kitchen. This woman lives for food, but though she assures us in a voice-over that all a cook needs for a perfectly lovely dinner is “fish and sauce,” we see her venture downstairs to ask her new neighbor if he’d like to join her for dinner. He can’t, but we become aware that Martha needs company. She needs love in her life.

Connect the Skull to the Body: Inciting Action
Usually the first few chapters of a novel are involved with the business of establishing the protagonist in a specific time and place, his world, his needs, and his personality. The story doesn’t kick into gear, though, until you move from the skull to the spine, a connection known as the inciting incident.

Writers are often told to begin the story in medias res, or in the middle of the action. This is not the same as the Big Incident. Save the big event for a few chapters in, after you’ve given us some time to know and understand your character’s needs. Begin your story with an obvious problem—some action that shows how your character copes. In the first fifth of the story we learn that Dorothy loves Toto passionately and that Martha is a perfectionist chef. Yes, start in the middle of something active, but hold off on the big event for a while. Let us get to know your character first . . . because we won’t gasp about their dilemma until we know them.

In a picture book, the inciting incident is often signaled by two words: One day . . . Those two words are a natural way to move from setting the stage to the action. As you plot your novel, ask yourself, “One day, what happens to move my main character into the action of the story?” Your answer will be your inciting incident, the key that turns your story engine.

After Dorothy ran away, if she’d made it home to Uncle Henry and Aunt Em without incident, there would have been no story. The inciting incident? When the tornado picks Dorothy up and drops her, with her house, in the land of Oz.

The inciting incident in Mostly Martha is signaled by a ringing telephone. When Martha takes the call, she learns that her sister, who was a single mother to an eight-year-old girl, has been killed in an auto accident.

Think of your favorite stories—how many feature a hero who’s reluctant to enter the special world? Often—but not always—your protagonist doesn’t want to go where the inciting incident is pushing him or her. Obviously, Martha doesn’t want to hear that her sister is dead, and she certainly doesn’t want to be a mother. She takes Lina, her niece, and offers to cook for her (her way of showing love), but Lina wants her mother, not gourmet food.

Even if your protagonist has actively pursued a change, he or she may have moments of doubt as the entrance to the special world looms ahead. When your character retreats or doubts or refuses to leave the ordinary world, another character should step in to provide encouragement, advice, information, or a special tool. This will help your main character overcome those last-minute doubts and establish the next part of the skeleton: the goal.

The End of the Spine: The Goal
At some point after the inciting incident, your character will establish and state a goal. Shortly after stepping out of her transplanted house, Dorothy looks around Oz and wails, “I want to go back to Kansas!” She’s been transported over the rainbow, but she prefers the tried and true to the unfamiliar and strange. In order to go home, she’ll have to visit the wizard in the Emerald City. As she tries to meet an ever-shifting set of subordinate goals (follow the yellow brick road; overcome the poppies; get in to see the wizard; bring back a broomstick), her main goal keeps viewers glued to the screen.

This overriding concern—will she or won’t she make it home?—is known as the dramatic question. The dramatic question in every murder mystery is, Who committed the crime? The dramatic question in nearly every thriller is, Who will win the inevitable showdown between the hero and the villain? Along the way readers will worry about the subgoals (Will the villain kill his hostage? Will the hero figure out the clues?), but the dramatic question keeps them reading until the last page.

Tip: To keep the reader involved, the dramatic question should be directly related to the character’s ultimate goal. Martha finds herself trying to care for a grieving eight-year-old who doesn’t want another mother. So Martha promises to track down the girl’s father, who lives in Italy. She knows only that his name is Giuseppe, but she’s determined to find him.

The Rib Cage: Complications
Even my youngest students understand that a protagonist who accomplishes everything he or she attempts is a colorless character. As another friend of mine is fond of pointing out, as we tackle the mountain of life, it’s the bumps we climb on! If you’re diagramming, sketch at least three curving ribs over your spine. These represent the complications that must arise to prevent your protagonist from reaching his goal.

Why at least three ribs? Because even in the shortest of stories—in a picture book, for instance—three complications work better than two or four. I don’t know why three gives us such a feeling of completion, but it does. Maybe it’s because God is a Trinity and we’re hardwired to appreciate that number.

While a short story will have only three complications, a movie or novel may have hundreds. Complications can range from the mundane—John can’t find a pencil to write down Sarah’s number—to life-shattering. As you write down possible complications that could stand between your character and his ultimate goal, place the more serious problems at the bottom of the list.

The stakes—what your protagonist is risking—should increase in significance as the story progresses. In Mostly Martha, the complications center on this uptight woman’s ability to care for a child. Lina hates her babysitter, so Martha has to take Lina to work with her. But the late hours take their toll, and Lina is often late for school. Furthermore, Lina keeps refusing to eat anything Martha cooks for her.

I asked you to make the ribs curve because any character that runs into complication after complication without any breathing space is going to be a weary character . . . and you’ll weary your reader with this frenetic pace. One of the keys to good pacing is to alternate your plot complications with rewards. Like a pendulum that swings on an arc, let your character relax, if only briefly, between disasters.

Along the spiraling yellow brick road, Dorothy soon reaches an intersection (a complication). Fortunately, a friendly scarecrow is willing to help (a reward). They haven’t gone far before Dorothy becomes hungry (a complication). The scarecrow spots an apple orchard ahead (a reward). These apple trees, however, resent being picked (a complication), but the clever scarecrow taunts them until they begin to throw fruit at the hungry travelers (a reward).

See how it works? Every problem is followed by a reward that matches the seriousness of the complication. Let’s fast-forward to the scene where the balloon takes off without Dorothy. This is a severe complication—so severe it deserves a title of its own: the bleakest moment. This is the final rib in the rib cage, the moment when all hope is lost for your protagonist.

The Thighbone: Send in the Cavalry
At the bleakest moment, your character needs help, but be careful how you deliver it. The ancient Greek playwrights had actors representing the Greek gods literally descend from the structure above to bring their complicated plot knots to a satisfying conclusion. This sort of resolution is frowned upon in modern literature. Called deus ex machina (literally “god from the machine”), this device employs some unexpected and improbable incident to bring victory or success. If you find yourself whipping up a coincidence or a miracle after the bleakest moment, chances are you’ve employed deus ex machina. Back up and try again, please.

Avoid using deus ex machina by sending two types of help: external and internal. Your character obviously needs help from outside; if he could solve the problem alone, he would have done it long before the bleakest moment. Having him conveniently remember something or stumble across a hidden resource smacks of coincidence and will leave your reader feeling resentful and cheated.

So send in the cavalry, but remember that they can’t solve the protagonist’s problem. They can give the protagonist a push in the right direction; they can nudge; they can remind; they can inspire. But they shouldn’t wave a magic wand and make everything all right.

For Dorothy, help comes in the form of Glenda the Good Witch, who reveals a secret: The ruby slippers have the power to carry her back to Kansas. All Dorothy has to do is say, “There’s no place like home”—with feeling, mind you—and she’ll be back on the farm with Uncle Henry and Auntie Em. Dorothy’s problem isn’t resolved, however, until she applies this information internally. At the beginning of the story, she wanted to be anywhere but on the farm. Now she has to affirm that the farm is where she wants to be. Her hidden need—to find a place to call home—has been met.

In Mostly Martha, the bleakest moment arrives with Lina’s father, Giuseppe. He is a good man, and Lina seems to accept him. But after waving good-bye, Martha goes home to an empty apartment and realizes that she is not happy with her controlled, childless life. She goes to Marlo, the Italian chef she has also begun to love, and asks for his help.

The Kneecap and Lower Leg: Make a Decision, Learn a Lesson
Martha realizes that her old life was empty—she needs Lina in her life, and she needs Marlo. So she and Marlo drive from Germany to Italy to fetch Lina and bring her home.

You may be hard-pressed to cite the lesson you learned from the last novel you read, but your protagonist needs to learn something. This lesson is the epiphany, a sudden insight that speaks volumes to your character and brings them to the conclusion of their inner journey.

James Joyce popularized the word epiphany, literally the manifestation of a divine being. (Churches celebrate the festival of Epiphany on January 6 to commemorate the meeting of the Magi and the Christ child.) After receiving help from an outside source, your character should see something—a person, a situation, or an object—in a new light.

When the scarecrow asks why Glinda waited to explain the ruby slippers, the good witch smiles and says, “Because she wouldn’t have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.” The scarecrow then asks, “What’d you learn, Dorothy?” Without hesitation, Dorothy announces that she’s learned a lesson: “The next time I go looking for my heart’s desire, I won’t look any farther than my own backyard.” She has learned to appreciate her home, so even though she is surrounded by loving friends and an emerald city, Dorothy chooses to return to colorless Kansas. She hugs her friends once more, then grips Toto and clicks her heels.

The Foot: The Resolution
Every story needs the fairy-tale equivalent of “and they lived happily ever after.” Not every story ends happily, of course, though happy endings are undoubtedly popular. Some protagonists are sadder and wiser after the course of their adventure. But a novel should at least leave the reader with hope.

The resolution to Mostly Martha is portrayed during the closing of the film. As the credits roll, we see Marlo and Martha meeting Lina in Italy; we see Martha in a wedding gown (with her hair down!) and Marlo in a tuxedo; we see a wedding feast with Giuseppe, his family, and Martha’s German friends; we see Martha and Marlo and Lina exploring an abandoned restaurant—clearly, they are going to settle in Italy so Lina can be a part of both families. In the delightful final scene, we see Martha with her therapist again, but this time he has cooked for her and she is advising him.

Many movies end with a simple visual image—we see a couple walking away hand in hand, a mother cradling her long-lost son. That’s all we need to realize that our main character has struggled, learned, and come away a better (or wiser) person. As a writer, you’ll have to use words, but you can paint the same sort of reassuring picture without resorting to “and they lived happily ever after.”

