Review: Beginning Pastel: Tips and techniques for learning to paint in pastel

Beginning Pastel: Tips and techniques for learning to paint in pastel by Paul Pigram
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: What Kind of Paradise

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such a good book!

For me, this was an unputdownable kind of audiobook. I loved every minute of it though I didn't agree with all the main character's choices, especially at the end. However, it was reasonable enough under the circumstances.

The main character is Jane, a child being raised by a single father in a small backwoods cabin near Bozeman, Montana. He teaches her to love nature. She's very protected and gets NO screen time of any kind, for many years. She's homeschooled and her grasp of philosophical literature is impressive.

But Jane has grown up and matured. As a teenager she wants to broaden her horizons and her father still wants to protect her with solitude and isolation. He keeps secrets and he has a hidden agenda.

I loved the book so much I listened to almost the entire book in one day, mostly while driving. It is a good one, and I recommend it.


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Review: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ever been to Sleepy Hollow, NY?

I just read this classic novella tonight. (Or was it a short story?)

I had to look on Google Maps to find out if Sleepy Hollow is a real place. It is. Right there on the map I found Tarrytown (the book said Tarry Town) with Sleepy Hollow right next to it. Also the Tappan Zee was there (the river) and I even saw photos of the old Dutch Reformed Church mentioned in the story. I love Google Maps.

Anyhow, great story. I wish I'd read it years ago, but apparently tonight was my night to find out what really happened to Ichabod Crane. I loved the intense descriptions and the vocabulary of the author. I read this on Kindle so it was easy to look up words I didn't know.

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Review: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Ever been to Sleepy Hollow, NY?

I just read this classic novella tonight. (Or was it a short story?)

I had to look on Google Maps to find out if Sleepy Hollow is a real place. It is. Right there on the map I found Tarrytown (the book said Tarry Town) with Sleepy Hollow right next to it. Also the Tappan Zee was there (the river) and I even saw photos of the old Dutch Reformed Church mentioned in the story. I love Google Maps.

Anyhow, great story. I wish I'd read it years ago, but apparently tonight was my night to find out what really happened to Ichabod Crane. I loved the intense descriptions and the vocabulary of the author. I read this on Kindle so it was easy to look up words I didn't know.

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Review: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
My rating: 0 of 5 stars



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Review: The Grace Year

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Teenage girls in a "Lord of the Flies" situation.

If I'd realized this was a YA dystopian novel, I wouldn't have bought it. Audible wouldn't let me sell it back so I ended up reading it and it was . . . okay, to an extent. There are a lot of sexual situations (not extremely graphic) but that tells you where YA is heading today. I find it frustrating and disappointing that literature for young people has become so brazen these days, but that's par for the course in our crumbling civilization.

Overall the plot was interesting to me. I hear there will be a movie. The main character, Tierney, lived in a dystopian earth world where crazy superstitions have become the common reality. The teen girls are accused (all of them) of having a "magic" so strong that they must be banished at the age of 16 to live in the woods in a group together. This is where the book resembles Lord of the Flies. The whole thing becomes quite disastrous.

I don't regret reading the book but............ well, I could never call it clean literature with all the violence and with the sexual situations. The book (audiobook) kept my interest and I finished it in just a few days.



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Review: The Correspondent

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Letter writing is beautiful.

This is one of the best recently-published books I've read in a long time and I very much recommend it, especially if you like epistolary novels!

The main character is Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer who loves to write letters. It is a blessing to look over her shoulder at the many letters and emails she sends or receives. There are several sub-plots to this complex novel, including themes of adoption, grief, regret, family estrangement, and life's meaning. Since Sybil is aging there are some deaths.

I'm also aging - age 73 this year as I write this. It is inevitable that at this point we're losing friends and acquaintances in the unrelenting march toward eternal rewards.

I'm sorry this isn't a Christian book, but it is a great book worthy of reading. It is entirely clean. Sybil is a wonderful character and I'm grateful to have taken time to meet her within the pages of her book.

Apparently this is the author's first book. I hope she'll write more!

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