Next novena upcoming! And more cozy fiction...

Hello all, and TGIF! I was going to start a St. Therese novena on her feast day, but decided instead to forge ahead into upcoming October feast days. There are a couple of great ones this month, and I thought we could pray them together, and we'll only overlap on a day or two, hee hee! Our next novena will start on Tuesday, and will be praying along with St. Teresa of Avila!

She is officially the patron of headache sufferers, and of writers, and can also be an asset for intentions regarding faith and contemplative spirituality. The novena begins on Tuesday, and like before, I have the prayers listed on a page within the blog found on the main navigation menu for both desktop and mobile. :)

Beginning October 13th, I'm going to be praying the novena to St. John Paul II. I'll create a page for that one too next week, we'll still be finishing up with St. Teresa, but I don't think this will be too onerous. Two days of double novena prayers! For those with the Pray app, both of these are on there, though St. Teresa is premium. :-0 I think I'm going to actually become one of their patrons so that I have acces to all of their novenas. It's only $15 a year to support their work, which I do truly love!

By time we finish up with JPII, it'll be later October, and then we can plan for November. I feel a St. Cecilia situation coming on! And maybe Holy Souls in Purgatory! 

*virtual high five*

As it's been a bit of a stressful week, planning for these novenas has been a happy distraction. Also a happy distraction is my current cozy mystery:

This is book 1 in the Amish Matchmaker series, and book 2 comes out December 1st, so it's a perfect time to dive into this one! I've had it on my Kindle for awhile, and am so glad that I'm finally getting to it, it's delightful! You all know how much I love Amish fiction, and this one also features quilting and 2 goats, what could be better?! :-0

Between minding a pair of rambunctious goats, meetings with her quilting circle, and matchmaking, Millie Fisher has plenty to keep her busy through her golden years. But the witty widow always makes time to solve the odd murder . . .

 

Some Amish men don’t know what’s good for them. That’s what Millie Fisher told herself when young Ben Baughman set his heart on marrying Tess Lieb. With Tess’s father refusing to give his blessing and Tess’s ex-boyfriend being a wet blanket, the hapless couple was bound to butt heads more than Millie’s Boer goats. But when Ben tragically dies in a mysterious fire, Millie wonders if someone in her hometown of Harvest, Ohio, wanted Ben out of the wedding picture altogether . . . 

With the help of her quilting buddies, and her outspoken Englischer friend Lois, Millie is determined to patch together all the clues without even dropping a stitch. She only hopes it won’t be the death of her . . .

What are you reading these days? Are you planning to join in the upcoming October novenas? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Cozy wraps and cozy mysteries as we move towards fall...

Happy Friday everyone, it's hard to believe that it's the end of August, but here we are. I wish I could say that I felt like September will be better, but I don't think that it will, and all we can do at this point is keep up our spirits and sense of humor about it! :-0 The semester starts at the university for which I work on Monday, but all of my classes will be totally online. I'm actually rather sad about it, but it is what it is. I miss my colleagues so much, and I'll miss the students. At least I'll be home (working, but still home) if the kids need to be home from school. We'll try focusing on the positives!

I've definitely been working on lots of happy distractions lately, and I hope you have as well! My autumn quilted bird bag from Bradford Exchange arrived this week, and looking at it immediately lifts my spirits:

Just look at those cute blue jay crests!

And, as ever, I've been crafting. This week, I finished a wrap for my good friend Emily, and this pattern is just super cozy!

Pattern is Perfect Pockets Shawl

Unfortunately, it's been so humid that I was sweltering when I took this photo :-0 but soon it'll be time for cozy wraps, and now Emily will be all set! If you crochet, even if you're a beginner, you'll be able to make this wrap! YouTube is our friend, and I had to watch a video on the wrapped stitch that appears in this pattern, but after that I was good to go. :)

I'm also back to my cozy mysteries, and becoming absorbed in the universe of the Amish Candy Shop series by Amanda Flower is exactly what the doctor ordered right about now. There are a number of books in the series, and my current position is with this Mother's Day themed installment:

After this is the very newest book, "Marshmallow Malice," so let the candy shop antics reign on! 

This week I was also chatting with my friend Irena, who mentioned this book:

...which immediately went onto my Amazon wish list for Christmas, hee hee. Book recommendations always stimulate my mind and creativity! Do you have any new books that you've read recently, or that are in your queue, to add to our list? Pop them into the comments! :-)

A few Kindle deals for my fiction fans!

I've been very book happy since our chat last week during Tea Time. Sam alerted me to a title that I had mentioned that went on sale for Kindle, and that led me down a whole rabbit hole of other titles that I've been coveting that were also marked down. And so I'm sharing this wealth with all of you! Kindle deals can be either long or fast, one never knows, so if you see a title that you'd like, download ASAP! Consider this you very own Inspired Reads list for today, Catholic Librarian style. ;-)

I talked extensively during Tea Time about the cozy mystery series that are being turned into movies over at Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. One of these is Joanne Fluke's Murder She Baked series, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen series book 1), is on sale for Kindle today for $1.99!

