My Fiction Choices of 2016

As best as I can tell, I read 112 books this year (plus a few that I didn't count as they were quick re-reads when I needed something familiar and easy; I don't often record those ones). Here are my top picks for fiction, in no particular order (remembering that these are books I read this year, not necessarily books that were published this year).

1. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was interesting, and a frightening look at who we would be if all our evil was allowed to run free.
2. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. One of my Sunday School girls recommended it as the best book ever. It isn't, but it's pretty good and I enjoyed it. It was a nice, quick read.
3. Traces of Guilt by Dee Henderson. I just like Dee Henderson. Her books are generally categorized as romance, but I find them to be so much more: mystery, intrigue, and real people with real issues leading real lives.
4. Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye. This one was recommended by my nephew. I enjoyed it, although it was a bit predictable (fantasy, an orphan, a world to save).
5. Agatha Christie: Masterpieces in Miniature, The Sleeping Murder. Five Little Pigs, Sparkling Cyanide, Death in the Clouds, Murder at the Vicarage. What can I say: I'm an Agatha Christie fan. I like that her mysteries are not too obvious, but also possible to solve if you try hard enough.
6. Terry Pratchett: The Wee Free Men, The Wee Free Men, A Blink of the Screen. I'm also a Terry Pratchett fan.
7. My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve, translated by Tammi Reichel. I think it was the characters, how they played off one another, and how they changed that won me over. Also, the ending is not too stereotyped.
8. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. A friend was shocked that I hadn't read this yet, so I read it. It was really good. Spoiler alert: it actually does end!
9. Classic Tales and Fables for Children by Leo Tolstoy. Listen: if you need to read something by a Russian, Tolstoy's children's stuff is the way to go. Some of it is autobiographical, some of it is fiction, and all of it is interesting.
10. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. This one looks and feels like it should be old, but it was published in 2005. It's just a nice book, and reminded me of The Golden Name Day or Caddie Woodlawn or Understood Betsy in that it doesn't try to be "literature" or preachy or moralize. It's just a fun book about a family one summer.

There were others, some good and some less good, but these are my favourites. Another day soon I'll give you my fiction list.

Book Challenge

True confession time: I did not finish the 2016 book challenge found here. I tried. I read all of the light reader, all of the avid reader, and almost all of the committed reader (I missed a book about money or finance). I also read 35/52 of the obsessed reader (and I still have 2 days to finish the one I'm currently reading). I also read 4/5 of the extra credit (missing a book about business).

I also read other books that I couldn't fit into any of the categories (or that fit categories I had already used). I made up my own categories:

1. A sequel to a book you read last year: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
2. A random book that you found at the library while trying to remember what you were looking for: Guinevere’s Truth and Other Tales by Jennifer Roberson
3. A book you started to keep small children occupied (and then finished on your own): Scout The Secret of the Swamp by Piet Prins
4. The last mystery written about Miss Marple: The Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
5. A book with a number in the title: Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
6. A book originally published with a different title: Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie (previously published as Remembered Death)
7. A book that you read one Saturday when you should have been doing other stuff: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
8. A book with the word “clouds” in the title: Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
9. A book of short mysteries: Five-Minute Mysteries 3 by Ken Weber
10. A book about books: The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
11. A book about The Princess Bride: As You Wish by Cary Elwes
12. A book you read in an evening: Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
13. Another book by the above author: Lost in the Sun by Lisa Graff
14. A book you recommended to your friend’s daughter: London Stories by Jim Eldridge
15. A book with a great title: Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock Prado
16. A book of Christmas stories:
                a. Journey into Christmas by Bess Streeter Aldrich
                b. Christmas in my Heart vol. 1 by Joe Wheeler
                c. Christmas in my Heart vol. 18 by Joe Wheeler

Over the next few days (or the next week or whenever I get it done), I'll give you my top fiction and nonfiction lists.
I do plan to try the 2017 Reading Challenge. It's a bit more flexible as there are more several "a book of your own choice" listings, as well as generic "a book about theology"listings. We'll see how it goes. I like the reading challenges because they help me plan and organize my reading (except for the part where I read 18 books that didn't fit anywhere), and they get me reading a greater variety of books, including some I wouldn't ordinarily read. Plus, I just like lists!

What Christmas is All About

This is a busy time of year. There are concerts and parties and family time and stuff happening all over the place. It's easy to get so caught up in everything that's happening that we forget why it's all happening. Then people get grumpy and complain about all the consumerism and how much they don't like Christmas. On the other hand, there are the people who reject all the outside stuff of Christmas and insist that we can only think about the birth of Christ and not have any lights or presents or fun.

I love Christmas. I love the lights, and the presents (both giving and getting), and the food, and all the fun and laughter. And I love "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" and "God with us", and the promise of salvation. And I don't think you need to separate the two.

