1- Lost, Found, and Forever by Victoria Schade 12/1 (print)
I checked this book out of the library solely because of the dog on the cover. It did not disappoint me. A fun romance with the dog as a supporting character.
Justine discovers her beloved dog Spencer is a lost dog Leo belonging to Griffen who lives 2 hours away in NYC. She is torn between just forgetting about it or letting Griffen know his dog is OK and doing well. Of course Spencer belongs to her now! At first Griffen seems set on getting his dog back but eventually relents... they of course also become involved with one another. Predictable but enjoyable.
2- Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah 12/4 (print)
I had rather high hopes for this book but found it disappointing. It started off leaving a bad taste when Joy, the main character discovers her husband in bed with her sister. I probably should have just stopped there. Maybe I am just tired of reading books about marriages falling apart due to infidelity. There is also a terrible plane crash which she seemingly walks away from... in the opposite direction of the rescue team mind you. She happens upon this run down for sale fishing resort called the Comfort Inn or something like that, in which a young boy checks her into a room. I was afraid he was going to turn out to be a ghost or something but no.... anyway- this is all happening during Christmas break as she is a high school librarian. Much of the story is her own inner turmoil regarding her sister. There is also a twist thrown in which had me exclaiming in dismay and wanting to throw the book across the room. Maybe a more savvy reader would have seen it coming, I don't know. My family got an earful on my frustration with this book!
I was looking for a good Christmassy read and this left me feeling ambivalent and frustrated. I gave it 2 stars which I feel guilty about. :P
3- Two from Galilee by Marjorie Holmes 12/6 (kindle)
I found this a worthwhile read. An older book originally published in 1972. I was surprised and delighted my library had a kindle version available.
This is a Biblical fiction account of Mary and Joseph and the Christmas story. While some facts didn't seem 100% accurate and I am not sure I would completely agree with everything, I did find it an intriguing look into what the first Christmas might have been like. How Joseph and Mary might have felt and how their friends, family and townspeople may have reacted to them as well. Of course it is largely a fictional account so the author's own imagination mostly. Still though it makes you think and ponder and remind you that these were just two regular people, with an extraordinary experience.
Jahveh, hope of Israel, was neither friend nor father but fearful master, who had bigger fish to fry. And yet, Joseph could not help it, he had uttered his humble insistent prayers almost from the day he had first become aware of Mary, daughter of Joachim.
She longed with a sharp nostalgia for the blessed peace of the presence of God. “Thy will be done,” she whispered one final time.
A bell rang in Joseph’s blood, for he was remembering Mary’s impassioned words: “Why do you think miracles can happen only to others?” He said, troubled, “And yet, how can we know? The ways of God are strange. And fearful—even if it were true as she claimed, it would be a fearful thing.”
These eternal hostilities, why must they be? Would the time never come when men and nations could live in peace? Or was that the true significance of the miracle she carried? The Messiah. Perhaps through him these terrible conflicts would be settled; he would bring mankind together in love of their God.
4- When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole 12/9 (Kindle)
Things I love about this book that it takes place in Brooklyn. For someone who as never really been to New York, I love it a lot, I love books set in NYC. The characters, the feeling of family woven through the neighborhood. It makes me wish I lived in a place like that. Where you know all your neighbors, they are part of your story and they have your back. The story was engaging and I ended up staying up half the night to finish. That said, I thought the ending escalated really quickly and got really weird.
It's a story of gentrification and Sydney trying to save her family home. People from her neighborhood are up and moving or simply disappearing.
I sigh, close my eyes, and try to remember the freedom I used to feel, first as a carefree child, then as a know-it-all teenager, as I held court from this top step, with the world rolling out before me. Three stories of century-old brick stood behind me like a solid wall of protection, imbued with the love of my mother and my neighbors and the tenacity of my block.
You don't look dumpable, whatever that means. You have the eyes of someone who's been treated worse than they should've been, that's all.
5- 21 Seconds to Change Your World by Mark Rutland 12/9 (print)
This was my 2nd reading of this book. And one I will read again. A wonderful close look at The Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm.
Fall asleep soaking in the Lord's Prayer and you will find it's healing power on your subconscious.
Fill your heart with it. Soak your wounded emotions in it. Baptize your worst memories in it. Finally, pour it on stress like oil and let it calm your anxious heart.
6- Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid 12/15 (audio)
This is our book club pick for January. I was not sure how I would like this book. I tried multiple times to read Daisy Jones and the Six by the same author and just could not get into it. But for some reason the Riva family endeared themselves to my heart and I could not stop listening. Much of the narrative takes place on one night in 1983 during one epic party thrown by the famous Riva siblings. The story also dips back to tell the tale of their childhood in somewhat alternating chapters.
Family is found...whether it be blood or circumstance or choice, what binds us does not matter. All that matters is that we are bound.
Our parents live inside us, whether they stick around or not... They express themselves through us in the way we hold a pen or shrug our shoulders, in the way we raise our eyebrow. Our heritage lingers in our blood
What a gift it was to know so clearly what you were not, who you did not want to be. Nina wasn’t sure she’d ever asked herself that question.
A tiny spark in the dry desert wood can grow to a blaze and run wild, burning bright orange and red. It devours the land and exhales thick black smoke that overtakes the sky, dimming the sun for miles, ash falling like snow. Habitats—brush and shrubs and trees—and homes—cabins and mansions and bungalows, ranches and vineyards and farms—go up in smoke and leave behind a scorched earth. But that land is young once again, ready to grow something new. Destruction. And renewal, rising from the ashes. The story of fire.
Since as of the 15th I have already read 6 books I decided to split this month into two.
