Send Your Submissions Now!!

The October Edition of the Bookworms Carnival is fast approaching. I am hosting this edition and the submission deadline is October 12. This month's theme is Thrills and Chills: Spooky Books that Keep You Up at Night. I'm interested in all kinds of thrilling submissions: what's the scariest book you've read lately and why did it scare you? Your submission might be a non-fiction thriller. It could be a spooky horror novel. It could be a dark classic or a chilling young adult novel. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts are great but also try to think outside the box...one of the scariest books I read in recent years was about the small pox virus!

To submit your entry you can use the Blog Carnival Submission Form or email me at kjoywilliams at gmail dot com. I'm looking forward to reading your entries and, hopefully, expanding my to read list!

A Disappointing Book Club selection

Starting this month I am leading my library's book club. The group picked the first 4 books we'll be reading a few months ago. I'm actually looking forward to or have already read most of the books they selected and I'm sure the discussions will be interesting and lively. I'm excited about this new opportunity.

Last night was my first meeting and it was fun. My enjoyment was only tempered by the fact that I really disliked the book we read, The Haj by Leon Uris. I'm not really a fan of Leon Uris's writing anyway and I thought this novel was particularly bad. The story did not flow very well, Uris seems to periodically throw in little history lectures that have very little to do with the plot line. I also did not like the characters. Only the main character, Haj Ibrahim, was fully developed and he was really unlikeable. The other characters seem to fall into really obvious stereotypes...all Jews were good, all Arabs were bad. Overall, I thought the book was actually pretty racist. I've read much better treatments of the genesis of the state of Israel in the modern era.

So, this month's book club was not very successful, at least for me. I am looking forward to next month's discussion...I've already read the book, The Deep Dark by Gregg Olsen.

Book Awards Reading Challenge #3

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron wasn't originally on my list for the Book Awards Reading Challenge. I enjoyed this Newbery Award winner so much, though, that I wanted to share my thoughts with other challenge participants.

We meet the protagonist of this novel, Lucky Trimble, when she is eavesdropping on an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Her town being very small, only 43 people, she is able to immediately identify the voices of the participants as they talk about hitting bottom and then finding their "higher power." Lucky wonders about this higher power and wants to know how to find hers. Obviously she can't ask anyone because then they'd know she was eavesdropping! Lucky needs her higher power because she thinks her guardian, her father's ex-wife Brigitte, is planning to return to her home in France, leaving Lucky to be a ward of the state.

I really enjoyed this sweet little book about belonging, accepting loss, and moving on. I liked Lucky a lot and wouldn't mind meeting her in future books from Susan Patron! This coming week is Banned Books Week at your local library and that is actually one of the reasons I read this book. It seems some people think the word "scrotum" is inappropriate for the target audience of this book (ages 9-12). I, personally, prefer the use of anatomically correct terms and that is exactly how the word was used. Anyway, I had to check it out for myself and I'm glad I did!

I am a good housekeeper, I promise

So, today I was folding some clothes in our bedroom. Helen was in the room with me, looking in the full length mirror and exploring. So, I got down on my hands and knees to play with her. She loves to be scared so I hide and then pop out and say "boo". It is fun for everyone.

Anyway, as I was on my knees beside the bed I noticed a strange smell. I peeked under the bed but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Actually, we store very little under the bed...just a plastic tote with sweaters, a shelf that doesn't really fit on our entertainment center, a pillow I'm not using anymore, and a purse.

So, when I noticed the strange smell I decided to investigate further. I remembered that the last time I'd used the purse was went I went on a plane trip to Toronto 2+ years ago. I thought that maybe I'd accidentally left some kind of food item in the purse. So, I decided to check it out. Imagine my horror and disgust when I opened the purse and discovered a dead mouse! Now I'm wondering how long he's been there...he doesn't look too decayed. I hope he isn't too fresh. I hope we don't have a horrible infestation. I'm so grossed out. Isn't this why we have a cat?


So, because I obviously need housekeeping help, I'm entering the contest at 5 Minutes for Mom. They're giving away a pink Dyson and I want one badly!!!

But, it's just not fair!

I've been thinking a lot about fairness lately. It seems like the ideas of fairness and rights and personal freedoms are deeply ingrained in our thoughts and attitudes, especially here in the United States. Personal liberty is such a cornerstone of our nation and it is definitely something to be grateful for and proud of. At the same time, a constant focus on my rights and my freedoms does not make for healthy relationships, with family members, spouse and, especially, with God.

My husband and I have recently been having a disagreement. The disagreement is exacerbated by the fact that this is his busy season and he's been working really long hours, often 12 to 14 hours a day. Obviously that doesn't leave a lot of time for discussion and we are both pretty exhausted during the time we do have together. During this time of year (and the spring, which is also a busy season for him) we try to avoid making important decisions but, as you know, life goes on regardless of busy seasons! So, as it happens, something as come up with has caused some discussion and a bit of conflict.