Your story should end with a changed protagonist—he or she has gone through a profound experience and is different for it, hopefully for the better. Your protagonist has completed an outer journey (experienced the major plot events) and an inner journey that address some hurt from the past and result in a changed character.

What Next?
Now that we’ve reached the foot of our story skeleton, we’re finished outlining the basic structure. Take those major points and write them up in paragraph form. Once you’ve outlined your plot and written your synopsis, you’re ready to begin writing scenes. Take a deep breath, glance over your skeleton, and jump in.

Taken from A Novel Idea by ChiLibras. Copyright ©2009 by ChiLibras. Used with permission from Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

I love what I've read of this book, although I've yet to finish. Because I'm pressed for time, with family home for the holiday, I'm not going to push myself to read and write a full review right away. I will tell you, though, that it already helped me through some problems I was having with my National Novel Writing Month work. I need to stop and rethink my plot. Hopefully, there will be something else in this book that will help me pinpoint how to go about fixing my problem. I have a plot problem, but I love my characters and settings. This is a book that I highly, enthusiastically recommend for budding writers and would make an excellent Christmas idea.

The Foundling by Georgette Heyer

2009-11-22T13:09:00.003-06:00

The Foundling by Georgette Heyer
Copyright 2009 - Originally published in 1948
Sourcebooks - Fiction/Historical
439 pages

Almost every time I read a book by Georgette Heyer, I find myself saying, "Ooooh, this is my new favorite!" and it's happened, again.

The Foundling tells the story of the cosseted Duke of Sale, who is tired of having loads of people attend to his needs and decides to sneak off to help his cousin out of a fix, in part so he can see what it's like to be "Mr. Dash, of Nowhere in Particular". First, though, he asks his childhood friend Harriet for her hand in marriage because it's expected of him. He doesn't think it will be the most exciting marriage, but he likes her and has been told marriage isn't supposed to be thrilling . . . and that he can always find himself a mistress.

The Duke calls himself "Mr. Rufford" (one of his titles is Baron Ware of Rufford) when he goes off to extract cousin Matthew from a breach of promise claim and then ends up with Matthew's former crush -- a stunningly beautiful airhead named Belinda (a "foundling", or orphan) -- and a teenage boy, who plans to sneak off to London for similar reasons to the Duke's, tagging along. The Duke gets into all sorts of tangles and has to eventually ask Harriet to help him deal with Belinda. In the process, the Duke realizes his own inner strength and resources are not lacking and discovers there's more to Harriet than meets the eye.

5/5 - A wonderful book. It's funny, adventurous and, toward the end, romantic in a tender and touching way that falls short of being gushy.

My thanks to Danielle at Sourcebooks for the review copy.

Baked Pork Chop recipe from How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food by Alain Braux

2009-11-21T19:05:00.014-06:00

Here it is, finally! The recipe you've all been waiting for!! Pork chop image found here.

Baked Pork Chops with Apples and Cinnamon

from How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food by Chef Alain Braux

In France, cooking pork with apples is a wonderful way to add sweetness to an otherwise bland meat. It is a tasty and warming Autumn dish.

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 20 min.

Cooking time: 30 min.

Ingredients:

4 medium pork chops

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 c. dry white wine

Sea salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 celery leaves

4 bay leaves

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced

2 celery stalks, chopped fine

1 Tbsp butter, cut in small pieces

1 Tbsp brown sugar

4 oz. grated Swiss cheese

Procedure:

- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

- Butter an ovenproof enameled cast iron or glass pan.

- Place your pork chops in the pan, leaving a little space in between; pour wine over pork chops. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Top each chop with a celery leaf and a bay leaf.

- In a separate bowl, toss together the diced apples, the chopped celery, butter and brown sugar. Add this mix to the pan with the pork chops, placing some of the mix between the pork chops.

- Bake together for about 30 minutes (depending on the size of your chops). Check for doneness.

- Take the pan out of the oven. Set your oven on broiler. Take out the celery and bay leaves. Sprinkle the Swiss cheese over your pork chops. Put back in the oven and broil until the cheese is melted and turns golden brown.

Voila - c'est magnifique! (<------I wrote that part). Enjoy!

How to Lower Your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food by Chef Alain Braux

2009-11-20T22:32:00.009-06:00

How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food: A Practical Guide by Chef Alain Braux
Copyright 2009
Alain Braux International Publishing, LLC
266 pages
Link to Amazon that doesn't benefit me but which you need because this is a 5-star book

First the review, then the recipe! I'm going to post the pork chop recipe I've mentioned in previous posts separately because this post would be humongous if I threw a sample recipe and review together.

How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food has a title that screams "contrast", since French food has been known to be high-fat, although the cover shows very healthy foods. The French diet, says Chef Braux, was a healthy Mediterranean diet, heavy in fresh regional foods, until some time after WWII. Then, things changed and rich recipes became common fare. Eventually, the French returned to their old style of cooking. Chef Braux draws on the old, healthy style of French cooking and his study of nutrition to create recipes.

How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food is not just a cookbook, though. The first 166 pages are text. The author begins his book by talking about his own experience with high cholesterol and how he changed his diet in order to avoid the use of prescription medicine to lower his cholesterol.

Chef Braux is a classically trained French chef who worked in a variety of high-end restaurants for over 30 years. When he moved to Austin, Texas and started his own business, he was asked why he didn't serve vegetarian dishes. He realized he knew how to cook fabulous foods, but he didn't know a great deal about nutrition and that led to study at The Natural Epicurean Academy, followed by work to acquire a B. S. in Holistic Nutrition at the Clayton College of Holistic Health.

All that is just background, of course, to let you know that the author knows what he's talking about. In the text of the book, the author talks about such a broad variety of topics I can't list them all but the topics include foods to buy and avoid, info about fiber, grain, nuts, sugary drinks, fruits, and other foods, shopping tips, cooking tips, anecdotes from the author's life in France, and a lot more. He lists pantry, refrigerator and freezer staples and gives readers a sample week-long menu to get started if you want to dive right in and cook nothing but healthy food from his book, right away.

The best thing about the text of How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food is that it's all written in a tremendously accessible, chatty style. I've always found books on lowering cholesterol bored me to tears (although I love reading about nutrition) but this particular book is an absolute joy to read.

Some of his advice may horrify you a bit, as it did me. What? We're not supposed to reuse cooking oil, at all, ever? I spoke to my husband about that, after reading the author's advice on the best types of oil and how to cook with them. My husband said, "So, I can't reuse the oil from the last time I fried a turkey?" Of course, I told him he can't fry a turkey ever again, which pleases me greatly. Sorry, Huzzybuns. We'll have to leave the dangerous outdoor toys to someone else.

On to the recipes. I cannot even begin to tell you how much my family has been loving the recipes in this book. They're delicious but healthy, filling but light. We're actually finding that we're planning our meals ahead for the first time in a long time, simply because we're so eager to keep trying new recipes from the book and repeating the cooking of those we've already tried.

The only downfalls to this book are the lack of photos with the recipes (which, in this case, I can honestly say does not bother me, for once) and the fact that sometimes the author tells you to use a specific type of cookware that you may not own. Of course, you can look at his suggestions as "gift ideas" to hand to your relatives for the holidays. My husband detected one minor mistake in the pork chop recipe I'm about to post but it wasn't a problem and it's the only error he's found.

5+++++/5 - I added the plusses because I don't feel I can do this book justice. It's the best nutrition/cookbook I've ever found. Readable, useable nutrition, shopping and cooking advice paired with amazing recipes. How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food is not a book to be missed.

Updates on . . . things

2009-11-19T18:06:00.011-06:00

I know I owe you guys a pork chop recipe and I swear I'm going to get to it, but between a head cold, a long night without sleep, helping Kiddo with a project I'd very much like to label "stupid and kindergartenish" (the assignment, not the end product) and National Novel Writing Month (see stunningly accurate visual of my storyline, at right, from Lambert/Hulton Archive Getty Images), Bookfool is a train wreck. I just don't feel like propping up a book to copy a recipe, today. I am too weak and weary.

So, you get an update, which is honestly just as much as I can handle.

Bookwise: I finished Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman, last night. It was a really quick, very touching read (so quick, in fact, that I didn't manage to add it to my sidebar) but it left me with a few questions. I don't know if they can be answered; I just wonder if the subject of the book -- a young man who had a debilitating combination of Tourette's Syndrome with OCD and anxiety -- got better because of what he did to get control of his life or if it was at least in part because he grew out of his syndrome a bit. Does anyone have thoughts on that?

I won Against Medical Advice from Thoughtful Joy and it arrived pretty quickly, which leads me to a thought . . . Hatchette. Not to pick on them, but I have been on both ends of the giving and receiving love from Hatchette and sometimes the books won show up lightning fast; sometimes they just flat don't show up.

I don't want to nag drawing hosts (at least not more than once), so if they don't show up after a first mention, I let it go. I'm curious if anyone else has had a contest win never arrive. Never as in NEVER. Meaning months have passed, you've asked once, the nice blog drawing host said, "I'll remind them," and still nothing. Just curious. I've gotten a few complaints, myself, and that's one reason I've decided I'm about to stop hosting their drawings, at least for the time being.

There are other reasons, which are probably much better . . . one of which is the fact that I've preemptively declared 2010 a "Mostly No-ARC Year". I've already bungled that up by signing up to write a bunch of reviews in January, but I hope to gain strength as the year progresses. I've been working on writing a review policy to that end and, unfortunately, drawing a total blank. I'm reminded of the time we had a power outage and, just to be silly, I changed my answering-machine message to "Nyeh, go away," and then promptly forgot about it. A few hours later, someone I knew -- but not well enough to explain away that bit of madness -- called.

"Nyeh, go away," does not seem like the best of review policies. It's all I can come up with, right now, though. That's probably my head cold talking.

Nano-wise: Sometimes I love it; sometimes I hate it. My story, that is. I seem to alternate between good writing days and bad ones. Yesterday was good. Today, bad. My favorite really horrible excerpt:

In the Medical Restricted Zone, Kole awoke to find himself a little sore but feeling surprisingly well for a man who had been shot by some unknown kind of laser beam. He was also manacled to the bed. That sucked.

