Thursday, April 21, 2016

Monday, April 18, 2016

A Homemade life by Molly Wizenberg

Have you read this?



The last book I read was my Bethany House disappointment, but this more than made up for it, and I devoured the entire thing in an afternoon while my little people were supposed to be napping...

Part memoir, part cookbook, I loved the idea that Wizenberg managed to create so much personality in the midst of her recipes. Giving me the story behind each made me so much more likely to try them (besides the fact that many of them sound so amazing). And I have never craved salad so much in my life as I did after reading about the many concoctions she and her husband created.

There were parts of this book that touched me to tears, especially when Wizenberg talked about losing her father. I could relate because I remember my dad in the kitchen a lot like she did her own. And I can't say I would have enjoyed this book quite as much if I didn't already like cooking so much, but it would be worth a try even if you don't. I think that food with a story behind it tastes better. I already have the sequel on order and I can't wait to read it.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Socks and Wednesdays

Oh hey there! You haven't seen much of me lately, and this is why...



SOCKS. And more specifically, LARGE man socks with fingering weight yarn and size 1 needles (two at once on a circular, and I snapped one set of needles like an Amazon woman). I kid you not, I worked for hours every day and night for a solid week to produce these socks, and I was pretty pleased with the result.

Speaking of socks, Lucy was bound and determined that she was going to give the socks to "Mr. Chris," who is one of Nate's co-workers, because, as she told me, "Mommy, I LOVE Mr. Chris." Never mind that Lucy has only met Mr. Chris twice, and refused to speak or even look at him both times. She had a plan, and there was no deviating from it. When I explained to her that Daddy was going to give him the socks, she frowned at me, and I suggested that she color him a happy birthday picture to go with the socks. I kid you not, she replied, "Hmmmm, let me think about it... NO." There is a lot of sweet in there, but it's been mostly sass the last few days...

Since I'm telling you a Lucy story, you need a Milo one. Yesterday he told me, "Mommy, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, and then I pray for you." Wow, precious. He explained that he asked for lots of gifts to come to me like rain falling from the sky. I told him that he and Lucy were the best gifts I have ever received, so God had it covered, and he told me, "Well, I was hoping it might be yarn or money or something."

Here's to Wednesday!



Wednesday, April 6, 2016

King's Folly by Jill Williamson

I'm back on the book review train, this time with a book I was less fond of...

I received a copy of King's Folly by Jill Williamson as part of the Bethany House blogger review program, and I was pretty excited. I enjoy reading things from Bethany House, because although they tend toward the cheesy side, I at least feel like what I'm reading is going to be somewhat PG.

This book leans more toward the science fiction/fantasy genre, which I don't read much of, so I was really ready to try something different. The author wrote from several points of view, which seems to be a fiction trend right now. I'm not mad - I enjoy following several characters at a time. I got really sucked in to the story line right away, but then it went a bit awry for me...

I know the author was trying to be legit and genuine, but she developed some characters that were super into idol worship and magic, and there were scenes with hunting children for sport... And the description of said things just proved to be a bit much for me. There was a scene where a priestess character started talking with a "goddess" and became inhabited by said goddess, and at that point, I just put the book down. Call me a prude, but I just don't put those kinds of things before my eyes, and I was kind of disappointed in Bethany House for presenting me with something like that.

Maybe Williamson was going somewhere amazing. Maybe the story is the most incredible story ever told. I'll never know because, to me, those ends just didn't justify the means. Of course, this is just my opinion, and I tend to over-guard myself, but I always err on the side of "better safe than sorry."