Review: Wings of Refuge

Wings of Refuge by Lynn Austin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Israel: Would you want to visit?

I have considered visiting Israel. I've been a Christian almost 15 years now. I have the funds to go. I'd love to walk near the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus walked and taught. But as soon as I got the money, a war broke out over there. It doesn't seem safe, but maybe I worry too much. This just doesn't appear to be the optimal time for a sightseer like me.

The protagonist in this novel did the thing -- she fulfilled a long-time dream to go to Israel to participate in an archeological dig. Now, to me that seems like so much fun. I love archeology. I love Israel. So what could go wrong?

Her journey started with flight and like me, she didn't like flying. So a kind old man sitting near her helped her out by befriending her and helping to put her at ease. That was the first thing that went wrong for her.

Now, I try to avoid spoilers and don't want to tell you what happens... but... well, no. I'll just say her trip got weird after that. She did get to the archeological site and participated in the digging. That's so cool. She met some nice people there.

The book is more than a dual timeline novel. It became a triple (or more) timeline story as we explore the backgrounds of people she meets, people who lived in the area in the distant past, etc. I got kind of confused with all the many characters a few times. It was a very nice story but really, really complex.

Then it started getting political when she met Palestinians telling her their grievances and discovered some of her Israeli friends harbored secret feelings about the Palestinians. And there were other secrets.

I've read a lot of Lynn Austin novels. I like her historical fiction set here where I live in the USA. I got one that was about a Bible person and did not like having fiction added to my memories of a person I first met in scripture, so I returned it to Audible. Then there's this one, set in Israel, that brought up the Israel/Palestine conflict. I was not loving that at all.

Since she wrote this (published in 2000) things over there have only gotten worse, as we all know. This book does explain the backstory of that, a little. However overall, the book was not my favorite of her novels. It was more of a contemporary thriller than what I'm used to from her, which is USA (mostly) historical fiction. I will be more careful in the future when I choose from her long list of novels to read. She's my favorite Christian fiction author, and I hope not to run out of more to read from her.



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Review: The Library Book

The Library Book by Susan Orlean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book made me want to visit downtown Los Angeles.

Never before in my life have I wanted to see or be in downtown LA. I've passed it many time on the highways but never had a desire to get close -- until now. The draw is the LA Central Library in the Goodhue Building. It is an architectural wonderland built in 1926 and I never knew a thing about it until I read this book.

The author focused her book on the devastating 1986 fire but along the way she gave us many informational chapters about numerous library topics. Most chapters included information including history about the Los Angeles library system, but a few reached beyond to describe library topics elsewhere in the country or world. By reading this book my information about library work has expanded exponentially.

The first time I tried to read this book, in 2021, I had just experienced one of those famous California wildfires that consumed over 200 homes in my town including mine, my daughter's and my son's. I wanted to read about that 1986 library fire. But for most of the book it was not even mentioned and I became frustrated, then bored, so I set the book aside. I started reading it again in October 2026 and wow, I was amazed at what a good book this is. I'm so glad I gave it another try thanks to the California Reading Group here at Goodreads. It is very much worth reading.



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Review: Nobody Knows What They're Doing: The 10 Secrets All Artists Should Know

Nobody Knows What They're Doing: The 10 Secrets All Artists Should Know by Lee Crutchley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The art advice I didn't want to hear.

This book starts out on a high note by telling artists, "you suck" and it goes on from there to explain why a lot of art advice isn't what we really need to hear. Though I didn't want to hear certain things, I definitely appreciated the honesty and humor with which this art advice was given.

The chapter on why we can't just do what we love perhaps hit me harder than any other. By the end I realized I don't even know what I love to do. I know I create art of questionable value in my studio, but I'm not sure I have enough enthusiasm to say I love doing it. I take care of feral cats, but I don't really love doing that. I do things in my yard like right now I'm making a little pathway out of scrap lumber, but I don't think I love doing even that. So, what do I love to do? I don't know. It is a mystery.

Here are the chapter titles:

1. You suck
2. You are going to fail
3. Nobody cares about you
4. Everyone is better than you
5. You can't just do what you love
6. You are never going to make it
7. You will never change
8. It's not magic
9. Nobody knows what they're doing
10. The big secret

Each chapter ends with a simple assignment.

As you can see, a lot of this breaks down our hopes and expectations for what art making should be, but in doing so the author tells us hard but essential truths we need to understand.

I do recommend the book.

I was reading a chapter daily until today... when at about 10 pm there was a power outage in our town. I was sitting in my nice reading chair which is an electric recliner and as such it was not easy to get out of with electric power suddenly unavailable. It was stuck in the reclining position. So since my phone still worked I proceeded to continue listening to this audiobook to the end. Eventually I did figure out a way to get out of the chair. I have a Jackery power supply so I plugged in the wifi, the chair and the lamp, and continued to have a nice evening of book reading until power was restored at 1 am.

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Review: Exoplanet

Exoplanet by Andy Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You wouldn't want to be there.