I just love to read that bit over and over, again. It makes me laugh. The awfulness of it tickles me so much that I'm leaving it in, for now. I'm not supposed to edit anyway, right? In case you're interested, my current word count is 27,467. I like meditating upon the fact that I have now passed the halfway point, if a bit late. I'm still behind but closing in on where I should be.

Other bookish things: Since I've decided to back away from reviewing advanced readers and read the ominous, glaring stacks of books before the infamous book rebellion in which the weak and seriously outnumbered are killed and eaten (say that aloud 5 times, fast), fewer books are arriving on my doorstep. I have, however, received two that I'm very anxious to read:

They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust by Tammeus and Cukierkorn, and

Custer Survivor: The End of a Myth, The Beginning of a Legend by John Koster

Also, I've just found out that my church is going to be doing a year-long study using the God Sightings Bible and its Companion Guide. I have this Bible and guide for review and I've been a little perplexed as to its purpose and what to say about it (although I'm enjoying reading it, whether I "get it" or not), so I'm hoping that joining the group will illuminate me a bit and enable me to babble about what I learn. Because that's what I'm good at. (<---Bad English, sorry.] Babbling, I mean. At left is an image of the God Sightings Companion Guide, which I feel compelled to share because I just love that picture. I am excessively fond of a sheep.

I'm still reading all those books in the sidebar, also. Nano has slowed down my reading significantly, but I'm about to give in to this nasty cold and go to bed early. A few nights of caving in early to read and maybe I'll be able to change out that boring old set of same old, same old. The French chef's cholesterol-lowering nutrition advice and recipe book is still a huge hit around here, by the way. Just don't kick me if it takes a few days to say something about it and type up that pork chop recipe. I need sleep. Lots of sleep. And, the old kind of Nyquil.

Nighty-night.

Bookfool, aka "Sickie-poo"

Mosaic Bible Winner

2009-11-18T21:20:00.003-06:00

I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten I had a drawing, today, right? Well, um, I did but fortunately I remembered just in time to draw a name before toddling off to bed and the winner is:

Bellezza

Cool, someone I know! I'll be in touch, Bellezza. Congratulations!

So You Want to be a Work-at-Home Mom by Hart & Ennen (sneak peek)

2009-11-18T08:38:00.003-06:00

Today's Wild Card authors are:

Jill Hart

and

Diana Ennen

and the book:

So You Want To Be A Work-At-Home Mom: A Christian's Guide To Starting a Home-Based Business

Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City (August 15, 2009)

***Special thanks to Jill Hart for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHORs:

Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. Jill is a co-author of the upcoming book So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom (Beacon Hill, Sept. 2009). Jill welcomes work-at-home questions at http://AskJill.cwahm.com/.

Visit the author's website.

Diana Ennen is the President of Virtual Word Publishing. Diana has worked from home for over 25 years and is passionate about PR, Publicity and Marketing & helping others Start their Own Virtual Assistant Business. Follow Diana on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dianaennen/.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $15.99
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City (August 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0834124661
ISBN-13: 978-0834124660

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Making the Choice to Stay Home

Today’s moms are passionate women who want both careers and families without having to give up precious time with their children. They’re searching for ways to have it all, and they’re finding that it’s possible to work from home and at the same time balance a family.

It may sound like a dream, but it’s not. It does start with a dream, though.

A few fortunate women fall into a job or business that allows them to work at home, but it isn’t that easy for most women. To find a way to stay at home while still contributing to their family financially is something that many women long for but few know how to achieve. We hope to make it easier for you.

Being Content at Home

You might have expected us to immediately launch into a chapter about how wonderful life can be if you work at home. However, with the authors having worked from home many years, we realized that you first need to be content in your home life to make it work. The focus of your mind is where true happiness lies. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

Before beginning your search for a career that will allow you to work from home, it’s important to remember that God has put you where you are for a reason. It may be for a season of your life, or it could possibly be long-term. Either way, trust that God will provide what’s best for you, and that may look a little different than what you think is best.

Being a mom and working outside the home can be incredibly challenging. Coordinating schedules, running kids to and fro, and being so tired by evening that you don’t have the energy to enjoy your kids take their toll. However, being a work-at-home mom every day, all day, presents its own unique challenges. It can become monotonous, even tedious. The kids, the house, the responsibilities—the list goes on and on. In either case, it can feel downright impossible to have an attitude of gratitude. The road can be hard, but in the end, your life will be less stressful and more satisfying if you can overcome discontentment. Following are some ideas for building contentment.

Be Grateful

One of the hardest attitudes to achieve is that of gratefulness. It’s easy to get caught up in the negatives that happen each day. However, it’s important to be grateful for each and every blessing that God gives.

Make a list of things in your life that you’re grateful for. You can start your list with your family and the opportunity to work from home, and continue from there. Take the time to thank God for each of the things on your list. As you begin to develop a grateful attitude, you’ll begin to notice more and more things each day you can add to your list.

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

Give Back

Changing your attitude is the first step to finding contentment. Reaching out and helping others is a proven way to change your attitude. When you extend help and graciousness to others, it can’t help but benefit you as well.

Find someone who needs a friend, and make a conscious effort to reach out to him or her every week or every month. Or find a ministry that you admire, and get involved. You’ll be surprised what investing something of yourself in others will do for your attitude. If you’re running a business from home, you may be able to bless others with a product they can’t afford or a special discount that will brighten their day. Maybe you can mentor someone. Be careful, though, that you don’t get so involved in helping others that you neglect your own business.

Choose to Accept Your Situation

A key component of contentment is acceptance. Acceptance doesn’t mean you don’t strive to better your life. It simply means that you make peace with where you are in life at this time.

There will always be more to attain—more money, more prestige. If you spend your life focused on what you don’t have or what you haven’t attained in life, you’ll be sad indeed. Celebrate each and every success, no matter how big or how small.

Examine your life and see all that is good in it. Each good thing is a gift from God. Accept that He is with you at this point in time. He’ll be with you in every success and every setback. Nothing you do will make Him love you more, and there’s nothing you can do that will make Him love you less.

We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Focus on Christ

This may sound like a cliché, but it’s easy to allow focus to move from the Lord to self. When moms work at home, the needs of family, business, and self can sometimes be all-consuming, leaving little time to meet spiritual needs. But focusing on your relationship with the Lord is what should come first. If your relationship with Christ is weak, all other relationships will be affected.

Here are practices that will help keep you focused on Him:

1. Read your Bible every day. Make the commitment to read at least one verse every day. The Book of Proverbs is a good place to start, or start with verses from the Gospel of John for a close look at the life of Christ. As you progress to reading more each day, consider purchasing a Bible that will guide you through reading the whole Bible in a year. There are also versions available that will lead you through the Bible in ninety days.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful (Joshua 1:8).

2. Cultivate an active prayer life. You can pray anytime and anywhere—when you’re driving, putting on your makeup, cooking, even as you drift off to sleep at night. Take advantage of these precious moments to spend them with your Heavenly Father.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

3. Meditate on the Word of God. When you find a verse or verses that have deep meaning for you, allow your mind to dwell on them, and let them soak into your spirit. A good starting point might be Romans 8:38-39—“I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Make note of the verses you’ve chosen, and jot down thoughts or ideas that they bring to mind. Keep your mind focused on Him, and be in prayer that He will open your eyes to what He would have you learn from the verses.

4. Wait. Contentment will not be attained overnight. Feelings of discontentment will push their way in. When they do, look through your life to bring to mind the ways God has changed you, the things He’s done to bring you closer to an attitude of contentment. Contentment comes in His timing, so allow Him the time to work in your life.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him

(Psalm 37:7).

If the temptation to wallow in discontentment continues to present itself, find someone who will hold you accountable—someone you can trust to be kind but firm who will speak the truth to you lovingly.

When you’re feeling dissatisfied or frustrated, give your accountability partner a call, and be honest about your feelings. Every mom gets frustrated; you’re certainly not alone. When you find someone you can talk with honestly, it will be an excellent help in overcoming negative thoughts and feelings. Accountability partners know each other on a very real and honest level and still accept and love each other. This allows both of you the opportunity to be supported as well as supportive.

Contentment may seem elusive, but with prayerful deliberation it can be achieved and will bring you more joy and peace than you can imagine. Start working toward an attitude of contentment today.

When your mind and heart are in a good place, it’s time to begin thinking about the choices that are available to you. Can you work from home? Should you work at home? And how in the world do you begin your search for success?

Setting Priorities in Business and at Home

Working from home, particularly if you’re running your own business, is a time-consuming endeavor—especially for moms. You’re responsible not only for the success of the business but for your family as well. You must be self-reliant, self-motivated, and self-disciplined in order to attain success in both areas.

When you work at home, it’s easy to let phone calls, e-mail, and paperwork keep you tied down and cause you to feel you don’t have time to take a break or choose to spend top-quality time with your family. Maybe you’ve noticed that you spend more time in front of your computer or on the phone than you expected to when you made the decision to work at home. Maybe you see your kids acting up and trying to get your attention. Maybe the work-at-home dream you envisioned isn’t happening.

You started out with noble intentions, but now the excitement of success in your business has caused you to lose sight of the primary reason you chose this path. It happens to many of us who work at home, so don’t worry. Help is on the way.

She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard (Proverbs 31:16).

Here are five tips for setting priorities in your life and business:

First, be honest. You probably didn’t start your work-at-home career to climb the corporate ladder. Spend some time in prayer, and ask the Lord to show you the things you need to change.

Take a few minutes to answer the following questions about how you’ve been handling the time commitment of owning a business.

• Are you spending too much time on the phone with clients?

• Do you think about business to the point that you’re distracted when you’re doing family activities?

• Is television getting more top-quality time with your children than you are?

• Do you snap at your children because of the stresses of your business?

