Foreign Correspondence

I recently read another good book by an author that I enjoy.  The first book by Geraldine Brooks that I read was Year of Wonders, a story based on the plague in England in the 1600s.  Then I read her book People of the Book, which was inspired by a true story about a mysterious manuscript.  This intriguing story spanned five centuries.  I was surprised to recently come across another, totally different, book by Geraldine Brooks, Foreign Correspondence.

"As a young girl in a suburban neighborhood of Sydney, Australia, Geraldine Brooks longed to discover the places where history happens and culture comes from, so she enlisted pen pals who offered her a window on adolescence in the Middle East, Europe, and America.

Twenty years later Brooks, an award-winning foreign correspondent, embarked on a human treasure hunt to find her pen friends. She found men and women whose lives had been shaped by war and hatred, by fame and notoriety, and by the ravages of mental illness. Intimate, moving, and often humorous, Foreign Correspondence speaks to the unquiet heart of every girl who has ever yearned to become a woman of the world.  Beginning in the mid-1960s, the book shows world events through the eyes of an adolescent girl leading an isolated (or so she thinks) life in Sydney, Australia."

Little does young Geraldine realize that when she grows up, she will visit and work in all the places she spent so much time dreaming about. 

Check out Geraldine Brooks' website to find out more about this interesting author.  Her latest book, Caleb's Crossing, will be available in early May.  Caleb's Crossing was inspired by the story of the first Native American Indian to graduate from Harvard University. 

Author Geraldine Brooks

Maxie and Stretch

What do Alaska, snowbirding, women RVers,  mini-dachshunds, and mysteries have in common?  Answer:  Fiction books by Alaskan author, Sue Henry.  I just finished reading #4 in the Maxie McNabb Series of books about 60-something RVer Maxie and her faithful dog, Stretch. This book features Maxie at home in Homer, Alaska, forgoing her snowbird travels this year.  As always, the books are a quick, cozy read, with Maxie landing in the middle of a mystery to solve.  The first three books in the series are The Serpents Trail, The Tooth of Time, and The Refuge.  The books don't have to be read in order, but they are more enjoyable that way.

Sue Henry has also written 13 books in her Jessie Arnold series, featuring Alaskan woman dog-sledder, Jessie Arnold.  I enjoy reading that series, too, even though it doesn't contain anything about RVs.  In the books, Jessie lives near Wasilla, Alaska, the town now known to the whole world as being the hometown of Sarah Palin.

I had two options for reading this book.  A paperback version was waiting for me at my local library, and a library electronic version was loaded onto my Nook e-reader.  I started reading the paperback and soon switched to reading on the Nook because the print was bigger and I didn't have to try and hold the paperback book open.  Not all the books I want to read are available from the library, e-book collection, so unless I want to buy each book (I don't!), I will continue getting the physical books from our local library.

At home here in Vancouver, Washington, Dave and I woke up to almost three inches of snow this morning.  The low temperature the next two nights is predicted to get down to 18 degrees.  Dave shoveled our driveway and a path out back to our shop, and the snow is already starting to melt. 

Back yard

Front yard

We had to make a trip into Portland this afternoon to pick up our motorhome.  The refrigerator was being repaired, we thought, but evidently not, since the repair place couldn't get Norcold to agree to replace the expensive cooling unit without the motorhome being inside at 70 degrees for 24 hours.  Not going to happen in Portland in the winter.  Arggh! 

It's been snowing very heavily for the last two hours, and with the cold temperature predicted for tonight, it won't be pretty in the morning.  Well, it might be pretty, but it won't be good driving conditions.  I think we'll stay home!

Turkeys and Other Friends

As Dave posted yesterday, we made a day trip to Lopez Lake, a reservoir in Arroyo Grande.  This park charged us $9 for day use which was rather steep and, as you might expect, the park was almost empty.  The summer is their high season for camping, fishing, and the water slide.

The park was very quiet except for the sounds of the ducks and birds.

We were surprised to see a flock of turkeys in the park.

Near the turkeys, we also saw a group of deer.

The park contained many camping sites and a nice lakeview playground for children.

I always like to look at the trees.

Lopez Lake has a small marina.

I am continuing to learn how to work my new e-reader, the Nook Color.  It also has a web browser, Pandora for music, and a few games, and a spot for pictures, all for no monthly fee.  The main reason that I chose to buy a Nook is so that I can download library books for free.  We've figured that part out, with a little help from a post on the technical forum. 

