Tag: Reading

Books · Hobbies

Reading just for fun

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Since Easter in early April this year, I’ve been reading for fun. Here are a couple of books I finished and why you should read them:

When in Rome

The first one I picked up was a gift from my sister-in-law for Christmas. Boy, does she *get* me. This charming rom-com, “When in Rome” by Sarah Adams, featured a stressed-out pop singer (think Taylor Swift) who was hooked on Audrey Hepburn movies, especially Roman Holiday. When Audrey’s character had too much to cope with, she escaped to Rome, Italy. When the lead character in the book, singer Rae Rose took off for the nearest Rome she could find to her home in Nashville – Rome, Georgia. Of course, there she meets the charming and handsome single man, unlucky in love, who is carrying on tradition by running the family pie shop. You can guess it all from there – it’s a delightful combination of Roman Holiday and every Hallmark movie. Plus Rae’s witchy manager who makes her life a torment!

The Guest List

Next up was another gift from my sister-in-law, and again, she did not disappoint. “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley was a Reese’s Book Club pick as well as a New York Times bestseller. This mystery keeps you guessing until the last chapter – the person you think will be killed isn’t. And the person you think did it, didn’t. Set on an island off the coast of Ireland, the scene is a celebrity destination wedding. The bridesmaid, the plus-one, the best man, and the wedding planner all have secrets. And the bride and groom both have character flaws that are slowly revealed through the story. This is a fascinating thriller in the style of Agatha Christie.

Sex and Vanity: A Novel

Lastly, I read a book that wasn’t nearly as trashy as the title makes it sound: “Sex and Vanity: A Novel” by Kevin Kwan, the author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. This one starts with a wedding also – but this time on the fashionable island of Capri. Half the fun is the description of the lavish, over-the-top, week-long wedding celebration of a high-society couple. All the parties, bridal shower, special concert and pre-wedding activities are lovingly detailed, as well as the wedding itself. Kwan grew up in the rich Singaporean society he wrote about in his Crazy Rich series, so he speaks from authority when he addresses the clothes, hobbies, and preoccupations of the one percent. One amusing aspect: when each character is introduced in the narrative, Kwan gives the person’s educational background, starting with exclusive primary school and private secondary school, then on to top league college and grad school. It’s a fluffy look at how the creme de la creme live, play, and spend the money. And of course, there’s a happy ending. It’s like indulging in a delightful chocolate bon bon!

Books

Still reading….

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This isn’t a review. Just a paragraph to say that the book I’m finishing now for Lent is one of my favorites.

Jesus through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord by Rebecca McLaughlin contains some of the most famous women in the Gospels – and some whose names we never know. (I’d love to meet the smart woman who replied to Jesus that “even dogs have the right to eat the crumbs from the Master’s table.”)

It’s a pleasure to read a book that focuses solely on the women in the Bible. I’ll have more on this when I finish it next week.

Books

Let’s read others’ body language

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Consider these situations: A CEO is across the table from negotiating with a peer for the best terms in a merger. A mother is questioning her teenage son about where he was the night before. An HR rep is interviewing a new prospect.

Every one of these people wants to know what the other person is thinking.

They’d have no problems if they read Joe Navarro’s “What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People.” This book not only shows you how to read the clues when someone is being dishonest, but it also teaches how to maintain situational awareness, and maybe even win a poker game or two.

The limbic brain in action

Navarro and his co-author begin with an explanation of the brain, and how our most primitive brain – the limbic brain – is responsible for most of our body language. We’re responding to situations with the most basic of impulses without thinking: freeze, flight, or fight.

This book is filled with examples of body cues Navarro learned from his 25-year career in the FBI. These memorable vignettes are liberally placed through the book, and along with numerous photos demonstrating each body position, help break up the text chock full of citations. Some of the scenarios are ones you can practice immediately.