I downloaded this one forthwith. 😇 Here's our quick description:

"Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden's most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can't get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn't watch her back, Hannah's sweet life may get burned to a crisp."

This is something else I mentioned in last week's Tea Time, though sadly this one isn't on sale. After a little librarian sleuthing of my own, I discovered that the Garage Sale Mysteries are in fact books!

First book is called Garage Sale Stalker, and here is our short intro:

"Jennifer Shannon lives in secure, affluent McLean, Virginia, where she stumbles into danger lurking in places she thought absolutely safe. Her passion for weekend treasure hunting at local garage and estate sales pulls her into a twisted world of crimes, child abuse and murder.

When Jennifer is forced to match wits with an antagonist bent on revenge, her family's safety and her own desperate situation hinge on her intelligence and resourcefulness."

This title is at regular price, $9.95, right now for Kindle!

All right, so the rest of these are books that have been resting on my Amazon shopping list for some time, and when I remember to check it, Amazon will bold price decreases. Here's what I discovered today:

Love Inspired Suspense A Match Made in Alaska (Alaskan Grooms series), dropped from $4.99 down to $3.99.

I have a real weakness for this Love Inspired Suspense line. These are wholesome, inspirational romances, and I love exotic (to me) domestic settings like Alaska. The heroine is a librarian in this one! I may have downloaded it. *halo*

"Librarian Annie Murray hoped participating in Love, Alaska's "Operation Love" would lead to finding a rugged bachelor to call her own.  But as her flight crash lands before reaching herdestination, she finds herself alone with her pilot, Declan O'Rourke.Annie's met charmers like Declan before--now she wants a man ofsubstance.  Forced to survive with him in the snowy wilderness, Anniediscovers Declan's depth--and he begins to see the shy librarian's heart of gold.  But once back in town, outside sources threaten their bond.It'll take all the bravery they had in the wild for Annie and Declan tofind love in small-town Alaska."

We looked at Ellen Carsta's The Secret Healer last year for our summer book club, potentially. This is historical fiction, featuring a midwife storyline. Marked down to $1 for Kindle, but free for Prime members!

"In the fourteenth century, opportunities for women are limited to the home. But spirited young Madlen finds her calling as assistant to the city’s trusted midwife, Clara. Working alongside Clara, Madlen develops a surprisingly soothing technique and quickly becomes a talented healer.

After Clara’s tragic death, Madlen alone rushes to assist the birth of a local nobleman’s child. But rather than the joy of birth, Madlen walks into an accusation of murder and witchcraft because of her extraordinary gifts. Forced to flee her own town, she establishes a new identity in the home of her aunt. Yet even though it endangers her life, she cannot resist the urge to help the sick patients who seek out her miraculous treatment. When she meets handsome Johannes—an investigator hired by the Church to bring her to justice for sacrilegious acts—she becomes drawn to the very man who could destroy her.
Will Madlen’s gifts bring about her downfall? Or can love and reason prevail in a time of fearful superstition?"

oooooo, this is a good one! I downloaded this too. :0 A Lighthouse Library Mystery, By Book or By Crook, marked down to $2.99 from $5.99.

"For ten years Lucy has enjoyed her job poring over rare tomes of literature for the Harvard Library, but she has not enjoyed the demands of her family’s social whorl or her sort-of-engagement to the staid son of her father’s law partner. But when her ten-year relationship implodes, Lucy realizes that the plot of her life is in need of a serious rewrite.

Calling on her aunt Ellen, Lucy hopes that a little fun in the Outer Banks sun—and some confections from her cousin Josie’s bakery—will help clear her head. But her retreat quickly turns into an unexpected opportunity when Aunt Ellen gets her involved in the lighthouse library tucked away on Bodie Island.

Lucy is thrilled to land a librarian job in her favorite place in the world. But when a priceless first edition Jane Austen novel is stolen and the chair of the library board is murdered, Lucy suddenly finds herself ensnared in a real-life mystery—and she’s not so sure there’s going to be a happy ending...."

Librarians AND lighthouses? Boom. Done. On my Kindle.

Finally, we have the Men of Lancaster County series by Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner. I've read Mindy Starns Clark mysteries before, and have LOVED them. This entire 3 book series has been marked down to $2.99 per book! The first book is The Amish Groom.

"New from bestselling authors Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner, The Amish Groom (Book 1 in The Men of Lancaster County series) explores the men of an Amish community in Lancaster County, how their Amish beliefs play out in their unique roles, and the women who change their lives.

