Books, Coffee, & Jesus

8.2.2021

Party Princess is the seventh book in The Princess Diaries series. In this book, Princess Mia is dealing with a few things. First, as school president, she has misjudged the budget for the school year and has to find a way to raise funds to cover the rental costs of the hall AEHS uses for graduation. Second, Michael (her boyfriend and brother to Lilly, her best friend), has invited her to a party he's throwing at his parents' apartment and Mia is worried that she's not enough of a "party girl" for Michael. Third, Grandmere (the Queen of Genovia) has written a musical based on Genovia's history and is having Mia and her friends perform this musical in front of a bunch of celebrities at a benefit she's hosting to raise money for Genovian olive growers (and to help Mia out of her financial situation at school).

I'm gonna be honest. I was super into this series when I first started reading it a couple of years ago (based on a recommendation from one of my college friends). But, books five and six made Mia out to be super whiny (in my opinion) and I almost didn't finish reading the series. (Part of that may also be due to the fact that I couldn't get to the library and browse the young adult section on my own until about a month ago due to Covid restrictions). However, in this book, Mia seems to have grown up a little bit. She's still anxious and worried, mostly over whether or not she and Michael are still dating after her blunders at his party, but she handles everything in this book the way I would expect any 10th grader to handle these situations - with lots of anxiety and worry.

I have several more books to read for this series, but I'm probably going to spread them out and read several books in between. I think that will help me handle Mia's worry and anxiety a little better than if I just sat and read through them all at one time. I do have to say, though, that I like the books better than the movies because Michael is around longer and Mia's dad is alive and part of her life. Don't get me wrong, though! The Princess Diaries movies are a couple of my all-time favorite Disney movies and I will watch them whenever I see they're on TV (or if I'm bored and looking for something on Disney+ to watch)! But, as I like to say about most book-to-movie adaptations, the book is always better!

8.1.2021

Wuthering Heights opens with Mr. Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, paying a couple of visits to Mr. Heathcliff, his landlord, at his home, Wuthering Heights. On his second visit, he gets stuck there due to some inclement weather, and it's during this stay that he learns about the tragic past of the people who lived in both homes. Told from the point of view of Nelly Dean, one of the servants, we get a story that is told by someone who is both on the inside, yet also on the outside of the story.

  Nelly's tale follows Catherine Earnshaw as she falls in love with a gypsy child her father adopted into their family, a boy who came to be known as Heathcliff. As she falls in love with him, she's also finding herself attracted to her neighbor, Edgar Linton, a soft-spoken young man of society that her family would prefer her to be acquainted with and eventually marry. Catherine eventually chooses Edgar over Heathcliff, and, in a rage, Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights to make his fortune and become the man that he thinks Catherine wants him to be. When he comes back, he takes his wrath out on everyone who comes in his path in an attempt to get revenge on those who treated him ill when he was a child, including Catherine who snubbed him for Edgar. The choices that Catherine and Heathcliff make eventually affect their children, who are trying to break free of their families’ messy past.

This book was everything I expected it to be, yet so much more. I honestly thought it was just about Catherine and Heathcliff and the passion that flowed between them. But it was also about their choices and how these choices affected their futures. The story would have been so, so different had Catherine chosen Heathcliff over Edgar, or even if Heathcliff had chosen to move on and not take his anger out on everyone who came into his life after Catherine snubbed him. Things would have been so different had Heathcliff chosen to be nice and kind, even just to his son and/or the servants still at Wuthering Heights.

Normally, I'm not a fan of main characters who are irritable to the point where they make me irritable. Yet, at least with this book, it's what makes this story so incredible. It's part of what kept my attention as I was reading. Catherine and Heathcliff are the most unlikable characters I've ever come across, but that's what makes them and this book so likable. It's definitely in my top five favorite classic novels!

7.30.2021

Oh look! Another audiobook! 😂

Actually, this was the only format I could find that was affordable, though, to be honest, I may have used a credit on Audible to get it.

Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada follows the lives of three polar bears - a grandmother, a mother, and a son. Each section is told from the point of view of that particular character and told in the way that you would expect any memoir to follow. Each polar bear is famous in some way - the grandmother as a writer, the mother as a circus performer, and the son for being born and raised in the Leipzig Zoo. Each polar bear writes his or her story, telling the events taking place in the world around them as they're happening.

The book itself is mostly set in Germany during the Cold War. Being told from the point of view of the polar bears doesn't seem to take away from what's going on in the world during this time. In fact, most of the time you don't even remember that the main characters are polar bears because the way they write is pretty much the way you and I would write. You do get the occasional reminder that they are polar bears, though; the one that sticks with me is when the grandmother says something about the weather in Germany being too warm for her and that the cold in Canada, where she eventually moves to for a short time, is more appealing that the comfortable weather for humans in Germany.

To be honest, this isn't a book I would have picked up on my own. I read it to fill the prompt of "A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation" for the Around the Year in 52 Books reading challenge on Goodreads. The story itself was good, but I found myself wishing that it was over long before the book was actually done. I don't regret reading this book, but it's not one of my favorites despite the magical realism/fantasy aspect that I'm usually attracted to in books.

ATY: A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation

7.29.2021

There’s more to being a princess than wearing a tiara...

Cecilia knows she's not just another peasant girl. She is actually a princess, hiding until the evil forces that killed her parents are vanquished. A commoner, Desmia, has been placed on the throne as a decoy.

But it's hard for Cecilia to secretly study statesmanship and palace protocol and pretend she has nothing more on her mind than scrubbing gruel stains out of her best apron. So Cecilia decides to take charge. Along with her best friend, Harper, she flees to the capital city to reclaim her throne, But when Cecilia and Harper reach the famed Palace of Mirrors, they discover that Princess Desmia believes an entirely different version of the story...

Palace of Mirrors is the second book in The Palace Chronicles. I read the first book back in January when I was stuck in quarantine (everyone else in my house got Covid, but not me because I hid in my room and read books while I wasn't working). I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book, and I kept putting it off and reading other books, but it was really good and I shouldn't have kept putting it off! There's a twist to it towards the end that I don't want to give away, but it's because of this twist that I want to read the next (and last) book in the series just so I can see how everything is going to turn out.

I love that this shows younger girls in a position to take charge of their own fate and stepping out of their comfort zones to stand up to people who are mistreating them - specifically, Princess Desmia. She stands up to the one person that she thought she could trust the most, but who turns out to be using her as a pawn in his own political schemes. Once this is realized, Desmia stands up to him and has him taken away to be executed for being a traitor to the kingdom and for playing a part in the death of her parents, the king and queen of Suala.

I also love how Haddix brought the Ella into this story, combining her story from Just Ella with the stories of the princesses in this book. I'm hoping that this continues with the third book in the series, Palace of Lies, which I will read sometime later this year!

ATY: A book with a building in the title

7.26.2021

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom follows the life of Frankie Presto as he climbs the ranks in the world of music. Told from the point of view of music/talent on the day of Frankie's funeral, we get a glimpse into this fictional musician's life.

  As a baby, Frankie was abandoned by his mother, found by a hairless dog and his master who adopt and raise him. Throughout his childhood, music was a huge part of Frankie's life, and his father took him to a musician in their town who would be able to teach Frankie how to play guitar.

When he's a little older, Frankie is snuck into the hull of a ship and ends up in England for a short period of time. While here, he meets another famous musician who helps him make his way to the United States and gives him the opportunity to perform with Duke Ellington. But, before he's taken to the ship, his guitar teacher gifts him new strings for his guitar, strings that will allow him to influence and save six lives in his future.

Once in the States, Frankie's music career takes off and, as they say, the rest is history. Throughout his life, he will use the magic strings to save six people. He'll fall in love, start a family, and leave a legacy that even he didn't expect to leave. He'll suffer hardship, go through a period of seclusion, but, in the end, his life and his music influence the generations that will come after him.

I actually listened to this book through the Libby App's website on my computer. It's a book I've been looking at and walking past almost every time I stop at my local library, but I always tell myself that I'll get it next time. When I saw it was available to borrow through the Libby App as an audiobook, and that it would fill one of my reading challenge prompts, I decided to borrow it and listen to it while I worked on other projects the past couple of days.

