2011 December

Dec 29, 2011

Christmas recap and recovery

How was your Christmas? I hope it was delightful, filled with love and family and joy and time with your favorite people.

Ours was all that, but it was also exhausting. It felt like we were on-the-go for about five days straight. It probably wasn’t quite that bad, but that’s what it felt like. Time with my family and my husband’s family, guests, parties, board games, gifts, baking, errands, church, friends, food… whew! It was all good, but I think I am now officially ready for the slower days of January.

(I don’t particularly like the grayness of those January days, but the slowness? Yes please.)

As we celebrated the gift of Jesus, we also had the joy of giving and receiving some fun and enjoyable gifts.

C.(13) is now the owner of his very own Kindle. He loves to read almost as much as my husband and I do, and this way, he can collect even more books without overloading his already-bursting bookshelf. He’s already completed his first Kindle book and is on to more.

L.(5) received a variety of Angry Birds paraphernalia. I tell you, this kid is obsessed with Angry Birds. And each time he opened a gift that involved one more Angry Birds item, he giggled spontaneously and then couldn’t stop smiling. He can now spend a good portion of each day creating and destroying his own game levels.

Chad received some things to make his favorite hobby, cycling, a little more fun.

And we now have an elliptical machine residing in our basement. Which means I cannot use the gray days of January as an excuse for not exercising (as in, “Well I would go for a walk, but it’s too cold/dreary/snowy/hilly/insert-your-favorite-excuse-here.”). The elliptical will always be waiting for me. And after yesterday’s session, I am even more aware that my cardiovascular system could use some major improvement.

I have to admit that as much as I enjoy tearing open wrapping paper to see what surprise awaits me, I really love when I pick that “just right” gift for someone — when I manage to surprise them with something they didn’t even know they wanted, but instantly love. It doesn’t happen all the time, but I managed to get one or two of those instances this year. Total fun!

I’m also happy to announce that we were not struck with a Stomach Plague this year. I probably shouldn’t even type that out because as soon as I hit “Publish” on this post, one of my family members will likely bolt for the bathroom. But seriously, after last year, when one kid was sick right before Christmas, I got sick on Christmas, and the other kid got sick right after Christmas, I was so thankful to not be spending this holiday with Clorox wipes and a bucket. There were some minor, upper respiratory illnesses this year, but nothing a humidifier and some Vicks couldn’t solve.

And now, I find myself looking at the end of the year already. Just a couple days left in 2011. This year seemed to fly by.

I haven’t decided yet if I’ll make a list of New Year’s Resolutions. Some years I do and some years I don’t. But I do hope to be able to set aside some time to think about the upcoming year, to pray for God’s guidance, and to regroup a bit before heading into 2012.

Filed Under: Everyday Life 10 Comments

Dec 28, 2011

Book Review: The Bone House by Stephen R. Lawhead

written by katrina · 1 Comment

Last year, I reviewed Stephen R. Lawhead’s book, The Skin Map — the first book in his new Bright Empires series. You can read my review of that book here, but in short, I really liked it. It took me a while to get into it, but once I was in, I was completely absorbed.

So it didn’t take much thought for me to decide that I wanted to read the second book in the series, The Bone House. Though I initially received a free electronic version of the book through NetGalley, I liked it enough that I ultimately purchased the hardcover so I can read and re-read the book as desired, as well as loan it out to others.

Because this is the second book in a series, I hesitate to discuss too much of the plot. I’m reluctant to inadvertently reveal any spoilers of the first book.

In essence, The Bone House continues to follow Kit Livingstone and his cohorts as they travel through space and time (on things called ley lines), and seek to avoid or thwart bad guys while searching for pieces of the skin map — something that absolutely, positively must not fall into the wrong hands.

Here are some things I particularly liked about The Bone House:

The author included a recap of the first book right at the beginning. It was perfect — just enough information to remind of what I had read the prior year, re-whet my thirst for more, and get me running full speed in The Bone House.
Lawhead does a masterful job jumping between characters and situations with each chapter. There’s a lot going on in these books, and every time I thought, “Okay, after this chapter, I’m going to close the book and go to sleep”…well, it was not to be, because I would notice that the next chapter was about one particular person or situation that I’d really been wondering about. So I’d have to read on… Some authors drive me crazy with too much jumping, but in my opinion, it was perfect in The Bone House.
The author also did a good job at answering some questions for us, while presenting enough new questions, characters, and plot lines to keep me intrigued.
The Bone House is a page-turner. And I love page-turners. This was the book that kept me up way too late this fall, reading long past my bedtime. And when I passed it on to my husband, it did the same to him. Good stuff.