Born to an ex-Amish mother and an Englisch father, 23-year-old Tyler Anderson was raised as a military kid until the age of 6, when his mom passed away. His dad, shipping off to yet another overseas post, placed Tyler in the care of his Amish grandparents, an arrangement that was supposed to be temporary. It lasted a lifetime.

Rachel Hoeck is the young woman waiting for Tyler’s proposal. She senses that though he loves her and wishes to make a commitment to her and his Amish beliefs, part of him still wonders whether an Amish lifestyle is truly for him.

When an opportunity to connect with his father unexpectedly arises, a visit to California causes Tyler to question everything, including a future with Rachel. Will the new girl in his life, Lark, cause him to remain in the Englisch world? Or will he choose to be an Amish groom after all?"

You can get the entire series right now for $8.99, when originally these were close to $10 per book. Tempting, very tempting...

Are you downloading any of these titles? Tell me all about it!

Librarian sick day quarantine: day 2...

Hello all.

*weak smile*

After another difficult night of coughing for both Anne and I (SO MUCH HACKING) I awoke this morning with a miserable sinus headache and feeling like Death Warmed Over. There wasn't really much of a decision to make: I had to stay home from work. I was scheduled on the reference desk today, and I hardly think anybody would appreciate the librarian coughing uncontrollably and blowing her nose for two straight hours. Plus, Anne's cough is still very tight. She's bound for the pediatrician this afternoon and I wanted to be able to take her.

So, here we are. It's unusual for me to use sick days at work, I'm a bit of a martyr about such things. ;-) But it's necessary. I'm feeling a lot better than I did this morning, and I'm hopeful that I'm now on the mend. I do still get that dreaded tickle in my throat, followed by unattractive coughing spasms, but my sinus situation is (Alert: this is the TMI portion of our time together today) clearly draining, so that's good. My rash is also a lot better today, so...

#winning!

I've been doing lots of lounging on the couch watching The Golden Girls, and so my precious husband (who is home with us all day since he's between semesters of teaching) keeps walking into the living room with a cup of tea for me, the strains of "Thank You For Being a Friend" heralding his arrival. He's handling the whole thing pretty well, I'd say. ;-)

I'm resting up for my trip to the doctor with Anne in a few hours, which means I've also been spending lots of quality time with my Kindle. Currently underway is another Amish fiction title:

A mysterious outsider casts a long shadow in Ohio's Amish coutnry. When a stranger and his young son show up on her aunts' doorstep, Rachel Troyer is suspicious. Will she be able to uncover Joe's secrets despite her aunts'--and her own--growing affection for him?

Yay. :) I love this stuff. I'm being very good and reading books that I downloaded ages ago because they were on sale, but have been languishing on my device for months, or even years. I have a few new books in mind that I'd like to download for my trip to Atlanta in a few weeks, and to justify this, I'm trying to get through as many other books before then as I can. My Kindle is indispensable when I fly, it's the perfect distraction. I will grant, I act like I'm taking a trans-Atlantic trip, rather than a barely 2 hour one, but hey, I'm a nervous flyer, ;-)

How are you all doing this week?

A review of Christmas in Apple Ridge...

It's still liturgically Christmas everybody, so tune in for a seasonally appropriate book review. :0 I adore Amish fiction, and one of the reasons is that the books are so, so COZY. You will feel good while you are reading them. Plus, they espouse the values we cherish as Catholics, so the fit is perfect.

Christmas in Apple Ridge by Cindy Woodsmall, is a three story contemporary compilation centering around a small town in Pennsylvania. These are full books compiled here, not novellas, so you get a lot of reading for your money with this volume, it's a good bargain for the $18.99 cover price.

The first installment is The Sound of Sleigh Bells, and although very solidly written it is my least favorite of the three. In this story we meet Beth Hertzler, co-owner of the local dry goods store, and Jonah, a wood carver from Ohio who is suffering the physical effects of a sleighing accident. Beth has been mourning the death of her fiance for what her aunt, Lizzy, believes is an unhealthy amount of time. When Beth meets Jonah during a business trip and is drawn to his talent and soft spoken manner, Lizzie conspires to bring the two very reserved and wounded souls together in friendship via letter writing. The complication is that both Beth and Jonah are under some misunderstanding about who they are actually writing to. Will Lizzy's plan backfire or finally bring love to two people who had given up on marriage? This story dragged a bit in the middle, but the reveal toward the end of Beth's back story was quite unexpected and interesting. It is well worth reading, and these two characters appear again in both of the next two stories in the most charming of ways.

