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Erin Darlyn
Original Review
I found Nightwork to be an interesting story in that it focuses primarily on the life of a male main character who has faced hardship and loss and been a thief since he was quite young. Following a MMC who is a sort of anti-hero is something I don???t see a lot in the types of books I have read thus far, so it was entertaining to read a story that was a bit different from what I am used to reading. I liked that we got to learn about Harry???s back story and see how he came to be the man he is later in the book.
That said, I did feel like about a third of the book could have been cut out and I wouldn???t have missed anything. The pace was leisurely, with some of the scenes not really moving the plot along or adding much to the story. There were instances where what I was reading felt like a rehash of a scene I had already read with a couple of minor details changed.
I found the ending to wrap up a bit too tidily without delving into the more realistic mess that would have come along with the circumstances as well.
Overall, the story was entertaining but parts of it were also skimmable.
Original Review
The Secret of the Old Clock is the first book in the hardcover Nancy Drew series (flashlight editions). I read the Nancy Drew books as a young girl and through them, fell in love with reading. That they are still in print and parents are still buying them for their children makes my heart so happy.
This year, I???m attempting to reread all of the original 56 books - about one per week, with some weeks doubled up. I???ve started with book one and it was such a delight to read it again. These mysteries carry so much nostalgia for me, and reading them again feels so comforting - like drinking a hot cup of tea, wrapped up in a cozy blanket on a cushioned window seat listening to the rhythm of the rain; a warm hug for my soul.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Secret of the Old Clock again. I love how the story is set in the 1930???s and carries with it that decade???s unique atmosphere, yet is still so timeless.
My sister once told me she didn???t like Nancy Drew much when she was younger because Nancy is too perfect in the books and I think that is a fair criticism (she is unrealistically perfect and very privileged; some of the circumstances are a bit too tidy as well), but I also think that is one of the things I liked about her stories. Reading them allowed for a bit of escapism and stoked my imagination, and that was still true for me as an adult reading this installment again.
There???s a scene in the story that made me want to find a 1930???s recipe similar to Hannah???s cinnamon cake to bake up and serve with hot applesauce. Why is this not a popular pairing anymore? It sounds delicious!
I???d recommend Nancy???s mysteries for anyone who is interested in a fast-paced, lighthearted middle grade book, for reluctant readers, or for anyone who read them when they were younger and is looking for a serving of nostalgia.
2.5?????? rounded up.
An enjoyable read with a warmth to it that I found refreshing.
Marcellus (an octopus) was my favorite character in the book, and I found the scenes written from his POV endearing. The scenes in which he interacted with Tova were heartwarming and the book had a unique charm to it.
I did feel there were several characters who didn???t really add anything to the story and when we were learning about them, it felt as if nothing was happening to move the story along.
Overall, I liked the book well enough, but didn???t love the whole of it.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Original review can be found here.
I finished reading a library copy of When Religion Hurts You by Dr. Laura Anderson on a Sunday morning and by Sunday afternoon, I had already picked up a physical copy from a local bookstore for my personal library. It is one of the best books I have read this year. I highly recommend it for anyone who has spent time in a high control or spiritually abusive religious environment.
This book was so validating and encouraging. I could relate to a lot of what the author described when she was discussing her own experiences and those of her clients, and I have already talked to my therapist about some of the things I want to explore more as a result of this book. As I read it, I would often turn to my husband and read portions to him, amazed at how some of the things she presented were written word-for-word the way I have described my own experiences in recent months and years.
Dr. Laura presents an abundance of helpful information throughout the book, as well as strategies the reader can implement to aid their own healing process and find safety within their own body again. Some of the things she covers in the book include:
- what spiritual abuse and religious trauma can look like,
- how they can manifest in the body and impact people long after they have left the harmful environment,
- how the nervous system works,
- how purity culture and hierarchical systems play into abusive environments,
- how patriarchy is so frequently ???the foundation of oppression,??? and
- rebuilding identity after leaving such environments and / or deconstructing.
She also made some really interesting connections between nervous system dysregulation and fundamentalism, which I found both fascinating and enlightening.
Overall, I found it to be a very healing read and have already recommended it to several people. You can read a story about an interesting experience I navigated whilst purchasing this book here if you are so inclined.
If I were to choose one or two books that sum up a lot of my theology right now, I would put this one at the top of the list. I can't tell you how refreshing and life-giving it was to read this after having wrestled with all of these questions myself, refusing to settle for the surface-level explanations, for the last several years. It's been my favorite read of the year thus far and I highly recommend it. If you have access to Hoopla through your library card, I found the audiobook on there (it's free to listen to through Hoopla) and it's a reasonably short listen. If the book resonates with you, I think you'll also like Love Wins by Rob Bell and Original Blessing by Danielle Shroyer.
