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What Did I Read in April

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So a friend of mine was doing this, and I thought it an excellent idea.  She was sharing the books she was reading over the course of the previous month.   Isn’t that a great way to meet new books?  So just what did I read in April, and what did I think of them?  Won’t you come along and see? Perhaps you’ll meet a new potential favourite, and then share one with me? 

Just so you know Affiliate links will be used in this post. 

What Did I Read in April

Books I read for fun and learning!

Admittedly, a lot of the books I read lately are books that I listened to.  I have the audible app and thoroughly enjoy having it.    I so love getting a new book every month, and every day I get an email suggesting a new book at a discounted price.  I’ve met some excellent books that way!

Books that I have listened to are:

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin.   I loved this book.   It was somewhat predictable so if I walked away and missed 30 seconds I didn’t fuss about it.  But this historical romance was a romance of books and helping others.  Was there personal romance yes, but it was definitely secondary to the romance of books. It was all about reading them, sharing them, organizing them, and discovering them. 

It takes place in London, during WW2 of which there are a plethora of books lately.  I loved the history and the look into the everyday lives of men and women during this time period.   I enjoyed how the love of books infused the storyline.  Well done.  

The Dragon’s Blade Trilogy by Michael R. Miller.  Now this book I started a fair bit ago.  I love fantasy, I adore fantasy with dragons in it.  It’s just a genre I really like.  But this one was odd.  It took me until the second book in this trilogy to really connect with the characters.  I started to become invested in the life of the main character and some of the perifery ones.   I even cared about a good “bad guy”.  

Why was it a struggle?  It’s VERY wordy.   Oh my, the author could go on and on and on.  But once I was invested, I was very persistent in listening all the way through.   The end was a bit preachy, but thought-provoking.  It’s a story where the good guys need to sacrifice to help those in need, and that was good.  So it’s a bit of a mix, but overall I liked it enough that I checked out other books he’s written. 

And I’ve started the following: 

Women in White Coats.  This is the history of women doctors in Europe and North America.  This is a history textbooky, but also storyish.  You feel like you are getting to know the characters which is good.  Makes the history seem more real you know? 

I am George.  This is about the history of black pullman on the trains.  So far, very interesting.  It is not a story, it is more a retelling of history … like a textbook sorta.  It’s making me ask questions.  For instance, is it prejudiced to not envision a multi-cultural society?  Sometimes people are so used to the way things are that to see something beyond that is not possible. 

Physical books that I am into. 

Currently reading An Encounter Easter.  I take this to work for a short devotional time at work.   I expect I’ll work my way through the entire book and it will take me longer than the 50 days of Easter.  🙂 

Gentle and Lowly.  This book by Dane Ortlund is an excellent read, drawing me into the very heart of Jesus.  It is making me think deeply.  I am very much taking my time going through it.  Thus far it’s a book I feel like I was meant to read.  GET IT! 

Books Reviewed

Books I posted for reviews

Like always, I love to share my thoughts about a wide variety of books.   I receive books from a few different places, each with their own focal points. 

Teaching Books

  • The Perfect Rejection Resume. I think this book would be helpful in a college and careers class.
  • How to Homeschool.  The author covers a lot of concerns with homeschooling.  Shares a lot from his own homeschooling journey.  Wasn’t my style, but a good book none-the-less. 
  • Sheltering Mercy. A book of prayers as free verse. Based on the Psalms.  I am using this book almost every weekday. 
  • Food Triggers.  Learn how to gain control of your food by knowing what triggers you.  A helpful book.  Go read my review. 

Fiction for middle school through adult

Picture Books

  • Be a King.  Using the ideals from King’s life to encourage change. A good conversation starter book. 
  • Our World is a Family.  Consider the needs of immigrant families and help them feel at home.  I found this book to be well done.

An Encounter: Lent

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (An Encounter: Lent) through Ascot Media Group.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

Did you know this is the second time I’ve reviewed An Encounter book by Maurice Nkem Emelu?    I did the Christmas version a while back.  I found it to be rather Roman Catholic in it’s presentation and outlook but overall to be well written.   Today’s edition is still somewhat RC in nature, but does a much better job of communicating across denominations.   Let’s go on and talk about An Encounter: Lent, eh? 

An Encounter: Lent

Getting the basic info on An Encounter: Lent

An Encounter: a daily discovery in divine word, Volume II Lent was put together by Maurice Nkem Emelu.  Father Emelu holds a Ph.D and is a priest within the Catholic Diocese of Orlu in Nigeria.  He also works as an assistant professor of communications at John Carroll University and founded Gratia Vobis Ministries.  

