The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth -- I had too many scattery notes so I posted them already
Jesus Freak: Feeding -- Healing -- Raising the Dead
by Sara Miles -- a lovely book. I was touched by many things she wrote
though I disagreed with a few things. Still, stuff like this makes me
smile:
"Sure, it's impossible to feed five thousand
people, make a deaf man hear, bring a dead girl to life, as long as you
obey human rules. So do it God's way instead, Jesus teaches. Say yes. Jump right in. Come and see. Embrace the wrong people. Don't idolize religion. Have mercy. Jesus' tips cast a light forward, steering us through the dark." (pg. 3)
Beyond the Blue by Leslie Gould -- a story about international adoption and a family in Vietnam and another family in Oregon
Little Pretty Things
by Lori Rader-Day -- I saw this in the new books section and thought
I'd give it a try even though I wasn't familiar with the author. I
rather liked it. It's a story about Juliet, ten years after her
high-school graduation, still in the same small town, working at a
one-star motel, and her former best friend showing up at her workplace -
and finding Maddy hanged the next morning right there on the hotel
railing. It's a mystery to be solved.
Prints Charming by Rebeca Seitz -- a light-reading book about friendship, scrapbooking, and finding true love just across the breezeway
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord -- not a light-reading book; an account of the night the Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk
How Sweet the Sound
by Amy Sorrells -- a "coming-of-age tale, inspired by the story of
Tamar," this book tells about life mostly from 13 year old Anniston's
point of view. It discusses family secrets and how they haunt people.
Death of a Dunwoody Matron
by Patricia Sprinkle -- "a Southern mystery" which I really liked for
the most part. I like the main character's sense of humor, and this
story about who killed off doll-like Yvonne - and why?
The Black Hour
by Lori Rader-Day -- when Amelia Emmet returns to teaching after being
shot by a college student, she gets a graduate assistant who is
intrigued by her story, who wants to solve the mystery of why this
student shot a teacher prior to killing himself.
The Secret's in the Sauce
by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson -- the first in The
Potluck Catering Club series. It's not a new series, and I'd previously
skipped over it at the library, but I was in the mood for some light
reading. This is the story of six women who start a catering service.
Each chapter is written or told by one of the members. It was decent so I
got the other two books at the library yesterday. Might as well.
A Taste of Fame
by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson -- book two in the series
mentioned above; this time the ladies compete in a national reality
show: catering for events in New York City
Bake Until Golden by
Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson -- the ladies are back home
from New York, and when a murder occurs in their town, one of them is
the prime suspect
Trouble the Water
by Nicole Seitz -- a pretty good book to read while I was sitting on
the beach listening to the waves during this super-mild December; partly
because the title has "water" in it, and also because it takes place
along the coast of South Carolina. This is the story of Honor and her
showing up at the home of Duchess, and how their lives intermingle. It's
also the story of Alice reading her baby sister's story through letters
as Honor wastes away from an aggressive form of cancer.
Did You Declare the Corpse?
by Patricia Sprinkle -- When MacLaren goes on a trip to Scotland to
explore her genealogical roots, she got more than she bargained for when
two people - one from her group - wind up murdered. I enjoyed learning
a bit about Scotland's history and scenery from this book.
The Lovely Bones
by Alice Sebold -- I got this at a book exchange awhile back. It's
about a girl who was murdered by a neighbor who lured her into his
secret hole in the ground. All that was ever found of her body was an
elbow. And the story is told by Susie as she watches from her heaven.
It's a bit weird.
Hiking Through by
Paul Stutzman -- "One man's journey to peace and freedom on the
Appalachian Trail" ; I like AT stories quite a lot. Andrew and I have
hiked very small parts of areas mentioned in the book so it's always fun
to think of those places when you hear authors mention them. This book
had a lot more God talk than other AT books. We actually heard of this
book from a lady in Damascus, Virginia, back in May when she was
greeting thru-hikers with trail magic (e.g. candy bars) as they came
into the town. I got the book off my wishlist for Christmas and
finished it quickly so it would be my last finished book of the year!
Happy 2016, folks!