This afternoon we bought our first e-book, the One Year Bible.  Dave had to call technical support for help, but we finally got it downloaded.  I hope future purchases will work a little more easily. 

A Land of Sheltered Promise

Books soothe my soul.  This was such a book.  

Jane Kirkpatrick is an author that I read sporadically.  She lives in central Oregon, and her books reflect the history and geography of that area.  A Land of Sheltered Promise, published in 2005, is a novel based on true stories of Big Muddy Ranch in Wasco County, Oregon.

This book contains three separate stories, which the author has subtitled "Faith, Hope, and Charity".  The three stories span one hundred years from 1897 to 1997.

In Part One, Eva Bruner gets her first glimpse of the Big Muddy Ranch when she is four years old. Eva's youthful joy is short-lived. Her father kills a man and gets a life sentence, and her mother relinquishes hers to despair. Soon Eva finds herself being raised by her aunt and uncle. But her love for them and the Big Muddy grows.  She marries at age 15, once again, her joy is snatched away when her husband Dee is accused of murder and seems destined for the same fate as her father. Eva is determined, however, not to follow the steps of her mother and is blessed with an inner strength that carries her through betrayals and the ordeals of his trial. She sets up a homestead near the Big Muddy and continues to believe that her husband is innocent of his crime.

Part Two brings Cora Swenson to the Big Muddy Ranch. The year is now 1984 and the Muddy,along with the nearby town of Antelope, Oregon, has been taken over by the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers, a cult designed by shrewd lawyers to bilk the rich and foolish out of enough money to support the Bhagwan, his 90 Rolls-Royces, and his team.  Ultimately, a scandal caused by cult members who engineered a bio-terrorist attack ends the Bhagwan's reign, but many of the Sannyasins stay on and await his return, a testimony to the thoroughness of his indoctrination. 

Part Three returns to the Big Muddy Ranch in 1997 after it has been abandoned by the last of the Sannyasins and is now part of a land parcel that the Washington family wants to donate to Young Life, a non-denominational youth organization that serves teens. The conversion of this rugged, untamed land into a camp for kids celebrates the redemption of this land.

This book of historical fiction was a great read!  I enjoyed parts 2 and 3 the most.  See the author's website (and blog), Weaving the Stories of Our Lives, for more information about her books.

Almost Christian

I saw the following article on several blogs that I follow.  This summary from White Horse Inn briefly tells the story.  Click on their link at the end if you want to read the entire article by Kenda Creasy Dean as featured on CNN.  I have not read her book, but I found her ideas interesting.  I looked up Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, the phrase coined by Christian Smith of University of Notre Dame, and I agree with Wikipedia, which in addition to the definition, states that this term can apply to many religions, not just Christianity.

“CNN online recently featured an article on Kenda Creasy Dean’s new book Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (Oxford University Press, 2010).  

 

Dean is a professor at Princeton Seminary who participated with Christian Smith and others in the National Study of Youth and Religion. The CNN article discusses the theme of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, a phrase used liberally by White Horse Inn hosts for the past few years and coined by Christian Smith to describe the religious and spiritual lives of today’s teenagers.

Dean discusses this problem at length in her new book, and argues that teens have received this “fake” view of Christianity from their parents. She writes, “The problem does not seem to be that churches are teaching young people badly, but that we are doing an exceedingly good job of teaching youth what we really believe, namely, that Christianity is not a big deal, that God requires little, and the church is a helpful social institution filled with nice people…”

She goes on to say that “if churches practice Moralist Therapeutic Deism (MTD) in the name of Christianity, then getting teenagers to church more often is not the solution (conceivably it could make things worse). A more faithful church is the solution….Maybe the issue is simply that the emperor has no clothes.”

Michael Horton recently interviewed Kenda Creasy Dean for the White Horse Inn, and that interview will air in early October.”

Click here to read the entire CNN article titled, “More Teens Becoming Fake Christians.”

To read three responses from Kenda Dean about her CNN article, click on the following links:

CNN Response

Almost Christian

Called into Disconnect

The Pillars of the Earth

Ken Follett started writing this book in the early 1970s.  The book was published in 1989.  It became a best-seller and has become even more famous now that it has been turned into an eight part TV miniseries.  And, oh yes, in 2007, a few more readers discovered this book when Oprah made it one of her book club selections.  Don’t let Oprah’s endorsement keep you from reading this book!

I read The Pillars of the Earth in March, 2008, and I read its sequel, World Without End, in July, 2008.  I thoroughly enjoyed both books, especially the first one.  The books are long, but not tedious.  The story can be enjoyed on so many levels, from the characters, to the process of building a cathedral, to the history portrayed.