Second, make a list. Sit down and write out a list of things you see that you would like to change. This can be a list of tasks you can do differently, such as limiting the time you spend on your business or ways you can reduce stress so you can deal kindly with your family.

Third, log your time. Buy a notebook or create a spreadsheet to log the time you spend on business. Make a column for each day across the top and a row of half-hour increments down the side. Time yourself every time you sit down at your desk by writing “in” in the box that corresponds to the time and day. Every time you leave your desk or complete a task, write “out” in the appropriate box.

At the end of the week, total up the hours you’ve spent each day on business tasks. Take special note of how much time you spend on e-mail and things that aren’t billable. Are you surprised, or is it about where you thought it would be? This can be a real eye-opener and show you in black and white if your priorities have gotten off track.

Fourth, take a break. If you’re in shock after examining your time log, it’s time to take a break. If you normally work during the weekend, make it a point to take this weekend off. Shut down your e-mail, turn off the ringer on your business phone, and shut the door to your office.

Plan ahead and schedule your time. Prioritize your workload, and have the work that will require the most effort and concentration scheduled for your peak time. Try not to get sidetracked; stay on task and focus on what you need to do. For example, you’ll be amazed by how much more you can accomplish by changing the way you handle e-mail. If you answer it only at scheduled times, you’ll find you have more time to do the tasks at hand.

Reevaluate the ways you’re spending your time. Try to plan when you can work on your business without losing time with your children. If your children are in school, make it a point to stop working when they get home. If your children are still small, try to plan your time accordingly. Perhaps a babysitter for several hours or days a week is necessary. Another possibility would be to have a grandparent or neighbor watch them once or twice a week to allow you time to work without interruptions.

Fifth, plan an activity. Now that you’re ready to make a change in your routine, why not plan an activity once a week? This can be an outing with your children or something simple, like setting aside time to make cookies together. You’ll notice that when you plan for these times, they actually happen.

If possible, find another work-at-home mom, and hold one another accountable to keep to your new schedules. Make a weekly play date for your children to spend time together. You and your friend can talk business if necessary, or you may decide to make it a “no business talk allowed” time.

Remember that the years you can work at home and have time with your children are a gift; your business is a gift also. How that will work for you and your family will take a little time to determine and will be different for each family. Take the time to find what works for you, and set your schedule accordingly. Reevaluate your priorities every few months to make sure that you’re making the best use of your time. The rewards will be well worth it. Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him (Psalm 127:3).

So You Want to be a Work-at-Home Mom, by Jill Hart and Diana Ennen © 2009 by Jill Hart, Diana Ennen, and Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO. Used by permission of Publisher. All rights reserved. Visit http://www.beaconhillbooks.com/to purchase this title.

Bookfool's comments: I neglected to put the review date for this book on my calendar, so I haven't even opened it, yet, but I thought this one looked like a good book for me and I hope to read it soon. In the meantime, I hope those of you who are interested enjoy the preview chapter!

The Church of Facebook by Jesse Rice

2009-11-17T05:46:00.009-06:00

The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected are Redefining Community by Jesse Rice

David C. Cook - Nonfiction/Psychology/Religion

231 pages, including references

I don't know if I can do justice to this book, which I loved so much I plan to reread it and share with my husband, but I'll do my darndest.

"The world is shrinking, one profile at a time," it says in bold lettering on the back of The Church of Facebook. Don't worry, though. Like $20 Per Gallon (so nice of me to provide a link to keep you from paging down a whopping 6 inches, isn't it?), The Church of Facebook isn't depressing. It's a little scary, however, the way Rice describes our shift in social lives, how our worlds have been, yes, shrinking down to little social communities on the Internet.

The Church of Facebook opens with the story of the opening of the Millenium Bridge in London, England -- by all accounts a disaster of engineering that, fortunately, did no harm to those who walked across it on opening day. The author talks about how the people walking across the wobbling bridge altered their steps into a synchronized rhythm and then describes how this story fits into the physics concept of spontaneous order, which oddly can be applied to psychology, as well.

I don't know that I can explain the concept, unfortunately, but the story of how we fall into sync with each other is one heck of a grabber opening. I had to restrain myself to keep from reading because I'm in a discussion group (the quietest discussion group on the planet - only two of us have said a thing) and wanted to hold back. Eventually, I figured nobody was talking, might as well read on.

The first chapter of The Church of Facebook describes our need for connection with other humans and the second describes why we have need to feel a sense of control over our own lives. Facebook and other social networking sites, he says, are not enough. The author describes the history of Facebook, how it and other such networks have changed the way we interact with each other, why we need connection with real-life people and a bit of debate about whether or not such social networks can be a substitute for in-person relationships. He doesn't downplay the usefulness of internet connections; he simply clarifies how they've caused us to become more isolated and indicates that social networking should supplement our interaction with other people, not supplant it.

The author concludes by doling out some advice on how to use Facebook in a positive way, "mindfully" rather than just in "look at me" sound bites.

The word "church" in the title gives you an idea that The Church of Facebook is a book that dips into religion. Yes, there's a bit of a religious aspect and it's Christian. But, Jesse Rice is both a psychologist and a minister and the book veers heavily toward psychology. In order to get his points across, Rice drags you around the world to show specific examples. He is apparently a natural raconteur. I was absolutely engrossed and, in particular, enamored with his sense of humor.

4.5/5 - While the church aspect lost me a bit, for a while, I thought this book was just fabulous - beautifully written, fascinating, revealing, thought-provoking, entertaining. Do yourself a favor -- don't skip this book because of the word "Christian". I'd hate for you to miss out.

In case you found yourself blinking repeatedly, wondering whether a massive number of book reviews (sans chatter) showed up on my blog overnight, you're right. I was going to skip right on over the reason, which I mentioned in the first of the five reviews. But, nah. I'll just tell you. I couldn't sleep because the neighbor's driveway spotlight shines directly through our blinds and into the master bedroom. Nine times out of ten, the neighbors remember to turn that darned light off, but on the rare occasions that they don't . . . no sleep. None. I gave up at around 2:15 and I've been hammering out quickie reviews, ever since. I cannot see straight, but at least I was productive, right?

Many thanks to Audra of B & B Media for the review copy of this book.

$20 Per Gallon by Christopher Steiner

2009-11-17T05:28:00.004-06:00

$20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change our Lives for the Better by Christopher Steiner
Copyright 2009
Grand Central Publishing - NF/Energy/Business
288 pages

I finished $20 Per Gallon last week or the week before (eeks) and have managed to misplace my copy, so I won't be able to share any quotes, doggone it. There were quite a few post-its in this one.

The subtitle gives you a good hint that $20 Per Gallon is not a doom and gloom book; it's about how the rising price of fossil fuels will eventually change our lives for the better, forcing us to do more walking or biking, to use cleaner and more sustainable energy sources, to lower our pollution output and make us healthier people in the long run.

Changing over from gas to other energy sources won't be an easy process, according to Steiner. Some of us will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into a world that offers us a bit less freedom of mobility as plane tickets and prices at the pump will skyrocket. Houses will be more expensive to heat and cool, of course. The so-called "McMansion" will become a thing of the past -- for the most part. The author doesn't deny that there will always be wealthy people who live better than most.

Some of the changes he expects to take place in the United States are movement into big cities, the collapse of the majority of airline companies, purchase of smaller automobiles (electric in particular) and homes, and the building of a nationwide high-speed train system.

4/5 - A fascinating look at a possible future world. I don't doubt his predictions, although there were a few areas I thought he glossed over and there were times the author, who is an engineer, wrote like an engineer in that the writing was just a tiny bit rough. Not to pick on engineers; I'm married to one, after all.

Many thanks to Booksie for my copy, which I won in a drawing at her blog.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

2009-11-17T04:43:00.011-06:00

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
Copyright 2005
Simon Pulse - YA/Sci-Fi/Dystopian
370 pages

I read and reviewed Uglies (<---link to my review), the first in Scott Westerfeld's dystopian series about a world where people are divided by looks, and enjoyed it so much that I rushed out to buy the second and third in the series. Pretties is the second.

It's not giving anything away to say that in Pretties, Tally (the heroine of Uglies) has gone through the surgery to make her beautiful and now lives in New Pretty Town. However, there's a little bit of spoilery stuff, here -- which will also spoil Uglies, if you haven't read it, so beware.

****WARNING*****Skip this bit if you don't want to read a potential spoiler!!!!****

Out in the Smoke (the world where the rebellious few who don't want to go through surgery live), Tally found love, betrayed a friend and inadvertantly caused a disaster. During her time in the Smoke, she found out there's more to the Pretty surgery than meets the eye.

Knowing she was on the verge of being caught by the Specials, a police force of cruel-looking pretties, Tally wrote a note to herself to be delivered after her surgery -- a surgery that would take some of her memory away.

****It's safe to read, now. You may come out from behind your chair.****

I'm not going to say much more about the plot because I really don't want to spoil the read for anyone, but I will say that I enjoyed Pretties almost (not quite) as much as Uglies. The further I got into it, the more I liked it. Like Uglies, there were times I thought the author did something that I'd have edited out if I had a red pen and the power (mwah-ha). For example, instead of saying something made Tally dizzy, he would say it was "dizzy-making". In the first half of the book, those hyphenated adjectives were way overdone and then he eventually toned it down.

4/5

- A solid, enjoyable continuation of a fascinating series. Not quite as thought-provoking and discussion-worthy as the first in the series, but a terrific read and highly recommended.

I hope to read Specials, the third in the series, soon.

This is, I believe, my 5th book for the YA Dystopian Challenge -- obviously a challenge I am diving into with enthusiasm.

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

2009-11-17T04:22:00.004-06:00

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Copyright 1998
Simon & Schuster Young Readers - Dystopian Fiction
153 pages

Luke lives in a world in which third children are forbidden and has thus been forced to spend his entire life hiding. Until the woods next to his family farm were cut down, he was able to occasionally go outside. Now, with a new housing development quickly being built, he can't go outside at all. He's bored and lonely.