The Christmas Singing grabbed my interest right away because of the setting. Mattie is a cake decorator that owns her own bakery in Ohio. She moved away from her hometown of Apple Ridge after having her heart broken by her childhood beau, Gideon. When an unexpected tragedy forces her to move back home right before Christmas, she has to face Gideon again and try to rebuild her life and dreams without the independence she had cherished in Ohio. In such a small town, Mattie cannot avoid Gideon, and though he still loves her, he is determined to hide some things from her about the cause of their breakup years ago. What is the cause of Gideon's secrecy? And can Mattie forgive him and find happiness again back in Apple Ridge? The author also introduces another couple briefly in this story, Anna and Aden, whose Old Order Mennonite/Old Order Amish romance and cultural crossover receives its own stand alone book in The Scent of Cherry Blossoms. Now I can't wait to read that one! The Christmas Singing also includes a few cake recipes that are mentioned in the story.

The final story is The Dawn of Christmas, and this installment features another strong heroine like the previous two. This story is quite unconventional and I could not have enjoyed it more. Sadie broke up with her fiance when she discovered his untoward actions towards another woman just before their wedding. Since her former fiance was untruthful about what had happened, her Old Order Amish community never totally understood Sadie's reasons for the breakup. Sadie's parents subsequently granted her permission to travel as a missionary to Peru with a Mennonite group so that she could have a fresh start, but after four years, her father now wants her back home. Sadie is reluctant to relinquish her independence and her excitement for life as a missionary. Levi is a local bachelor that has witnessed the devastating effects of a bad marriage and never wants to marry. When Sadie and Levi become friends, they devise a plan to present themselves as courting to their community so that, at least temporarily, they will no longer receive pressure to marry. During this time, Sadie plans to raise money for another mission trip and ultimately both can go their separate ways. Will Sadie and Levi find themselves viewing each other as more than just friends and break through the emotional barriers both have towards marriage?

I enjoyed reading this trilogy. I also loved seeing the characters from the previous stories come back in subsequent books. The writing was strong and the setting beyond lovely. I will definitely be reading other books by this author, and indeed have already placed some on my wish list! If you are thinking about purchasing this book, you can read chapter 1 for free here!

If you enjoyed my review, please do rank it. I so appreciate it!

*I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

"Sweet" fiction recommendations, your Catholic Librarian is on the case...

Greetings to all! Happy to be with you again. I'm such a nerd about this blog. I blog nearly every day, but some days it simply isn't possible, like yesterday. And I had been blogging for something like 10 straight days, so a break was fine. But it felt strange not to post yesterday, so I was all excited to get right to it today. But do check my Twitter feed for micro updates (if you care, lol) because I do post something on there every day.

Interestingly, this experiment in the 7 day blogging challenge made one thing clear that I have suspected for a long time: MANY less people read blogs over the weekend. I rarely post things on the weekend, and the two posts that I queued up have significantly less hits than usual. So, since this is a book related post, I wanted to mention that one of those weekend posts was the latest Catholic Book Club entry, on Paths to Prayer: A Field Guide to Ten Catholic Traditions. New readers can catch up on all of the Catholic Book Club entries here.

I started the book that I will review next in Catholic Book Club, but I have to be honest and admit that I needed a bit of break from heavy non-fiction reading and wanted a foray into fiction. And so, what kind of fiction does the Catholic Librarian read?

When I read fiction, I want total escapism. Nothing heavy hitting, sometimes even really good thrillers are just too intense for me. I like very sweet romances, usually with an Amish or general Christian theme, and I have been known to read serial romances. (when I was searching for that last link, I found this gem from last year about my adventures in ebook downloading when I first got my Kindle. Go enjoy :))

Right now I'm reading Beth Wiseman's The House that Love Built. I really like Beth Wiseman's work, as I mentioned in the link above regarding my love of serial Christian and Amish romances. She usually writes Amish books, but this is a non-Amish title. I'm about 30% of the way through, and it involves a young widow, and her two children, meeting the new man in their small Texas town who comes to refurbish a landmark old home. He's recovering from an unpleasant divorce to a woman who was unfaithful to him. There's also a very sweet side storyline about the main heroine's mother finding love in her retirement home.

I generally read a TON of Amish romances. I download them regularly to my Kindle when I see a new book out by a favorite author, or when they come up on the Inspired Reads list as being marked down and the description grabs me.  Also on my Kindle for the summer is: A Season of Love (Kauffman Amish Bakery Series), by Amy Clipston, A Plain Death: An Appleseed Creek Mystery, by Amanda Flower, An Amish Kitchen (a compilation which is marked down to $2.50 right now for anybody who wants it), and The Quilter's Son Book 1: Liam's Choice, by Samantha Jillian Bayarr (99 cents right now!)

Also in my fiction queue is a re-read of an old favorite, which is Death by Cashmere: A Seaside Knitters Mystery, by Sally Goldenbaum. I read a library copy a few years ago, and just loved this entire Seaside Knitters series, but this first volume was my absolute favorite. I saw a cheap new print copy on Amazon Marketplace and snapped it up.

