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My Rating: ★★★★☆
Later, the four remaining women could fully agree on only two things. One: No one saw the bushland swallow up Alice Russell. And two: Alice had a mean streak so sharp it could cut you. (the very first line! p.1)
He thought of the hundreds of little things that had added up to go so wrong. Maybe hundreds of little things could add up to go right. (93%)
Another book from the library holds list! Force of Nature is the second book in the Aaron Falk series and I couldn’t put it down. An engaging story with an ending I didn’t predict. I really liked this one!
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
It is one of the strange discoveries a man can make that life, however you lead it, contains moments of exhilaration; there are always comparisons which can be made with worse times: even in danger and misery the pendulum swings. (p.59)
He felt only an immense disappointment because he had to go to God empty-handed, with nothing done at all. It seemed to him, at that moment, that it would have been quite easy to have been a saint. It would only have needed a little self-restraint and a little courage. He felt like someone who has missed happiness by seconds at an appointed place. He knew now that at the end there was only one thing that counted – to be a saint. (p.210)
We’ve had a copy of The Power and the Glory on our bookshelves for years – I think it may have been Mark’s from high school! – so I decided to give it a shot. The story is about a “whisky priest” who is on the run during a purging of Catholicism in Mexico. I have such complicated feelings about this book…I know I’ll be thinking about it for awhile. 3.5 stars.
My Rating: ★★★★☆
“It’s an awful thing to miss someone who’s still here.”
“What can we do to help Grandpa?” The dad’s tears dry on the boy’s sweatshirt.
“We can walk down the road with him. We can keep him company.”
And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer is a novella and at less than 100 pages, easy to read in a single sitting. It was a touching story about a grandfather with Alzheimer’s, his grandson, and the way memories connect us together. My grandmother had dementia, so this hit close to home. Simultaneously heartbreaking and beautiful.
My Rating: ★★★★★
This book has been a lifesaver for me as we prepare to bring home our new puppy in April! I’m feeling much more prepared (and a little scared, hah!) about caring for and training this new member of our family.
…what the spiritual journey is all about is uniting our will with God’s will, wanting what He wants, loving what He loves, living a life that in all its aspects honors Him and gives Him glory. (p.153)
Did you pick a name from the Saint Name Generator earlier this year? I got St. John of the Cross. In years past, I’ve clicked and quickly forgotten my saint, but this year, I’m trying to be different! As I browsed my religious books for writings by St. John of the Cross, I came across this book. I’ve started it before and set it aside, but this time I quickly made my way through it. My copy is now full of asterisks and underlined passages. Isn’t it always funny how a book can find you at just the right time?
MY READING IN NUMBERS FOR 2019
Pages Read: 5,793
Kindle Books: 4 // Paper Books: 15
Original 2019 books “to-read” total on Goodreads: 424 // Current “to-read” total: 432 (I’m going in the wrong direction, hah!)
If I kept track of how many I added to my list for every book I've read…I'd definitely be going in the wrong direction too. Hahah!
So many good books, so little time! I guess there could be worse problems to have. 🙂
I also LOVED Force of Nature! Jane Harper is just SO good!!!
I really like how she uses red herrings to throw the reader off the scent…I was convinced that I had figured it out about three times and the ending was STILL a surprise! So good.