Then, one day he spots a face in the window of one of the new homes. Luke has spent time watching all of the houses; he knows the two children are gone. There must be another shadow child living in the home of this "baron". When he meets the shadow child, Jen, Luke is stunned by Jen's fearlessness. She's willing to do anything to bring herself and other children out of the shadows. But, her plan is risky and Luke is afraid. Will he summon the courage to become involved in Jen's dangerous plan? Or, will he remain in hiding all of his life?

Yikes. This book was really, truly horrifying. I couldn't help but think, as I was reading, how difficult it would be to only be able to interact with one's family, never go outdoors, have to hide and be quiet when anyone showed up at the door. I thought the book drew a sharp parallel to life as a Jewish child in Nazi Germany. Luke's family is what really made the book for me. As awful as his life is, even his big brothers have managed to keep the secret until Luke meets Jen; and, each family member willingly spends time with him, playing games, talking, reading.

This is my second book by Haddix and the first in the Shadow Children series. I liked Found much better, but I appreciated the fact that Among the Hidden makes you think about what it would be like not to have the ability to move freely amongst society. On the cover of the book, the Shadow Children series is described as "chilling". Good word choice.

3.5/5 - Solid start to a series, intriguing and thought-provoking. I found it a bit dark and depressing, but I loved the characters and will continue to read on. The ending is not really a cliffhanger so much as it's "to be continued".

Since this book is dystopian, it's book #4 (I think - losing count, here) of the YA Dystopian Challenge.

The Blue Umbrella by Mike Mason

2009-11-17T03:42:00.005-06:00

The Blue Umbrella by Mike Mason

David C. Cook - Fiction/

425 pages

Includes an interview with the author and a glossary

This will be another quickie review. It's currently 3:48 AM and I can't sleep because the next-door neighbor left her driveway spotlight on and it shines directly through our blinds. Someday, I'll order a blackout curtain.

Zac Sparks is ten years old when his life changes dramatically. After his mother is killed by lightning, he's snatched up by his two evil aunts, Esmeralda and Priscilla Henbother, and taken to their mansion in Five Corners. The two Aunties and their father, who is known as "Dada", can't be pleased. Dada is, in fact, so frightening that every time Zac sees him he faints dead away and has to spend time recovering in bed.

Zac not only is subjected to frequent beatings but also is sent on a mission to steal an umbrella from Sky Porter, a homely man who runs the general store.

Zac grows tired of being beaten with his aunties' cane but he has a great deal of difficulty convincing himself to steal from Sky, the only truly friendly person he's met in a town full of oddballs. Then, Zac finds out the secret of the umbrella and makes an assumption that colors his opinion of Sky. The umbrella has dangerous powers. What will happen when the umbrella falls into Dada's hands? Can Zac and his growing circle of friends retrieve the umbrella before it's too late?

Zac's story is an interesting one, but I must admit I felt I was dragging myself through the book because the beatings were too frequent and upsetting. There are so many people who seem to be just flat evil and the child abuse is hard to take. Zac is even forced to ask for more srikes, each time he receives a slap of the cane on his backside. The ending is a bit happily-ever-after and I liked that, the mystery of the umbrella, and the slow revelation that there were actually quite a few good people in Five Corners. However, they came into the picture a little too late for me to find this book really enjoyable.

2.5/5 - Creative storytelling, unique but disturbing. I don't personally think it's suitable for middle readers -- perhaps teenagers. I love the glossary and think the writing is decent, if not a bit magical. But, it just wasn't the book for me.

A side note: The Blue Umbrella's publisher is David C. Cook, a Christian publisher. There are some hints about heaven and the book ends with a scripture but that's about it as far as Christian references, unless I missed something. I found myself thinking the book was a bit harsh for a publisher of Christian books.

Winners of Life After Genius!

2009-11-15T19:21:00.004-06:00

The winners of Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby are:

Bonnie
bison61
Marjorie
walkerd
Rebecca Graham

I've just emailed you. If you don't receive an email, please send your mailing address to the email address in my sidebar---->

Congratulations!

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix - mini review

2009-11-14T22:35:00.010-06:00

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Aladdin Paperbacks - YA/Sci-fi/Time Travel

314 pages

This will just be a quickie review because I'm pressed for time. Found was my first Margaret Peterson Haddix book. It begins with a prologue that describes the mysterious appearance of a plane. Angela DuPre, on her first day of work at an airport, sees a plane appear out of nowhere. Nobody saw it land. There's no record of its existence. Inside the plane, Angela makes a surprising discovery that will change her life.

After the prologue, we switch to Jonah's world. Jonah and his friend Chip have begun to receive odd letters. The first: "You are one of the missing." The only connection they can find is that both Jonah and Chip are adopted. Joined by Jonah's sister Katherine, they decide to search for clues in Jonah and Chip's adoption records in order to find out what the cryptic messages mean. I'm going to defer to the cover blurb, here:

When they begin to investigate, they find a vast conspiracy that reaches from the far past to the distant future--one that will take them hurtling through time. They don't know who to trust, or which shadowy faction to believe. Can Jonah and Chip discover the secrets of their pasts before the conspiracy catches up to them?

Found is the first in a series and I found it incredibly absorbing. The pages absolutely flew. It unfolds slowly, with the author dropping just enough clues to keep things mysterious without driving you nuts. The ending got a little bit confusing; I had trouble figuring out whether anyone could be trusted at all and understanding the motives of the people on each side, but then it eventually became clear and . . . the ending is a cliffhanger. (muffled scream)

4/5 - A little bit confusing toward the end, but otherwise wonderful. The concept of time travel is cautiously dangled for a while and then you're thrown into action head-first as the book races to its conclusion. One point off for the the confusing bit and the cliffhanger ending.

I'm a sucker for time travel, so I feel compelled to continue this series in spite of being somewhat annoyed at the way it ended. I hate cliffhangers because I don't like the feeling that I'm going to have to buy another book (my library sucks -- I buy) but this one was so enjoyable that I'd rush out and buy a copy right now, if it was available in paperback. The cover above is, unfortunately, not the cover I've got. "Unfortunately" because I have a thing for airplanes. My copy has a vague-looking cover of 4 people running toward a cave. There was no hardback available where I bought mine.

In other news: She's catching up! She's catching up! 17,636 is my word count on the Nano, as of tonight. Wahoo! Not bad for having started back at zippo on Day 9, eh?

Books, books, books? Well, no: I've only received two review books, this week, and that's a good thing as I'm shifting things in my office to prepare to paint and emptying the closet and, and, and . . . ugh. Too much, too much. I've been working on purging, but it just hasn't been enough and that means I'm going to have to declare a moratorium on review books. I'll write a review policy up, as soon as possible. It will say, "Sorry. I can't review for you."

Okay, yeah, I'll make a few exceptions. In particular, I am really enjoying the Christian books and want to continue reading clean novels and uplifting nonfiction, so I'll probably continue to review those sporadically. And, I adore the occasional history book. I would probably sell my left foot to get more YA books because I love 'em, love 'em, love 'em and our YA section at the local library is beyond pitiful. Is it me or are YA books the hardest to come by? Otherwise, nope. No more tours, no more accepting books that are offered to me by email. I'm going to dedicate 2010 to reading what I want to read when I want to read it and clearing out the excess.

Remember How to Lower Your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food? I'm going to post the pork chop recipe we fell in love with (a new favorite in this house) soon and review the nutrition part later because my husband keeps walking off with the book!!! So, stay tuned for that. We've been eating very well since this book arrived.

Gotta go. Mucho tired, here. Miss visiting your blogs.

Autumn Camera Games & Another Nano Update

2009-11-13T22:25:00.009-06:00

Nano update, first. The best-laid plans of mice and men have done a little ganging aft agley in the blog-hopping territory because I am still having a grand old time with National Novel Writing Month. Technically, I'm writing slowly and I'm still behind on my word count at a mere 13,288 words; but, I like my characters, the action and the little world I've created. My story is not brilliantly written, by any means -- in fact, it's a little on the cheesy side. However, there's a lot to be said for the sense of accomplishment one gets for putting words to paper . . . or, rather typing words into word processor.

Since I'm about to head to bed and didn't grant myself the time to write a book review, today, I've decided to share some autumn fun I've had with the camera.

A bit of light painting -- sort of. Can you guess what this is? I'll let you ponder for a minute. Pondering? Okay, get ready . . . it's not my hair, in case you were wondering, it's . . .

. . . this tree, which is one of my favorite trees in the neighborhood:

Pretty, yes? Both make excellent desktop backgrounds, I've found.

I finished The Church of Facebook by Jesse Rice and absolutely loved the conclusion. No idea when I'll post a review, but if I can squeeze one in tomorrow, I will.

Happy weekend to all and happy writing to those who are still Nanoing!

Bookfool in chair with stiff muscles (really need to take up yoga to go with the Nano)

Thursday Spaz Report

2009-11-12T08:18:00.011-06:00

I'm sitting in my office, which looks a little more like the inside of a tornado than an office but we won't go there, yet. There's a squirrel climbing down the oak tree outside my window and another one sneaking up behind him. The cat's asleep. My bee sting of two days ago itches. And, I don't feel like writing. At least, not yet. So, you get an update on reading and writing (and possibly arithmetic).

I'm totally spazzed, today, because I lost my mind and decided to move the futon from our office to the den -- mostly to keep my husband from buying a new sofa. I want to use the available space to shift things around before filling up that room (which you may recall has been recently carpeted after two years of being down to concrete) and moving the futon gives us room to paint the office. Yeah! Starting yet another project when we have half a kitchen and 90% of a den. What more could a girl want than to end up with 2/3 of an office?

Normally, if I can't sleep because of the husband's snoring, I go to the futon. Last night, I couldn't sleep because of the husband's snoring. But, there's no curtain in the den window because we're still finishing up the trim painting and that freaks me out. So . . . no futon, long night. Yep, totally spazzed.

