Book Review - The Weekly Gratitude Project by Zondervan

My Review

The subtitle for The Weekly Gratitude Project is "A Challenge to Journal, Reflect, and Grow a Grateful Heart." That is exactly what this book is about - mindful journaling to become more grateful.  

I found this book appealing because I love to journal, like devotional books, and found the idea of a weekly gratitude project appealing!  Years ago I wrote a gratitude list at the end of every day and it really changed my outlook. I realized that even on the worst days there were still blessings to be grateful for.

This is a beautifully designed book - a hardcover with sewn-in ribbon bookmark. The book is divided into themes and then weeks under each theme. The book's themes are: 

Purposeful

Motivations

Promises

Gifts

Applications

I love the format of each week.  It begins with a Bible verse, then a short paragraph about the week's theme, and then several journaling questions with room to write. The writing sections are lined, and the pages are illustrated with beautiful leaves and plants.

I am putting this book aside for the new year and look forward to going through and journaling in it. The Weekly Gratitude Project is a lovely book and it would be a great gift - or a purchase to prepare for a year of mindful journaling and gratitude!

Book Synopsis

Publisher: Zondervan; Illustrated edition (November 10, 2020)

Hardcover: 144 pages

It’s time to start a project that will grow a grateful heart. The Weekly Gratitude Project is a 52-week guided gratitude journal that offers a life-changing journey through reflection prompts and inviting questions to guide you into a deeper relationship with God. This yearly gratitude journal features beautifully illustrated journaling pages that will help you discover more intimacy and joy in your spiritual life.

The Weekly Gratitude Project is:

• Perfect for a beginner in faith and practicing gratitude, but strong and thought provoking enough for someone who already has a solid foundation
• An easy-to-use journaling format designed to help you focus on adding more gratefulness into your day
• A helpful companion for individual worship, Bible studies, and small groups

Each week includes:

• A biblical theme to focus on
• A short but impactful Bible verse to help you reflect and meditate
• Inspirational insight to guide your thoughts and jumpstart your gratitude project
• Journaling prompts and lines to help you reflect and grow a grateful heart

This 12-month journal:

• Showcases beautiful photography and calming colors
• Has a pretty ribbon marker, so you never lose your place
• Provides a ton of journaling space, but easily fits on your nightstand, tote bag, or a gift basket
• Is perfect for a self-purchase, Mother’s Day, National Best Friend Day, a welcoming gift for Bible study groups, birthdays, and holidays

Check out the rest of the series, The Weekly Prayer Project and The Weekly Faith Project.

Introducing Daisy

Hi all,

I haven't posted a personal update in a long while here, so wanted to catch up.  Longtime blog readers will remember my sweet, very dear Abby, who posted a weekly blog column here.  Abby passed away in December, and the house felt so empty without her.  Sooner than anticipated, I began looking for a rescue dog to love.

I met Daisy, a just under one year old Corgi mix, at our local county shelter.  She was sweet and absolutely terrified.  (The shelter is wonderful but full of big dogs and lots of comings and goings - a lot for a little dog who was rescued as a stray off the street.)  When I reached down to pet her she leaned against me, and I knew she should be mine.

There was a delay bringing Daisy home because she had to be spayed and vetted before her release.  She got home and I realized she had no training.  We were starting from scratch with leash training, potty training, chewing and puppy destructiveness, and separation anxiety.  My beloved Mom entered hospice just after this time ... it was a lot at once, and I was pretty overwhelmed.

Daisy and I took things in small steps.  She took to leash training easily.  I learned ways to redirect her from chewing, the power of frequent walks for potty training and puppy energy, and literally leaving 5 minutes at a time to tackle separation anxiety.  (We have made great progress with this!)

It took Daisy a while to settle in.  But she did!  Slowly but surely.

She loves having her own little bed - as well as sleeping in "the big bed" (my bed) at night.

She is always ready for a snuggle!

Although our long, frequent walks were a real adjustment for me at first, they turned into a blessing.  Daisy loves EVERYONE: adults, children, dogs (big and small), and cats.  I have joked that it is like the Beatles coming to town when I take her outside where kids are playing - they naturally flock around her.  Daisy made friends;  I made new friends too.  It is not unusual for us to walk with neighbors and their dogs, or even with a neighbor's friendly indoor-outdoor cat who likes to tag along.

And she is a champion lap sitter, with my friends as well as me!

Daisy ready for a rest - maybe.

In a year that has been long and difficult, I know that there are still long walks and naps -- and there is Daisy.

 

And that is a very good thing.

 

Book Review and Giveaway - Dewey Decimated (A Haunted Library Mystery) by Allison Brook

My Review

Carrie Singleton is excited about the expansion of her beloved library -- until a body is found at the site. As police (and Carrie!) work to solve that mystery, Carrie becomes involved in a second mystery.  She is a member of the town council, and after a controversial vote, one of the council members also turns up dead.  Carrie works to solve this mystery as well, often with the help of her ghostly librarian friend, Evelyn.