And – the one area of the body which is the most “honest” part? The part of the body that cannot but help but give you away if you are lying? It’s not your face. A trained poker player can master their face. No, the answer will surprise you. And I’m not giving it away here – go get the book

Books

An Attack on Us

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Is it possible the United States could face the same kind of danger here at home that many countries have experienced? What if Israel’s 10/7 happened here? Most importantly, is that plausible?

Kurt Schlichter thinks so. This author, attorney and commentator released a short novel on Jan. 8 that says yes, it could happen here, all too easily. “The Attack” takes the current national security weak points that everyone knows about and yet no one does anything about, the porous border and an ineffectual government response, and draws the tale out to a logical conclusion. If there is no real border, and thousands of undocumented, unverified, *unvetted* people are moving across each day, hundreds of jihadi could be slowly positioning themselves for an attack. With one phone call they could be activated to strike at once. As Kurt points out in his novel, it’s quite an enhancement when the leaders don’t have to do any command. Jihadis eager to kill as many and welcoming death will cause significant chaos without any fancy plans or leadership.

The novel suggests an event that spreads to touch nearly all Americans. During 9/11, most of the country was untouched physically. Imagine an attack designed to be so vast that no one section of the country could look on in horror, and reassure themselves, that kind of thing happens only in New York or Washington. I remember during 9/11 reassuring my roommate that terrorists weren’t coming to our small town – and being fairly certain I was right. In the novel, one statistician estimated that 84% of Americans knew someone personally who had been killed. Ninety-eight (98)% knew someone who knew someone who was killed. That impact is the kind which remakes country.

Kurt wrote “The Attack” in just three short months after the October 7 attack in Israel. The man is known for turning out a novel each year in his Kelly Turnbull series, on top of his regular day job, but this is impressive even for him. A publishing house approached him about doing a non-fiction work, but another friend persuaded him to turn it into fiction.

The story takes the form of an oral history, with “The Author” interviewing witnesses and participants in the attack five years later. Kurt structures the interviews into before, during each of the three days of the attack, and after. Each story is a short chapter. The “interviewees” range from those cartel members who facilitated the transfer of jihadis and weapons, housewives and mothers who survived attacks on their families, orphans who saw their families killed in front of them, to historians cataloguing the events. It is hard to read, but the story is so fascinating you are compelled to read on.

And it is all too possible. Pray that such an event never happens here.

The beautiful books of Christmas 2023
Books · Christmas · Family · Gratitude

The beautiful books of Christmas 2023

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Friends and family showered me with books

Every Christmas – what do you do after the last present has been unwrapped, ooohed and ahhhed over, and the ribbons and paper tossed aside? I don’t know about you, but I grab another cup of coffee and sit down with my new books. And this year was a doozy! Some came from my Amazon wish list, and some came from the stellar gift-giving skills of my friends and family. Here, let me show you:

The first one I read through in just an hour or two – it’s a speedy read at only 108 pages. How the *Bleep* Did You Find Me? is skiptracer Judi Sheek’s story of her 30 years in the skiptracing, or “bounty-hunting” business, as I call it. She actually had one subject ask her the question that became the book’s title point blank. It’s the perfect collection of stories about how we leave evidence of our lives EVERYWHERE. Of course, you think – we have digital footprints all over! But people were doing skiptracing long before the internet. She can find practically any document you’ve ever signed. If you have a utility bill, then you can be found. I loved this book. After reading it I immediately checked to make sure all my social media settings were “private.”

Next, I tore through a commemorative magazine on The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Mom knows I’m fascinated by the British royals – all those pretty gowns! The jewels! The tiaras and crowns! – so she made sure I had this copy. It even covered the 2023 coronation of King Charles III.

Art and Wisdom

Next were three beautiful books that arrived before Christmas, from my sweet friend Jill. First one I read was Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write. She knows I’m working on a story of my own, and I was thrilled to see the different spaces famous writers had created for themselves. Some were pristine, set with windows looking over beautiful views, and others were as messy as mine. Jane Austen made do with a tiny 12-sided table in the family parlor. The book is illustrated with glorious watercolors of the spaces, and some vintage photographs.

