So a couple of years ago, I read a book with the world’s greatest babysitter. Seriously, Phoebe can babysit my bestekids any day. She’s awesome. You can read about her in Cathe Swanson’s Baggage Claim. When you’ve found the best, who needs any more, right? Well, as any wise mother knows (and Continue Reading
Book Reviews
How to Avoid Paper Cuts in 3 Simple Steps
The next message in our Facebook conversation prompted a grin. She wrote, “I'm working on Bad Things, Small Packages, and I’ve got to go write a scene—paperwork for Brent.” “Make sure you give him a paper cut.” “I will.” A second later, I added, “Make it two—with that much paperwork, he’d Continue Reading
What Makes Cliched Tropes Work Like Magic?
How many times in some movie have you ever heard someone say, “I know a guy?” And while we’re on the subject, why does the guy saying it always have a Jerzee or Chicagoan accent? Well… when it comes to TV and movies, “I know a gal.” No, really. I do. I can’t tell you her name. That would be Continue Reading
How Does Hadassah Compare to the Real Story of Esther?
Am I the only one who associates certain things with places? Dunkin Donuts with Arizona, orange juice with Noel, Missouri, a mustard/gold sweater with Landers. Don’t ask. Some associations should be relegated to desert sands and wind… like that sweater. I do it with Bible stories, too. Moses and Continue Reading
Loved, Hated, Laughed, and Cried, but Why?
I have a secret that I should probably confess. All my life, I’ve had this crazy, inexplicable love of mysteries. Shocker, right? Well, yeah. What can I say? It’s a thing. I blame my mother, and no… not because she used a Nancy Drew book to teach me to read—or so I’ve heard. Though I can Continue Reading
Why Do Christians Love Books about Sin and Sorrow?
I think it took exactly three weeks for one of the kids to ask. “Mom, why do the Lutherans sing such morbid, dreary songs?” It sounds so disrespectful now, but it wasn’t. The question came sincere and seeking to understand… with just a hint of frustration under it. Look, you can’t blame the Continue Reading
It’s Almost Election Year & with It Comes the Insanity
You know, when I was a kid, I remember looking forward to election years. I was ten the year that President Reagan took his seat in the White House and fourteen the year he beat Mondale by a landslide. We’d go over to Uncle Ron’s house in Spring Valley Lake and watch the debates. Even at ten and Continue Reading
2 Simple Reasons This Complex Book Is a New Favorite
It happened at a lock-in—at Julie Hall’s church if I recall correctly. Why I went, I don’t know, but unless I’m combining two events in my mind, I remember it vividly. Cheryl and I went home with Julie after school and from there we went to Julie’s church. They had songs, food, and games. But Continue Reading
Why Hope Is an Excellent Theme for this Series
Series often have a theme, and the trilogy of books I’ve ready by E. C. Jackson’s is obvious—hope. She chose her theme well, and the books reflect it in obvious ways. Still, it’s not trite. Jackson kept the layers of hope in her stories subtle when they needed to be and overt when they didn’t. Continue Reading
In the Good Old Summertime: Is this Book Worth it
Summer reads—the staple of book lovers everywhere. Well, and Christmas reads, and TBR (to be read) piles, and RRs (recommended reads) and… and… Sometimes you see a book and the first thing you do is go, “THAT should be the top of a ‘Summer Reads’ list. That’s how I felt when the opportunity to Continue Reading
What 3 Life-Changing Secrets Is This Book Harboring?
“And there was thunder, thunder, over Thunder Road. Thunder was his engine and white lightnin’ was his load…” Robert Mitchum’s voice filled the car as we sped along the highway from Phoenix to California. To Ventura County. The beach. Back then, I never thought much about the bootleggers who Continue Reading
Can You Think, Pray, and Love in Numbers?
I’ve done it all my life—wondered. About books. Wondered about authors and how their thought processes worked. Did they know they had a great character when she appeared on the page, or did the character surprise them? Was it both? Neither? Once I began writing, I knew the answer. For Continue Reading