What I loved most about this book was the fictional interviews with famous musicians interspersed throughout the story. This feature added to the story and gave the reader different perspectives of the same life. I also loved that some of my favorite musicians were mentioned in Frankie's story, musicians like Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, who have influenced my own time as a musician when I was in high school and college. Mitch Albom has been one of my favorite authors, and he did not disappoint with this book!

PopSugar: A magical realism book

7.24.2021

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane follows the Gleeson and Stanhope families as they grow close, then apart due to family drama, then close again as their children fall in love with each other.

Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope were just kids when everything happened. Peter's mother wasn't stable. Kate's mother was lonely. They tried to become friends, especially since their husbands worked together as part of NYPD's force and because they are neighbors. But, one night during their eighth grade year, after Peter and Kate snuck out to meet each other, despite their parents not wanting them to be friends anymore, Peter's mother pulls a gun on Kate's father when he goes to confront her when Peter takes refuge in the Gleeson home.

Kate's father lives. Peter's mother goes into the hospital, where she's kept until he's in college and is transferred to a half-way house, then back into society. Kate and Peter agree to meet up, not having seen each other since that fateful night in eighth grade, and they embark on a relationship that will eventually bring the two families together in a way that only Peter ever saw the two families being joined together - through marriage.

This book shows a side of marriage, and, subsequently, forgiveness, that you don't get to see on social media. It shows what happens behind closed doors, what happens after all the good things have been posted on social media and we go back to reality. It shows how two families can be similar in so many ways, yet so, so different. It's these reasons that make me love this book so much.

I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to read this book. It had been floating around Instagram for a while and I kept walking past it in the book aisle at my local Walmart. I finally caved and bought the book, but it just sat on my shelf for next several months. Then, a couple weeks ago, I saw the audiobook was available on the Libby app, so i borrowed it and followed along with the physical copy as I listened to the audiobook. I thought it got off to a bit of a slow start, but as the book kept going along I started to get wrapped up in the story and annoyed that I had to keep pausing the audiobook to answer the phones at work this afternoon. 😅

7.23.2021

In The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Aiden Smith is trapped in a loop, replaying the same day from the perspective of various guests at Blackheath, trying to solve a murder mystery that hasn’t been solved in years. In order to leave Blackheath and the loop that he’s stuck in, he must find out who committed the murder and tell the Plague Doctor, the person who’s in charge. He works with Anna, who has been stuck in here for 30+ years after having committed a murder herself. But Aiden is given the advantage of seeing things from multiple perspectives because he chose to come here instead of being forced in here like Anna was.

Hands down, this is one the best mystery novels I’ve read! There were so many twists and turns in it that it kept me on my toes and kept my interest all the way through the book. I did feel that it got off to kind of a slow start, but once it got going, it had my interest and I didn’t want to put the book down!

PopSugar: A locked-room mystery

ATY: A book with six or more words in the title

7.16.2021

Book # 2 for the day! It was a little weird to be reading a book that takes place at a beach while it’s pouring down rain where I live, but I’m glad I’m done with this book! 😅

Beach Wedding Weekend by Rachel Magee is July’s pick for book club. It’s a cute story, but very predictable. I didn’t not expect it to be predictable, though, as it’s from Hallmark Publishing and read much like I thought a book version of one of their movies would read. Quite frankly, I’m surprised this isn’t one of their new releases for this summer. 😂

The book focuses on Paige, Brody, Aiden, and Sasha. Paige and Brody had been a couple, but had broken up when he left for Europe for work. Paige and Aiden have been friends for a long time, and Aiden’s sister Ciera is Paige’s best friend. Paige, Brody, and Aiden are attending a wedding together, and when Brody shows up he has Sasha, his new girlfriend with him. Paige is flustered, having remembered that Brody said they’d wait for each other until the timing was right for them, and, being a hopeless romantic, Paige waited for him. As the book progress, Paige and Aiden get together in a fake relationship (think “My Fake Fiance” from ABC Family), but they end up falling in love with each other, in true Hallmark movie fashion.