I'm on the verge of finishing The Church of Facebook by Jesse Rice and have both enjoyed and been horrified by the ideas it presents about the concept of "community" and how Facebook and other social media (including blogging) lack important aspects of true community. And, yet, at this point I think he's saying that there's a certain amount of contentment that one gets from blasting info about one's life on Facebook, conversations on Twitter, etc. The "church" aspect is losing me a little. I should maybe not have read bits of this when I was sleepy and might do a little rereading before I review, but in general the book is mostly psychology and quite fascinating.

Yesterday, I listened to and enjoyed BlogTalkRadio's interview with the authors of A Climate for Change and thought it was very well done. I sent in a question for this particular interview, so if you listen in you can hear my question and author Katharine Hayhoe's reply. And, if you can't fathom parting with the money to buy the book, A Climate for Change is currently available in full, online, especially pertinent for those of you aren't North American and therefore can't sign up to win a copy. You can also purchase it as a download for a reader, if you're one of those people who have moved with technology in a way that makes my nose wrinkle.

I'm going to just do a quickie review of The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton, right now, this very minute because I felt like the best descriptive term I can come up with is . . . nyeh. Disappointing to have such a pitiful grasp of the English language, but at this very moment you'll recall that I'm spazzed, frazzled and basically wiped out. So, you get what you get.

The Bible Salesman is about Henry, a fellow who acquires free Bibles, which he sells door-to-door. He meets a thieving, lying, dangerous man named Preston Clearwater, who convinces Henry he works for the FBI and hires Henry to help out with his car-theft ring. Henry likes the money and loves the idea that he's helping the FBI, but he falls in love along the way and the whole FBI thing starts to lose its fizz. Eventually he puts two and two together and comes up with 9, which leads to a pretty exciting and satisfying ending. It's just that . . . maybe it was me, but I kept falling asleep while reading this book. I think I can give it about a 3.5/5.

Nano-wise, the writing on my bad sci-fi has gone well for the first three days -- which, of course, were really days 9-11 of National Novel Writing Month. I skidded to a halt at a total of 9,271 words, last night. Not bad for 3 days' work, but the LOL cat, above, describes my sentiments at the end of the day.

This has really been a tremendously slow reading week, but I've read about 100 pages of The Foundling by Georgette Heyer and find myself besotted with the Duke, who was born a sickly baby and coddled to the point that he's getting tremendously feisty. I love Heyer's feisty characters.

And, my husband has now cooked 4 of the recipes in How to Lower Your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food by Chef Alain Braux, (<---another Amazon link that doesn't benefit me, just in case you want to dash over to buy a copy). Kiddo gobbled up the pork chops, returning for seconds (moist, amazing, cooked in wine and topped with apples, celery and cheese) and I made my husband go back to the store to get more portobello mushroom caps to make a second round of stuffed mushrooms. Our pumpkin cheesecake is chilling.

The book is about 2/3 health book and it's the most interesting book on lowering cholesterol that I've read -- actually, I don't believe I've ever finished reading any of those I've attempted in the past. It's enjoyable to read at least in part because the author occasionally talks about his childhood in France. Those musings, along with fabulous recipes and very readable nutrition advice have made this book a 5-star for both myself and the husband. I hope to write a full review by this weekend and I'll add a favorite recipe when I do.

I think that's about all the news, for now. How are you doing? Still no blog-hopping for me. I'm feeling a tad lonely, but it's fun writing bad sci-fi. You should try it, sometime. Seriously.

Happy, Happy Thursday (or Friday, for those of you on the other side of the world)!

Bookfool: Reader, writer, counter of words

Oof! Nano update #3 is a horror!

2009-11-09T20:22:00.008-06:00

Guess what I did, today, book fanatics? I started a whole new Nano story and set that other one aside to let it percolate a bit -- actually removed it from the word counter and replaced it. The more I pondered, the more I didn't want to write Story #1 quickly and felt it wasn't the right story to hammer out in 30 days. So, now I have 20 days to hammer out Story #2. Wish me luck. It's completely different. I went from a contemporary story about what might happen if life imitated art, with a religious bent, to a futuristic story that starts with the heroine taking a jump off a tower. But, it's okay. She's got these really cool wings, you see . . .

I know it's insane to start all over again, but I still want to write and I figured there was no point continuing to torment myself with the wrong story. If I don't crank out 50,000 words by the end of the month, it won't kill me. I did, however, whip out the little calculator accessory and did some division. Tick, tick, tick . . . 50,000 words divided by . . . uh, 20 days? I think it's 20. I came up with 2500 words per day. Of course, that means I'll have to either get cracking or type through Thanksgiving; but, trust me, everyone's used to seeing my back at holiday time. No biggie. So, I managed 2700 words before midnight in some other time zone (it's still 11:13 here) and I'm currently at 3010. Every muscle in my body is locked up, which means it's quitting time.

Here's my story art:

Because every now and then you have to stop typing or the fingers do weird jamming-up things, when you get old. I'm getting old, you know. Rising Flames is the working title. I made that little collage using a photo of the sun on top of a bit of light painting with autumn trees (which pretty much doesn't show up, except for some very faint lines in the background) and some handprints I found via Google images, source unknown (but the word "free" was in there, somewhere).

Well, what do you think? Can Bookfool succeed? Was all your cheerleading for naught? Do you like the flame-orange handprints?

In other news: I quickly read another book by Margaret Peterson Haddix, today, because I wanted to gobble up something short: Among the Hidden. It was good. I liked Found better, but I have a boxed set of four of this particular series (next up is Among the Imposters) and they're dystopian, so . . . you know. Nice brain break material.

I am missing the blog-hopping thing, so I hope I can zoom far enough ahead to do some visiting, tomorrow. If I don't, it's not for lack of desire to hang out with my book buddies.

I hope you're all having a marvelous week, so far.

Bookfool, feeling the butt-spread from a 3,000-word afternoon

A Climate for Change by K. Hayhoe and A. Farley (review)

2009-11-09T09:28:00.008-06:00

A Climate for Change
by Katharine Hayhoe and Andrew Farley
Copyright 2009
Faith Words - Nonfiction/Science/Christian
206 pages, incl. discussion questions and nearly 40 pages of sources, plus numerous charts, graphs & photos

What do you mean you're not interested in global warming? If you're about to skip this review because global warming is a blow-off topic, an "I'm not really interested" thing, or you think Al Gore's trumpeting is a crock, then you're missing the point that changing climate (not weather -- climate . . . the authors explain the difference) affects all of us.

First things first. I loved A Climate for Change because it answered absolutely every question I had about global warming but the authors never resorted to politics, instead simply stating the facts. It's written from a Christian perspective, drawing on scripture and describing humans as the "stewards" of Earth, but I think anyone who either questions global warming or believes in it and just doesn't feel like they know enough about it to speak intelligently and answer questions would enjoy this book.

I fell into the latter camp and enjoyed A Climate for Change so much that it's going on my keeper shelf.

The most important thing I learned was the meaning of climate change versus weather change. It sounds intuitive, but we've all expressed dismay at how on earth one of our friends can be quoting record cold temperatures proving that her area is experiencing the coldest winter in decades when the entire planet is supposed to be warming up. Isn't that a contradiction? Nope, it's not. And, I can't possibly explain as well as the authors of A Climate for Change, but it boils down to this . . . weather changes day-to-day and it's chaotic. Climate changes over long time periods.

You can have a cold winter or a temperature-breaking week in either direction without it having anything at all to do with climate. Climate change generally happens over thousands of years. The fact that climate change over the entire planet has happened in a matter of a mere 200 years (since the Industrial Revolution) is not normal. And, it's happening faster than even scientists with predictive models anticipated -- enough so that your 15-year-old gardening guide may be out-of-date because the planting zones have changed.

And, how does climate change have anything to do with us? I think I'll refer you to the book for the answer to that question, but it's surprising. In the U.S., we have a tendency to feel uniquely protected or immune from happenings in the world at large and it's true that the poorer nations will suffer even more from changes in climate, but climate change does and will have an impact on everyone. It's worth reading the book to find out how global warming could touch your life.

Even the last holdout, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, released a statement in 2008 acknowledging the effect humans are having on their environment.

Today, there is no legitimate national or international scientific organization that does not accept the fundamental role of humans as drivers of recent climate change.

These estimates are actually nothing new. Back in the 1960s, one of the earliest climate modelers in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Budyko, concluded that if the planet were to warm by several degrees, Canada and the Soviet Union would benefit. That's because much more of their land area would become useful. In the spirit of the Cold War that prevailed during those times, Budyko recommended to the Soviet government that they burn every piece of coal they could lay their hands on. His purpose? To deliberately enhance global warming so that the rest of the world, including the United States, would suffer and the Soviet Union would benefit.

Fortunately, no one took the idea seriously enough to actually carry it through. But today, we are nonetheless well on our way down Budyko's suggested pathway. And, at least in the area of agriculture, the results are much as he predicted.

Rising temperatures threaten the poor, the disadvantaged, the elderly, and our children--those whose health is most affected by extreme heat events. In 2000, the World Health Organization estimated that there had been, in that year alone, 150,000 deaths due to climate change. The estimate includes deaths as a result of extreme weather conditions that are occurring with increased frequency, changes in temperature and rainfall conditions that influence the transmission patterns for many diseases, and patterns of food production and supply.

5+++/5 - This is the kind of book I wish everyone would read and talk about. It's well-written, thorough, clear and succinct. Charts, graphs and photos add plenty of visuals. Additional reading suggestions and tons of scientific sources will give anyone who still isn't convinced plenty of material to make an informed decision. My only complaint--and obviously, it didn't bother me enough to take off a point--is that the conclusion sounds a little heavily Christian and preachy. So, some may not like those final few pages. I didn't find the rest of the book heavy-handed; it's worth reading, even if you feel like you have to skim the Christian portions.

Don't forget! I'm giving away 5 copies of A Climate for Change. This is a breezy book, not at all boring and heavy like a lot of non-fiction and hugely, highly recommended. You should definitely try to win a copy.