The nature of the conflict isn't especially important. I don't really want to get specific about it because I want to be careful not to say anything that could be seen in any way as being disrespectful of my husband, a man I respect very much. The important thing about the disagreement, for the purposes of this post, at least, is the reaction that I keep having. Every time my husband and I talk about the issue facing us (and, honestly, during the day when I'm rehashing things in my brain) all I can think is that "it's just not fair." And, yes, you can read that in a snotty 15 year old voice and see me with my hands on my hips. I may be 30 but my inner self sometimes forgets to behave with any maturity.

The thing is, what is fair in a marriage? What decision could be reached that would be fair for one spouse and not fair for the other? What rights do I have that could possibly supersede the rights of my spouse? 1 Corinthians 7:4 says that "The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." Aside from the obvious physical implications of this scripture, what it says is that we belong to each other. There is nothing "fair" or "right" for me, there is only what is "fair" and "right" for US. I know this and I believe this and I try to act this out. So why is it so hard to remember sometimes?

My mom gave me a book about a year ago called Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. The basic premise of the book is that marriage is designed to make us holy, to draw us closer to God. One of the quotes from the book that I like the most is from Gary Ricucci. He says, "One of the best wedding gifts God gave you was a full-length mirror called your spouse. Had there been a card attached, it would have said, here's to helping you discover what you're really like." Isn't that true! In this difficult, busy season for my husband, I'm worried about how something is affecting me, not how this conflict is making things even more difficult for my husband! It is embarrassing to reveal just how selfish I am....but I am growing every day!

Family drama magnified

Now that Helen is walking, she's in to everything and it seems like she's napping a lot less. We're also attempting to cut back on nursing (I won't say the "w" word yet because I'm not sure weaning is what we're doing). Anyway, all of this translates into my having much less time to read. I'm sorry to see that time go but I always knew it would be a short season. Since my time is limited I'm trying to be a bit more choosy about what I read. I don't want to wait my precious seconds of reading time. Because of that I've actually put down quite a few books lately.

I just finished a fantastic book, King, Kaiser, Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War by Catrine Clay. Following the tempestuous relationship of King George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and Nicholas II of Russia, this book takes an inside look at the crazy family drama that literally changed the world. All three of these sovereigns were grandsons of Queen Victoria (Nicholas by marriage) yet neither man was actually prepared to rule the world. King George was actually a second son and, as such, not really prepared to be king. Kaiser Wilhelm's relationship with his mother was so heated that he ended up rejecting her liberal constitutionalist views in favor of a strictly autocratic reign. Tsar Nicholas became ruler unexpectedly, both he and his father assumed Nicky wouldn't reign until much later in life and because of this Nicky ignored matters of state until his attention was required.

Their strangely different yet similar views on ruling coupled with their odd family dynamics led these three cousins to bring the world to war and at the end of it all, only George's throne remained, although his kingdom would never be the same. This is an absolutely fantastic book. Clay was given access to previously unseen papers and these family communications change the way we see the past.

Same old, same old

I just finished The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury. It was recommended to me by a friend and that's really the only reason I read it. It was pretty much what I expected it to be, yet another in the collection of conspiracy theory novels that claim the Catholic Church is evil and Jesus wasn't really God. I'm not sure why this is such a popular genre right now but it seems like there are a lot of versions of this same story.

RIP Madeleine L'Engle

I just got home and read the news, Madeleine L'Engle passed away. I have always been a fan of her work, I can't even remember the first time I read A Wrinkle in Time but I know it was many, many years ago. This news has inspired me to pick it up again.

Happy, Happy Birthday!

My baby girl is 1 year old today. I really cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. She is such a big girl now, walking everywhere, learning new words every day, constantly asking "what's that"? It's so much fun being her mommy!


Here is my girl 1 year ago today. Wasn't she adorable?
And here she is now. Still pretty adorable, in my opinion! I'm so blessed to be her mother.

Today, in honor of her birthday, I'm entering a contest at Tips for Raising Toddlers. I think Helen would love this cute little Baby's First Kisses Doll. And it's her birthday...maybe she'll win.

An Enjoyable Mystery

I'm not sure why I picked up Laura Lippman's What the Dead Know. My library has this book cataloged as a mystery and that is not a genre that I naturally gravitate towards. I'm actually not convinced this should be called a mystery, more a novel of suspense, I guess. I really enjoyed this book and will have to check in to Lippman's other novels now.

What the Dead Know tells the story of a mysterious woman who causes a car accident on an icy road one day. She has no identification with her but claims to be one of the "Bethany Girls"...two sisters who disappeared from a Baltimore mall 30 years ago. The detective assigned to her case isn't convinced...is she who she claims to be? Does she know something about the Bethany girls? Is this cold case about to be solved? It's a good story, I think I'll try other Lippman novels.