Like I said, it was super predictable. I felt like this could have gone over better as one of Hallmark’s new releases for this summer, even though, like my sister, I would be sitting here pointing out to my mom which characters will end up together at the end (which I did at book club on Tuesday night).

7.16.2021

I called off work today after waking up not feeling good, so I had some time to finish listening to this book before another crazy weekend starts. 

In The Son of Neptune we catch up with Percy Jackson as he figures out how to gain the trust of the Romans at Camp Jupiter. He becomes friends with two people, Frank and Hazel, who are considered to be the least of the Romans. Together, the three of them free Death from captivity in Alaska, which allows the Romans and Greeks to kill off the monsters attacking them and have them stay in Tartarus where they belong.

I can never say how much I love Rick Riordan’s writing. No matter how many times I read these books, I’m always astounded by the way he keeps his readers interested in the story, usually with chapters that end on cliff-hangers that make you want to keep reading so you can find out what’s going to happen next. Not many authors are able to do this, at least in my opinion, and that’s why Riordan has become one of my favorite young adult authors over the last several years.

ATY: A book whose title refers to person(s) without giving their name

7.14.2021

“God loves me too much to answer my prayers at any other time than the right time and in any other way than the right way.”

Two nights ago, I started listening to the audio version of the book It's Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst, and in the last chapter I listened to that night, this quote really stuck with me. There are so many things that I've been praying for, some for quite a while, and it was a reminder to me that God's timing is always the best timing. He will answer our prayers when it fits in His timing, not in mine. And the fact that He loves that much to make sure things are perfect before giving me what I'm asking for is a thought that brings me peace. I hope this reminder brings you peace, too, in whatever you're going through and with whatever you're praying for.

I didn’t know I needed this book, that it would be one that would stick with me right now. I don’t feel like I’m struggling with anything other than patience as I wait on God’s perfect timing, but this book... this book really hit me. It was a reminder to me that God is using every situation, every moment of pain and impatience, to make me a better person that He can use to further His kingdom.

7.12.2021

Out of all the mystery-thriller novels I’ve read in the last couple of years, this is, hands down, one of the best ones yet. I was not able to predict the ending (which is good in and of itself) and I couldn’t figure out if Nick really did do everything or if he was innocent throughout the entire book. Actually, I’m still questioning that, and will be questioning that for a while. 🤷🏼‍♀️

The only thing I could have done without was the cursing throughout the book. I don’t understand why authors think it necessary to include that kind of language in a book, and it brought my rating of the book down by one star. So, other than the cursing, I can definitely see what all the hype has been about when it comes to Gone Girl. 

7.8.2021

Never trust a wolf. No matter how nice and sincere he may seem, he’s still probably out to get you and your grandmother.

Scarlet is the second installment in Marissa Meyer’s “Lunar Chronicles” series. In this book, we add Little Red Riding Hood into this sci-fi retelling of Cinderella, as well as some plot twists that took the series in a direction that I didn’t see coming.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the direction this book went in and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series (though I’m not sure if it will happen this year).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to start getting ready for work this morning.

ATY: 3 Books related to “Past, Present, Future” - Book 3 (Future)

7.6.2021

Monsters saved her for one fate. Can Rue escape to find her own? Years ago, Rue was rescued by monsters for one purpose: to continue their family by marrying their son. She has no other past, no other future. That is, until Henry washes ashore and pieces of her past begin falling into place. Desperate to save him from becoming Bigfoot's next meal, Rue hides him as best she can. But when her marriage ceremony is announced sooner than she'd expected, her last chance to save Henry may also be her last chance for freedom. With nothing but a stolen Fae wand and no one but Henry, can Rue cast off the power the family holds over her and find her true place in the world? Or will they both be nothing more than tomorrow's dinner?

You guys! My friend did it again! I love her books and the way she retells fairy tales (though I’m still waiting for her to do a Beauty and the Beast retelling). Flotsam is one of her more recent books, a retelling of The Bee and the Orange Tree, a French fairy tale that I’ve never heard of before. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story! I’m so, so glad I took a few hours to read this book!