I have come to most of the same “conclusions” (I hold that word loosely these days) the author shares in this book on my own over time but had not heard anyone else speak about having similar views / values until very recently. I found this a thoroughly encouraging read.
Wreck the Halls is my local book club's pick for this month. If it hadn't been, I probably would not have read it, as I remember glancing at the blurb on the back when the book came out and not being interested enough in the story to buy it.
The book is about the adult children of a famous rock duo that split up decades ago. A reality TV producer conscripts them into convincing their mothers to agree to a Christmas Eve reunion performance with the promise of a good chunk of money for each of them if they succeed. Enter the internal and external antagonists that exist for subplot purposes and you have an entirely predictable, lighthearted, yet too-spicy-for-Hallmark romance.
Personally, I felt like the book alternated between being amusing and being a little too easy to put down. Though the characters were decently developed (though not without their inconsistencies), I found myself rolling my eyes at them at times, and the plot left me feeling bored more than once. There were a few scenes that came across as utterly ridiculous or unrealistic, and that left me feeling like the story itself wasn't believable. If I hadn't wanted to finish reading it before my book club meeting tomorrow, I likely would have DNF'd the book.
Overall, it just ended up not being a good fit for me. As my first Tessa Bailey book, it didn't leave me wanting to try any of her others.
Typos / editing errors: multiple
Language: heavy (79 uses of the f-word / its variations; 230+ uses of other obscenities)
Spice: explicit
The premise of this book has merit, and there is some useful information in it, but it is also based on a borrowed premise and, as such, there was not much in it that I had not heard elsewhere.
There are hundreds of spoilers in this book. If you have an extensive or diverse TBR, you may find yourself needing to skip paragraphs or even multiple pages of content to avoid spoiling a story you want to read. This might make it less than useful for some readers. Additionally, while the author???s analyses are insightful, they are also sometimes ???fluffy,??? and the book does contain some editing errors / typos.
I think this book best serves as a beginner???s introduction to storytelling. It???s limited in scope but does give the reader a jumping off point.
I picked this one up because it was on display in the bookstore and the cover art caught my eye. I flipped through it and loved the illustrations. Having now read it, I found the characters flat and the plot meandering and predictable. I probably won???t revisit the story, but it is a beautiful book.
This book contains some beautifully expressed ideas about God written by a 14th century Christian mystic. I enjoyed reading it!
Two of my favorite excerpts:
??????it is the natural yearning of the soul touched by the Holy Ghost to say, ???God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honour. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything.??????
??????for the goodness of God is the highest object of prayer and it reaches down to our lowest need. It quickens our soul and gives it life, and makes it grow in grace and virtue??? it is the same grace which the soul seeks and always will seek until we truly know him who has enclosed us in himself; for he does not despise what he has made, nor does he disdain to serve us???through love of the soul which he has made in his own likeness; for as the body is clad in the cloth, and the flesh in the skin, and the bones in the flesh, and the heart in the chest, so are we, soul and body, clad in the goodness of God and enclosed in it??????
Link to Original Review.
???The first revelation I had the year I sat in bed was that I had made a deal without realizing it when I entered the church and when I married my husband - a deal with patriarchy, if you will. And while I had upheld my end of it, the men I???d made the deal with had not upheld theirs.They wanted me to submit and follow, and I did. I???d embraced their ideas, and I???d done my part of the work. I stayed home, supported my husband, and raised the children. I???d gotten up every morning and tried my best to fulfill patriarchy???s dreams - the dream of male leadership. In return, the men of the church had promised to protect and love me. But they did not do that.They did not protect or cherish me. They did not acknowledge the whole me. How can someone protect or cherish something they don???t even see? Or don???t wish to see? I had no voice or place in their world. The real me was punished and tamed like Eve??????
The Woman They Wanted: Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife
I Kissed Dating Goodbye
Boy Meets Girl.
Link to Original Review
Priscilla???s Letter: Finding the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is a well written, thought-provoking exploration of the idea that the canonical book of Hebrews could have been written by Priscilla (of Priscilla / Prisca and Aquila).
While we cannot be absolutely certain of Hebrews??? authorship from just the information we have available today, Ruth does a fantastic job laying out a case for the possibility that Priscilla was the author. She demonstrates the ways the unnamed author of the book uses feminine language and identifies with women throughout the book of Hebrews, examines the other potential authors of the book (and shows why they cannot be candidates for authorship), then presents all of the factors that could point to Priscilla as the author using well-cited, well-researched historical and contextual information.
Having now read the book, I agree that there is good evidence that the usual suspects for authorship are unlikely and that it is entirely plausible that the writer was a woman. Ruth makes a compelling case for Priscilla???s authorship and the book is a fascinating read. I definitely recommend it.