So True! ~ Quotes to Brighten Your Sunday

Goodreads is a great site for a variety of reasons, from digitally organizing your book collection to commenting on and "liking" what your friends are reading. But another plus is that you can keep track of great quotes you read, or stumble upon quotes that really resonate with you. Here are a few that I've spotted and/or added that might make you nod your head and smile:

"Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?"
~ Henry Ward Beecher

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
~ Dr. Seuss

"I don't think God is ever done speaking into our lives. Even when we don't want to hear it. Even when our hearts are cold."
~ Susan May Warren (Baby, It's Cold Outside)

"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you."
~ Mortimer Jerome Adler

"A broken heart in real life isn't half as dreadful as it is in books. It's a good deal like a bad tooth, though you won't think THAT a very romantic simile. It takes spells of aching and gives you a sleepless night now and then, but between times it lets you enjoy life and dreams and echoes and peanut candy as if there were nothing the matter with it."
~ L.M. Montgomery

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment."
~ Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

"There's a light in a woman's eyes that speaks louder than words."
~ Arthur Conan Doyle (The Hound of the Baskervilles)

"Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness."
~ C.S. Lewis

Litfuse Publicity Blog Tour: Chasing Mona Lisa

Here's a description of the book:

"It is August 1944 and Paris is on the cusp of liberation. As the soldiers of the Third Reich flee the Allied advance, they ravage the country, stealing countless pieces of art. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring will stop at nothing to claim the most valuable one of all, the Mona Lisa, as a post-war bargaining chip to get him to South America. Can Swiss OSS agents Gabi Mueller and Eric Hofstadler rescue DaVinci's masterpiece before it falls into German hands?

With nonstop action, Chasing Mona Lisa is sure to get readers' adrenaline pumping as they join the chase to save the most famous painting in the world. From war-ravaged Paris to a posh country chateau, the race is on--and the runners are playing for keeps.

Read an excerpt, watch a video and find out more HERE."

My Rating

Spring

My Review

Chasing Mona Lisa is an intriguing fictional race through a part of WWII history. The various perspectives ("good" guys and "bad" guys) add to the suspense and mystery, and the details and language keep the story interesting for historical-fiction lovers. Goyer and Yorkey really know how to tag-team it!

The secondary characters really shine, especially since Gabi and Eric - while enjoyable characters - are a little hard to fall in love with without having read The Swiss Courier. They drive into the story as people whom the reader should already be invested in. That doesn't mean they don't eventually draw the new reader into the action - they just don't seem quite as deep without knowing their background. As for a couple of those secondary characters, France holds their hearts, and thus the outcome of the story has a very big impact on their futures.

Chasing Mona Lisa really is a wild ride. Some of the twists and turns seem a bit unbelievable, especially since some of the characters didn't really strike me as having brilliant foresight. But if you enjoy a good, unique WWII story, Chasing Mona Lisa is a fun ticket to the past!

*With thanks to the publisher for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion, to be shared during the Litfuse Publicity Blog tour.*

About the Authors

"Tricia Goyer is the coauthor of The Swiss Courier as well as the author of many other books, including Night Song and Dawn of a Thousand Nights, both past winners of the ACFW's Book of the Year Award for Long Historical Romance. Goyer lives with her family in Arkansas. For more about Tricia and her other books visit www.triciagoyer.com

Mike Yorkey is the author or coauthor of dozens of books, including The Swiss Courier and the bestselling Every Man's Battle series. Married to a Swiss native, Yorkey lived in Switzerland for 18 months. He and his family currently reside in California. For more about Mike and his other books visit www.mikeyorkey.com"

To Buy the Book: click HERE

Blog Tour Schedule: Check out all of the other reviews scheduled by clicking HERE.

Contest:

Win an iTouch SPY Pack in the Chasing Mona Lisa Giveaway from @triciagoyer @mikeyorkey!

Chasing Mona Lisa is the continuing tale of Gabi Mueller and Eric Hofstadler (first introduced in The Swiss Courier). This time the due are on a relentless quest to save the most famous painting in the world - the Mona Lisa. You can help Gabi and Eric with your very own spy pack when you enter The Chasing Mona Lisa Giveaway!

One passionate protector will receive:

• iTouch (The must-have device for any spy. Camera, Maps & Music.)


• Starbucks Gift Card (For all those late nights.)


• Moleskin Notebook (For those important notes.)


• Invisible Ink Pen (Don’t want anyone reading those important notes.)


• Chasing Mona Lisa by Tricia Goyer & Mike Yorkey (Great handbook and intriguing tale for any spy-in-training!)

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on January 31st. The winner will be announced at the Chasing Mona Lisa Facebook Party on 1/31. Tricia and Mike will be hosting an author chat (on Facebook and Live from Tricia's website) and giving away their books and a Book Club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club AND a LIVE Author Chat for your group with Tricia and Mike.)

So grab your copy of Chasing Mona Lisa and join Tricia and Mike on the evening of the 31st for an author chat, spy training (do you know how to pick a lock?) and lots of giveaways.