As to the content of the book, I found this concise summary of The Pillars of the Earth at the Barnes and Noble website:  “As a new age dawns in England's twelfth century, the building of a mighty Gothic cathedral sets the stage for a story of intrigue and power, revenge and betrayal.”  That’s a great summary of a long and involved book.

I predict that you will either love or hate this book.   I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was scarcely able to put it down.   

As to whether or not you will like the made-for-TV adaptation now being shown on Starz, and in Canada on The Movie Network, I don’t know, since I haven’t seen it.  The first three hours are available on Netflix Instant and I imagine they will have the final five hours available as soon as they are aired on TV.  I learned from Wikipedia that  there have also been three separate board games based on The Pillars of the Earth.

Ken Follet has written many books, but these two books were a departure from his usual genre of suspense thrillers.  If you liked these two books, you might be interested in Follett’s book that is coming out in September, 2010, Fall of Giants, Book One of the Century Trilogy.

Exploring Library E-Books

Rick (Rick and Paulette's RV Travels) put a link on his blog to a post that he wrote last September about using the library to find books for his new Sony E-reader.  This topic is of great interest to me since I am an avid library user.

We don’t own an e-reader yet, but we are interested in purchasing one.  We think it would be a handy way to take books with us when we travel.  Our local library system, Fort Vancouver Regional Library does not have any e-books at this time. 

I looked online at Multnomah County Library, Portland’s library system.  They do have e-books and even though we are across the river in Washington, patrons from our county, Clark, can check out books and e-books out from the Multnomah Library free of charge.  Multnomah is a member of the Oregon Digital Library Consortium which offers books through a system called Library 2 Go. 

Our first step was to sign up for a Multnomah County library card.  We did this online.  Then the instructions told us to go to any Multnomah library to get the actual card.  Luckily for us, all the libraries are open on Sunday afternoon.  We chose the branch closest to us which was about 20 minutes away.  We got our new library cards!

When we were back home again, we experimented with checking out books.  Since we don’t have an e-reader yet, we downloaded a few books to our computers.  It’s not an ideal way to read e-books, but it allowed us to experiment with the system, see the books, adjust the font size, and see how easy/hard it is to read books online. 

So far, we are impressed with the system.  The two things we don’t like are:

1)  we are each allowed to check out only 6 e-books at one time. 

2)  we can’t delete the books when we are done with them.  They will automatically expire in 7 or 21 days, depending upon how long we checked them out for. 

Tim and Kiersten came over this afternoon and showed us their iPad and Nook.  We liked both.  The iPad is pretty whippy but costs a lot and provides more features than we need right now.  We like the Nook a lot.  The Kindle is also a well-known e-reader and Tim owned one before he got his new iPad.  The disadvantage with the Kindle is that it doesn’t work with the library system.  The Nook and Sony e-readers are the ones supported by Library 2 Go. 

Today was a day filled with visiting, saying goodbye to Jonathan, and learning new things about e-books and e-readers.  It was a busy day!

Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese

I like to read!  I read every day.  I read lots of different books.  Because I read so much, I am somewhat fussy about what I read.  I can usually tell by the end of the first chapter if I’m going to like a book. Cutting for Stone  is no exception.  I don’t usually recommend a book until I am done reading it, just to make sure that the ending is as good as the beginning.  This book has 541 pages and I am on page 411.  It is a good book!  I highly recommend it!  I am going to read Abraham Verghese’s other books (non-fiction) when I have finished this one.

A Review of the book from Publishers Weekly:

Lauded for his sensitive memoir (My Own Country) about his time as a doctor in eastern Tennessee at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, Verghese turns his formidable talents to fiction, mining his own life and experiences in a magnificent, sweeping novel that moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City over decades and generations. Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a devout young nun, leaves the south Indian state of Kerala in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the arduous sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor bound for Ethiopia, Thomas Stone, who becomes a key player in her destiny when they meet up again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, Sister Praise dies birthing twin boys: Shiva and Marion, the latter narrating his own and his brothers long, dramatic, biblical story set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Ethiopia, the life of the hospital compound in which they grow up and the love story of their adopted parents, both doctors at Missing. The boys become doctors as well and Verghese’s weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel.

