Blogging about Books

I've been reading some lately, just not as much, and I've been stacking them up rather than adding them to my Bookmooch list because I haven't had time to get to the post office and experience has shown that books are usually mooched quickly or sit for a long time (indefinitely?). Anyway, these books will go on my list as soon as I finish writing about them so mooch away...

Debbie Macomber's Home for the Holidays is just two basic Harlequin Romance novels in one book. I've already forgotten the characters names, and just about everything else, but they are set at Christmas and believe it or not, they have happy endings. Pure mind candy.

Midnight Clear is three basic romance novels or "novellas" in one book. Again, mind candy, couldn't tell you anything about any of them; enjoyable to read if in the mood but totally forgetable.

Thursdays at Eight by Debbie Macomber is one you'd like if you like her yarn shop books. It is about four friends who met in a journaling class and who continued to meet every Thursday at 8 a.m. It takes them through a year in their life. The four are a 50+ widow/hospital executive who is being romantically pursued by a doctor; a 20 something aspiring actress, a 40 year old who just discovered she is pregnant (her other two kids are teens) and a 40ish divorcee who finally makes peace with the husband who left her for a 20 year old. Each chapter begins with an entry from one of the women's journal and then, in a different typeface, tells what happens next in life. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it.

Haywood Smith's The Red Hat Club was about a group of women who had been friends since high school. They meet monthly at some society place in Atlanta. This is the year they turn 50. The book is set in 2002 but flashes back to their high school days. By this time, most of the women are not in happy marriages. The book ends celebrating the divorce of one of them from a man who beat her once (but no more, because she stood up to him) and who cheated on her regularly. However, I have to say that my favorite character was one who, when given the chance to re-unite with her high school flame, realized that even though fireworks didn't go off every time she saw her husband, he was a good man, a good father, loyal, honest etc. and that she'd be better off working on the marriage she had than seeking excitement elsewhere.

An Ideal Marriage is another compilation of Harlequin Romances. What can I say? They are by Debbie Macomber.

The Pot Luck Club by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson is kind of a Christian version of Thursdays at Eight and The Red Hat Club. It centers around a group of women in a small Colorado town. They are the Potluck Club. They go to the same church and meet monthly to pray (and gossip). The book includes recipies for the food they bring, and has them supporting each other in the changes life brings.

Francine Rivers is one of the best Christain Fiction authors I've read. Unashamed is her book about Rahab, a Cannonite harlot who live in Jerico when "the walls came tumbling down". She was also a foremother of Jesus. Anway this novella is short, and basically fills out the Bible story. I enjoyed it though it wasn't the enagaging read her longer novels have been.

Another Homecoming by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn is about a wealthy young woman who adored her father and clashed with her mother. Upon her father's death she discovers she was adopted. She searchs for and finds her birth family. Let's just say the end was never really in doubt, but it was an easy feel-good read.

Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid is a Catholic Apologetics book focusing on the Pope. It had a few things I didn't know--a few myths I'd never heard and a few explainations I'd never heard, but I guess I've been reading this stuff long enough that I've heard most of it. If you want to learn the whys about the Pope, this is a good book.

Where is That in the Bible is another Patrick Madrid book. The main sections of the book are Authority, Doctrines, the Sacraments, Customs and Practices, Moral Issues and Non-Catholic beliefs. He gives scriptural authority for many teachings, but unless he's preaching to the choir, I think a lot of his arguments are going to fall on deaf ears. What I mean is that the scripture he quotes lends support to his argument, but I don't think that those who aren't already convinced of the truth of many of his assertions are going to be convinced by the scripture he quotes--its just too open to interpretation--which of course is one Catholic argument against the Bible as the sole source of religous truth.