This devotional, published by Bien, covers the six weeks of Lent.  Each day hosts 1-3 meditations based on the liturgical calender.  The variety in readings allows for choice in your daily meditative reading.  It is roughly 200 pages long and I received a regular paperback edition.  You can find it on amazon in paperback or kindle formats.   I am reviewing on behalf of Ascot Media Group.

Continuing our discovery

One of the first things you will notice is how each devotion has a title, and often a day to read it on.   Occasionally an additional title will added saying something like “alternative reading” or “Sunday year C”.  One day I looked at had the same scripture for one day as well as for the alternative reading.  The titles varied from Straight Talk to Eternal Life.  So even though the same scriptures were used, the focus of the devotion was different.   That is part of what being given a choice gives you. 

Each devotion runs about two pages, varying by a 1/4 page here and there.  Makes for an easy to accomodate devotional time. 

Each devotional reading is followed by a time to reflect and pray. 

Being that this is a Catholic devotional I expected to see a lot of readings from the apocrypha. I might have missed some, but I only found two. This helps to make this devotional much more cross-denominational.  

Add it to your shelves?

From the sections I read (about 1/4 of the book, not in order), I would have no problems recommending this devotional to anyone in my sphere of influence.  I would remind them to avoid the Apocryphal books, but otherwise, to use those times of reflection to build their relationship with Christ. 

Overall I think Father Emelu has done a good job with this devotional.  I enjoyed the challenge of the reflect sections.  Some of those questions made me stop and think … and that’s a good thing yes?  An Encounter: Lent might not be a book that I want to use “For Lent” as honestly I don’t fuss over church season devotions. BUT if you are looking for a book to focus on for lent, you will find this to be a thought-provoking book. 

so fast to pass judgement

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I have to admit to being curious about how people will react to this word prompt Fast provided by Miss Kate.   It’s a word that can be mainly used in a couple of different ways, so don’t you think it will be interesting to see what people do with it?   And I suppose the bigger (or would it be smaller) question is.. what will I do with it? 

In the end, I came up with this poem, so fast to pass judgement, and I have to admit, my thoughts are imperfect.  I am still in the process of sorting out my reactions to events in life.  Sometimes I am so tired of this cancel culture we live in.  I don’t like what you think or say, so I’ll just block you out of my life.  Or worse yet, I’ll find ways to attack you or judge you, or …. without giving you the opportunities to talk it out with me.   I so want us to DO better, but I’m not really sure how.  🙂 

so fast to pass judgement

so fast to pass judgment

I watch Facebook
and Instagram reels and
oftentimes the song
Run comes up.

You’ll see pups, cats,
horses, ducks and what not
running. Sometimes
colliding, tripping or
doing something unexpected.

All these critters
doing something at speed
moving fast, and for,
our enjoyment,
captured on film.

I have to admit
to sometimes being
tired of people
picking the same old
tune over and over and
over again.
Can’t people be more creative?

Then I think of a book
I’m listening to
They Call me George.

The author claims
that if people don’t
actively seek out
a multi-cultural society
from the very beginning
of a new country’s development
that it means they are racist
through and through
end of discussion.

And then I think
“Why are we today,
so fast to pass judgement
on those who have gone
on before us?”

I wonder
“Do people not realize how
much we want to
be birds of a feather?
And does that make
us racist?”

I remember the first day
my son
(we live in small-town Ontario)
met a black child for
the very first time.
He backed away from him,
and wondered, “Mommy,
is something wrong with him?”

Also remembering when
I went away to school
and everywhere I looked
there were people of different
colour and how very disconcerting
that was.

I was not racist then,
I am not racist now.
It was out of my
paradigm of experience
and it took me a while
to be truly comfortable.

Someone told me once
that I
“had to learn not to be racist”
when I met people who looked
different than me.

I strong disagreed with
that individual.
Just as I inwardly take
a step back when I meet
a person covered with tattoos,
or with wildly coloured hair,
or really strange clowns.

It’s like I need a moment
to go oh, yes, it’s okay.
It’s fine.
This person has kind eyes,
that person has a heart of gold,
and that person is just
plain scary, stay away from them.

Face it,
some people ARE scary.
And it has nothing to do
with their skin colour,
hair colour, clothing, or
the way they decorate
their bodies.