I'm off to run errands and then I've decided to continue with the Nano. Eeks. Wish me luck.

A Climate for Change by Katharine Hayhoe and Andrew Farley (sneak peek)

2009-11-09T09:26:00.000-06:00

Today's Wild Card authors are:

Katharine Hayhoe

and

Andrew Farley

and the book:

A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions

FaithWords (October 29, 2009)

***Special thanks to Valerie M. Russo of the Hachette Book Group for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHORs:

Katharine Hayhoe is a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Texas Tech University and CEO of ATMOS Research, a scientific consulting company. She contributed her research to and served as Expert Reviewer for the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Katharine's work has been presented before the U.S. Congress, highlighted by state and federal agencies, and featured in over 200 newspapers and media outlets around the world.

Visit the author's website.

Andrew Farley is the lead teaching pastor of Ecclesia (www.EcclesiaOnline.com) and co-hosts Real Life in Christ, a 30-minute program that airs every week on ABC-TV in the West Texas area. Andrew served as a professor at the University of Notre Dame for five years and is now a tenured professor at Texas Tech University. Andrew has coauthored three textbooks and more than a dozen journal articles. He is also the author of The Naked Gospel: The Truth You May Never Hear in Church.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $22.99
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: FaithWords (October 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446549568
ISBN-13: 978-0446549561
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

No Idea by Greg Garrett

2009-11-08T13:18:00.011-06:00

No Idea: Entrusting Your Journey to a God who Knows by Greg Garrett

David C. Cook - Memoir/Christian

220 pages, incl. notes

I read Greg Garrett's first memoir, Crossing Myself, because the promotional material for No Idea sounded fantastic but one book precedes the other and I wanted to understand where Garrett was coming from. Here's how he describes the two:

In my first spiritual autobiography, Crossing Myself, I wrote about my lifelong battle with life-threatening depression, how it almost got me, but how through faith and community, I came to a place where I decided I would go on living.

In this book . . . my editor wants me to write about what comes next.

Once you've decided that you're going to live--no mean feat for some of us--how do you figure out what you're supposed to do with that life?

I'm not sure this book actually helped me to discern any sense of direction for myself, but I enjoyed reading the second part of the author's journey. In the first book, Garrett came to the decision that he was being called to be a priest. Several years have passed; he's completed his studies at seminary (while teaching at Baylor) and, in spite of his conviction that he's received a calling, he has not been ordained -- he's done all the requirements for ordination, but he hasn't been through the laying on of hands that gives one the title "priest" or "minister". He can minister in every way except the giving of the sacraments.

But I have come to believe that, as God sees the world, there are no mistakes; everything that happens is a part of a larger plan.

That particular comment has to do with the fact that Garrett's three divorces have kept him from the final step to official priesthood, although he's able to minister. There were two parts of No Idea that I found particularly moving. In one section, Garrett describes his time working as a hospital chaplain. Part of his job as a hospital chaplain involved being with families as a loved one is dying and then praying with and comforting them after the death. Often, he was called to the hospital because the nurses knew someone wasn't going to make it, but it was not his place share that the doctors were expecting imminent death. Instead, he was called in to be present and pray with families after their loss.

I guess this part really moved me because I've been on the grieving end a few too many times, already. Garrett had not, at this point, ever experienced the loss of someone close, but he appeared to do his best to be sensitive and caring. I spent this entire chapter mopping up tears and found myself wishing I could tell him how much a chaplain's presence meant to me when my family and I had nothing else to do but hope and pray for a quick end to suffering. Every little word of encouragement and every offer to pray makes a difference.

I also found Garrett's anecdotes about a homeless person who occasionally dropped by for a handout very touching. But, what I love most about Greg Garrett's writing is his unflinching honestly about the Bible, religion, and the people of the church.

I've resisted letting the Scripture speak to me as insight into God on a regular basis. And I'll confess that I've done this mostly because I haven't liked the way Scripture has been used on and around me in my life, the way others have read it in bits and pieces that corresponded to their worldviews, the way they have read those particular bits literally and focused on the things with which they agreed and ignored the things they didn't.

How can people of faith make the Bible an important part of their lives despite all the ways it's been read and misread, used and misused over the centuries?

We have to start with an understanding that what the Bible has to say is not just what its primary advocates in our culture think it has to say. And reading it in a way that pulls those other things--peace, justice, love, forgiveness, reconciliation, radical faith, daily practice--back to the forefront.

That's the kind of comment Garrett frequently makes in both books. He talks about his frustrations with the church but, at the same time, you understand that the lack of perfection of the church is no longer enough to drive him away. It did so, at one point, and he returned. I think a lot of us can relate to those frustrations; in fact, it seems like the flaws of church bodies, the interpretation and misinterpretation of scripture, and other discomforts with the church are popping up in spiritual nonfiction quite a bit, these days. A lot of us are believers, but can't seem to find our place in the believing world, in other words.

I love Greg Garrett's writing. The subtitle sounds a little like it's a "how-to" and I don't think you can look at it that way; it's more of an autobiographical account of how one man has taken his faith and put it to work. I truly enjoy reading about his experiences, frustrations, and his thoughts on Christianity. Both books are fascinating, moving reads that I highly recommend. I do advise reading them in order and I'm glad I managed to get my hands on a copy of his first book.

Many thanks to Audra of B & B Media for my copy of No Idea.

Nano update: Stuck at 13,297 words. I don't like my story at all. While I do think the idea is great and has a lot of potential, it's just not the kind of book that lends itself to being pounded out quickly, in my humble opinion. So, I'm meditating on whether to continue or to go ahead and switch stories at Day 9. Rough decision. I'm going to sleep on it. Feel free to pummel me with opinions.

Reading update: I hastily read Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix on Friday and enjoyed it till the end, at which point I thought her explanation for the mystery was a little wanting. However, it's the first in a series and I'd like to continue on to the next book. So, I was rather horrified to find that the second book, Sent, will not be released in paperback until August of 2010. Argh! I don't want to mix hardbacks and paperbacks, so I'll wait.

Also just finished: $20 Per Gallon by Christopher Steiner. Having finished the review of No Idea, that means I'm still 5 reviews behind. The other 4 finished books: Found by Haddix, A Climate for Change by Hayhoe and Farley (I'll post a sneak peek chapter, tomorrow, just because I loved it so much), The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton, and Pretties by Scott Westerfeld.

To be honest, I'd rather bury myself in books than write. Go ahead. Chew me out. I'm used to it. :)

Nano Nano - Report #2

2009-11-05T18:44:00.005-06:00

Briefly . . . an update on my NaNoWriMo progress: I hit 10,006 words, last night. This morning I got a very late start, but then I managed to finish up the night with 11,288 words. Not huge progress, but at least it's something. I can still cram in something if I'm not completely wiped out with a migraine complicated by a backache (that would have been Tuesday's excuse).

I am very, very grateful to those of you who stopped by to nag, cheerlead, bully, nudge, shake, enthuse, threaten to kick my Nano butt, etc. It worked. I guess I needed the shove. I will not give up on this manuscript, rough as it is. The story is a hard one and definitely a departure from my normal writing style, so it's more difficult than most but . . . well, I can always stand a challenge. Keeps the neurons popping, doesn't it?

Posts will continue to be sparse, but I'll do my best to report in, now and then. You can follow my progress at Nano by clicking on the button in the sidebar.

Reading-wise: I'm about to finish A Climate For Change and I think it is absolutely wonderful. I challenge anyone to read that book and tell me you still don't believe in global warming.

I also read a little of The Blue Umbrella while I waited for Kiddo to get his teeth cleaned and then took him out for an early dinner (ulterior motive: to write uninterrupted, fill the teenager's belly, first).

If I can find the time, I'll write my review of No Idea by Greg Garrett, tomorrow. Other books I need to review are The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton and Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. I've nipped into a couple of other books, but if I add any more images to my sidebar, I'm afraid it's going to slide off the monitor and into the bay. So, we'll just see if I can wrap a few up when I'm not writing. Hope everyone's having a terrific week!

Bookfool, satisfied with word count and not thrilled with day-long case of hiccups

Crossing Myself by Greg Garrett

2009-11-05T09:02:00.003-06:00

Crossing Myself: A Story of Spiritual Rebirth
By Greg Garrett
Copyright 2006
Navpress - Nonfiction/Spiritual/Christian
239 pages, incl. notes

I read a blurb about No Idea by Greg Garrett via B & B Media and it sounded fantastic, but I got the impression that I needed to read Greg Garrett's first memoir, Crossing Myself: A Story of Spiritual Rebirth, first. So, I requested a review copy of No Idea and then ordered a copy of Crossing Myself, which arrived within days (sometimes I just want to smooch Paperback Swap).

Crossing Myself is a rather gut-wrenching read, in many ways, as it's the story of how Greg Garrett went from standing at the side of a busy road, preparing to step in front of a truck (because he felt he would be better off dead than living with chronic depression) to suddenly realizing there is a higher power and a reason to live. From there, he describes his journey.

Born into a Southern Baptist family, Greg Garrett found the religion of his youth was an angry, hell-fire and brimstone religion. He never was taught or believed in a loving God. This early experience drove Garrett away from church and into a life of atheism. For many years, he scoffed at religious people and was utterly convinced there was no God.

In his work life, Garrett thrived. He became a professor at Baylor University, was published numerous times, led writing retreats and traveled extensively to write, reflect, teach and explore. He was a "high functioning" depressive. His personal life, however, was a disaster. At his low point, he was on his third marriage when he considered suicide. He eventually divorced a third time and had to move into monk-like quarters in order to pay child support for his two sons by two different exes.

But, Greg had found something when he stood on that curb, considering the end of his life. A moment of revelation led him to take tentative steps into an Episcopal church, where he found himself slowly realizing he did, in fact, believe in a higher power. He took steps to deal with his depression (medication, therapy). Eventually, he was startled to find himself called to be a priest. At the end of Crossing Myself, Garrrett was balancing study at seminary with teaching at Baylor, writing, and leading workshops. He was a busy man and a happy one.