Pretty soon (usually September) we will start to see romances set at Christmas time, and those are my *favorite* of the entire year. I have a few on my Kindle that I didn't get to last year (and yes, I have my Kindle books in folders, and one of them is set apart for Christmas books, there are two in there right now waiting for me *beams*). They are A Wild Good Chase Christmas: Quilts of Love Series, by Jennifer AiLee, and Call Me Mrs. Miracle, by Debbie Macomber.

I hope that gives you some good ideas for end-of-summer fiction!

Some summer reading

With my new Kindle tucked into my hand like a baby bird, pink cover lovingly encasing it, I've been doing a lot more reading. The instant gratification of downloading a book right onto my Kindle and having immediate access to it is unparalleled for a bookworm like me. I LOVE it. *kiss*

Now, as you may already know about me, I have definite tastes in reading. I read very little classical literature or even spiritual classics. I just have a short attention span, I'm unashamed to admit. I prefer spiritual memoirs and fiction. In particular, I like romance fiction, especially of the inspirational variety, meaning Christian. Mostly, I read Catholic fiction, Amish fiction, or series Christian fiction, such as Steeple Hill Love Inspired (an imprint of Harlequin). The few authors that I read who publish out of larger, traditional Christian publishing houses usually write Amish fiction. If it's not specifically Catholic or Amish, I like very generic Christian fiction where the characters express their faith life but aren't too overbearing about it. I've been burned in the past with anti-Catholic things in some Christian fiction, so I'm choosy. 

Beth Wiseman is an author I've been reading a lot of lately, and I'm a big fan of her work. She publishes out of Thomas Nelson, but she writes mostly excellent Amish fiction. I read a book of hers recently, Seek Me With All Your Heart, and it even contained a positively portrayed Catholic character! In my experience, this is quite rare from a traditional Christian publisher. I'm not saying they all publish tons of anti-Catholic rhetoric or anything like that. But Catholicism will mostly be absent. All Christian characters are explicitly or assumed to be non-denominational. I'm in the midst of reading two of her Amish series right now, Land of Canaan and Daughters of the Promise. She's also written a contemporary Christian book recently called Need You Now, and I liked that one as well. This book features a storyline more commonly seen in Christian romances than in secular (in my opinion), which is that the featured couple is already married, but undergoing marital difficulties. As the book unfolds we watch their relationship crumble, and then build back up again via love, communication, and their faith in God. I definitely recommend her books for strong character development, lovely settings, and a solid and well articulated faith element. 

By way of the other non-Catholic inspirational fiction that I read, I really do like Steeple Hill Love Inspired, like I mentioned above. This is a series imprint, meaning that multiple books will come out each month in the line, and sometimes feature newer authors, although well established authors also make frequent showings. I used to "subscribe" to this line years ago, which entails Harlequin Reader Service sending you all of the books for each month in your chosen imprint for a discounted price. I couldn't keep up after a time, so I cancelled, but I always enjoyed the books. The regular Love Inspired titles are contemporary romances. Harlequin has now expanded the genre to include Love Inspired Suspense and Love Inspired Historical. I read an occasional historical romance, and when I do, I love them, but they're not my favorite genre. But my new favorite is Love Inspired Suspense. As you would imagine, these are romantic suspense books, and the characters will have a faith element present in their lives. They are very sweet (no love scenes) but are long enough to accommodate strong character development in the midst of a catchy mystery. LOVE them. Harlequin offers a free title for most of their lines so that one can decide whether or not they like that series or not, and for Love Inspired Suspense they offer Marta Perry's Hide in Plain Sight, which is (yay!) an Amish title. I linked to the Kindle version, but you can get the epub version off the Harlequin web site. I just finished reading this book, and I enjoyed it very much. As is often the case in series romance, this is the first title in a trilogy, The Three Sisters Inn series. I plan to read books two and three as well.

I do love series romance. Not everyone does, they prefer longer stand alone titles, but these are nice fast reads with engaging stories. My favorite lines are Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense, but I also like Harlequin Intrigue and Harlequin Romantic Suspense, as well as a occasional Harlequin Superromance. You can buy them (both in print and as an ebooks, though not Kindle compatible) from Harlequins web site, or from Amazon for your Kindle. Harlequin offers them a month early. If you order from Amazon, you have to wait until the first of the month they are released. But what I like is that I can preorder the ones I want, and then on the first day of the month, they automatically download to my Kindle. You don't pay for preorders until they actually download. It's awesome.

Right now I'm reading a library ebook (sweet!) from my very favorite Amish author, Beverly Lewis. It's the first book in her new series Home to Hickory Hollow, called The Fiddler. Loving it. It takes so little to make me happy.

Hanging in there, and a review of The Lake of Dead Languages...

Work has been a bear lately, no other way to say it. I have a class to teach in an hour and a half, and as you can see, I'm distracting myself by blogging. I've already practiced my lesson plan, so there's really nothing else I can do. But I certainly can't concentrate until then. Sigh. I have three more classes next week *sweat trickles* but then, thankfully, I have a short teaching reprieve. I also need to get other things done aside from creating lesson plans. So this is good.