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 31st!

Learning

"All life lessons are not learned at college, she thought. Life teaches them everywhere.”
~ Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery ~

If you're wondering where I've been, I guess you could say I've been learning. For some reason I haven't had as much energy and enthusiasm for blogging lately. School (and all that it entails) has been keeping me busy, and I think I might have a touch of senioritis. Graduation is just around the corner, but there's so much to do and remember in the meantime!

It's hard to balance everything. I want to be creative with my school projects and get back to my own writing, as well...and planning blog posts has unfortunately taken a back seat. I have so much to learn - whether it's in the form of book knowledge for my classes, or learning to trust in God in all things, including when I feel uninspired or overwhelmed.

All this to say - I'm still here. I'm so grateful for your friendship, and I hope to have some more posts besides book reviews to share with you sometime (although there should still be plenty of those!). We'll see where God leads.

Thanks for reading my rambling! May we all keep on growing and learning...

"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: to understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

~Proverbs 1:5-7

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."
~Romans 15:4

A Bit of Beauty

Hmmm... I haven't posted for a while. So what is a girl to do?

Why, look at what's on her desk, of course!

This lovely figurine (entitled "Beautiful Belle") was a Christmas gift from my parents. Belle is such a sweet heroine - a bookworm, a dreamer, and fiercely loyal to those whom she loves. The gentle colors, the flowery design, and the flowers themselves (reminders of the Beast and the lessons he had to learn about loving beyond appearances) are gorgeous, are they not?

I simply love the Jim Shore figurines. They make such great gifts - a way to share a bit of beauty with someone in your life. (You can generally find them in Hallmark stores, or you can scroll through all the delightful options on the Jim Shore website. Might I just make a quick note that "Someday is Today" - with Snow White and her Prince - is absolutely stunning?)

I think Belle would approve of the books, don't you?

Hope these pictures bring a bit of beauty to your day!

The Books That Were on Fire: My Thoughts on "The Hunger Games" Trilogy

What makes "The Hunger Games" series so intriguing and engrossing? I've connected elements of the trilogy to C.S. Lewis' sermon "The Weight of Glory" for a class paper. I've found the series to be a thought-provoking example for parts of the ethics and war lecture given recently in my American Military History class. I've discussed various plot twists and themes with a friend in my dorm.

Really, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay are on fire with intense action, ideas, and emotions!

If you missed it before, you can find my thoughts on the first book (The Hunger Games) HERE. The following thoughts are on the series as a whole, and they do include major spoilers. If you're really interested in the series and haven't yet read it, I recommend waiting to read this until after you've done so. But if you have read the books, I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments section!

My Thoughts on "The Hunger Games" Trilogy

When discussing this series the other day, my friend asked me if I thought it was possible to love a book but not love it at the same time, or something to that effect. When it comes to "The Hunger Games" trilogy, my answer is, "Oh, yeah!"

I love it. The non-stop action...the tension...the head-on collision with serious, meaningful questions... It's a well-written story that "works on many levels" (as a certain penguin from Madagascar 2 might say, if you don't mind the movie reference!). Horrific, terrifying, and yet completely captivating - that pretty much sums it up.

At the same time, I don't love it. The books are set in a future built on the author's own imagination. Whether all of the assumptions put forth in the book reflect the author's worldview is a call I can't make. But I can tell you that there are indeed assumptions that should be treated with careful reflection by every reader.

As far as I could tell, there were no references to religion throughout the series. Some might say that there is no place for religion in the dystopian world of Panem. And I suppose that is the point. Panem seems to have arisen from an evolutionary viewpoint, with the idea that in the future human beings will have moved past their need for "fantastical myths" and "delusions." It is a place where survival of the fittest is very much the order of the day. The silence created by the absence of any mention of any form of life after death or any type of religious beliefs speaks louder than any words on the subject.

Consider Katniss' thoughts after the assassination of President Coin:

"I no longer feel any allegiance to these monsters called human beings, despite being one myself. I think that Peeta was onto something about us destroying one another and letting some decent species take over. Because something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children's lives to settle its differences.... The truth is, it benefits no one to live in a world where these things happen." (p. 377, Mockingjay)

Certainly, at first glance "The Hunger Games" series seems to promise absolutely no happiness at all. But at the end of Mockingjay, Katniss and Peeta and some of the others attempt to keep the legacies of those who died alive. Peeta tries to hold onto his love for Katniss. Katniss tries to hold onto "every act of goodness [she's] seen someone do." But even Katniss' admission that "there are much worse games to play" doesn't erase the fact that if there is no life after death, all of it is for naught (quotes from Mockingjay, p. 390).

Why is it all for naught? Consider C.S. Lewis' words in his sermon "The Weight of Glory":

"...even if all the happiness they promised could come to man on earth, yet still each generation would lose it by death, including the last generation of all, and the whole story would be nothing, not even a story, for ever and ever."