A review of the book by John Irving:

That Abraham Verghese is a doctor and a writer is already established; the miracle of this novel is how organically the two are entwined. I’ve not read a novel wherein medicine, the practice of it, is made as germane to the storytelling process, to the overall narrative, as the author manages to make it happen here. The medical detail is stunning, but it never overwhelms the humane and narrative aspects of this moving and ambitious novel. This is a first-person narration where the first-person voice appears to disappear, but never entirely; only in the beginning are we aware that the voice addressing us is speaking from the womb! And what terrific characters--even the most minor players are given a full history. There is also a sense of great foreboding; by the midpoint of the story, one dreads what will further befall these characters. The foreshadowing is present in the chapter titles, too--‘The School of Suffering’ not least among them! Cutting for Stone is a remarkable achievement.--John Irving

What's the Appeal of Geocaching?

Rick (click here to read his blog) commented that he didn't understand the appeal of geocaching.  I didn't either, at first.  What's the challenge in finding a cache when you have the GPS coordinates telling you where it is?  Aha, it's not quite that simple.  The coordinates just get you to the general area.  You still need to think like the person who left the cache in order to find it.  It truly is the thrill of the hunt that is appealing about geocaching.

I'm always looking for activities that Dave and I can do together.  He does football refereeing and golf which I don't participate in.  But we like to do things together, too.  Geocaching is something we can do when we are home and also when we travel.  It's an excuse to get out in nature and do some walking and sightseeing.  I had heard of geocaching, but reading Dave and Barb's blog about geocaching is what motivated me to explore this activity.  Read their geocaching summary by clicking here.  They once found 18 geocaches in one day.  That's a record that we won't be able to beat any time soon!

I was surprised to see that the library had several books about geocaching.  The activity has only been around since the year 2000, when the accuracy of GPS technology improved tenfold.  This book lists "The Complete Idiot's Top Ten Reasons to Go Geocaching":

10. It's a great excuse to use all that outdoor gear.

 9.  It's a fun way to learn GPS, navigation, and outdoor skills.

 8.  It can be exiting to feel like a secret agent.

 7.  Finding a remote geocache with a loved one can be very romantic.

 6.  You'll get some exercise, and it's more fun than dieting.

 5.  You can entertain yourself on the cheap.

 4.  You can do something together with the whole family.

 3.  It's a great way to make new friends.

 2.  You will see places you never knew existed.

 1.  You get to go outside and play!

One More Book

Now that we aren't traveling, I've had time to read more books.  The advantage of having library books put on hold for me is that I never know what's going to arrive.  Instead of reading every book that I get, I read the ones that look most interesting first.  If I don't get around to reading the others, I send them back, or I renew them if possible.  I am a fast reader, so that helps!

I stayed up WAY too late last night finishing this book by Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  This is a novel, but it is another very true-to-life book.  It tells the story of the Chinese and Japanese in Seattle in 1942.  The main character, Henry Lee, was 12 that year and he befriended a 12-year-old Japanese girl.  Henry's father was very prejudiced against the Japanese, as were many people during WWII, so Henry had to keep the friendship a secret.  The girl's family gets sent to a internment camp, first at Camp Harmony at the Puyallup Fairgrounds near Seattle, and then to the Minidoka camp in SE Idaho. 

Fast forward to 1986.   Henry is 57 and his wife has just died.  He deals with life, stress, his relationship with his adult son, and his memories of the war years.  The story goes back and forth from 1986 to 1942 in a well-written, engaging style. 

If you like traditional jazz music, there is an extra treat for you in this book because Henry is enthralled with jazz, which is something else he has to hide from his father.  I highly recommend this book!

Click here to read the Amazon reviews.

Another Book Recommendation

I've mentioned that I like to read library books.  I also like to read best sellers.  I wouldn't want to have to buy all the best sellers.  Some are good books, some are not. 

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors of contemporary fiction.   Her books are about famlies, relationships, and life.  Her latest book, House Rules, is about a boy with Asperger's Syndrome, a type of autism.  House Rules looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t. 

Several of her books have been made into movies.  Check out books by Jodi Picoult if you like realistic fiction about timely topics!

Book Recommendation

Tracy Kidder, one of my favorite authors, has written a new book, Strength in What Remains.  He tells the true story of Deogratias, who arrived in the United States from Burundi in search of a new life.  Deo survived the massacre of Tutsis and Hutus in Burundi and Rwanda in 1994.  He landed at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts.  He found a job delivering groceries, lived in Central Park, and learned English by reading dictionaries in bookstores.  Then Deo began to meet strangers who would eventually change his life, pointing him in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing. 

This is a story about the heroism of an ordinary person, a story about a life based on hope. 

