jan karon

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books I have or would reread

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 23 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday July 8: Books I’d Like to I Re-read (Share either your favorite books that you enjoy re-reading or books that you’d like to read again!) (Submitted by Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog)

I don’t reread books a lot but there a few I would read again, and I guess for this post, I need to come up with ten that I have reread or would reread. I think I can do that.

  1. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

It took me until last year to read this book and I ended up loving it. I would love to reread it again this year and I probably will.

2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I know! So cliché! But here is another one that I read late in life and now I want to read it again because it was so lovely and cozy and interesting. I never imagined I’d get so wrapped up in these characters. I used to roll my eyes at people who would gush about this book and the movies based on it and then I read it. Oh, my! I understand the gushing now.

3. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

This book is just as sweet and touching as the Hallmark movie from the 1990s was, which is how I first knew about the story. Of course, the book came first. I didn’t read the book until I read it to my daughter a couple of years ago and I just loved it. I also loved the sequels, especially Skylark.

4. At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

I have read this one more than once and I could read it again and again. There is always something new that I pick up on in it. I have also read Shepherd’s Abiding, the Christmas book more than once but now I read certain sections that are my favorite instead of the whole book.

5  The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I read this one several years ago with my son and I would like to reread it but I have to finish The Lord of the Rings trilogy first. I have The Return of the King to read next.

6. The Cat Who Saw Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun

This is my favorite book of this series. It’s a lot different than the others in the series and sometimes I wonder if Lilian wrote it. The main character, Qwill, shows even more of his personality in this one and even shows his tenderness toward a young child in the book. The story/mystery is also a solid one. As with any long running series, there are aways going to be duds along the way, but this was not one of them.

7. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I first read this book in sixth grade by myself and again in eighth grade, though I don’t remember reading it in eighth grade. I know it was part of our curriculum but I guess my teacher wasn’t very memorable in her teaching. I remember she said, “What do you mean you’ve already read it?” She was surprised a sixth grader had taken it upon herself to read something so deep and advanced, I suppose, and I didn’t do that very often but in this case, I did read it because my mom suggested it and then started to read it to me in her southern accent. After I heard her Southern accent reading it, that’s how I heard the narrator (Scout) for the rest of the book.

I know I didn’t understand the intricacies of the message of this book when I was a child so reading it again as an adult about three years ago with my son for his English was a much different experience. I sobbed through the second half of the book as an adult because I understood so much more about the story, about Atticus, about the world and the ugliness and also goodness, the third time around. It is a book I think needs to be read several times for the message to really  hit home.

8. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

This is another book that I read at an age that other kids these days probably wouldn’t have read it. I did not do that a lot so don’t let me mislead you into thinking I read a ton of classics or harder books as a child. I did this occasionally and this one was one of those. The language is a challenge since it is written in the 1800s, but I really had fun with the story.  It was a lot of fun, much more so than Huckleberry Finn, which had a lot of serious moments mixed in with the adventure. I liked Huck Finn too, though. I hope to read this one again at some point soon.

9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This is a book I read for the first time with my daughter last year. I would read it again because I truly enjoyed the story, even the harder parts I didn’t like in the movie version I saw as a child. I wanted a bit more from the ending but I really enjoyed the other parts of the book and could see myself reading it again.

10. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

This is a book with a lot of tough subjects, but one I haven’t read since I was about 11. I would like to read it again because I have a feeling it will hit me in a different way, similar to the way To Kill A Mockingbird did. I actually have this as one book I want to read this summer.

Are there books that you have reread or want to reread? Or are you more of a one and done person like I usually am?

Top Ten Tuesday: An Author I’d love a new book from

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 16 Comments

|| Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. ||

Head over to That Artsy Reader Girl’s blog for more posts on this topic.

This week our prompt was: Authors I’d Love a New Book From (These could be authors who have passed away, who have retired from writing, who have inexplicably gone quiet, or who might just not be able to keep up with how quickly you read their books!)

I knew right away what I would answer for this when I looked at the list of prompts last week.

This weekend the first author I thought of – Jan Karon, author of The Mitford series — announced she is actually writing a new book! What?! So excited right now!

In addition to Jan I would love new books from Lilian Jackson Braun (alas she is dead) and L.M. Montgomery (also dead).

Back to Jan, though.