Next week, I have to write a column for the university newspaper. It's a column published weekly by a librarian that highlights relevant web sites on a topic of the librarian's choice. In the past, I've written on fall foliage, bellydancing, and crochet. I was having a hard time coming up with a topic for this semester. Of course, that may have been because I had no time to actually think about topics. But this morning, over breakfast, I had a flash of inspiration. I was reading a copy of Romantic Times Book Review as I munched my Special K. I turned the page and happened upon the reviews of this month's releases in inspirational fiction.

YES!!"

Mike pauses, egg sandwich halfway to his mouth. "What?"

"AMISH FICTION!!!! That's what I'm going to write my column on. Oh, I love it so much!!"

Mike gives me that smile that he does whenever I do something particularly Tiff-like. I mean, how many people bypass the bodice-ripper historical romances to pore with fixation over inspirational Amish fiction?

So, now I'm all excited. But first, several classes and lesson plans lay in front of me. Sigh.

Ok, so book review. Last month, my book club read The Night Villa by Carol Goodman, and I enjoyed it very much. I wrote about how the author really had a knack for portraying a vivid sense of place, and I enjoyed her expertise in the study of classics that played a role in the story. Thus, I picked up a copy of one of her more well-known books, The Lake of Dead Languages.

Quick plot summary: A newly divorced Latin instructor returns to her alma mater, a boarding school located in the Adirondacks, with her young daughter to try and create a fresh start for them. Soon, mysterious occurrences, all relating to some deaths back when she herself was a student there, begin to present themselves. Seems our heroine, Jane, was roomates with 2 girls who took their lives via drowning in the school lake all those years ago (or so it seems...). Someone clearly blames Jane for a part in their deaths, and copy cat events begin to transpire...

Intriguing plot. I started reading, and honestly, I couldn't wait to get home in the evenings after work and read more. This really kept me on the edge of my seat. I was taken in by the setting, given that it takes place within my own New York State. And all of the mysteries, by way of what really happened to the people that died, as well as other relationship tangles, really grab you. The book starts out with Jane's contemporary perspective, then the middle section takes the reader back to her final two years at the school, when the original deaths of her friends occurred. The third and final segment takes us back to present day, when the mysteries are all resolved. *Very* well done. Overall, I enjoyed this book tremendously.

Some cons. The book dragged a bit toward the end. I had figured out a few of the mysteries, and it seemed to take Jane an annoying amount of time to catch up with me. The author also spends a *lot* of time talking about the enigma of the lake, and the process it goes through in order to freeeze over each winter. Certainly, this all contributes to her refined skill of transporting the reader to the setting, but after a while I was sick of all the drawn-out water and ice analogies. Finally, the thing that bugged me the most, by far, was how incredibly stupid the characters acted sometimes in regards to the lake. I know, I know, we're suspending our disbelief for the sake of drama. But COME ON...

"Oh, I know that a fiendish murderer is stalking me. I need to get away from it all and go think. It's 3 am. I think I should wander down to the giant rock that juts out over the icy lake, where at least one other person has fallen in and drowned, and stand right on the edge in order to do this..."

"I'm pissed/terrified/upset/contemplative. I think the best idea is to run right out onto the frozen lake surface despite the fact that temperatures have been rising for weeks..."

In fact, the "people running out onto the frozen (but melting) lake" thing by the end made me so irritated that I found myself yelling at the characters that I simply couldn't feel sorry for them if they were going to act SO STUPID. YOU ARE SO STUPID. STOP BEING SO STUPID. How hard is it to simply stay on land? Apparently quite difficult for our characters, since every single one of them had a bad run-in with the lake in either liquid or frozen form.

That aside, the book is really an attention grabber. Definitely a recommended read.

Finished my first Amish trilogy

Last night I finished my first Beverly Lewis trilogy, Annie's people: The Preacher's Daughter, The Englisher, and The Brethren. The first book was the best of the trilogy, to be sure. The third felt a tad rushed to me, and I wasn't satisfied with how she didn't completely wrap up some loose ends with the supplementary characters. That being said, I enjoyed the series tremendously, and I've embarked on yet another Amish trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County.

The whole experience is making me dwell quite a bit on the way we all express our Christian faith in our everyday life, as well as on a sense of greater Christian community. Before I write on both of those a bit longer, here's a snippet of dialogue that gets at these points nicely. At a specific point in the story, Annie is worried and upset about something, and is having tea with her grandmother, whom she calls Mammi. Annie expresses her concern to Mammi, who replies:

"Don't you worry, Annie. The Lord God has us all in right in the palm of His hand."

"Really, Mammi? Are you certain?"

"Oh yes, I'm ever so sure."