Click here to read about author Tracy Kidder and to watch a trailer about the book.

Rambling about e-readers and "Losing it with Jillian"

After the excitement of our short trip to Mount St. Helens, and then the excitement of meeting Ali and Ron and spending the afternoon and evening with them, this morning it was nice to sleep in and relax.  I resumed my usual weekly get-together with a couple of my good friends.  We usually meet in the coffee shop section of Barnes and Noble.  It's a nice place to meet, and other people must think so too, because they were crowded today.  Maybe it was that it was still raining.  What better place to spend a rainy afternoon than at a bookstore? 

Barnes and Noble is touting their new e-reader, the Nook.  It looks like a nice machine.  Whether or not it's better than the Kindle, I don't know.  At this point I can't justify getting an e-reader, but if we traveled more it would be really handy to be able to carry all those books in a little e-reader.  I'm such a library fan, though, that it would hurt me to have to buy, rather than borrow, all the books that I want to read.

The Nook e-reader.  Is this the way of the future?

On another topic, because of the rain, we had to exercise indoors again today.  We watch TV while we exercise because it distracts us, makes the time go faster, and kills two birds with one stone.  Today's program of choice was Jillian Michaels' new program on NBC, "Losing It With Jillian".  It's an hour-long show which features Jillian coming to people's homes for a week to teach them how to lose weight, get fit, and eat right.  It's like a mini "Biggest Loser" show, but the people don't come to the ranch, and there's no contest to win $250,000.  We like the first episode, and it felt good to be exercising while Jillian was yelling at the people and putting them through the paces!  Click here to learn more about the show.

 

A Few Reflections

First of all, thank you all for the welcome home greetings!  It's been fun to have "followers" along for the journey.  I hope my blog will continue to interest you even when we are not traveling.  For the next few days, I may be writing about some reflections about the trip.

This noon we took our son, Tim, and his wife, Kiersten, out for lunch at a place of their choice.  We had our mail forwarded to their address while we were gone.  They choose Chang's, which turned out to be out of business, so we ended up at BJ's at Jantzen Beach in Portland.  We had a good lunch and a good visit. 

Not raining at the moment, but about to start again.

We hope to see our younger son, Jonathan, one of these days before he starts at the Washington State Patrol Academy in July.  He has one final step left in the hiring process, a physical exam this week.  Since we don't have grandchildren yet, we didn't have to miss anything on that front while we were traveling. 

Some thoughts about our trip:  For being non-gamblers, we spend a fair amount of time at casinos!  We like to check out the casino food, and of course, in Las Vegas, casinos are part of the whole experience.  Many casinos now have RV parks, and the quality of those parks varies as much as the food does.  Usually we are pleased with casino RV parks and they are usually reasonably priced, not counting what we spend eating at the restaurants!

I was always happy to see a Walmart.  I shop at Walmart at home, too, since there is one 1 1/2 miles from our house.  When we are traveling, Walmart is a welcome sight because I know I can usually find familiar brands and items there.  Now that most Walmarts are super-stores, it's truly one-stop shopping without having to hunt all over town for each item I need.  I also look for Safeway stores, but we didn't find many of those this trip.  I don't mind shopping at local grocery stores, but it's frustrating when I can't find the brand or item I'm looking for.  Grocery shopping is a necessary evil when traveling and I don't want to spend all my time tracking down food.  I like to experience local color and local stores, but not at the expensive of other sightseeing.

Chain stores that we are familiar with, like Les Schwab, are nice to find in other areas.  Getting repairs done while on the road is always a hassle, but it's nice when you somewhat trust the store.  Other places, like Kirby's Automotive in Prescott Valley, treated us right even though we weren't repeat customers. 

I always worry that I will run out of books to read on trips.  I loaded the motorhome with paperback books and didn't have time to read most of them!  I spent so much time loading pictures and blogging that I didn't have much time left over to read.  Also, when I'm in a new area, I like to read all about the area so that we don't miss anything.  That doesn't leave much time for escapism-type of reading.  I don't want to escape from the journey, I want to experience everything I can.  Now we need to take a "vegging" type of trip, just to relax!

As we traveled, a few new followers began reading our blog.  We don't know these people, and they don't know us.  But they are fellow travelers, most of them full-time RVers.  We very much enjoyed their comments and their interest in our blogs.  It made us aware that what we wrote about was of interest to others, either because they want to visit those areas someday, or because they already visited or lived in those areas.  I, also, am very interested when people blog about places that I've been or lived.  It makes us feel like we have a lot in common with each other. 