Next up is Bedside Companion for Book Lovers: An Anthology of Literary Delights for Every Night of the Year. I’ve read just one item in it, for the day I received the book. Then, I decided to keep it by my bedside for 2024. Each page is numbered by the day of the year – January 1, January 2, and so forth. The night’s selection might be a poem, single paragraph, or a full page. I can’t wait to delve into it each night before bed, last thing before I go to sleep. With this gift I moved the floor lamp behind my bed to function as a reading light.

Jill gave me also a new book from a favorite artist and author – Susan Branch. Her Distilled Genius – A Collection of Life-Changing Quotes is enough to fill three commonplace books. Each page is hand-painted – both text and illustrations – by this wonderful artist. Because of her work I’ve added Martha’s Vineyard, her island home, to my bucket list of places I must visit.

Romance, Thrills, and Horror

When I looked at my Christmas gift from “the Rust gang” – my brother Bill’s family – then I knew I was in for a treat. Sister-in-law Reisha wrapped everything in a bibliophile-friendly book tote, with the covers of famous classics on the front. In addition to many other gifts (stationery AND stamps! An embosser to put my seal on all my books!) I received three books I’ve moved to the top of my must-read pile.

I’ve already started Neal Shusterman’s Unwind and it is living up to the word ‘dystopian.’ A group of teenagers is on the run in a post-war America; an America that fought a civil war over abortion. The two sides signed a treaty that outlawed abortion; but made it possible for parents and the state to “unwind” teens from 13 to 17. It’s a basically organ donation of – everything! And society tells itself that the teen isn’t technically being killed – they keep living in a “divided” state. Now that I type that I realize how ridiculous it is. But I want to find out what happens to these three, so I’m gonna keep on reading!

The two that I haven’t started are When in Rome by Sarah Adams and The Guest List by Lucy Foley. I will probably read “When in Rome” first – it looks like a cheerful romance. Per the cover blurb: “This modern take on the Hepburn classic Roman Holiday is a quick, fun, slow-burn romance.” Sounds wonderful! And then I get to enjoy a Reese’s Book Club selection, “The Guest List.” From the back cover:

An exclusive wedding on a remote Irish island. The bride. The plus-one. The best man. The wedding planner. The bridesmaid. All have a secret. All have a motive. But only one is a murderer.

Yes, please! I’m so excited to have a few days off for the holiday. Lots of time to read!

What if you lived forever?
Books · Introspection

What if you lived forever?

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Escapism with truth thrown in

Columnist John Nolte took on this theme in his first novel Borrowed Time, published this September. I bought it almost immediately and read it in two days. Then I proceeded to re-read it, savoring my favorite parts. I’m still re-reading chapters.

This is not a typical science fiction story, although the premise begins that way: a man born to a tribe of North American Indians, so ancient they predate all others we know about, learns he cannot die. Or rather – he dies, and then comes back, always to the same spot in the southwest desert.

We learn just enough about Joshua Mason’s life across the millennia to understand his frustration and fascination with the “All-at-Once” – Mason’s term for the stupendous amount and rate of change that took place in only the last 150 years of his existence. To him it seemed as if modernity hit “all-at-once” – the machines, the speed, the conveniences. His love of modern air-conditioning made this Southerner smile.

Not about the woo-woo

Mason is far wiser than most he meets today, who are never happy, never have enough, never stop to think how blessed they (and we) are. Written by a lesser author, you’d get the feel of a forced sermon. But Nolte is too good for that – Mason’s thoughts are woven into the book’s central plot: a love story. Nolte never hectors the reader.

Mason loves Doreen so fully that he gladly participates in their “secret” marriage. He spends 30 years as her handyman at the motel she runs on a back road bypassed by the interstate. Guests are so few no one realizes it is the same handyman over the years. How they cope is a blend of comedy and tragedy, especially after Doreen’s brain-damaged grandson comes to live with them. He is not just physically ill; the car accident warped his soul as well.