This weekend Jan attended a tea at the Mitford Museum and announced that at the age of 87 she is writing the 15th book in the Mitford series, after originally deciding that the book she released in 2017 would be the last.

I am terribly excited for the new book but even if it never comes out for some reason, I will be okay because there are already so many books that I can read over and over again.

And I do read them over and over. I am always finding something new in them each time I read them.

If you don’t know what The Mitford series is, it is a series of books about Father Tim Cavenaugh, an Episcopalian Priest in his late-60s who starts to experience a lot of firsts – the first time falling in love, the first time becoming a father (you’ll have to read to find out what this means) , and the first time being diagnosed with a serious illness. He lives in the fictional town of Mitford, N.C. where there are a variety of wonderful, eccentric, sweet, bullheaded, hilarious, and loving characters. Those characters include Father Tim’s friends who he meets every morning at the diner, his church secretary, his housekeeper, his doctor, his sweet congregation member Miss Sadie, and then later his charming neighbor Cynthia.

Mitford books are written in a series of short snippets from a few points of view but somehow the story still comes together cohesively. Each character is so endearing and Karon writes them so perfectly and authentically that it is impossible not to fall in love with them and want the best for them. There are plotlines that carry over from each book but the main plotlines are usually resolved in the installment they begin in.

There is at least one plotline that does not resolve in several of the books and it had me heartbroken and worried as I waited for it to completely resolve. It was an amazing way to keep readers coming back for more.

I know some people might start the series and be annoyed by how the points of view jump here and there, but for the most part, the POV is Father Tim. If that jumping does bother you, I encourage you to still give the books a chance because I truly feel you will find yourself as enchanted by the character’s stories as I always was.

I remember how shortly after I married, I would sit in the tub at our new apartment (or it was new for me) and read the books while I was in the bathtub. Weird. I know. I was always worried I’d get the pages wet because back then I only read paperbacks – no e-readers. Yes. I am old.

The first book, At Home in Mitford came out in 1994. I was in high school at the time. I don’t believe I started reading them until I was in college. I read them because my mom was reading them. The last book, To Be Where You Are, came out in 2017.

Mom has said more than once that picking up a Mitford book, even years after you’ve read it, feels like coming home. She’s so right. It feels like you are walking right back into your friendly hometown with people who you know so well and they somehow know you too.

Last year my mom had her gallbladder removed. She was in the hospital for a week and for a while we weren’t sure if she was going to be okay or not. She needed something to read so I took her Bathed in Prayer, which is a collection of little sayings or excerpts from previous Mitford books. One night on the phone, when I’d called to check in, she told me how comforting that book was to her while in the hospital.

“It was almost like a little devotional,” she said.

Some of my favorite lines, scenes, or excerpts have come from Mitford books, including:

“Perhaps, he thought, we should all live as if we’re dying.”

***

“When it comes to feeling his sheep, I’m afraid my sermons are about as nourishing as cardboard.”

“Are you resting?”

“Resting?”

“Resting. Sometimes we get so worn out with being useful that we get useless. I’ll ask you what another preacher once asked: Are you too exhausted to run and too scared to rest?”

Too scared to rest! He’d never thought of it that way. ‘When in God’s name are you going to take a vacation?’ Hoppy had asked again, only the other day. He hadn’t known the truth then, but he felt he knew it now—yes, he was too scared to rest.”

***

“He’d learned that one obstacle to childlike faith in a heavenly father was bitter disappointment in earthly fathers. No, not everyone had that obstacle to faith, which was clearly a favorite of the Enemy, but Miss Sadie had had it, and he had had it and come to terms with it, and forgiven his father, long ago.

His research for the paper on Lewis revealed this had been a major obstacle for the apologist. One commentator had said, “For years, Lewis had not been able to forgive himself for his failure to love his father, nor had he been able to appropriate God’s forgiveness for this sin. But when finally enabled, he was almost incredulous of the peace and the ease he experienced.”

***

“There’ll be times when you wonder how you can possibly thank Him for something that turns your life upside down; certainly there will be such times for me. Let us, then, at times like these, give thanks on faith alone… obedient, trusting, hoping, believing.” (In This Mountain)

***

“At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him…. Watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet…. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.”
―  (In This Mountain)

When Jan announced at a recent Mitford Tea at the Mitford Museum in North Carolina that she would be writing a 15th book, she reflected on why she had felt like she might not be able to write again.