So why can’t we offer
grace to people in our
past, who were dealing
with their own stuff. Their
own societal pressures,
their own goals in life,
which are sometimes hard
to bend around.

Why are we
so fast to pass judgement?
Either toward people who
don’t immediately think the
way we want them to,
or who acted in ways befitting
their times?
Or who are the same helpless
fallen creations that we
ourselves are?

If we want to claim to
be better… we need
to DO better. And that means
NOT passing judgement on
others until you have
walked in their shoes.

And here I find myself
trying to walk that
fine line of not judging others.
I too, need to work harder
on not passing judgement
so very quickly.

I need to emulate more
the heart of Christ.
One that is filled
with gentleness and
compassion for this
sinful family he
calls his own.

so fast to pass judgement

God’s words, and me a bit more

So yes, I admittedly went a bit beyond the five-minute timer on this, but words flow, you write.  That’s the way to goes sometimes. 

My heart verse has always been 1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

So I often find myself asking this question: how in this situation can I show grace, or mercy to this other person.  Often I fail. I’m just frustrated, tired, caught up in other people’s angst, or just plain selfish.  Focused on me, not on the Lord residing within me.   I need to remember to step back and say, “Okay, girl child, how can you show grace here, in this exact situation?”

God is so crazily gracious to me… IT BLOWS MY MIND.  I see my failure, and the gick of who I am so clearly sometimes.  And yet, and yet, he still gives rip about me.  He still calls me his very own. This overwhelming grace that he bestows upon me begs me to send it out to those around me. 

So can’t we find a way to do better?  To just stop being so fast to pass judgement?

Neverforgotten

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Neverforgotten) through Raincoast Books.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

Debut novelist Alejandra Algorta has come out with a bilingual story entitled Neverforgotten.  This dual book tells the story in English on one side, and in Spanish on the flip side. Illustrations provide division.  Let me walk you through it. 

Neverforgotten

The basic information about Neverforgotten

This 288-page poetic novel is produced by Levine Querido with a target audience of 8-12 year olds.  Ivan Rickenmann does a fabulous job as illustrator.  Alejandra Algorta is the author, she comes from Columbia, and had her words translated into English by Aida Salazar. 

I received an ARC copy from Raincoast Books for my review. 

From the Press Release:

Fabio flies through the streets of Bogota on his bicycle, the children of his neighborhood trailing behind him. It is there that life feels right-where the world of adults, and their lies, fades away. But then one day, he simply forgets. Forgets how to ride his bicycle. And Fabio will never be the same again.

Learning more!

I have to say that I did like the illustrations that Ivan Rickenmann did.  These greyscale images told the story all on their own without all the depression!   They do a wonderful job of helping us see the world that Fabio sees every day. 

I absolutely adore the loving people Fabio has in his life.  From a dad who doesn’t understand what is going on with his boy, but keeps trying to encourage him along.  From a “second mama” who tried to always be honest with him, but tells him the lies she’s been told.  To his own mama, who keeps encouraging him to go out and do things, and talks with him.   He has family who cares so much.   It was hard to see them watching him struggle and not really knowing how to help. 

The text is lyrical/poetic in nature, but reads like a story and is written like one as well.   Poetry is included throughout. 

The text wasn’t hard to read, and was quite quickly finished as each half of the book, without illustrations is about 100 pages.  Occasionally illustrations would dot the pages. 

So what did I think?

Well, when I finished Neverforgotten, hubby asked what I thought, I said “wow, that was a depressing read that seemed to have no point.  I have a hard time imagining any child liking it.”   

Just not my style.

What did I like?

I loved his parents and his “second mama”, and his friends that didn’t give up on him.  Even while he struggled people truly and deeply cared for him. 

The illustrations were excellent (as you know already).  Really appreciated them.  I could have happily had this story as a wordless book! 

It was fantastic that Fabio found his way through.  He chose to take hard steps and look beyond himself to the needs of others.  He took that care received and put it back into people important to him.  So utterly fantastic. 

But how the story was told… I just felt too sunk into the depths of despair throughout, and then there wasn’t a clearly happy beginning. I was left wondering if Fabio rode off and committed suicide.  It just felt so bleak.  Maybe the questionable ending was purposeful?  I don’t know.  Just doesn’t sit well. 

So, decide for yourselves if you want to risk it.  I would DEFINITELY read it before handing it over to your youngsters though.  You as mom/dad know them best and most likely how they would respond.

