Last year I challenged you to join the Goodreads Reading Challenge. I repeated the reading challenge in 2021. This time I set my goal for 50 books and ended up reading 57. After completing my year, a friend challenged me in a different way. Select your top 10 books from the 2021 Reading Challenge. Now it got tricky because “top 10” is a bit vague. It could be in the top ten because of nostalgia like Trixie Bleden or because of the great title like Vicki and the Black Horse. ... Read More about Read Something New – Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge
Latest from the blog…
Fan the Flame to Change the World
I love my wood stove. Not because of how it looks, although I do like that, but because of the heat it puts out in the winter. In December, I was putting more wood on the fire. The coals had burned down until only a tiny thread of heat glowed from a few spots. I put in a few pieces of crumpled paper, laid down some kindling, and then topped it off with a couple large pieces. Nothing happened. The next step is to grab the handheld bellows and gently pump a bit of air into the wood ... Read More about Fan the Flame to Change the World
The Ultimate List of Christmas Books the Whole Family will Adore
Our new home was a tiny town on the prairie where the wind whipped the snow into bullets, and with Christmas approaching, it wasn’t the weather on our minds. All we could think about were the things we were greatly missing. Sledding hills filled with laughter. Ice skating on ponds. Epic parties with friends who came in packs like crayons. The new town was nothing like the old home. No hills, no ponds. And friends came in packs of one or two. Christmas seemed dismal. When it came ... Read More about The Ultimate List of Christmas Books the Whole Family will Adore
Why I Love that C.S. Lewis Used Bacchus in Prince Caspian
Bacchus in Prince Caspian reminds me of things you find at a garage sale. People have different attitudes towards garage sales. Some try to escape as soon as possible. Others scan and go while others carefully study each item with great thought on how it may be used or refurbished. I belong to the scan and go group. The people who study each item thoroughly used to irritate me. But then I realized an important truth. Where I see garbage, that person sees potential. Much like ... Read More about Why I Love that C.S. Lewis Used Bacchus in Prince Caspian
This New Twist on The Boxcar Children is the Best
If you’ve been around children’s books a while, you’ve probably heard about The Boxcar Children. But let me tell you this. There’s something new with this old series The Boxcar Children that has to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in a book. As a child, I remember loving this book. The main characters - Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny - became my inspiration for finding anything that looked like a car from a train and setting up house. In case you don’t remember, the ... Read More about This New Twist on The Boxcar Children is the Best