She lost her mother in 2016, her daughter in 2021, and her brother in 2022.

“You’ve got to have something left to write with and I had nothing left to write with.”

Her aquifer was dry, she said.

So she began to write an autobiography but it wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t feeling it, so to speak.

She dug into her drawer and found a Mitford-related short story and began to play with that to try to get her creative juices flowing again, she said. Not only did her creative juices start flowing but she fell in love with Mitford again.

And now it looks like we will have another Mitford book – another story with Father Tim. Once again, she promised her fans what she has said in the past – she will never kill Father Tim off. I certainly hope she doesn’t kill anyone else off. A couple integral characters did die over the years and I sobbed like someone in my own family had died.

Have you ever read the Mitford books? Don’t worry – I understand if they weren’t your cup of tea.

How would you answer today’s question?

Some cozy book recommendations for Spring

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 3 Comments

I have been wanting to put together a list of cozy reads for Spring but then I realized something – I’m not sure if what I see is cozy is what others would see as cozy.  Also, they are cozy for me, but do I only read them in spring? I don’t know. Not really. Unlike others who share such book recommendations, I don’t have a book I read each spring. It’s not something I do for whatever reason. I have re-read a couple of these books but not in spring.

Anyhow, I’m going for it anyhow before spring is gone (though it’s so cold out, my area thinks it is winter!) and recommend some books I feel fit spring and some that you could really read any time.

(Note: There are affiliate links in this post that I could monetarily benefit from. That’s not why I wrote the post though. The links were an afterthought.)

First up is A Light in the Window by Jan Karon from The Mitford Series.

Really anything from The Mitford series fits for cozy reading in my opinion. Sure, there are some tough topics in the books, but they are mixed in with enough light humor and sweetness to make it easier to take in.

I enjoy this one because it chronicles the romance of Father Tim, an Episcopalian priest, and his neighbor, Cynthia Coppersmith.

It’s such a sweet romance that leaves you rooting for this older couple who are finding love in their golden years. It is nothing like the romances out there in the world today. It is a sweet, gentle story of friendship that blossoms into love. No kisses or swooning or cheesy physical descriptions of them checking each other out.

“Oh, Timothy, how could you not have loved someone all these years? Loving absolutely seeps from you, like a spring that bubbles up in a meadow.”

 “Maybe you can convince me of that, but I doubt it. I find myself self-seeking, hard as stone somewhere inside. Look how I’ve treated you.”

“Yes, but you could never deceive me into thinking you were hard as stone. You’ve always betrayed your tenderness to me, something in your face, your eyes, your voice …”

“Then I have no cover with you?”

“Very little.”

 “ ‘Violet only wanted a friend,’ ” he quoted, “ ‘but every time she tried to have one, she did something that chased them away.”

~ A Light in the Window

Throw in a bunch of other quirky and fun characters and I can’t help but to be charmed by the world Jan has created in the pages of this book and the entire series. There are 14 books in all.

The Cat Who God Sent by Jim Kraus is another cozy read for me.

This is the story of a pastor Jake Wilkerson who is disillusioned with his job when he meets a cat named Petey who seems to always be in the way and leading to situations that make Jake think differently about life. The story takes place in a tiny little town about an hour from where I live and close to where my brother lives, which I didn’t know when I first picked up the book. I have a copy of The Dog That Talked to God too by him, but I haven’t read it yet.

Book description:

Jake Wilkerson, a disillusioned young pastor who is an expert at hiding his fears, takes on a new assignment at a small rural church in Coudersport, Pennsylvania–which is a far piece from anywhere and full of curiously odd and eccentric people. His first day on the job, he is adopted by Petey–a cat of unknown origins and breed–but a very sentient cat who believes that he is on a mission from God to redeem Jake and bring him back to the truth.
Jake must confront his doubts early on when he meets Emma Grainger, a single woman and a veterinarian who dismisses all Christians as “those people.” Then, Tassy, a young runaway with a secret, arrives at the door of the church looking for a place of refuge. How does Jake deal with this runaway and his interest in Dr. Grainger? More importantly, can Jake rekindle his faith? Petey does his best to lead all people to the truth, in a most subtle and feline way.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery is a book I associate with spring, I guess because she arrives at Green Gables in spring.