Though an electronic review copy of this book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher via NetGalley, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Filed Under: Book reviews 1 Comment

Dec 28, 2011

FIR ’11: Wrapping Up Loose Ends

written by katrina · 2 Comments

Thanks to everyone who has posted their Fall Into Reading 2001 wrap-up post! I’ve really enjoyed reading through your results, seeing which books you loved, and hearing your overall challenge experiences. And if you haven’t done a wrap-up yet, feel free to jump in. I’ll leave the linky open for quite a while.

Now for a few winners.

Winner of the last book giveaway (Deeper Into the Word, 2-book set).

Comment #4: Heather

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Winner of the $15 Amazon.com gift certificate:

Link #24: Bonnie @ Dwell In Possibility

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Winner of the $10 Amazon.com gift certificate:

Link #13: S @ Snapsandsnippets

Congrats to all!

Looking forward to seeing you for Spring Reading Thing this spring. Check back around the beginning of March for more details!

Filed Under: Fall Into Reading 2011 2 Comments

Dec 22, 2011

Fall Into Reading 2011: Wrap it up!

written by katrina · 28 Comments

Apparently the weather is confused as to what time of year it is (it was about 20 degrees warmer yesterday than it should have been! …not that I’m complaining). But the calendar confirms that Christmas is three days away. The decorations are in place, wrapped gifts are collecting under the tree, and I’ll be spending today baking way too many cookies. Which means, of course, that it’s time to bring an end to Fall Into Reading 2011.

I want to thank each person that participated in this year’s challenge. And a special thank you to those who answered the weekly reading questions or checked in to occasionally keep me posted on your reading progress over the last three months. You made this season of reading extra fun for me!

As we wrap things up, I just have one more thing to ask. Would you please write a final wrap-up post, letting all of us know how Fall Into Reading 2011 went for you? I would love if you’d take the time to write a final post and link to it using the Mr. Linky below.

Earlier this week, I offered some suggestions for what you might want to write in your wrap-up post, but of course, feel free to write it however you’d like. Once your post is up, come here and sign up on the Mr. Linky below. Don’t forget—include the URL to your wrap-up post, not just your general blog web address, to make it easy for people to find your post.

And don’t forget…there are still two Amazon.com gift certificates ($15 & $10) up for grabs. To be eligible, please post your wrap-up post (and put it on the Mr. Linky) by midnight EST on December 24th to get your name in the drawing. I’ll announce the winner a few days after Christmas.

Thanks again to all the participants. I’ve enjoyed reading with you!

Filed Under: Fall Into Reading 2011 28 Comments

Dec 22, 2011

Fall Into Reading 2011: My Wrap-Up

written by katrina · 13 Comments

Well, here we are, at the conclusion of Fall Into Reading 2011. From the very beginning, I knew this fall would be crazy. In addition to the usual holiday and school busyness, we moved to a new house and got our old house empty, clean, and ready to be put on the market. Which I knew would leave less time for reading, and would leave me feeling rather frazzled, which could also interfere with my reading plans.

Not surprisingly, I didn’t finish all the books on my list. Here are the books I had hoped to read:

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
The Next Story by Tim Challies
Lit by Tony Reinke
Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick
Microstyle by Christopher Johnson
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
The Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
The Bone House by Stephen R. Lawhead

In the end, I finished all five of the fiction books, but only three of the nonfiction. I still need to read The Next Story and Microstyle. Clearly, I found myself unable to focus on much nonfiction this year, even though the fiction was often a welcome respite from the craziness all around me.

Still, I’m going to consider reading eight books in the last three months a decent accomplishment for me.

My favorite books from this fall were, by far, The Bone House and The Dragon’s Tooth. Both were page-turners and kept me reading late into the night. I passed The Bone House on to my husband and The Dragon’s Tooth on to my teen, and they would both concur with my opinions. The only problem with those books is that they are part of two different series, so now I am left waiting and waiting until the next installments come out. Oh well…it’ll be worth the wait, I’m sure.

My favorite nonfiction read was Lit — a great book about the whys and hows of reading. I intend to write a review of Lit at some point, and I also want to re-visit it and re-read parts once things calm down a little. It gave me lots to think about, but was also enjoyable to read a book by someone who has such an appreciation for reading. Good stuff.

I’m looking forward to some more spontaneous and unstructured reading this winter — but rest assured, I will keep reading, and I hope you will too!

Don’t forget to visit the official wrap-up post to read other Fall Into Reading participants’ wrap-ups.

Filed Under: Fall Into Reading 2011 13 Comments