I’m afraid this has been another slow month, both on the blogging and reading fronts. I still haven’t completely pulled out of my reading slump, though I did read more this month than in March. Still, I only posted eleven times in April, which is less than what I had hoped to get done.
Posts & Reviews
All the books I reviewed this month were CBA titles–three fiction and two creative nonfiction. I reviewed Stand by Me, the first book in the new SouledOut Sisters series by Neta Jackson, The Discovery, the latest historical romance from Dan Walsh, and The Sound of Red Returning, a spy novel by Sue Duffy. The first one was a winner, but the last two left me wanting.
I also wrote mini-reviews for Behind the Veils of Yemen, a memoir of the author’s time as a missionary in the middle east, and My Life and Lesser Catastrophes, about a personal tragedy the author’s family went through. The first book was interesting, but neither wowed me.
I also did three interviews this month–two with authors Neta Jackson and Dan Walsh, and one with book blogger Crystal from Just Another Book Lovin’ Girl.
Poll Results
This month’s poll asked: For those of you who went to see The Hunger Games in theaters, did you like the movie or the book better? Click on the image to enlarge the results.
I can’t really say which I liked better. The book was amazing and I probably enjoyed the experience of reading the book more than watching the movie because when I read the book I had no idea what was going to happen next, but the movie was also very well done. I think both captured the story well in different ways.
Consistent Commentators
Thanks to all of you who have added to the discussion by commenting! The top three commentators this month were:
- Laura Fabiani from Library of Clean Reads
- Jennifer Short from The Radar Report
- Linda
Be sure to drop by and comment on their blogs!
Quotable Quotes
One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. {Oliver Wendell Holmes}
Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all you experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms. {Angela Carter}
Poignant Poetry
Television
by Roald Dahl (1916-1990)
The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set –
Or better still, just don’t install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they’re hypnotised by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink –
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!
‘All right!’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow:
THEY … USED … TO … READ! They’d READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rate and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start — oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
The Best of Pinterest
"Library" by Lori Nix
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Tweet-Worthy
- Author Caryn Rivadeneira wrote a thought-provoking and potentially controversial post for the Her.meneutics blog entitled “When Christian Bookstores Ban Female Body Parts.”
- The good folks at Book Riot made a list of 5 Great Movies About Writing which is worth checking out. I would also like to add Ask the Dust to that list!
- Popular Christian blogger and author Matthew Paul Turner made a list of 51 Books Every Christian Should Read which is really long and really great.
- Mike Duran tackled the issue of whether or not Christian fiction is inferior to mainstream fiction in this post.
- The latest edition of the Christian Research Journal has a great article on “The Hunger Games as a Resource for Apologetics.”
Follow me on Twitter for all the latest updates!
Coming Next Month
Next month is going to be all about catching up on my ARC stack! Expect lots of reviews, interviews, and giveaways. Happy spring!