Most people are familiar with this book, even if you haven’t read it. On the off chance someone has no idea what the book is though, it is a book about a young orphan girl who comes to live with an elderly couple in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The couple think they are adopting a boy to help them with their farm, but instead, they are accidentally given a girl who enchants them and enriches their lives.

Anne is a girl who daydreams her way through life. She loves to read, pick flowers, imagine grand situations and think the best of everyone. She has had to use all of those things to help her deal with a difficult childhood where she was in foster care and treated horribly by those who took her in. Those who did take her in mainly did so to have her as someone to either care for their children or do their housework.

I read this book to Little Miss last year, and she really enjoyed it. I’m making my way through the series of books (there are eight) but I gave up on book four, Anne’s House of Dreams, because the cute and humorous moments that were in the original dissipated by book four.

Any of the Cat Who books are cozy reading to me, but I picked The Cat Who Wasn’t There because it was on my shelf and I remember that being one of the better ones. The books are written by Lilian Jackson Braun and there are a few duds in the series, especially toward the end.

These books are the story of Jim Qwilleran, a retired newspaper reporter who moves to a small town called Pickax in Moose County, up toward the Canadian border after he founds out he has inherited a wealthy woman’s entire fortune, even though they weren’t actually related.

Qwill writes a column for the local paper and lives in a barn that has been turned into a house with his two Siamese cats. He frequently finds himself wrapped up in various mysteries that occur in the town. The series starts with Qwill living “Down Below” which refers to the city or anything south of this rural area in the north. I’m guessing this town is based in Minnesota or Michigan, but I don’t know that it’s ever really made clear what state it is in. Qwill used to work in Chicago, I believe. It’s Down Below where he acquires his cats. Koko, the male, is the one who “helps” Qwill solve crimes by conveniently knocking over plants or pawing at books or finding clues, or simply acting weird around a suspect. Yum-Yum is there mainly for comic relief. She’s a sweet kitty who often “steals” items from visitors so she can bat them around for fun later.

She was kidnapped in one of the books and I swear I almost had a heart attack. These are very light reads so I figured she would be fine but I just couldn’t stop reading until Qwill had her safely in his arms again.

Back to this particular book, which is about Qwill traveling to Scotland with other regular characters from the book. During that trip one of the people who comes with them as a guide (not a regular) is murdered and the crew returns to Pickax sad and in need of finding out who killed her. Koko wasn’t on the trip but even he gets in on the sleuthing when Qwill returns home.

There is also a little bit of romance in the books between Qwill and the town librarian, Polly Duncan, but like A Light in the Window, it is not a romance about kisses and physical description. It’s more like a friendship romance.

For a list of all of the 29 books in the series see this site:

https://quotes.pub/the-cat-who-books-in-order

I have been reading through the All Creatures Great and Small books by James Herriot over the last few years and they are cozy reads for me.

There are eight books in the main series, but Herriot, whose real name was actually Alfred Wight, also put out collections of short stories, and then other books were compiled with the original stories and photos so online there looks to be 19 different books by Herriot. I only own one in paperback. I own six of the eight main books about his beginning years as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales in ebook form.

 I like how each chapter is a little story all its own. I read a chapter here and there when I do read the books and it is like escaping into a little cocoon of comfort. Right now, I am reading The Lord God Made Them All.

I cannot tell you which each book is about because they all sort of blend together in a collection of stories about his life and job. The one I am reading now takes place after he was in the war. He’s now married with his first son and is no longer living in the same house as Siegfried Farnon, whose real name was Donald Sinclair. I don’t like the writing style in this book as much as the others because he seems to be slipping between past and present tense at times, even in mid-sentence, but the stories are still entertaining.

For spiritual books I enjoy in Spring, there is Gracelaced, a devotional book by Ruth Chou Simons. The art and words inside the book are beautiful. I only picked this up last year but I can tell it is going to be a favorite of mine in the spring when the flowers are blooming but also all seasons when I need to look at some beautiful paintings of flowers.

A children’s book I enjoy reading with Little Miss in spring is Share, Big Bear, Share by Maureen Wright, who is a local author to us.

The book is about Big Bear’s need to share his stash of blueberries with his friends and I guess blueberries often grow in the summer, not the spring, but for some reason the book feels spring-like to me.

I’m sure there are other books I enjoy in spring but haven’t thought about for this post. They’ll just have to wait for next year.