Their love story, and the people they meet over the years, are the reason I come back to the book. Even the evil characters in this book are painted in full, allowing us to realize why they act the way they do. Every time I came close to pitying a major antagonist, I realized that character’s choices made them the way they were.

Thankfully, there are a few in the book who are purely happy. And these people, Mason thinks, are the few he’d want to live forever. They are content. They make me think of Paul’s words:

 I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 

Philippians 4:11b-12

Borrowed Time by John Nolte

Are we doomed to be poor forever?
Books

Are we doomed to be poor forever?

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You Will Own Nothing: Your War with a New Financial World Order and How to Fight Back is infuriating.

The author’s details of how you will be made to own nothing are well-documented. Author Carol Roth quotes the financial leaders themselves who are moving us toward this goal.

My oldest nephew is 25. When his dad was just two years older, he bought his first house. My nephew is currently renting and living a low-budget lifestyle as he plans out his future – which doesn’t include home ownership any time soon. Chapter 8. “Renting the American Dream” made me despair that my nephew, or any of my younger relatives, will be able to do the same. They’ll be in their early 30s before they achieve that goal. When home ownership is THE way to creating wealth for most Americans – how can they truly say they have a piece of the American dream when they’re just renting?

Roth is a former investment banker (she says “recovering”) and entrepreneur, TV host and pundit, and New York Times bestselling author. Her other books include The War on Small Business and The Entrepreneur Equation. She’s written this book to explain why these problems are happening – and what we can do to fight back. I read it because it is the first selection in Stephen Kruiser’s Morning Briefing Book Club.

Practical Note: For a gen X’er like me, who has ruined her attention span with social media over the last 10 years, forcing my brain to focus on the financial details was a strain. The book’s Audible version made this easier and about 9 hours, it was perfect for a weekend trip.

A debased dollar

We know how much less our dollar buys these days. A debased dollar is just one facet of the move us to a new financial world order. Roth acknowledges exactly how conspiratorial the “new world order” concept sounds. But she illustrates with mini lessons from financial history, tales of our government’s financial blunders, and the trends toward globalization how we’re headed to this future.

Anyone who is not looking askance at the World Economic Forum (WEF) – an entity I couldn’t name three years ago – simply hasn’t read this book.

The complexity of our financial system, coupled with the shattering of our concentration by 280-byte posts and 20-second reels, has led us to ignore what is happening.

Looking askance is too ladylike a phrase. You’ll be spitting blood at the description of this group and their plans to beggar middle- and working-class Americans. All Americans except for the wealthiest who can maneuver in ways we cannot.

Demoralized yet?

Roth acknowledges “you may be demoralized” in the book’s final chapter on how to fight back. “No kidding,” I thought. The first 10 chapters detail how many parts of American lives today are all working to render us poor.

Crushing college loans, stripping of digital rights in social media, and digital currencies are all a part. Her explanation of Environment Social Governance (ESG), shows exactly why certain companies make moves that crater their stock price, ensuring stockholders own less. Think Anheuser Busch and the Bud Light debacle.

The complexity of our financial system, coupled with the shattering of our concentration by 280-byte posts and 20-second reels, has led us to ignore what is happening. We can’t do that any longer. Roth exhorts us through well-documented stats to wake up, realize what is happening, and take back control of our own finances. Then we can work with others to assert our individual rights over the financial tyrants positioned atop the corporations who want to ensure we will own nothing.

Whatcha Reading Wednesday
Books

Whatcha Reading Wednesday

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It’s WWW Wednesday again! This round-up is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Today I answer the three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you just finish reading?
  • What are you going to read next?

What are you currently reading?

Thanks to the gift of a TV, I’ve spent my time watching Amazon Prime videos instead of reading. So I’m still making my way through the books I picked out for Lent: Revelation for Everyone by N.T. Wright and What if it’s True: A Storyteller’s Journey with Jesus by Charlie Martin. The first is a good verse by verse guide to the most mysterious book of the Bible. The second is a good look at one man’s experiences with faith. I’m reading this one because the title struck me so hard in the bookstore* and I’m thinking I’ll give this one to a friend I know after I’m done. (*Yes, an actual bookstore. I still go to those!)

