The Books of 2010

Unlike my daughter, Karen of Candid Diversions, I am not capable of reading a couple of dozen books each month. I am capable, however, of reading that many in a year as long as I'm allowed to cheat a bit and count audiobooks. I hope it's allowed because I'm about to do it. If there are rules to be followed you can send them to me later and I might follow them in this coming year. Or I might ignore them completely. Whatever. I'm contrary that way.

So, without further ado, here are the two dozen+ books that I read last year.

1. The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner. This book was one that was recommended by She Reads (found here and here).  If you aren't familiar with "She Reads" you really should get to know this branch of Proverbs 31 Ministries. The selections of Christian fiction that they highlight are usually several notches above most of the genre. Let's just say that before I discovered them I pretty much stopped reading Christian fiction because I care little for glaring romance novels (Christian or not) and have not developed an obsession with the Amish. Anyway, this book was well written and dealt with a period of history that I find fascinating: the Salem Witch trials. That's probably because I descend from someone who was hanged during that period of US History(Ann Pudeator - you knew I would find some way of working genealogy into this discussion didn't you?) so I found the story of a modern woman seeking information about an accused girl to be excellent reading. I read this book in January.
2. Daisy Chain by Mary E. Demuth. Another She Reads pick. This is the first of a trilogy about Defiance, TX and I must confess that I haven't attempted to find out if the other two books have been published. I'm not sure whether that reflects bad on me or the story but I never took the time to complete the saga. I read this book while in Texas in January.
3. Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent. Another She Reads pick. Are you noticing a pattern here? I read this book in January and enjoyed it so much that I read the follow-up in February called
4. Cottonwood Whispers by Jennifer Erin Valent. These books are about the friendship of two young ladies. The setting is the American south in the 1930s. One girl is white and the other is black. That should give you some idea of the tensions and prejudices encountered.  I read both books and I recommend them.
5. Lady Susan by Jane Austen. Another She -- ha! ha! Just checking to see if you're still paying attention. This was the firsr audiobook that I downloaded onto my then-new iPod. I found that by doing this I could "read" a book and go about my housekeeping duties at the same time! What a great idea! And yes, I enjoy a good Austen book as much as the next guy -er- girl.
6. Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove. Another She Reads pick for real. An excellent read and one that I didn't have figured out early in the novel. Can I hear a round of applause for that? Okay, I'm giving it one. I read this in February.
7. Silks by Dick and Felix Francis. This was my second audiobook download and I think I got it from the Ohio ebook project. I used to love reading a good Dick Francis novel years ago. Um, I think I liked the book but I really can't say because I remember very little about it. Maybe I was doing too much housekeeping and not enough paying attention. I'm not sure. Or maybe my love of horses isn't what it used to be.  That's probably it. I read (heard?) this in March.
8. Flat Belly Diet by Prevention Magazine. You've probably heard about this book/diet and the MUFA plan of eating. I read it because I wanted to know what constituted a MUFA (monounsaturated fat). I think it helped me eat better, which was the main purpose of reading the book.
9. The Blood Pressure Cure by Robert Kowalski. Three guess why I was reading this book. Forget the guesses. I did a post on this back in May 2010 here so go check out some of the things I had to say and then check out the book if you are so inclined. I have been using some of the suggestions successfully ever since.
10. Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. I like history. I like biographies. I like reading excerpts of letters, diaries, and journals. Does that make me nosy? Don't say it! I already know the answer. However, I loved reading about the women who helped give birth to America and prefer to think of my nosiness as liking to read primary source material.
11. Victory in the Storm by Sandra Hastings. Sandy is a missionary wife of my acquaintance and her self-published title tells of her battle with depression and the scriptures that helped her fight it. She blogs here at "More Than Survival."
12. The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson. My third audiobook. Okay, this is a kid's classic, but I enjoyed it, too.
13. The Dogs Who Found Me by Ken Foster.  My fourth audiobook. Mr. Foster has a knack for finding dogs although by the title you can see that he thinks the dogs find him. Yeah, probably like the herd of cats that have found my parents' back door recently. Anyway, I applaud his rescuing efforts, having rescued ol' Pepper from the pound a few years back ourselves. Mr. Foster's rescues are more along the line of taking in homeless and stray dogs after natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Very inspiring and humorous at the same time.
14. The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent. Not only is this a book about another person accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch trials, but this book is written about a real person by one of her descendants. This story was handed down as family legend and enough documentation survives to back it up. Good reading! I read this book in April.
15. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. This was my fifth audiobook. It's Austen. It's good. Need I say more?
16. Facts the Historians Leave Out by John S. Tilley. The subtitle is "A Confederate Primer." Okay, deep breath here. I'm the product of both the north and the south and pretty much thrilled that a cease-fire was called long before my birth. This book troubled me deeply an inspired some interesting dinnertable discussions since the Bear read it, too. Some of the "facts" were southern propaganda, which was exactly the kind of thing the author condemned as coming out of the north. Call me a fence-straddler if you must, but as much as I am in favor of States' rights I also am mighty glad that the Union was preserved! There really are no easy answers, are there?
17. Scared by Tom Davis. This was another She Reads selection and it was excellent. I read it in the car on the way home from Texas in April which was the only sensible thing to do since the air conditioning chose to go out in our car and I was sweltering. Reading about Africa just seemed to help set the mood. Good book. Read it!And then order coffee from the author's endeavor to help in humanitarian efforts.
18. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini. AWWWWWWWW! (Imagine me screaming here.) I took the whole month of May to listen to this, my sixth audiobook and I can't remember much of anything about it! I even read along at times just so I would remember the story. I remember enough to say I've had about enough of the Eragon story and just want it to end already. I liked the audiobook because it pronounced those difficult names. One note of humor: at the end of the audiobook is an interview between the author and his editor and she (the editor) mispronounces one of the names and he (the author) corrects her. Okay, does anyone remember how this novel ended? I know I'll need to read the Cliff Notes or a synopsis prior to completing the fourth (and hopefully final) book whenever they decide to release it.
19. At Home In Mitford by Jan Karon. This was my 7th audiobook and I listened to it while riding the Metro rail each day in Washington DC at the end of June. Since this was the "Focus on the Family" radio adaptation it was extremely entertaining. I could see Dean Jones as Father Tim. I tried to listen to the next book in the series but couldn't since it wasn't a Focus production and didn't have the same radio drama charm to it. I suspect I'll be borrowing the rest of the books in the series from Karen at some time just so I can say I've read them all.
20. The 100 Best Loved Poems of All Times edited by Leslie Pockell. Well, I loved some of the selections but others I could live without very nicely, thankyouverymuch. I do like poetry, though, and read this book while the Bear and the grandgirls were taking taekwondo lessons.
21. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. This was one of the books that the Bear had to read for American Literature and I decided to read it again just for enjoyment since it had been so many years since I had done so. I read this in October. Somehow, I don't seem to have read any books between the end of June and all of October. How can that be? I'm not sure that's accurate, but that's what my ledger says so I'll go with it.
22. The Devious Book of Cats (A Parody) by Fluffy & Bonkers. Have you seen The Dangerous Book for Boys? The Bear has it and the point of it is to inspire boys to be boys in their pursuits of outdoorsy, "sticks and snails and puppy dog tails" adventures. Well, this book is written for cats by cats (snicker, snicker) to help them be cats. I liked it, but then, I like cats and I think I understand them pretty well without a book. I read this in October.
23. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1757) by Benjamin Franklin. Good book. If you want to know what Ben "really" thought you should read this. He didn't pull any punches! His views on God, while not Christian, are a far-cry from the atheistic tendencies that modern authors have attempted to claim. A must-read about one of our more colorful Founding Fathers in his own words.
24. The Moffats by Eleanor Estes. My eighth audiobook. This was a juvenile book but I enjoyed it. The story is of the early-20th century family, the Moffats, that consists of the widowed mama and her brood of children. What adventures and escapades! I'm sure my granddaughter, Polly, would enjoy this one!
25. Crocodiles on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody series book 1) by Elizabeth Peters. My ninth audiobook. Fun fiction about a Victorian English spinster heiress who goes on an Egyptian tour courtesy of her inherited money. The woman who reads aloud this audiobook does a remarkable job of adding the droll tones at just the right time. One would think she wrote the book, which she didn't. A fun way to pass the time doing the housecleaning in November.
26. The Curse of the Pharoahs (Amelia Peabody book 2) by Elizabeth Peters. My tenth audiobook. This continues the story of the now-married Amelia and her husband Emerson who calls her "My Dear Peabody" throughout. The humor helped pass more of my housecleaning days but this time in December.
27. No More Mondays by Dan Miller. I heard Dave Ramsey recommend this book on his radio program one day while I was on my way to the library to do research so I obtained it immediately. After I completed it I insisted that Pastor Dad read it as well. Succinctly, it is a primer on how to think "outside the box" when it comes to jobs, employment, and doing what you love.
28. Newspapers, Pennies, Cardboard & Eggs for Growing a Better Garden by Roger Yepsen. It's cold outside and I'm now reading gardening books. I don't think I need to explain this, do I?