The Perfect Rejection Resume

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (The Perfect Rejection Resume) through Ascot Media Group.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

Well okay, The Perfect Rejection Resume is a reader’s guide to building a career through failure.  Written by Dr. Eli Joseph you will find persistence and self-reflection to be a huge part of the journey.   Let me take some time to walk you through this paperback self-help book. 

The Perfect Rejection Resume

The Basic Details for The Perfect Rejection Resume

Author is Dr. Eli Joseph, an American academic with a doctorate in Business Administration and speaker through TedX. The Perfect Rejection Resume: a Reader’s Guide to Building a Career through Failure has been published by Elisee Joseph.  It runs at 162 pages with 6 chapters, each broken into subsections.  Illustrations were done by Creative Designs by Alifian Saputra.  Janice Gassam wrote the foreword, and I’m reviewing it on behalf of Ascot Media Group.   I received an ARC for my review.

Digging Deeper

You will find the Perect Rejection Resume to be a fairly straight-forward read.  Within the 162 pages you’ll find Joseph using examples from his own life to demonstrate the principles he’s teaching.  Over and over you’ll see demonstrated the power of persistance. 

Textually it’s set up to be easy to read, with bold texting, point forms, lists etc.  This makes it very easy to highlight/bookmark to revisit sections for review. 

Case studies in the form of resumes (all the various rejections) of various people were included.  When you consider that some people got rejected 63 times before they made it through… The persistence just amazes me.  

It makes me think of Thomas Edison who said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”   Each of these rejection resumes makes me think, each of these people found something that won’t work, and so they tried again. 

You will be given ample time to reflect on what you are learning.  After each case study you’ll discover these exercises.  But within the overall text you’ll often discover questions to ask yourself. A chance to think through what you may have done wrong and what you could do better. 

Add it to your shelves?

As I was talking about The Perfect Rejection Resume with my lad I said “It felt like the author was too young to have written this book.  He needs more experience behind him to give weight to his words”.  I went on to say that it makes it harder for me to read the book with the audience I think he has in mind.  My perception is it is geared for 20-somethings in mind, not over 50-year-olds!

It appeared to me that Dr. Eli Joseph repeatedly wanted the ultimate goal throughout his entire life without doing the work needed FIRST to meet those goals.  Ergo he would get rejected.  He needed to find a different way of reaching his goals, and he did.  He didn’t let rejection stop him, which I find admirable. At the same time, if he had written the book a bit differently, like “how to let rejection teach you new skills” I would have been more receptive. 

All that said, are there useful takeaways from The Perfect Rejection Resume?  For sure!   He has great exercises for self-reflection, good questions to ask yourself, and challenges to fulfill.   He includes a variety of rejection resumes for using as case studies.  In those resumes you see persistence, and a refining of their career paths, just as I would expect. 

How to Use?

Now I can see using this as part of a careers class, to help youth/young adults see that sometimes being persistent is exactly what you need to win through the day.  The reflection questions alone are most excellent to teach criticial thinking skills. 

Learning to Run

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Miss Kate has put up the Five Minute Friday word prompt of the week, she’s chosen the word run.  And honestly, I don’t feel like running!  My hubby is down with covid and feeling rather beat up by it.   His exhaustion seems to be making me tired! 🙂  ERgo I’ve been keeping busy, and as I work I ponder this word.    It makes me think of my boy… he was challenged by a friend to run, so for the past year he’s shown dedication to Learning to Run.  

I will be affiliate linking to a book that God is having me read, showing me deeper the heart of Christ. 

Learning to Run

Learning to Run

Step by step
on he goes.
Walking, pacing,
jogging, it causes woes.

Run half a block
walk the rest
This isn’t fun
at all he says.

Slowly, surely
on he goes.
Determination
Floods his face.

This thing I will do
his inner cry.
Before you know it
One block run!

Onwards, alternating
a walk, then run,
a run then walk.
Before you know it.

Halfway cross town
Now this becomes fun.
Can he beat his time?
Will friends join in?

Yes, they run
they chat and laugh
sometimes stop
at local dairy queen.

This determination
an inspiration
Can I grab onto that?
The idea that run, then walk?

Turn it into NOT running
for me… I despise it true!
But perhaps
seeing how a devotional might do?

I want to read and
study the bible every day.
But sometimes distractions
and time filter time away.

But I can make a choice
Grab a verse to think on,
have a devotional ready to read
a new chapter in the bible.

Perhaps not studied time
desired and needed,
but a determination to
spend some time.

