Book Review: The Rivers Run Dry

I was pleasantly surprised by the book, The Rivers Run Dry, by Sibella Giorello. I do not normally read books from the suspense genre but I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down.

The book is about an FBI agent named Raleigh Harmon who has been relocated to Seattle. She lives with her mother and aunt, who are both fabulous characters in the story. I can picture these women in my mind and I love the eccentricities they bring to the story. She is investigating the disappearance of a woman. The crime unfolds into a unpredictable and suspenseful story. I consider myself pretty good and predicting the end of books, but this one was hard to guess. I loved that the book was suspenseful and chilling, without being gruesome or overly graphic.

I would have loved for their to be a bit of romance in the plot. Raleigh is such a like able character and I am a sucker for a love story. I also felt some of the interactions with Raleigh and the other FBI agents were somewhat cliche and predictable.

I think that Sibella Giorello is a very talented author who has a bright literary career ahead of her. I look forward to reading additional novels written by her. I would love to see Raleigh turned into a series.

Here is a link to more information about this book
http://brb.thomasnelson.com/blogger/resources/48

My summer reading list

I have some books I would like to read this summer. They include

The entire collection of Stephanie Laurens Bastian Club
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells
The Scenic Route by Binnie Kirshenbaum
The Physick Book of Delverance Dane by Katherine Howe
The House of Night series

I guess a lot of what I will read will depend on what my small town library has to offer.

My baby trees

My husband and dad planted 2 trees in our yard at the end of last summer. One of them is a plain old maple tree that was planted in our front yard. The second tree is a flowering pear tree that we planted in the back yard. I am going to measure how tall they are so I can see how much they have grown by the end of summer.

Here are their current stats. I wish I had measured them when we planted them.
Maple tree- 9feet 9 inches
Pear tree- just under 6feet

Update! September 27th, 2009
Maple Tree- 11 feet
Pear Tree- 7 feet 5 inches

In the Footsteps of Paul Review

I have recently read the book, In the Footsteps of Paul, by Ken Duncan. This book is an illustrated narration of the life and traveles of the apostle Paul.

When I began reading this book, it took me 20 pages to get into the story and layout of the book. Then ,I was hooked. I knew nothing of the story of Paul, since I am not a studied religious person. I found his story to be very interesting. I learned to love the layout of the book. It is so different from other books I have read. Each page has a beautiful photograph of a location or piece of artwork, with a bible verse and a paragraph or two from the author. I found this design to be very easy to read, easy to follow, and highly entertaining. It took a more serious subject and historical facts and portrayed them in a captivating manner. It is a very modern twist on an old subject manner.

The photography in this book are breathtaking. Some of the landscape photographs were so vivid and beautiful. I have never had any desire to travel to some of the places documented in this book and now it has moved way up on my travel dream list. It is impossible to narrow down the best photographs and scripture in this book because each page is amazing in itself.

My husband is not a reader but any means. He actually sat down and read this book with me. He attended private Lutheran elementary school and is very educated with the bible. We had a great time reading the verses together and discussing Paul's story. It was a wonderful way for us to share this amazing book and have a deep religious conversation together. I plan to read this book with his mother on my next visit to see her. She is a very active member of bible study and I would love to her her thoughts on this book. I would not be surprised if she wants to steal my copy.

Overall, I was very impressed with this book. It greatly exceeded my expectations and original impressions.

http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1404104828

DVD Review- Skeeter and the Mystery of the Lost Mosquito Treasure

I decided to order the DVD, Skeeter and the Mystery of the Lost Mosquito Treasure, because I was interested in viewing a Christian based video. I have watched very few videos that had a religious basis for the story. I was pleasantly surprised. I thought this DVD was a great story for children that teaches an important principle of the bible and life. Skeeter is a mosquito with a crocked stinger and he is embarrassed by this. He thinks that the other mosquitoes are better than him because he is different. I think not only is this an important lesson that God made us all unique, it also demonstrates acceptance of diversity. I look forward to when my infant daughter is old enough to watch this video and understand the moral lessons behind the story. I really enjoyed the narrations by the actors in this film. There are a talented group who really brought the characters to life with such energy and creativity. I feel this was a very clever video that uses creative animation, entertaining music, humor, and much more to entertain children with a heartfelt story. I think more children's entertainment should focus on positive lessons like this video does. I am so glad that this video has introduced me to the Hermie and Friends DVD series, because I strongly feel that more children should be exposed to good family friendly videos.

http://brb.thomasnelson.com/reviews/bybook/38

New Work at Home Job

I found a new way to make some extra bucks at home. Money is tight since I stopped working to stay home with the baby.

You make money by reading emails! I read my email all day! I think I can handle this.


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The Love of My Life

Not to sound cliche, but on August 26th, 2008 at 6:20pm, I met the love of my life. Lorelai Elizabeth was born! Weighing in a 7lbs, 14oz and 20.5 inches long, was the most beautiful person I have ever seen.

After having 2 miscarriages, I know what a miracle my baby is. Each and every day we have together, I am grateful.