The crew of a spaceship approaches a far-off planet when suddenly they're in a state of panic as they crash and their ship is pulled apart. As each character becomes conscious again they discover they're each in a very different place, alone.

There is a lot of profanity, but I think if any of us were in such a dire situation, we'd also be likely to cuss a bit.

This audiobook just kind of showed up in my Audible app -- I guess it was a gift from the company. So I listened to the whole thing, and that wasn't difficult because if it had been a physical book, it would have been a page turner. Also, it wasn't long - just a few hours.

Science fiction usually isn't a genre I turn to, but once in a while I don't mind, and this was very well-produced by Andy Weir... and really, there was never a dull moment.



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Review: Small Things Like These

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A man's quota for compassion is put to the test.

This is a very short novel. Or is it a novella? Or, could it be an extremely long short story? Anyhow, it doesn't take long to read, or to listen to. And is is very much worth the time spent.

The main character is Bill Furlong. He's a coal salesman in Ireland and the year is 1985. I listened to the audiobook version and loved the Irish accent and setting. I liked hearing about his family and town.

There's not much I can say without giving spoilers so will just say it is a lovely story that gives us a lot to think about.

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Review: To a God Unknown

To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A man's love for the land on which he lives.

This was John Steinbeck's second published novel. It is tolerable. The first and third novels were not, in my opinion, nearly as good. This novel satisfied my need to read something about early California settlement. The characters were mostly very flat and undeveloped with a few notable exceptions like the main character's Christian brother.

The main character, Joseph, was only slightly developed. It seemed like Steinbeck was trying to give him an exceptional and unusual characteristic, perhaps something like charisma, to make of him something greater than a normal man. But even this was not well written. (view spoiler)[And his complete lack of grief when his wife died was unnerving. He just picked the woman up and took her home and let his brother take care of the burial. (hide spoiler)] So I didn't understand Joseph very well but eventually it was clear he identified strongly with the land.

As far as Steinbeck books go, I thought this one was worth reading but of course doesn't compare favorably to some of his later novels like Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden.

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Review: Tortilla Flat

Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Lessons in degeneracy.

This is the third published novel of John Steinbeck. The first two were A Cup of Gold and To A God Unknown. I finished reading To A God Unknown the same day I finished reading this one. I read A Cup of Gold years ago and did not love it but did notice a few passages that were remarkable well-written.

Tortilla Flat is written as a series of short stories about a group of friends having "adventures" of a degenerate nature.

About Tortilla Flat -- I didn't enjoy reading it. There are several reasons why.

1. The characters are drunken thieves, supposedly with big hearts, who manage to always put their love of alcohol first. To this end they will steal to get the money to drink. If they have consciences, they are deeply buried and hard to access most of the time.

2. They are paisanos, a Spanish word that means "countrymen." In the context of this book they are descendants of the Californios... Spanish people who lived in California before the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. There's nothing wrong with that, but the way they are characterized in this book, as drunken thieves and hustlers, seems to me to tend toward racism. Of course John Steinbeck was not one of these paisanos - he was of German, English and Irish descent according to Wikipedia. This was long before the "own voices" literary movement so.. it could be that Steinbeck was just trying to characterize the paisano culture that he encountered in California, but to me it came off as excessively sad, pathetic, and degenerate.

3. The novel focuses on things that might be of interest to a young man. Steinbeck was a young man when he wrote this book. He was 33 when it was published. As I am an old lady when reading this I'm not nearly so interested in drinking, stealing, and young men sleeping with whatever woman might be willing to allow it. Let's just say I can't identify with things the characters cared about.

I am seriously surprised this book ever got published but at the time it was his first exceptionally popular novel. It was published in 1935. Maybe it was just the thing the people of the world were waiting to read at that time. Who knows? I'm old, but not that old. My mom was 4 years old in 1935.

I've read a lot of Steinbeck novels, long and short. Of course his writing got much better as he aged and developed his writing skills. There are still a few I either haven't read, or that I don't remember reading. Of the two I finished reading today, this one and To A God Unknown - I much preferred To A God Unknown. I just wasn't amused by or interested much in Tortilla Flat. But to each their own. I see by the reviews that some people thought it was top-notch literature.



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Review: Though Waters Roar

Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Christian historical fiction featuring Women's Suffrage and Prohibition!

I like how this book features issues I rarely read about. The novel is multi-generational. Harriet is the main character and I believe her story is set in the early 1920's, not long after Prohibition started in 1920. Through her we learn her great-grandmother hid escaping slaves prior to the Civil War. Her grandmother Bebe worked for many years to destroy saloons and start Prohibition. And her mother worked for Women's Suffrage.

Sadly, Harriet doesn't have a cause to work for. She loves what the other women in her family did to help others, and admires their dedication to social justice issues, but Harriet hasn't found one to work on yet. Slaves are free. Alcohol is outlawed, and women have the vote. What else is there to do?

Anyhow, great story, and if you like Christian fiction, this is very much worth reading.

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