Needed time.
Read a book recommended
that pushes thought.
Me, seeing God’s heart.

And so, step by
determined step,
I’m drawn into
the heart of God.

Reassured of his love,
inspired by his grace,
to continue the journey
he himself, set before me.

And so I too
find myself
learning to run,
just differently.

Learning to Run

God Speaks to Us

Hebrews 12:1-3

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
 
Isaiah 40:28-31
 
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint

How to Homeschool

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (How to Homeschool) through Ascot Media Group.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

As a veteran homeschooler, I wanted to check out How to Homeschool to see if it would present accurate information to new homeschoolers, and if perhaps it might be thought-provoking.  Miguel Varella-Cid using examples from his own life to present ideas to homeschoolers, new and old, to encourage us in our journey.  The goal, to help our children learn and to become good, functioning adults. 

Basic Details and Press Release

Miguel Varealla-Cid has a Canadian connection! He wrote to tell me “some of my family are from Toronto, and I spent a fair chunk of my childhood in Ontario. I’m originally from the U.K., though I moved to Japan in 1998, then settled here when I met my wife Yuko, soon afterward”.  Always good to see a Canadian connection eh?   Anyways, he’s the author of How to Homeschool: A guide for progressive parents. 

Panoma, a rethink Press company, published this 262-page softcover book.  With 17 chapters, you’ll find that it covers much about homeschooling. 

From the Press Release:

Homeschooling has surged in popularity, especially during the last couple of years, and is the fast-growing choice for parents seeking an empowering alternative to traditional classroom-based or online school learning. 

But how can parents know if homeschooling is the right choice for their children?
And when they decide it is, how can they get a good understanding of what methods of learning may best suit their individual children?    …… Miguel Varella-Cid, and his wife, Yuko, have explored the options for years and applied homeschooling methods based on nurturing children’s individual passions to help them learn much more than they would at school. …..

In it, Miguel Varella-Cid answers commonly asked questions from new homeschooling parents, explores the pros and cons of free homeschooling, examines what makes children smart, shares seven steps to homeschooling success, and much more.  …. He uses many examples he and his wife used with their own children to illustrate how their techniques facilitate a child’s individual passions and abilities while helping the child attain fruitful academic progress.

Reviewed on behalf of Ascot Media Group, Inc. 

Looking deeper into How to Homeschool

One of the things I enjoyed about How to Homeschool was the author’s attention to detail.  He wants to help progressive parents to do the job well.  His goal is to help us think through various issues and decide how to approach them.   He starts by giving us information about himself and his family.  

In each chapter, you’ll find examples of how homeschooling worked in his family and how different things most impacted his family.  From there he’ll go on and explain his thinking behind different ideas.  

He’s fairly thorough in his approach, talking about pros and cons, objections, difficulties, and such.  He frequently interchanges free schooling, homeschooling and unschooling terminology, which I found a bit confusing.  

I did find him verbose and using bigger words than he needed to.   Not that I don’t know how to read or understand big words!  I love language and interesting words! But occasionally it made his ideas more complicated than they needed to be.  There’s value in keeping your language simple. 

I love that he highlighted sections so you could easily bookmark important ideas to research, return to or think more deeply upon.   His asking of questions I find encourages me to ask new questions of my own.  It’s like my own mini-brainstorming session!  

Throughout the text you’ll find statements in bold, lists, headers, etc, all making it easier to read and highlight important concepts. 

I can’t say I agreed with everything he had to say, but it was often thought-provoking. 

He does list a number of online resources for homeschoolers.   Many are ones I knew like Khan Academy, talkbox, outschool etc.  Others were new to me like Sue Patterson, funancial freedom, and thought co.  These were in a chapter called Free homeschool resources, and while some of them are free, others most definitely are not.  So I’m not sure why he didn’t separate them out to make it more clear. 

Add it to your resource shelf?

Well, I don’t know.   There was much I found worthy of browsing through, but overall I found myself feeling a bit irritated.  I’ve been trying to figure out why. After all, How to Homeschool is a good topic.

I’ve mostly boiled to his style of writing and his encouragement to adopt his lifestyle? I think.  The occasional confusion due to his language/style of writing was too frequent.  The whole “I’m a vegan, I know other vegans and their lifestyle and health is much better thing was, for me, off-putting.  

Mr. Varella-Cid presents a lot of good information.  He has a gentle, free-flowing style, and with a goal of lovingly encouraging us to think about our children’s long-term needs.  We need to figure out what our children need and then help them figure out how to learn!