7.5.2021

It’s Monday, and I had to work today after having swapped shift with someone at work so I can have off on Saturday for a friend’s baby shower and another friend’s party. It wasn’t too bad, though mostly because I was covering chat and email all day instead of answering the phones. This gave me the opportunity to binge listen to the last like 40% of A Game of Thrones today and I just now finished it (I started listening around 7:45am and it’s now 10:11pm). I was up early (as you can tell), so I took some time before work to enjoy some of the book and cup of iced coffee.

I read this book 4 years ago (according to my memories on Facebook) and it was just as good as I remembered! I haven’t read through the entire series, yet. When I was reading it 4 years ago, I got to the end of A Clash of Kings and just kinda stopped reading because I didn’t have time for such long books. I think this time around, I’m going to find the audiobooks and follow along with the paperback copies I have on my bookshelf (bought approximately 4 years ago after finishing A Game of Thrones the first time).

I really have no words for how fantastic this book is. Like, I’m sitting here trying to think of something to say and literally nothing is coming to mind to describe just how much I love this book. I know the rest of the series will not disappoint!

PopSugar: A bestseller from the 1990s

7.4.2021

Late night post! It’s currently 10:42pm where I’m at and I’m probably going to hate myself for staying up later than this to continue listening to a book that’s due back on the Libby app tomorrow and I still have about half of the book left. I did this to myself, though, having started it with less than a week left before it was due back, not much time working in chat this week, and choosing to watch Netflix or Disney+ when I was in chat. 😅🤷🏼‍♀️

Anyway... Today is Independence Day! I spent today doing a few of the things I love the most - working in the tech booth at church this morning, spending time with some family members after church, and reading! As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that I prefer staying home over going out on Independence Day, choosing to live a quiet life while my neighbors set off fireworks.

I had hoped that by moving into town that the fireworks would stop, that the houses would be too close to each other for fireworks to be set off. But, I have been proven wrong. The neighbors across the little side-street here were setting fireworks off tonight (I think they’re done now), so I had gone outside to watch some of them. As I was sitting on the porch steps, I looked up and saw how cool the lights in our front garden looked and had to snap a picture of them!

6.30.2021

Youth Camp 2021 is in the books! I am incredibly grateful to be part of this ministry and to work with such incredible friends and students!

Going into camp this year, I didn’t know what to expect, especially since this was my first year going as a leader. BUT, I saw God show up in so many different ways, and I felt like I was where I was supposed to be. I thank God for that, but also for my friends and fellow youth leaders for making this experience an absolutely amazing one!

These pictures are just a snippet of what happened in our short time at camp. A foam pit, lots of Gaga Ball, and a very awesome Late Night variety show with some interviews, some great talent, and a couple of great games. Not pictured are the moments I was too busy taking in - the worship, the time spent with the teens in BWC Lehighton’s youth group, and the speakers who left me feeling like I was either going to cry or like someone had punched me in the gut with conviction.

6.26.2021

So, I inadvertently lied in my last post. My apologies. I was able to start and finish another book before leaving for youth camp. 

The Midnight Library is one of those books that has been floating around bookstagram for several months. It was another one of those books I wasn’t planning on reading, but, in a spending spree on Audible, I decided to get it and see what the buzz was all about.

In The Midnight Library, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place. (Taken from Goodreads)

This book dabbles in areas of thought and thought processes that I’ve never explored. The idea that there’s this library you go to that allows you to go back and do things differently to avoid all the regrets in your life is a cool idea. I mean, what book lover wouldn’t want to spend their time in a library? And who wouldn’t want to do things differently so as to avoid having regrets in life?

BUT I find that the decisions we make today not only affect our tomorrow, but they also shape us into the person we’re meant to become. We recently had a discussion about this with the teens in our youth group, and as I was thinking about it a little more, I realized that I wouldn’t want to go back and change/erase anything that’s happened in my past because it’s helped shape me into who I am today. What happened in my past was used by God to help me grow into a better human while growing closer to Him, and I don’t want to mess with God’s divine plan for my life.

Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go catch some z’s before I lose a ton of sleep at camp. See y’all in a few days!

PopSugar: A book everyone seems to have read but you

The Unread Shelf: A book bought in a spending spree