Books - Adult
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A Give Away:) – Rescue: Raising Teens in a Drowning Culture
When I was invited to review (and host a give away of) Rescue: Raising Teens in a Drowning Culture by Candy Gibbs I was most intrigued. Â Cindy Gibbs is the Executive Director of the CareNet Pregnancy Centers in Amarillo, Texas and as someone assisting young people through potentially the most challenging months of their lives I felt her advice would be worthwhile. Mrs Gibbs uses the analogy of a Coast Guard Rescue swimmer who is us, parents, who are trying to rescue our children from this tumultuous culture in which we live. We need flexibility, strength and endurance to battle for our children. Each chapter is broken into; commentaries from…
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Year in Books 2014: Highlights
I always enjoy the book chat that abounds at this time of the year. Casting a look over my own Goodreads I see that once again I’ve read at least 200 books during the past year, as I wasn’t always diligent in recording I know I read more. Taking a look at your readings in its yearly entirety can be a little sobering, this year I’ve read way too much light fiction, plenty of mysteries and a little too much Christian romance.  Though I did find towards the end of the year some novels with substance and also discovered the pleasures of some light Catholic literature and dabbled a little with health and diet books.  I…
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Restoration Novels – Christian Suspense
Occasionally I find a Christian author whose writing style appeals and I settle in to enjoy some Christian fiction, generally romance or suspense. Terri Blackstock’s Restoration Novels are Christian suspense and very engaging. Imagine if tomorrow a supernova sends out pulses that interrupts any and all electromagnetic energy here on earth. There would be chaos, nothing would work that we rely on today in our technological world. Cars couldn’t run, planes couldn’t fly, watches wouldn’t work, nor phones, generators, sewage systems, eftpos machines etc, nor could goods be replenished. Hospitals would have no life saving machines functioning, emergency services couldn’t function and police hard to contact. Banking systems would collapse etc…
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Two Best Sellers
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak In 1939, Nazi Germany, Liesel is a foster girl living in Munich. She loves her accordion playing foster father, she helps her foster parents hide a Jewish man in their basement, and she steals books. Written for young adults this book has everybody talking, it was with interest I picked up my copy to read. I really struggled to ‘get into’ this novel. Reading all the reviews I note with interest The Book Thief provokes two emotions, you either love it or hate it, I’m afraid I fall into the second category. A few reasons that I found totally distracting, The Narrator of the…
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Rhys Bowen Mysteries
This week I’ve been enjoying some of Rhys Bowen‘s mysteries. Rhys Bowen has written three different mystery series, featuring very different leading characters, all set in different countries and time periods. Some I’ve ‘met’ before, some are ‘new friends’. The Constable Evans series is set in rural Wales, possibly in the 1970s or 80s. The main character is local constable Evan Evans, apparently the books are full of local characters and lots of mysteries to solve. Sadly our library doesn’t have any copies so I’ve yet to read any of these. The first Rhys Bowen books I read were her Royal Spyness mysteries. I totally enjoyed Bowen as a writer and couldn’t wait to…
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Discovering New Mystery Series
Always keen to find new book gems, I tend to devour a series or author once discovered, our children also have the same passionate approach to reading. This week I discovered a couple of new mystery series, one of which was a pleasant read, the other was a little too slow. Murder on the Half Shelf – Lorna Barrett Tricia Miles the main character is the owner of ‘Haven’t Got A Clue’, a mystery bookstore in Stoneham, New Hampshire, America. She is an amateur sleuth and embarks upon solving yet another mystery, this one involves a long ago lover whom she thought dead. Characters sprinkled throughout the book include Tricia’s…
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Thought Provoking Adult Novels
Recently I shared that I read 200 books in 2013, what I didn’t share is, I’m a speed reader which helps when reading a large volume. Towards the end of 2013 I considered quality over quantity more. The following books, read in the last weeks of 2013, were chosen on the recommendations of my blogging friends, so keep those book recs coming. Kite Runner The Kite Runner is the story of a friendship between a wealthy Afghan boy and the son of his father’s servant. The novel opens in Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy and continues with the tyranny of the Taliban. This is a…
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2013 Year in Books: Highlights
Reflections posts on ‘Books Read in 2013’ are beginning to appear in my feedly, some of my favourite type of chats. Goodreads record I have read 200 books this year so I’m joining the chatter. As 200 is a fair amount I’ve chosen a few highlights from each month to share, focusing on adult literature. January Kate Shackleton’s mysteries, were a new find, which I thoroughly enjoyed The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh was completely thought provoking. February Discovered Anna Jacobs and began her Swan River Saga with The Trader’s Wife. I’m always a fan of well written Australian historical novels. March Continued reading Anna Jacob’s historical novels. Discovered Daisy Dalrymple’s…
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British Mystery Series – Roaring Twenties
I’m a huge fan of mysteries, an interest that began as a child reading Trixie Belden, Three Investigators and Enid Blyton. Years on I discovered Agatha Christie and Father Brown, once I’d read all those titles the hunt has continued for other authors. Over the years I’ve discovered some real gems (and some real duds), sharing some gems with you. Lately I’ve discovered and am enjoying a few series set just after World War 1. In all three series the protagonist is a female investigator, in a time when roles for women were changing, a period of huge social change though it was still to take many battles before…