I wanted to read Dewey Decimated because I have read all the previous books in this series and have enjoyed them all.  The little Connecticut town is charming, and I love the library, the staff, Carrie's aunt and uncle, and especially her ghost friend Evelyn, her fiance Dylan, and her library cat, Smokey Joe. 

This cozy mystery was such a treat -- it had not one but two mysteries to solve, and all the regular, favorite cast members were part of the story.  Carrie did a great job of detecting - with the help of Evelyn, and with the help/not-help (!) of an ambitious local reporter, Julie, who wants to team up with her.

I was a bit surprised by the answers to the two mysteries, but I enjoyed seeing how Carrie solved both. The book is well written and the mystery moves along at a brisk pace.

I highly recommend Dewey Decimated and the Haunted Library series to fans of cozy mysteries, and especially for anyone who enjoys small town settings, a gentle paranormal element, and cats.

Book Synopsis

Librarian Carrie Singleton is back on the case, alongside library ghost Evelyn, in the sixth installment of Agatha Award nominee Allison Brook’s Haunted Library mysteries.

Carrie Singleton is just off a hot string of murder cases centered around the spooky local library in Clover Ridge, Connecticut. She could really use a break—but no such luck, as she; Smoky Joe, the resident cat; and Evelyn, the library’s ghost, are drawn into another tantalizing whodunit.

First, a dead body is found in the basement of the building attached to the library, and it turns out to be Carrie’s fiancé’s Uncle Alec, who Dylan hasn’t seen in years. But Alec has no intention of truly checking out, and his ghost makes itself at home in the library, greatly upsetting the patrons. Carrie and Evelyn work hard to keep Alec out of sight, but what was he doing in Clover Ridge to begin with? And why was he killed?

Meanwhile, the town council, of which Carrie is also a member, is embroiled in a hot-headed debate over the fate of the Seabrook Preserve, a lovely and valuable piece of property that runs along Long Island Sound. Turn it into an upscale park? Sell it to a condo developer? Or keep it as protected land?

As the dispute rages, there’s another murder, this time involving a council member. Could the two murders be connected? And could Carrie be next on the hit list?

 

Author Bio

A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for kids. Her books have received many accolades. As Allison Brook, she writes the Haunted Library series. DEATH OVERDUE, the first in the series, was an Agatha nominee for Best Contemporary Novel in 2018. Other mysteries include the Golden Age of Mystery Book Club series and the Twin Lakes series.

Her juvenile novel, Rufus and Magic Run Amok, was an International Reading Association-Children’s Book Council Children’s Choice. And Don’t Bring Jeremy was a nominee for six state awards.

Marilyn lives on Long Island, where many of her books take place. She loves traveling, reading, doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku, and chatting on FaceTime with her grandkids.

Author Links

Website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.levinson.10?ref=ts&fref=ts
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/161602.Marilyn_Levinson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarilynLevinson
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/marilyn-levinson

Purchase links:

Amazon      Penguin Random House    B&N    Kobo    Google Play

Giveaway

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Book Review - A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen

My Review

A Dress of Violet Taffeta is a historical novel based on the life or Lucy Duff Gordon.  Lucy divorced her cruel  husband in the late 1800's and needed to find a way to support herself and her young daughter Esme. She had a gift for design and slowly built a business as a fashion designer. Over the years her business expanded to a design house with a ballroom and models. She met a wonderful man, Cosmo Duff Gordon, and found personal happiness again ... before a fateful trip on the Titanic.

Lucy Duff Gordon

 

Dress designed by Lady Duff Gordon, 1918

I wanted to read this novel because I love historical fiction and enjoyed the Poppy Redfern mysteries by Tessa Arlen. I also am interested in the Titanic (and long ago ship travel in general), so that added to my interest.

This was a fascinating novel!  I loved the glimpse of fashion design in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The descriptions of embroidery, beading, and especially colors, was so evocative -- I could picture the fashions described so vividly.  It was also interesting how Lucy worked toward a more natural (and comfortable!) silhouette for women, away from the rigid corsets of the 1800's.

Lucy was a wonderful protagonist. She was strong and caring and looked out always for her daughter and mother.  I enjoyed her relationship with her often outrageous sister, Elinor Glyn (who created the idea of the "It Girl"). I also liked the way Lucy treated her employees, including a close friendship with her shop assistant, and assuring good work conditions and a positive shop experience for all the other employees.

I also enjoyed the story of Lucy's slow moving romance with Cosmo.  He was a unique man for the time in his loving support of his wife's career goals.

The Titanic story was vividly evoked, and the story of the lifeboat escape was harrowing -- especially as the survivors witnessed the devastation of the ship at such close range.

I found A Dress of Violet Taffeta fascinating, and recommend it for other fans of historical fiction.  Readers with an interest in fashion history or the Titanic will especially enjoy it.