I *love* how the author brings the Pennsylvania Dutch way of speaking into her writing, it's so very tender and sweet. I love how the Amish often refer to God as "the Lord God." It's just a very genuine expression. I also love the "ever so sure" thing. It's all just very charming.

What I enjoy most about all this is feeling a part of the close Amish community depicted in the stories. A sense of community is very important for a Christian, I ardently believe. Certainly, we all know that we're part of a larger worldwide community of believers, but as well our faith benefits from being a part of a local church community.

A large part of my attraction to Christian fiction of all kinds is seeing how the characters employ their faith in their everyday lives. And within the Amish community, they're constantly surrounded by the body of believers, which is just a refreshing contrast to having a secular career. I absolutely enjoy my secular career, but when escaping with a book, it's nice to feel a part of something different. I like how they talk about God so naturally during their work and when a crisis occurs.

Another interesting thing is the real dedication it takes to live an Amish life. Eschewing modern conveniences is not an easy thing to do. They do everything that they do because they believe it's what God wants them to do. They trust so fully. One thing that I'm noticing in the books is that this author conveys that the Amish do not have a personal relationship with God in the way that other American Christians would define it. I don't know if this is a fair assessment of the Amish or not, but it is the viewpoint of the author, based on my interpretation. And certainly, I think that an intimate prayer relationship with God is very important. That being said, it seems to me that the Amish believe that actions speak louder than words, and their hardworking lifestyle is *their* way of intimacy with God. It's all very, very intriguing. At least to me :)

These books have really gotten my creative writing energies going again. It's been stagnant for quite some time - I think graduate school sucked it right out of me :) But during a meeting today (snoozer :) I brainstormed on some ideas that I'll blog about shortly. Excited :)

Sleepy librarian today...

I'm almost done with The Preacher's Daughter, I was able to read a bunch last night before Lost came on. I also had a glass of sangria; I sort of needed it. Hank was just very needy and...high- pitched last night. Three and a half years later, and I'm still not used to the sheer volume of children. But I digress. After he was snug in his bed, I guzzled my glass of sangria (Franzia boxed variety, don't tease, you know you secretly like it too) and dug in. I am just totally in love with this new Amish fiction genre, and with this author. Tonight I'll start on Book 2, The Englisher, and I'm downright excited about it. This is really getting my creative writing juices going, which is a good thing. I write often, of the scholarly variety, given that I'm tenure-track. And that's good, but it's not *meaningful* to me. This blog is meaningful to me. But I'd like to expand on the personal writing that I do. And reading more stimulates that desire. This is all good.

So anyway, we watched Lost, and went to bed after a long evening of dealing with toddler stuff and stressing about our upcoming house re-financing. Right after I turned my bedside light out, Hank pads into our room. This happens every night; we set up a pillow and blanket for him on the floor, and he curls up there. Last summer started That Thing About Parenting That Everyone Warned You About And You Foolishly Didn't Believe Them, Part 2: Sleep Deprivation, Toddler Style. After *finally* sleeping through the night (I actually weep just thinking about his first year of life and our sleep situation) all of a sudden, monsters lurk in every corner, and shadows threaten to jump out and bite at any moment!! And...they're too scared to sleep by themselves. Again. After a nightmarish summer of disrupted sleep and me ending up on his floor many nights, with a stiff *everything* by morning, we came up with a solution whereby Hank comes into our room without waking us and sleeps on a makeshift bed we create on the floor. The floor doesn't seem to disable his muscles the way it does adults. Anyway, it's worked, and we all get sleep. Therefore, nothing else matters. All parents know precisely what I'm talking about.

So, Hank is sleeping angelically next to my side of the bed. AT 1:30 am, he bursts into tears. I startle awake. I thought maybe he was having a bad dream, until he cries out "MOMMY! I *ALL WET*!" Oh sigh. Someone (me) had forgotten to take him to the potty prior to bed (it was just one of those evenings) and he was completely soaked. Pull-Up, jammies, socks, blanket, pillowcase, even the actual *pillow* were soaked in pee-pee. An immediate and complete strip-down was in order. He was very cooperative, luckily. We got him set up in fresh clothes, with a new pillow and blanket. He complained about the first blanket I gave him ("where's my red blankie?!" Toddlers decidedly do NOT like change), but then he did fall asleep. Blessedly.

Naturally, I did not. An hour later, I finally fell back to sleep. By 6:30 am, I awoke, completely exhausted and cranky. Hank was good for us this morning though, and I made sure to spend extra time with him before I left for work. That cheered me up a bit. Once arriving at work, I immediately pumped myself full of tea to try and get a caffeine surge. I had a student appointment scheduled at 10, and as is annoyingly common, he forgot to show. I'm also awaiting a phone call from another librarian that missed the last appointment we had to speak on the phone about an online tutorial that I coordinate. Doesn't anybody keep planners anymore? I guess that's the Type A in me coming out. I'm a very organized librarian :)

At any rate, Mike has class tonight, so it'll be Hank and I watching Scooby Doo and playing choo choo train. He likes to be the "ghost train" and chase my train around the tracks while he makes scary ghost noises. He's too precious. And after he's asleep, I have a date with an Englisher...

