Friday, April 18, 2014

Guilty Pleasure - Read While You Work!

In the Bleak MidwinterIn the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I actually listened to this book - and, not only that, but I listened to it while I was at work! This was such a guilty pleasure to me, that I could enjoy a good story while I toiled away at a tedious task (reformatting and printing pacing guides--like 200 of them).

There are so many things to like about this story. We have Russ VanAlstyne, the married, agnostic police officer, and Clare Ferguson, the helicopter pilot turned priest. There are some illicit sparks between them, and they are aware of this undercurrent in their relationship. Together Russ and Clare begin investigating the mystery of the baby left on the church door steps, and the murder of a young girl. This is how they begin to know each other and form a friendship. They respect each other, but, they also have some misunderstandings and get mad at each other--just like real life!

Russ is a bit of curmudgeon, and swears quite a bit. I did have a hard time with this - I never like swearing in a book (yeah, I know, it's supposed to depict real life), and he is always taking the Lord's name in vain. This was especially jarring since it was the spoken word, not me reading the words on the page. In my perfect world, there is no swearing (I know, I'm a dreamer). I appreciate though how the author doesn't have Clare react. Clare doesn't proselytize, she just listens, and shares her heart. She doesn't get mad or upbraid Russ, she still respects and listens to him. Russ respects Clare as well, and does begin to at least notice that he's swearing in her presence.

In the Bleak Midwinter also depicts hard circumstances--unwed mothers, poverty, incest. Russ's reactions and Clare's to these circumstances are naturally different, and both seem appropriate to the characters.

In the end, the mystery is solved. But what will happen with Russ and Clare? Even though I would never want anyone to cheat in their marriage, somehow you just want Clare and Russ to connect.

I will definitely be listening to more stories during tedious tasks, and look forward to reading the next Russ Van Alstyne and Clare Ferguson mystery!

View all my reviews

Surprised by "Divergent"!

Divergent (Divergent, #1)Divergent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't know how I learned about this book and why I added it as a "to read" selection. I was somehow ignorant of the fact that it was a story with some violence, similar to Hunger Games. But here's the thing - I have surprised myself because I really liked this book.

There are some similarities to Hunger Games, although I didn't think it was as grim. A young friend of mine, who likes this series, told me she felt there is more hope in the Divergent series than what we find in Hunger Games. I am inclined to agree with her. There are parts of the story that also made me think of The Giver.

What I think was valuable in this book, and what made the story palatable for me, was the way Tris, the main character, thought things through. Tris was bothered by some of the actions she had to take when she was going through her training program and when she was protecting the people in her care. I like that the author let us see Tris's thoughts, and I think those thoughts lend themselves to good discussion points with young adult readers.

All good books bring us to ask the question--what would I do in this situation? I know that I hate violence in the world, but here it is with us. How do we fight that? As a Christian, it seems like love and gentleness would lead the way, doesn't it? But love doesn't mean doing nothing--so what is the right way to react when evil disrupts our universe? Do we just sit by, do we fight? Divergence does a good job of bringing these questions to light.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book, Insurgent, and seeing what the author does with Tris, Four, and the society they live in.

View all my reviews