Book Synopsis

A sumptuous novel based on the fascinating true story of La Belle Époque icon Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, who shattered the boundaries of fashion with her magnificently sensual and enchantingly unique designs.

Lucy Duff Gordon knows she is talented. She sees color, light, and texture in ways few people can begin to imagine. But is the male dominated world of haute couture, who would use her art for their own gain, ready for her?

When she is deserted by her wealthy husband, Lucy is left penniless with an aging mother and her five-year-old daughter to support. Desperate to survive, Lucy turns to her one true talent to make a living. As a little girl, the dresses she made for her dolls were the envy of her group of playmates. Now, she uses her creative designs and her remarkable eye for color to take her place in the fashion world—failure is not an option. 

Then, on a frigid night in 1912, Lucy’s life changes once more, when she becomes one of 706 people to survive the sinking of the Titanic.  She could never have imagined the effects the disaster would have on her fashion label Lucile, her marriage to her second husband, and her legacy. But no matter what life throws at her, Lucy will live on as a trailblazing and innovative fashion icon, never letting go of what she worked so hard to earn.

Author Bio

Tessa Arlen writes historical fiction when she is not toiling away in her garden. She is the author of the Edwardian mystery series: Lady Montfort and Mrs. Jackson; the Woman of World War II mystery series. Poppy Redfern. And two standalone historical novels: In Royal Service to the Queen, and A Dress of Violet Taffeta.

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Book Review - Remember Whose Little Girl You Are by Ellen Nichols

My Review

Remember Whose Little Girl You Are is the memoir of Ellen Nichols, who grew up in the Baby Boomer vintage south, the daughter of a Methodist minister. This book chronicles her life from early childhood through college.

I wanted to read this book because I found the time period and setting appealing.  I also grew up in a socially progressive Christian family in the Deep South, but about 20 years after the period chronicled in this book.  I found it interesting how much had changed and how much was still the same as well.

This is a charming book. I have been thinking about it since I closed the cover.  The author is a born storyteller.  It is a very short book (116 pages) with short chapters as well.  Ellen Nichols packs a lot into those chapters, though.  Her storytelling is natural and breezy, as if she was sitting beside you and leaning over to say "oh - and then this happened!"

There are some hilarious stories about her early childhood growing up in Methodist parsonages across the south.  She was the proverbial "wild child" preacher's kid (PK), ready to throw off her clothes or run around with boys who were eager to do her bidding as a very young girl.  I laughed out loud several times at stories, like the incident when she and a little boy took the church collection money and distributed it to friends -- until her mother found out and she went back around to collect it again.

She chronicles racial issues as well, as they touched her young life and the lives of her forward thinking parents.  She writes of going to the back of the bus to sit as a statement.  

She also chronicles the changes of the 1960's - a friend changed forever by Vietnam, freewheeling musicians, her early romances.  She had a young beau named Michael Edwards, who later dated Priscilla Presley, and Steve Young, who wrote the Eagles' "Seven Bridges Road" about her.

The author has a gift at evoking another time and place in passages like:

"One steamy summer night, he took me to a party in the backyard of a friend of his who had hung Japanese lanterns from the tree branches.  Because of the intense humidity, each lantern had a misty aura wisping around it.  Hundreds of swirling fireflies added to the feeling of being in an exotic, tropical location.  We drank beer, ate potato chips and sandwiches, and danced to the latest music of Bo Diddley, Otis Redding, and Soloman Burke, getting closer to our dance partners with the downing of each beer.  But the true mating dance began when the host turned off the record player, picked up a trumpet, and played 'Tenderly' as if he were born in a New Orleans brothel" (pp. 54 - 55).

Ellen Nichols mentions a second volume in the works, and I hope it is published soon.  I want to read more!  I loved this little book and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys southern storytelling and a glimpse of Mid-Century life in the Deep South.  

Book Synopsis

Remember Whose Little Girl You Are captures the flavor of the Deep South like no author since Eudora Welty or Flannery O’Connor. Ellen Nichols captures the tenor of small-town Southern life in the fifties and sixties, with its vicissitudes and hilarity. One is captured with her openness and drawn deeply into the dialogue-so much as to, according to one reader, sometimes feel guilty of spying.

Read it and see if you want those times back-or are just relieved they’re gone.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Author Bio 

Ellen grew up in the American Deep South, but with a spirit of adventure, she went up to Toronto, Canada, to go to graduate school, and stayed 50 years.

No, she wasn’t a slow student, she just ended up getting married, raising a family, and building a successful career in charitable fundraising. She has been writing for a living for years, but was always writing for someone else. Her grant proposals, direct marketing letters, and especially her thank you letters, are legend. Her persuasive writing skills raised millions of dollars.

Those Canadians loved her tales about her southern life so much, she decided to write them down and they became Remember Whose Little Girl You Are.

Recently, she moved back down south where she lives on Santa Rosa Sound near Pensacola. And yes, she is now writing about all her Canadian adventures.

You can learn more about Ellen on her website.