Book Review: Radio Girl by Carol Brendler (2013)

Radio GirlCarol Brendler2013✯✯✯✯✯Official SynopsisFourteen-year-old Cece's dream of a career as a radio star gets off to a bumpy, hilarious start in this engaging historical novel marked by mix-ups and misunderstandings that culminate in the panic surrounding the 1938 broadcast of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds. My Take in 3 PartsThe PlotThe synopsis is such a simple sentence for such an non-simple...

Read More

Book Review: A Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans (2012)

A Winter DreamRichard Paul EvansSimon & Schuster2012✯✯Official SynopsisFrom wonderful storyteller and author of the bestselling phenomenon The Christmas Box, a new holiday novel based on the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors.Joe is forced out of the family business by his jealous siblings. Moving on to another company, he soon becomes chief advisor to the CEO. But when the economy turns,...

Read More

Book Review: Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans (2006)

Finding NoelRichard Paul EvansSimon and Schuster2006✯✯✯✯Official Synopsis"There are stories, Christmas stories that are stored away like boxes of garlands and frosted glass ornaments, to be brought out and cherished each year. I've come to believe that my story is a Christmas story. For it has forever changed the way I see Christmas." The Christmas season is supposed to be full of joy, but...

Read More

Book Review: Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul (2010)

Two Tickets to the Christmas BallDonita K. PaulWaterbrook Multnomah2010✯✯✯✯Official SynopsisCan mysterious matchmaking booksellers bring two lonely hearts together in time for Christmas? In a sleepy, snow-covered city, Cora Crowder is busy preparing for the holiday season. Searching for a perfect gift, a fortuitous trip to Warner, Werner, and Wizbotterdad’s (a most unusual bookshop) leads to an...

Read More

Happy December!

I hope everyone is having a blessed holiday season! And I equally hope you're enjoying the Christmas book reviews that I've been posting. I'm going to be busy for the next several days, so I may or may not get a new review posted until the beginning of next week. Just a head's up. Have fun decorating, baking, caroling, wrapping, worshiping, and all of the other amazing things we do during the Christmas...

Read More

Book Review: Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson (2010)

Christmas at Harrington'sMelody CarlsonRevell2010✯✯✯Official SynopsisChristmas is approaching, and Lena Markham finds herself penniless, friendless, and nearly hopeless. She is trying to restart her life after false accusations landed her in prison, but job opportunities are practically nonexistent. When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally...

Read More

Book Review: The Christmas Lamp by Lori Copeland (2009)

The Christmas LampLori CopelandZondervan2009✯✯✯ Official SynopsisChristmas trees, twinkling lights, skating in the park, and holiday displays are the hallmark elements for celebrating Jesus' birth for the sentimental residents of Nativity, Missouri. Will fiscal responsibility replace Christmas their traditions when times are tough?Though their priorities and methods clash, Roni Elliot and Jake...

Read More

Book Review: The Christmas Candle by Max Lucado (2006)

The Christmas CandleMax LucadoThomas Nelson Publishers2006✯✯✯✯✯Official SynopsisJourney back to a simpler time, to a small English village where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens. Except at Christmastime.When a mysterious angel suddenly appears in a lowly candlemaker's shop, the holy and the human collide in a way that only God could imagine.Glowing bright with a timeless message, "The...

Read More

Book Review: The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans (2014)

The Mistletoe PromiseRichard Paul EvansSimon and Schuster2014✯✯✯✯✯Official SynopsisElise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful.Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from...

Read More

Book Review: Where Treetops Glisten by Tricia Goyer, Cara Putman, and Sarah Sundin (2014)

Where Treetops GlistenTricia Goyer, Cara Putnam, Sarah SundinWaterbrook Press2014✯✯✯✯(Part of the Official Synopsis) The crunch of newly fallen snow, the weight of wartimeThree siblings forging new paths and finding love in three stories, filled with the wonder of Christmas Turn back the clock to a different time, listen to Bing Crosby sing of sleigh bells in the snow, as the realities of America’s...

Read More

Book Review: The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson

The Christmas ShoppeMelody Carlson2011✯✯✯✯Official Synopsis The small town of Parrish Springs is not ready for Matilda Honeycutt. A strange older woman with scraggly gray hair and jewelry that jangles as she walks, Matilda is certainly not the most likely person to buy the old Barton Building on the town's quaint main street. When it becomes apparent that her new shop doesn't fit the expectations...

Read More

Woohoo, Snow Day off from Work!!

I think Compassion has changed its snow day policy because, for the first time since my mom has worked there (which is nearly 5 years), they called a snow day! Woot, woot! Get a load of that gorgeous snow! And thank goodness for the new snowblower my parents bought last year on sale! That cut the shoveling time by at least half, if not more...

Read More

Christmas Fiction Extravaganza!

Now that I have a book review blog, I figured why not!There are literally no rules for this since it's not even a blogathon or a blog party, just an excuse for me to read and review Christmas fiction, a lot of which, I'm giving fair warning, will be Christian fiction. If you want to post my button on your page, I would be delighted, just so people can find my blog and hopefully some new Christmas...