Since I got this idea after my friend Erin and a YouTuber we watch posted their favorite cozy spring reads, I thought I’d link to their suggestions as well.

Erin at Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs

Darling Desi

And one bonus one

Forgotten Way Farms

When you are in the darkness keep your mouth shut.

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 6 Comments

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Here is some advice I could have used before I rambled too much on my blog about this period of loneliness I’ve been in.

At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him…Watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet…When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light. — Oswald Chambers

My favorite line of this quote, which I first saw in the Jan Karon book I’m currently reading, is “Watch where God puts you into darkness and when you are there keep your mouth shut.”

Keep your mouth shut.

Ouch.

That one hurt because I know I haven’t done it.

I certainly plan to read this quote over a few hundred times and chew on it for a bit. It was very timely for me and interesting because I almost didn’t read from that book due to being too tired.

If you feel so moved, tell me what you think of this quote. Does it fit where you are now or where you once were? Let me know in the comments.

 

Good Omens leads to my weekly show, book, whatever review

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 24 Comments

I have to confess I’ve never read Good Omens or anything by Neil Gaiman (other than Fortunately the Milk with the kids) or Terry Pratchett (I tried in high school but – my head – well, it still hurts.) so when my husband insisted my son and I watch Good Omens with him on Amazon – well, honestly I had no choice. I was sort of told I was watching it and I sort of had to because I’m a huge David Tennant fan. It was six one hour episodes, so like a mini-series and we binged watched it over a couple of days.

So we spent last weekend watching all six episodes while randomly covering my 4-year old daughter’s eyes or taking her out of the room altogether. And when it was done my husband looked at me, as he so often does after he lets me into a little of his world, and said: “So, what did you think?”

“I think I need to start the next book in The Mitford Series so I can escape into a very sweet, very innocent and maybe even a little pointless world.”

And that’s what I did. I put the thoughts of Armageddon behind me, even if it was a humorous take on the end of the world, and finally finished the fifth book of the Mitford series “A New Song.” As for what I really thought of Good Omens: I’m still very confused by it all but I’m still a David Tennant fan and I think even more so now. Yes, Michael Sheen was very good as well and I actually was able to stand Jack Whitehall for more than five minutes, which is longer than I can normally stand him.

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What was hilarious to me was how Gaiman got slammed on Twitter for making Adam and Eve black (hello… they most likely were). That’s what people were upset about? The whole series was pretty much mocking the Christian faith, in a way, though not in the worst way I’ve ever seen, but someone got their panties in a bunch over Adam and Eve being black? Um… okay? Weird.

After watching Good Omens, I saw an interview with Gaiman about writing that I really enjoyed.

As so often happens when I start asking questions about a favorite author of my husband’s, I ended up with another piece written about said author being shoved into my hand:

I can’t say I minded. It was very interesting, well written (of course) and the artwork outstanding. The story was intriquing, a bit baffling for me in parts (since I don’t know every incarnation of Batman in the comics), and definitely engaging.

Keeping with my weird, eclectic literary taste, I watched Good Omens, read Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader and then finished Jan Karon’s light, skipping through the tulips writing with “A New Song” (the fifth book in The Mitford Series) and then also, finally, finished All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (or real name Alfred Wight).

I thought I’d try a Debbie Macomber book since I saw an interview with her I really liked, but then I saw the pilot episode of a series on the Hallmark Channel, based on a series she wrote, and am having second thoughts.

The worse line in the Cedar Cove show?

“One thing she won’t have in the city are her memories because they are here in Cedar Cove.”

Uh … no … her memories are in her head. Dork. That newspaper editor who was supposed to have written that should be fired. Immediately. And if it that is how Macomber’s books read I may have to fire her too. We’ll see what I think after I read “A Little Bit Country.”

So, I approach my first Debbie Macomber book with a huge amount of trepidation, even though I loved this interview with her on YouTube (though less so the awkward interviewer):

Also in my queue to start this week are the following books:

All Things Bright And Beautiful by James Herriot

In This Mountain by Jan Karon

The Elmo Jenkins Trilogy by McMillan Moody

The Father Brown Complete Collection by G.K Chesterton

As for my blog this week, here are the links to what I rambled about.