What did you recently finish reading?

Love, love, love Dame Agatha Christie

These two books from Agatha Christie are a cherished pleasure. I had a lot of stress this past month, and a good Christie is something that takes away that stress. Both of these are slightly different: there’s no Hercule Poirot, for one (how I love that funny Belgian detective) or Miss Marple (equally beloved.) Instead, Christie uses the thoughts of the different dramatis personae to tell the story of Sparkling Cyanide. The protagonist of Passenger to Frankfurt, one of Christie’s last works, is the hero and the tale is told focusing on him.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I’ve gotta be real with myself: I’m not going to get around to Dante’s Purgatory. As Twain said, a classic is a book everyone wants to have read but hasn’t.

Whatcha Reading Wednesday
Books

Whatcha Reading Wednesday

AuntGemLeave a comment

It’s WWW Wednesday again! This round-up is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Today I answer the three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you just finish reading?
  • What are you going to read next?

What are you currently reading?

During the last few weeks of Lent I’m adding in more religious reading. Below are two of the books I’ve been reading through right now: Revelation for Everyone by N.T. Wright and What if it’s True: A Storyteller’s Journey with Jesus by Charlie Martin. The first is a good verse by verse guide to the most mysterious book of the Bible. The second is a good look at one man’s experiences with faith. I’m reading this one because the title struck me so hard in the bookstore* and I’m thinking I’ll give this one to a friend I know after I’m done. (*Yes, an actual bookstore. I still go to those!)

What did you recently finish reading?

I’ve loved each book I read in the Liturgical Mystery series. Organist/choir director Hayden Konig gets to investigate a crime – when he’s not trying to write hard-boiled detective fiction in the manner of Raymond Chandler. Oh, and he’s also the town’s chief of police. It all works out with a cast of characters every bit as lovable and eccentric as those in Mitford. It’s a cosy read, just perfect for relaxing with after a long day at work. This one was perfect for the lead-up to St. Patrick’s and during Lent – because the characters are going through the same season.

More Cosy Reads

I’ve also wanted to “escape” more – and these two old favorites from Agatha Christie certainly fit the bill for that. I can’t believe publishers are changing her words in the name of sensitivity. I don’t think anyone should tamper with her words.

What do you think you’ll read next?

At this rate – who knows if I’ll get around to reading Dante’s Purgatory. Prediction: 20% probability.

Whatcha Reading Wednesday
Books

Whatcha Reading Wednesday

AuntGemLeave a comment

It’s WWW Wednesday again! This round-up is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Today I answer the three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you just finish reading?
  • What are you going to read next?

What are you currently reading?

I adore these “liturgical mysteries.” They’re not about the dogmas or doctrines of the church; they’re about all the crazy characters in a small N.C. mountain town. Everyone from a small-town police chief/choir director who dreams of being the next Raymond Chandler, to the belly-dancing waitress/town mayor. It’s a hoot. This one is perfect for the lead-up to St. Patrick’s and during Lent – because the characters are going through the same season.

What did you recently finish reading?

I’ve loved each book I read in the Liturgical Mystery series. “The Organist Wore Pumps” is the eighth time organist/choir director Hayden Konig gets to investigate a crime – when he’s not trying to write hard-boiled detective fiction in the manner of Raymond Chandler. Oh, and he’s also the town’s chief of police. It all works out with a cast of characters every bit as lovable and eccentric as those in Mitford. It’s a cosy read, just perfect for relaxing with after a long day at work.

This wonderful book has caused me to rethink the way I eat. I posted a full review earlier this week.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I am trying to get to around to reading Dante’s Purgatory. But I’ve just not been ready to put aside my cosy mysteries. Perhaps next week!