There's a little about writing and how he discovered he is a Christian writer, like it or not, and wrote with a certain spirituality in his stories, even during his time as "cultural Christian", one who was raised a Christian but not practicing and not actually even believing. There's so much more to this book than I can really describe in a brief review, but I think it's important to mention that Garrett is very opinionated but extremely down-to-earth. He has a tendency to beat up on himself for mistakes and he struggles with certain Biblical concepts, as we all do, and how they apply to real life. I'll close with a couple of quotes.

I wrestled a long time with this idea, with life and death, with all this heaven stuff.

Because frankly, I don't think the carrot and stick of the afterlife should have an effect on the faith we choose, or on our moral behavior in this life. When I became a Christian as a young person, it was because my pastor in Oklahoma had scared me witless about dying in my sin and going to hell. I became a Christian not because I really understood the gospel message or particularly wanted to be a good person. I just didn't want to go to hell and burn forever.

That would suck.

[p. 32, Crossing Myself]

On writing as a Christian:

Let me establish at the outset that I don't resist the label of Christian writer because I feel threatened in terms of my career or the acceptance of the reading public, for certainly that would be a reason, at least. But it's not a reason: More than any time in my life, there is a spiritual hunger everywhere I look, a hunger for connection, for some sort of ultimate meaning. Finally, our society seems to have grasped what Dr. King often said in sermons forty years ago: "The great problem facing modern man is that the means by which we live have outdistanced the spiritual ends for which we live."

[p. 94]

On being called to love:

If you think that gay people don't go to heaven -- you understand, by the way, that you're not the one in charge of that -- that's fine.

You still have to love them.

If you think the church down the block -- or across the ocean -- has got it all wrong, it doesn't mean the Devil has led them astray. And you know what?

You still have to love them.

If you think that somebody is a bigot , or a hypocrite, or a closed-minded fundamentalist, that's your opinion.

But you still have to love them.

[p. 192]

I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved this book. It was an emotional read. My life is not a ragged mess of broken families, but I've wrestled with how the church reacts to the outside world, how easy it is for believers to become a cliquish, insular group that doesn't react to societal change or reality in a loving, embracing way. And, I've been in that dark hole of depression a bit too often. It's hard reading about Garrett's pain but lovely reading about how he transitioned from deep pain to daily joy.

5/5 - Read this because you want to read a viewpoint of Christianity that is very down-to-earth, because you're depressed and confused about your spirituality, or just because you want to read a good memoir.

Next up will be my review of No Idea by the same author. Be patient with me. I'm a tired puppy, taking muscle relaxants for back pain and trying to write my Nano book (no, I haven't given up!).Happy Trails!

Bookfool

NaNoWriMo Update, such as it is, and What I'm Reading

2009-11-02T17:48:00.011-06:00

I've been working on a book review that's a real head-banger (hard to decide what to say because there's so much to talk about!!) and because I had no focus whatsoever, today, I decided to toddle over to see if New Orleans Chris had posted anything about his NaNoWriMo progress. Sure enough, Chris is chugging right along. I had a super first day of Nano, in spite of the fact that I've always been nervous about the story I chose to work on -- which I've been mulling for something on the order of 4 or 5 years -- but I started late and still managed to crank out over 5,000 words.

This morning . . . ugh. I suspected something was wrong around 4,000 words, yesterday, so I was kind of hesitant when some of my Twitter buddies congratulated me on my first-day word count. At 6,000 I knew it was a dead end but tried to zig when I probably should have zagged in order to fix things. At 6,400, I stopped.

My beloved, half-blind kitty has been in an outdoorsy mood, so I abandoned the computer and spent most of the afternoon on the porch with her. On the porch, I broke open A Novel Idea: Best Advice on Writing Inspirational Fiction (<----link to bn.com, for a change of pace). Okay, let me just say this, first: If you are trying to write a novel of any kind at all, this book will be helpful. Inspiration is the theme, but there's some fantastic writing advice that has already helped me and which applies to all genres; it's just excellent, general information. I don't know if it'll save my fat Nano butt from doom, but we'll see.

While I'm not calling my story "inspirational," it definitely has some Christian elements and I've fretted so much because it's almost a burden being handed a story like this in a dream. It has built-in conflict -- huge, ridiculous, wonderful conflict -- and I have the option to make my heroine completely miserable, push her to the brink, nearly ruin her life and then . . . pull her back. That's good, right?

The problem, I discovered from reading the first chapter (by Angela Hunt) is that I didn't begin my story in media res, "in the middle of the action". I was nowhere near the inciting incident (not the big disaster, but the story starter); I was way back in the build-up to the inciting incident, which needs to be presumed rather than written because it is too freaking boring to read.

So, like Chris on his first day, I was thinking #Nanofail. At the regular time (only darker - stupid Daylight Savings Time), my husband walked in the door and he said, "You can't quit," when I told him That was it. I blew it. I replied that I can do anything I darn well please because it's my choice and he said, "You. Can. Not. Stop." Well, huh. Not sure where that came from, but I've spent the evening reading and snoozing and pondering. We'll see what happens, tomorrow.

Bookwise:

You'd think I'd slow down on my reading because of Nano, but no . . . I've actually picked up and started several books. I finished Pretties and started The Knife of Never Letting Go. I'm not sure what I think of The Knife of Never Letting Go, at this point, except that I think hearing a dog's thoughts can be pretty hilarious.

Of course, I started A Novel Idea -- the promo material says, "All of the proceeds go to Media Associates International, an international organization whose goal is to help fledging (I presume they mean "fledgling") writers and publishers produce Christian literature that is culturally relevant." Cool.

I've also read the intro and first chapter of The Church of Facebook by Jesse Rice and I am loving this book even more than I'd imagined. The author is a psychologist and he begins the book with a discussion about connectivity -- why people and monkeys and other critters need each other -- by describing an experiment with baby monkeys and a wire-monkey mother versus a soft, fake mother. Fascinating stuff. I only stopped after the first chapter because I'm in a group that is going to discuss the book and I don't want to move beyond the discussion points.

Hubby has made a salad from How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking by Michael Psilakis and neither of us liked the dressing but the salad was so good that I asked for seconds. And, I am not a big salad eater; it's that good - with roasted almonds and dried fruit, mmm. This is truly a stunning book, by the way, with pictures of not only the recipes but everyday life in Greece.

And, I'm reading a book in PDF, which is very unusual for me, but I chatted with the author and his book sounded so fantastic that I told him I'm willing to make an exception: How to Lower Your Cholesterol With French Gourmet Cooking by Alain Braux (<-----Amazon link that does not benefit me because I'm too lazy).

My husband sat down to read part of it off the screen. He is by far the pickiest person I've ever met, when it comes to cookbooks so it was surprising, to say the least, when he said, "I'm sold." Whoa. He read aloud (another thing he never does) Alain's opinion on fresh-caught versus farm-raised salmon, an opinion with which we already strongly agreed.

The recipes look fabulous at a glance and what little I've read of the text has been pretty amazing. We'll try some recipes, soon, and report back to you.

All right. I've gotten my babble fix over with. I guess I'll be up early to give Nano a second attempt, tomorrow. Cross your fingers, say your prayers and send positive thoughts, please!!!

Happy Writing to those who are also Nanoing and Happy Reading to everyone else!!

Bookfool, not particularly jazzed but willing to give it a second go

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

2009-11-01T21:20:00.001-06:00

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter
Copyright 2007
Hyperion DBG - Young Adult
236 pages
(2nd in a series)
Ally Carter's website

I bought Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy on impulse at Borders, last week, and whipped through it almost immediately. It's the second in the "Gallagher Girls" series, which are set at Gallagher Academy, a spy school for girls. The heroine is a student at Gallagher and the daughter of the headmistress.

The first book in the series is entitled I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You. I haven't read that introductory novel but references to the first novel filled in the background sufficiently; there was never a sense that I was lost or missing something. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy stands well on its own.

In Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, heroine Cameron (Cammie) Morgan begins her sophomore year with a visit to Washington, D.C., where she's interrogated about her relationship with Josh, a former boyfriend who is not a spy (bad idea) and with whom she has been forced to break up. Obviously, her relationship with Josh was the focus of the first book, which Bookfool is now very, very anxious to read. Cammie still misses Josh but promises not to cause any more trouble. In addition to getting in trouble for her relationship with Josh, Cammie's known for having explored every crevice of Gallagher Mansion and one can presume that's gotten her into a bit of hot water in the past.

At school, Cammie and her friends arrive to find a section of the Academy blocked off, making it slightly difficult and time-consuming to navigate the Gallagher Hall (an old stone mansion). Cammie has made a commitment to behave, of course, but the realization that the staff's explanation for the closing of that portion of the school can't possibly be true and an overheard conversation between her mother and a favorite teacher have Cammie burning with curiosity. Cammie and friends decide there's no harm in a little investigation -- that's what they're training for, after all. When a group of students from a spy school for boys show up, the girls are perplexed. What is their purpose? Are they really from a similar school or is there more to those boys than meets the eye?

All becomes apparent in an exciting conclusion that I can't tell you about because it would be a big, bad spoiler. But, let me tell you this . . . I found the final scenes so exciting, adventurous and surprising that I can't part with the book. I'm going to have to reread. There is nothing I love more than fast-moving intrigue.

Another 5/5 - Entertaining, lively, intelligent and humorous. I love Ally Carter's writing. I do advise reading the books in order, as Cammie reflects on an important plot point in Book #1. I'll still read it, but I think it would be much more fun and surprising not knowing what Josh did that exposed their relationship and led to their break-up.

Bonus: Ally Carter has a degree from my alma mater, Oklahoma State University. Wahoo for Ally and Go Cowboys!

Too Cute for Words

2009-10-31T21:08:00.012-05:00