Amish Fiction

So, while perusing Library Journal the other day for collection development purposes, I happened upon a full-page ad for something that piqued my personal interest right away.

I love fiction, always have. I like regular old romance fiction, I like romantic suspense and other mystery thrillers. But I've always had a soft spot (as is unsurprising) for religious fiction. And the thing is, titles in religious fiction that I consider to be "keepers" are harder to come by than I'd like. This is all just personal opinion, but it seems to me that a noticeable number of authors of Christian fiction are not able to craft a good story intertwined with the moral worldview they are putting forth. For whatever reason, the stories just don't "work" for me sometimes. They're either too preachy without enough character development, or too much intensive action without enough attention to the characters' faith lives. And trying to find contemporary Catholic fiction...good heavens, the field is more parched than Hank after a 30 minute toddler meltdown. I'll address that in a future post. I have no qualms with reading Christian fiction based on a non-Catholic belief system, and there certainly is a proliferation of such titles. Christian fiction is a hot genre, certainly; just take a perusal over at Christian Book Distributors. But as a Catholic, I'm just selective about which titles I choose to read.

The apocalypse? I'm not opposed to that :) But Left Behind? Absolutely, positively no way. I will not support authors who are so brazenly anti-Catholic. That's an extreme example, however. There's some good non-Catholic Christian stuff out there in the form of fiction. I actually really loved Jan Karon's Mitford series, particularly At Home in Mitford, all featuring a good-natured Episcopalian priest ministering in a small North Carolina town. And I know exactly why. I like contemporary stories of people of faith in everyday situations that I can relate to. I don't really read deep theological treatises. Even that is an overstatement; I don't read them at all, ok? :) Personal stories, those are my things. Both in fiction and non-fiction.

So, back to my original train of thought, sorry about that. The train is so very often derailed these days...This ad in Library Journal. It was about a new book in the (apparently) very popular sub-genre of Amish fiction. Yes, Amish fiction. Did you ever? I was captivated even by the cover image. Brought to mind were feelings of simplicity, serenity and unpretentiousness. This particular title is the debut of a new author and is the first in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series. Well. I immediately leapt into super librarian mode and checked the public library catalog (my best friend). They're ordering it. God knows that I need to work on the virtue of patience, but I was on the trail of a fascinating new book, He understands. Thus, I zoomed right over to Amazon to be greeted with positive reviews. I read them, and checked out the author's website.

I was utterly charmed by my whole research process. As soon as I sat down to dinner with my husband, I told him of my new find. His reply? "Amish fiction? How many people can possibly be reading them, I mean, there's not that many Amish people..." "No, no, honey. They're about Amish people and/or set in Amish country, but they're not marketed to the Amish. They're marketed to people like me!!" Freaks? Super bookworm religious librarians?

No :) Amish fiction is hot stuff, people. It's like... one of the bestselling trends within Christian fiction. Time magazine even featured an article about it recently. The next day, upon sitting down with my tea, I did what all curiosity seekers with a new obsession do. I Googled it. I happened upon a fabulous blog that I've bookmarked, My Christian Fiction Blog. The author has a whole series of posts dedicated to Amish Fiction. Why do people (Christians, mostly) like to read these books? They call to mind a simple life, quiet, genuine faith, and close community. In other words, they make us happy. They help us to escape. And apparently, there are some prolific authors within this genre that are fantastic storytellers. I learned about Beverly Lewis, Cindy Woodsmall, Mary Ellis, Wanda Brunstetter, and Beth Wiseman.

Naturally, I had to look them all up on the public library catalog and on Amazon, and my obsession reached its zenith. The public library also knows how popular these books are, and they had the full run of Beverly Lewis's books, many of them checked out. On my lunch hour, I rushed over to scoop up the first 2 books in one of her short series', this one called Annie's People, and away I went. I *love* it. I'm utterly in love with the writing style and the characters. In this particular series, an Amish girl is trying to decide between officially joining the church of her birth and her love of art, which her faith prohibits. Her non-Amish pen pal is on the run from a bad relationship and comes to stay with Annie's family for a time. Annie is sorting through her feelings about her faith, her future, and is dealing with some other personal problems and mysteries present within her Amish community. Totally, totally hooked. Love, love, love. My Amazon wish list is now burgeoning over with new Amish titles. I also treated myself to the original book that brought on this happy enterprise, A Gift of Grace by Amy Clipston. I justified it by telling myself that I needed 1 more title to garner me free shipping on Amazon anyway; I was already ordering the latest in the John Paul II High series (not a prayer that the public library is going to have that one) and a CD for my husband. I am one happy librarian...