Read More

Experiencing an Authentic Scandinavian Meal

Even though my family hails from Swedish/Finnish roots, the Sons of Norway opens its doors to anyone with Scandinavian heritage, little caring if you're actually Norwegian or not. Two years ago my family, meaning myself, Caitlin, Mom, and Dad, attended the Lutefisk dinner that they host yearly in November. My grandfather (Mom's dad) always cooked lutefisk for Christmas, but he passed away before...

Read More

Book Review: Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

Ash & BrambleSarah PrineasHarperTeen2015✯✯✯Official Backpage Synopsis A prince.A ball.A glass slipper left behind at the stroke of midnight.The tale is told and retold, twisted and tweaked, snipped and stretched, as it leads to happily ever after.But it is not the true Story.A dark fortress.A past forgotten.A life of servitude.No one has ever broken free of the Godmother’s terrible stone...

Read More

For France

Nothing I say can make the fear and the pain go away. But you are not alone. The world grieves with you and empathizes with you. America has stood where you are standing, watching our Twin Towers crumble at the hands of terrorists. Know that my prayers and the prayers of millions of people around the world go out to you right now. Evil will not triumph. It never has in the past which is why it...

Read More

First Snowfall of the Season

I'm not talking the first snow of the year, but the first snow of the season, after you've gone through the heat of summer and then watched the leaves falling, and then finally, even before you expect it (like this crisp morning in Colorado) you wake up to little crystals coating every surface of your yard and house. My very first thought immediately flies to Christmas. So many good memories are...

Read More

Update on reading Lorna Doone

Wait, what does "Her baint coom, Maister Zider-press" mean?I think I must have been expecting something other than what it's giving me. For one thing, all of that old English is KILLING ME. Bleh! Okay, yes, I love Shakespeare. But that's mostly because Shakespeare had a lyrical quality to his writing that simply sucks me into the story. Everything makes sense, everything has a purpose and a point...

Read More

Book Review: The Doctor's Lady (2011) by Jody Hedlund

The Doctor's LadyJody HedlundBethany House Publishers2011✯✯✯✯✯Official Backpage SynopsisPriscilla White knows she'll never be a wife or mother and feels God's call to the mission field in India. Dr. Eli Ernest is back from Oregon Country only long enough to raise awareness of missions to the natives before heading out West once more. But then Priscilla and Eli both receive news from the mission...

Read More

Living Life in the Slow Lane

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." - Psalm 90:12 You'll notice some changes to this blog. I've been praying for months for God to give me a specific theme, a purpose for this goal that goes beyond film and books. I love both of those things, and I'll still share about them sometimes, but I also feel the Lord wants me to share my observations about life from my...

Read More

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Other Short Stories by James Thurber

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and other Short Stories Review: 3 - "A solid collection of short stories" by Carissa Horton, written on October 25, 2015 The last time I read a collection of short stories, it was for college and I graduated nearly 2 years ago. It might not seem like a long time, but it really is, especially when you're expecting The Secret Life of...

Read More

How many times can you remake Little Miss Marker?!

Please make sure to check out the They Remade What?! Blogathon. It's a bit of a shock when you agree to something and then find out after the fact that your library only has 1 in 4 films. Not such a good thing. So I tracked down films 1, 2, and 3 on Amazon for a decent prize, made even more decent with rewards bucks through my credit card. One might call me obsessive and say I could have backed...

Read More

Danny Kaye or Ben Stiller? - A Duel of Walter Mitty!

They Remade What?! Blogathan Danny Kaye has been a favorite actor of mine since the first time I saw White Christmas when I was somewhere around 5-years-old. I love this man for his absolute skill at being slapstick silly and being so absurdly adorable while doing it. So I leaped at the opportunity to write a comparison post for Danny's version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty from 1947 and...

Read More

Book Review: The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron (2014)

The Butterfly and the ViolinA Hidden Masterpiece NovelKristy CambronThomas Nelson Publishers2014✯✯✯✯✯Official Backpage SynopsisA Mysterious painting breathes hope and beauty into the darkest corners of Auschwitz--and the loneliest hearts of Manhattan.Manhattan art dealer Sera James watched her world crumble at the altar two years ago, and her heart is still fragile. Her desire for distraction reignites...

Read More

Tolkien Party - Imladris (A Fanfiction) by Me

I'm including this for the Tolkien Blog Party of Special Magnificence (hosted by Hamlette) Fourteen years ago, I was so avidly in love with all things Tolkien that I delved into fanfiction. This week, I've done something I almost swore to myself I would never do. I looked back at some of my writings, grimaced at the emotionalism of it all, and decided to give this story, one of which I'm particularly...

Read More

A Tolkien Blog Party of Special Magnificence 2015 (hosted by Hamlette)

It is again time for Hamlette's A Tolkien Blog Party of Special Magnificence! And I'm so proud of myself for actually participating this year because I reallllllly love Tolkien and have reallllllly wanted to participate in this blog party before, but never made the time! Please come and join in the fun if you like, post answers to Hamlette's questionnaire on your own blog, leave a comment on her...

Read More