So, as you can see, my yearly list looks something like my daughter's monthly list and ten of mine were audiobooks. I really don't read as much as I should, but I do read. Actually, I read a lot but not all of it is in book form. I read many genealogy journals, magazine articles, and research material but time spent poring over that material doesn't equate into "books read." I think that's probably why when I do get around to reading book they are more likely to be fiction than nonfiction.

I've got several books in my stack for 2011 but I haven't begun them yet. I really need to spend more time reading and less time doing housework.  Hahahahahaha!!!!!

More About Our DNA results

Remember this post from over 2 years ago where I told about the DNA test my dad had taken in the hopes of advancing our genealogy research? (See here)  Remember how shocked I was to find out that I am of Scandinavian descent? Okay, remember that I mentioned briefly that my grandpa said we were Dutch  but I "assumed" he meant German as in "Pennsylvania Dutch" because his Grandma's lineage was of German descent?

Well, once again, I am amazed and astounded by those same DNA results! I checked the site recently to see if our results matched closely any recent participants. I almost choked on my coffee when I saw that there was one . . . . and he was an exact match! I contacted him immediately (which was about a month ago) and waited for the response (which came yesterday). The man's family is from Portugal and his parents were born in British Guyana. A quick look at that country's history confirmed my suspicions that the old colony of Guiana was indeed settled by none other than the Dutch. Mmm hmm.

Do you also remember that I once contacted a man in England whose DNA was close (off by 1 point on 1 marker) and that he just could not believe that he could possibly have any relations in the USA? (See here) My, but won't he be surprised to find out that he no longer has relatives in North American but on the South American continent, too?!

Those rascally ancestors! They really got around! Who ever heard of such a thing! :)

I'm no closer than I was to breaking down my brick wall since our surnames do not match, but at least I have a few more clues to go on since my American paternal ancestor was born sometime around the time of the Anglo-Dutch wars. Oh, how the plot thickens! And I love a good story!

(This post was edited a couple hours after it first appeared. In my concern about my photography skills I totally neglected to notice that my journaling skills were nothing to write home about. Let that be a lesson to me not to try to attempt something new until I've had enough sleep.)   :)

I was invited by my friend, Vicky Day, to participate in a year of journaling and digital scrapbooking hosted by Faith Sisters.  I'm going to give it a try.  Each Sunday the participants receive a verse that they then should try to interpret through photography. Okay, you all know I'm short on photography skills and time - particularly time - but I felt that I could try to put something together once a week.  I was intrigued by the idea of capturing the essence of a Bible verse through a picture.  Hmm.  Should help to get the creative juices flowing!

The first assignment was to design the cover page of my album.  Here are the elements that I used for my page:

• Green background paper courtesy of Vicky Day's "Friendship Company" kit
• Frame courtesy of Roseytoes Designs torch relay (blog train))
• Text courtesy of by the Shores designs by pammie~k
• Picture courtesy of yours truly who used it in 2010 to advertise her Take Ten in '10 Bible reading plan. (It fit so well with this new endeavor that I thought I'd recycle it.)

I hope you will enjoy seeing my year of faith documented in pictures

A Timely Perspective

Happy New Year!

1/1/11

This seemed like such a good day to talk about perspective and time since almost every person on the planet has their attention drawn to that concept. Other milestones like birthdays and anniversaries are unique to each individual, but the turning of the calendar to a new year is common to us all.

Time is passing quickly! So, how are you spending it? You only have so much of it, you know, and the amount you have was determined by God before you were ever born. When viewed from that perspective, I've come to believe time to be more valuable than money. That sobers me as I think about how much of it I waste. And once it is gone, it is gone forever. There are no do-overs.

But there is hope! The fact that you are reading this means that you still have some of that precious commodity to spend. And today is a day when many of us will make decisions about how to use ours. I'd like to make it my resolution to do my best not to waste this precious gift of time.

In order to not waste time, though, I need to decide what things constitute wasting time and what things do not. I've come up with a very simplified definition:

Doing anything besides what God wants me to do at that moment is a waste of time.

This sounds simple enough in theory, but in practice? . . . Well, that's another story!


Here are a few things that I know are a waste of time based upon Biblical precepts:

• Worrying about the past. (Time has no "rewind" button. Repent and move on.)
• Worrying about the future. (Time has no "fast forward" button. Leave the unknowable to God.)
• Waiting for better circumstances before I do what I'm supposed to be doing.(Time has no "pause" button either. No matter what the conditions of life might be, God still expects His children to be doing His work.)

Here are a few things that I've learned through experience - hopefully Biblical experience - that are not a waste of time in the proper proportions, although like anything good that God gives us they can be distorted, misused, or misapplied. Scriptures and God's design of the human body teach us that at least 1/7 of every week and 1/3 of every day should be spent on the following:

• Rest. (Sleep. The body needs to be recharged physically.)
• Relaxation (Life is stressful and the emotional burdens need to be laid aside. The body needs to be recharged mentally.)
• Reading (Specifically, reading God's Word and coupling it with prayer. The body needs to be recharged spiritually.)

We've got all - or as much of 2011 that God chooses to give us - still ahead of us. Let's determine not to waste so precious a commodity.

(My blogging friend, Karin, of the appropriately named Yesterday, Today, and Forever has written a poem about Sands of Time that touched my heart.  You can read it here.)

Happy 2011, my family and friends!