A side note to Ali:  We would love to meet you when you are in Portland--maybe take you out for lunch or dinner?  Click on my profile to get my email address.   If others are going to be in our area, we would love to meet you, too!

Book Recommendation

I just finished reading the book Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, which was published in 2010 by William Morrow.  I enjoyed this book very much.  It held my interest and gave me good insight into the Indian culture.  Here's the summary from inside the book cover:

On the eve of the monsoons, in a remote Indian village, Kavita gives birth to a baby girl. But in a culture that favors sons, the only way for Kavita to save her newborn daughter’s life is to give her away. It is a decision that will haunt her and her husband for the rest of their lives, even after the arrival of their cherished son.


Halfway around the globe, Somer, an American doctor, decides to adopt a child after making the wrenching discovery that she will never have one of her own. When she and her husband see a photo of the baby with the gold-flecked eyes from a Mumbai orphanage, they are overwhelmed with emotion. Somer knows life will change with the adoption but is convinced that the love they already feel will overcome all obstacles.

Interweaving the stories of Kavita, Somer, and the child that binds both of their destinies, Secret Daughter poignantly explores the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss, identity, and love, as witnessed through the lives of two families—one Indian, one American—and the child that indelibly connects them.

Timothy Keller

One of the preachers that I like to listen to is Timothy Keller.  He has a heart for the city and is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City.  Many of his sermons are available online free of charge here.  I also like his books because they are very clear and readable and make an impact on me.  His book Reason for God is excellent.  Keller's newest book is Counterfeit Gods.  Both of these websites contain a very short explanation from Timothy Keller about why he wrote the books. 

Just to whet your appetite for Keller's writing and sermons, here is a quote from Counterfeit Gods:

“How can we break our heart’s fixation on doing ’some great thing’ in order to heal ourselves of our sense of inadequacy, in order to give our lives meaning? Only when we see what Jesus, our great Suffering Servant, has done for us will we finally understand why God’s salvation does not require us to do ’some great thing.’ We don’t have to do it, because Jesus has. . . . Jesus did it all for us, and he loves us — that is how we know our existence is justified. When we believe in what he accomplished for us with our minds, and when we are moved by what he did for us in our hearts, it begins to kill off the addiction, the need for success at all costs.
- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Dutton, 2009), 93-94.

Book Recommendation

I just finished reading this book.  It was published in 2009 and, in my opinion, is one of this author's finest books.  It was a riveting "page turner".  Here's the blurb from the book jacket: 

In the heat of the Arizona desert, a raging fire pushes temperatures to a deadly degree, and one woman is left to burn. Pulled naked and barely breathing from the fire, the victim has no idea who she is, let alone who would do this to her -- or why. In her hospital bed she drifts in and out of consciousness, her only means of communicating a blink of the eye. And then an angel appears.

Misguidedly known around town as the "Angel of Death," Sister Anselm has devoted her life to working as an advocate for unidentified patients. To her burn patient, she is a savior. But to this Jane Doe's would-be killer, Sister Anselm's efforts pose a serious threat. Ali Reynolds is on the scene as the new media relations consultant for the Yavapai County Police Department, keeping reporters at bay and circumventing questions about arson and a link to a domestic terrorist group called Earth Liberation Front. But her job quickly becomes much more.



As Ali struggles to help Sister Anselm uncover the helpless woman's identity, they realize that by locating the missing relatives they may be exposing the victim once more to a remorseless killer determined to finish the job. Faced with the possibility of putting all three of their lives in jeopardy, Ali fearlessly pursues justice -- and what she discovers is a secret even darker and more twisted than she ever could have imagined.



About the Author

J.A. Jance is the top 10 New York Times bestselling author of the Joanna Brady series; the J. P. Beaumont series; three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family; and Ali Reynolds series. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona. 

C.S. Lewis Quote

I admire the writings of C.S. Lewis.  Here is a pithy but powerful quote from him:

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Chapter 27

Just added another "journey" to my blog description--the journey of books. How could I forget that! I picked up two books at Borders so that I don't have to take a library book to the hospital. I may not be able to read while I am there, but I will be prepared, just in case. The books that I bought were The Wednesday Letters and Astrid and Veronika. While I was there I saw many books that I have read and enjoyed. Among those are Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner and The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. As to spiritual books, the author that I am currently reading is Jerry Bridges who wrote, among other books, Pursuit of Holiness and Respectable Sins. OK, that's it for booktalk today.