Lewis is talking about those who seek a sort of "heaven on earth," but I think it works just as well for the "hell on earth with what little bits of heaven we can preserve" picture presented in "The Hunger Games" series. But the thing is, if I am correct in assuming that the dead in this series are thought to simply cease to exist, than there is no point in holding onto any "bits of heaven." As Lewis says (in the same sermon) in regards to avoiding death:

"...as if we could believe that any social or biological development on this planet will delay the senility of the sun or reverse the second law of thermodynamics. Do what they will, then, we remain conscious of a desire which no natural happiness will satisfy."

So here's where I come back to loving the series again. The books show the complete and utter dissatisfaction that humans ultimately have with this world as an end in and of itself. We long for more - legacies that will not fade; total freedom that exists in truth; justice and yet mercy; a safe place to call home forever.

Remember the song that makes an appearance at Rue's death in The Hunger Games and in the epilogue of Mockingjay? It's a song that speaks of hope, safety, and especially love. "Here is the place where I love you." It's what we ache for, a love that doesn't cease when someone leaves this world. A love that isn't bound by time and location.

Here are some of Jesus' words to His disciples (and we, too, are His disciples if we are saved through His grace, by faith):

"If ye were of the world,
the world would love his own:
but because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you....

And ye now therefore have
sorrow: but I will see you again,
and your heart shall rejoice,
and your joy no man taketh
from you....

These things I have spoken
unto you, that in me ye might
have peace. In the world ye
shall have tribulation: but be of
good cheer; I have overcome
the world."

~ John 15:19 and 16:22, 33 ~

That love exists. A Love beyond this world. A Love that has overcome the world. A Love that gives joy, which can never be taken away.

But assurance in eternal life does not mean that we just give up. Not at all! What I really love about "The Hunger Games" trilogy is Katniss' constant battle. She never stops fighting. She never stops trying to hold onto good. We may not be in Katniss' shoes exactly, but consider these verses from Ephesians:

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (6:12-13)

And from Romans:

"Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." (12:9)

"The Hunger Games" trilogy has a lot to say about good and evil, war (like militarism vs. just war theory, etc.), and where the world is headed. But whether or not I agree with everything it says, if it forces me to think critically and examine (and grow) in my faith, then I think it's a powerful story with a lot to offer. In that way The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay really seem to be the books that were - and are - on fire.

(You can find C.S. Lewis' sermon "The Weight of Glory" HERE. Movie poster image 1 and image 2 from Moviefone.com. Book cover images from the author's website.)

Litfuse Publicity Tour: The Shadow of Your Smile

Here's a description of the book:

"A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage.

After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle's memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember?

Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future?"

Read the story behind the story HERE.

My Rating

Spring

My Review

A new season has come to Deep Haven. In Warren's previous novel set in Deep Haven, My Foolish Heart, the serious elements of the story were balanced with fun and warmth. But The Shadow of Your Smile is very much a "winter" story, in more ways than one. The atmosphere is colder and darker, and yet the season of prolonged icy feelings and potential danger allows for the contemplation some difficult questions and a budding hope that another season is on its way.

Because of the weather and tone differences, Deep Haven looks quite a bit different in this story than in My Foolish Heart. But this allows the book to really stand on its own, exploring the complex and painful lives of a new cast of characters. Hidden secrets and sorrows... Faults and forgiveness... New love and renewed love. The characters experience a lot of hurting, but they also learn that God's healing touch is not as unattainable as it sometimes seems.

The Shadow of Your Smile has cold hands but a warm heart, as the saying goes. The characters and situations are sometimes very frustrating to read about, and while Warren's writing is lovely, some of the twists and turns are not always so. But buried underneath the snow is life that is waiting to be found again.

*With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion, to be shared during the Litfuse Publicity Blogging tour.*

About the Author

"Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where she, her four children, and her husband are active in their local church.

Susan's larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!)

A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at: www.susanmaywarren.com."

To Buy the Book: click HERE

Blog Tour Schedule: Check out all of the other reviews scheduled by clicking HERE.

Contest:

Come Back to Deep Haven and Win a $200 Visa Card from @SusanMayWarren!

Sometimes love requires a little forgetting ... Come back to Deep Haven and find out what's been happening in your favorite quaint hamlet. If you're new to the Deep Haven series - this is the perfect book to start with - each book in the series is a stand alone story.

Susan is celebrating the release of The Shadow of Your Smile by giving away a prize pack worth over $200 from 1/9-1/28.

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A $200 Visa Gift Card (Use that to rekindle a little romance, treat yourself to a spa day, snap up those shoes you’ve been eyeing, or purchase a few great books!)
  

• The entire set of Deep Haven Books

The winner will be announced on 1/30/12 on Susan’s blog, Scribbles! Just click one of the icons below to enter and tell your friends about Susan's giveaway on FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

Beauty in This Season

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..."

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end."

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11 ~

(I took these photos yesterday on the Corban University nature trail. Yes, we had snow in my neck of the woods, and it was beautiful while it lasted!)