Books

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I also write book reviews for Straight Off The Page.

The Night Stand | 06/17

The Night Stand | 06/17

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What’s on my night stand? (Or my audible player?):

Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me

by Ian Morgan Cron

I’m listening to this “memoir…of sorts” via my library’s Hoopla app. I read Cron’s novel Chasing Francis in graduate school, so I was already a little bit familiar with Cron and had heard good things about his non-fiction memoir. While some aspects of this book are certainly hard (an alcoholic father), I’m thoroughly enjoying hearing about Cron’s Irish Catholic upbringing in the 60s and 70s. Not entirely told chronologically, I’m also appreciating the essay-like structure of it and the author’s way of allowing the reader to make connections and draw conclusions themselves without always having to explicitly state what his experiences have meant to him. Not a light read, but humorous and worthwhile.

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The Night Stand

The Night Stand

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What’s on my night stand? (Or my audible player?):

Attachments

Attachments by Rainbow Rowellby Rainbow Rowell

I snagged the Kindle version of this book after having read and enjoyed Eleanor and Park. While Rowell’s use of profanity irks me a bit (and feels unnecessary), her quirky, unique writing style is thoroughly enjoyable. Like Eleanor and Park, her characters are anything but trite. They are often deeply flawed, but lovable — and believable — people just like you or me. No incredible heroes or impossible heroines, but people you think, “Yeah, I could be friends with you.” Attachments was also a fun look back at the turn of Y2K!
 
 
 

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Book Review: Tranquility

Book Review: Tranquility

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Tranquility JournalTranquility: A Prayer and Reflection Coloring Journal immediately sparked my interest. It combines several things I’m interested in at the moment: Prayer, peace, and coloring.

As I’m watching my 14-month-old daughter and wondering when she’ll be old enough to appreciate coloring (as though I need an excuse to break out the art supplies), I’m enjoying a foray into the wonderful world of grown-up coloring.

The hard cover and thick paper stock of Tranquility are top notch quality. The designs are varied and interesting, prompting new ideas with each turn of the page. Each spread is vastly different, some requiring more coloring than others, some suggesting more writing than others. They are all beautiful and creative. The colors that are printed in the journal are rich, gentle tones. Read more →

Book Review: Deep Extraction

Book Review: Deep Extraction

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Deep Extraction by Diann MillsThe second novel in the FBI Task Force Series by DiAnn Mills, Deep Extraction, is a great follow-up to Deadly Encounter.

A pacemaker should have saved oil and gas magnate Nathan Moore’s life. Instead, it provided his killer with a seemingly perfect means of execution.

A bombing at one of Nathan’s oil rigs days earlier indicates his death could be part of a bigger conspiracy, a web Special Agent Tori Templeton must untangle. But her first order of business is separating the personal from the professional—the victim’s wife, her best friend, is one of the FBI’s prime suspects.

Clearing Sally’s name may be the biggest challenge of her career, but Tori finds an unexpected ally in the newest member of the task force, recently reinstated Deputy US Marshal Cole Jeffers. As Tori and Cole dig deeper into Nathan’s personal and business affairs, they uncover more than they bargained for. And the closer they get to finding the real killer—and to each other—the more intent someone is on silencing them for good.

While I struggled with the believability of certain aspects of Deadly Encounter, Deep Extraction didn’t leave me with nearly as many questions. In this installment, instead of a civilian working with the FBI to solve a murder, a FBI special agent and a U.S. Marshall deputy work together on a special task force to solve the murder of a mutual friend. While some suspension of disbelief is still required, this is a much more likely scenario. Read more →

Book Review: Rescue Me

Book Review: Rescue Me

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Rescue Me by Susan May WarrenI’m a fan of contemporary Christian author Susan May Warren and her suspense fiction. Her latest series, Montana Rescue, is set in my beautiful state of Montana (I say “my” state because I love it so…and I did live there for four years in college) and my most favorite of all national parks, Glacier.

Book one, Wild Montana Skies, was definitely worth picking up for a bit of fun and suspense, so I eagerly awaited book two in the series, Rescue Me, which released this past January.

When Deputy Sam Brooks commits to something, nothing can sway him–not just on the job but in his private life. He’s the one who stuck around to take care of his mother after his father’s accidental death. And he’s the one–perhaps the only one–who believes Sierra Rose is the perfect girl for him. Safe, practical, and organized, she’s nothing like her hippie, impulsive, bleeding-heart sister, Willow.

Willow, however, has been in love with Sam Brooks for as long as she can remember. But she wants her sister to have a happy ending. Besides, Willow has other things to focus on–namely, nabbing the job of her dreams. Best thing for her to do is to purge Sam from her heart.

Neither can predict the events that will bring them together in a fight for their lives in the forbidding wilderness of Glacier National Park. Stranded, injured, and with the winter weather closing in, Sam and Willow will have to work together to save a crew of terrified teenagers. As they fight to survive, they might just discover a new hope for love.

As always, Warren is an accomplished writer with a knack for creating suspense and likable characters. And while her Montana Rescue Series isn’t my favorite series of hers, I am enjoying the novels. Read more →

Book Review: Your Magnificent Chooser

Book Review: Your Magnificent Chooser

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Your Magnificent Chooser by John OrtbergI’m always looking for ways to bring big concepts of faith into our home on Fiona’s level. She so young, figuring out how to explain something like a conscience is really hard. In Your Magnificent Chooser, pastor and author John Ortberg brings the concept of will to a concrete level.

With wonderful illustrations by Robert Dunn, Your Magnificent Chooser shows children how their personal will determines the choices that they make, and — most importantly — the they have control of their chooser! In a world where children are taught that the world revolves around their whims, that they can’t (or don’t have to) control their reactions, Your Magnificent Chooser puts the control of choice back into the child’s hands. Read more →

Book Review: Over Maya Dead Body

Book Review: Over Maya Dead Body

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Over Maya Dead Body by Sandra OrchardAfter being surprised by Another Day, Another Dali, I was keen to pick up Over Maya Dead Body, the third book in the Serena Jones Mysteries Series by Sandra Orchard.

FBI Special Agent Serena Jones arrives on Martha’s Vineyard with her family, ready for a bit of R & R and a lot of reminiscing as they celebrate the engagement of an old family friend. But when a suspicious death tied to an antiquities smuggling ring interrupts her picture-perfect trip, she’s soon entangled in the investigation.

Propelled into danger, Serena must stay the course and solve this case before anyone else dies. But just how is she supposed to do that when the two men in her life arrive on the scene, bringing with them a boatload of romantic complications–and even a secret or two?

Similarly to the previous book in the series, it was the characters that stood out to me in Over Maya Dead Body. Read more →

The Night Stand

The Night Stand

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What’s on my night stand? (Or my audible player?):

I Am Malala

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzaiby Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai

This has been on my TBR list since it first came out, but I never seem to make time for non-fiction. I have found my rhythm though, and as I commute an hour into work every morning, I listen to a podcast or non-fic selection. This is the latest on my Audible player. Malala became a household name when she was shot in the head at just 16 years old for standing up for the right of girls to access education in Pakistan. Today, she is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and an advocate for girls education around the world. Both her passion and her personal story piqued my interest. I’m enjoying hearing more about her culture, her home in the Swat Valley, her close relationship with her father, and her passion for education. Definitely recommend this one, and the audio version is great!

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