A Story To Tell: Part Seven

Franny: A little piece of fiction

Justice for Michele

I Would Have Never Made it As A Pioneer, or The Day Smoke Filled our House and I called My Husband Before I called 911

So what is on tap for all of you this week in books, movies, or shows?

Let me know in the comments or leave me a link to your contribution for this week’s Sunday Salon, which you can find on Readerbuzz or the Sunday post which you can find at Caffeinated Bookreviewer.

A little chaos in my weekly review

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 15 Comments

A little chaos reigned for me a few weeks when I watched the movie “A Little Chaos” on Netflix. The basic plot is that Kate Winselt is a designer or a builder or a large breasted woman they needed to look forlorn and longingly at the guy who was also a gardener or a designer or whatever for the king. She is hired to design a fancy concert hall/garden for King Louise VIII (Alan Rickman) and few seemed phased she’s a woman building for the king in 1800 whatever. She’s a woman with tragedy in her past and it takes the entire movie to figure out what her tragedy is.

I believe all the characters are supposed to be French but only the gardener and a couple other characters have actual French accents. The rest have British accents. Not sure what that was about. It sort of reminded me of Robin Hood when Kevin Costner kept losing his British accent and slipping back into Brooklyn or something.

I spent most of the movie trying to figure out why Kate seemed the only woman who wore a dress that pushed her breasts up and almost out completely.

I guess the French were (and are?) an open group but I was really getting confused over who was sleeping with whom as well.

And is it bad that every time I saw Alan Rickman all I could think was “why does the king look like Captain Hook?”

All in all, there was still something charming about the movie. The scenery and sets were beautiful, the costumes were breathtaking, the plot fairly predictable.

Would I watch it again? Not unless I needed another good giggle.

Also in the movie department, I found myself completely delighted with Tea with the Dames on Amazon. This was one my brother mentioned to me when we were talking about another movie. The Dames are Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Eileen Atkins. Once a year they meet in the country and chat and “talk shop” so to speak. The movie is a documentary and features the women chatting about their careers, what it meant to become a “dame” and their time as actresses on the stage.

In case your curious, here is a trailer to give you an idea what it’s about:

In the book realm, I am finishing up All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriott and A New Song by Jan Karon.

It was nice of my brother to ruin Herriott’s books for me a bit when he told me that wasn’t his real name. After looking up the reason why James Alfred Wight used a pen name, I understood better and accepted that it wasn’t appropriate for veterinarians at the time to promote themselves so he felt it was better not to use his real name. He also changed the names of those in the books, to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent. The fact James Herriott isn’t his real name doesn’t take away from the witty and touching stories in the book for me like I thought it might. I have learned not to talk to my brother about books I’m reading if he has already read them. Who knows what else he will feel compelled to tell me – maybe the endings of one or two.

I’ve been reading All Creatures Great and Small on my Kindle, which is connected to the Kindle my mom uses. She’s on my account and we share Kinde Unlimited. Normally we are reading different books at different times but Mom started All Creatures Great and Small after me and blew through it before I was done. I almost attempted a competition when my Kindle would notify me that another device registered in my name had made it to a page further than I had, but then I remembered my mom is retired I am a mom with two young children, a needy dog, a pushy cat and a newspaper editor husband who asks me to proof his weekly columns. I finally gave it up and let her blow right past me and finish the book before me, even though I had been reading it for a month longer than her. That’s how slow of a reader I am.

A New Song is a slight departure from Karon’s other books in the series because the story takes place outside of Mitford, N.C., which is where most of Karon’s other books about Father Tim Kavanaugh take place. In case you’ve never read the books, the main character is Father Tim, an Episcopalian priest who lives in the small town of Mitford. The books are about his adventures and how they relate to the quirky, fun, and sweet characters in the town. If you’re looking for something light and not very deep then Karon’s books are for you.

Next up on my book list to read or finish is The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, All Things Bright and  Beautiful (after I finish All Creatures Great and Small) by James Herriott and On Writing by Stephen King.

As for what I’ve been writing on my blog lately: here are some links to my recent posts:

When You Finally Stop Waiting for the Calls to Come

A New Beginning For A Small Pennsylvania Farm

And the fifth part in my fiction story “A Story to Tell”

So what are all of you reading or watching or even writing ? Feel free to share here or find out what others are reading by visiting Readerbuzz’s weekly wrap up and Sunday Salon feature on her blog.