For those of us, though, who are finding things a bit too stressful, here's a reminder of what it's all really about:




Now, take an hour or so out of your day and go watch the whole thing while you sit by a lit-up Christmas tree and enjoy some Christmas baking and hot chocolate (or whatever says "Christmas" to you), or wrap some presents.

Enjoy Christmas. All of it.

Christmas Concert Stuff

Tomorrow is the Christmas concert at the church, so today was dress rehearsal day. Except that we weren't able to do an actual dress rehearsal; we just did a "this is the best we can do; forget about the costumes" rehearsal.

This year's concert has been a headache from the beginning, and yet I've been remarkably calm (although I've been accused of being stressed and upset, but that's just when I've been herding children into one spot and trying to figure out how to deal with problems; it seems that when I'm trying to do 3 things at once and I'm talking talking to 3 groups at once I seem stressed, even when I'm not).

Here's the issue: In October, I emailed the elder with the plans for the concert meeting, the practice times, and the dress rehearsal time. He told me that he would confirm with the other elders, and a few days later assured me that the times were all good.

What no one told me was....

1. The day of the concert meeting, we were going to have coffee/juice/cookies to celebrate the church's 11th anniversary and the installation of the newest elder/pastor, and that this would happen during my meeting. 
2. There would be a baptism the week of the first practice. They did give 30 minutes between the service and the baptism so that there would be time for practice, but since I also help back stage for the baptisms, it was a rather rushed and busy day.
3. They were going to welcome all the new members with a fellowship meal the day of (and the time of) the second practice. I gave up then and cancelled the practice.
4. The elder would forget to check that we could use the church for the dress rehearsal (we're not in our own building quite yet, so we rent another church for our services and other stuff), and we would show up to find that the other church was having choir practice on the stage, and that they had a funeral scheduled to start before we were going to finish.

So we had the "dress" rehearsal in the atrium, which worked, but didn't give us the right amount of room on our "stage", or the right amount of room for the wings so they know where to come on and off the stage, or the piano on the correct side. I know that last part doesn't seem like a big deal, but I had a hard time explaining to one adult how things would be for the actual concert. She was convinced that they children would be coming on stage on the side with the piano because they came on the side with the piano today. It was a very confusing conversation, and why would I confuse the children by having them come on the other side (also, the children weren't confused because most of them remembered how it was last year, and that hasn't changed).

We'll see how things go tomorrow. If everyone is on time (ha, ha....like that would happen), I'll have about 20 minutes to make sure the children know where to stand and the adults know where to send them on stage.

Last Night's Adventure

Last night, at just after 10:00 (maybe 10 after, maybe quarter past...somewhere in there) I was at the happy, relaxed part of my day, by which I mean I was in bed, reading a book, all warm and cozy. And then the fire alarm went off. I seriously jumped and looked around at first, not sure what was going on. Then I made the noise stop in the room and listened to make sure it wasn't just my alarm malfunctioning. It wasn't; I could hear the alarm in the hall as well. I figured I should probably leave.

I stuck my head out the door to check if I could smell smoke. Everything seemed normal, except for the alarms going off. Also, I could hear people moving around. I went back to my room, got dressed (I threw on socks and jeans, and pulled a sweater over my pjs), got into my boots and jacket, grabbed my phone, keys, and wallet, and headed downstairs.

Side note: Isn't it just known that when there's a fire, you don't use the elevators? Granted, no one in the building believes that there is ever a fire, since it's always a false alarm, which might explain the number of people using the elevator. I didn't; I used the stairs.

I did not go outside. It was very, very, very cold. Some people were outside, others we in cars, and the rest of us (at least those of us who came down) waited in the lobby where it was warm. We figured, if there was a fire, we could leave when the fire fighters came and told us to leave.

Soon enough the fire trucks arrived, and 3 firemen came in to the building. They looked at the alarm panel and determined that the alarm had started on the second floor (my floor). They came through the lobby, leaving their hoses by the door, although they had an axe and a pick. Obviously they didn't think there was going to be a fire (probably the lack of smoke; plus, no one would have called 911), because they took the elevator up to the second floor! So not even the fire fighters follow that policy all the time!

A few more minutes passed. We chatted a bit, continued to refuse to go outside, and admired the small baby who was not disturbed at all by the sirens. Eventually, the firemen came back downstairs and told us we could go back up. There was no fire, no smoke, and no reason to worry.

By 10:30, I was back in bed with my book, like nothing had even interrupted my happy time.

Christmas is Coming!

I was talking to my mum last weekend. She said "I have your Christmas parcel pretty much ready to go." I don't know how she does it. I had just started shopping the day before! I'm pretty sure I'll finish by Christmas, and even get the presents back East on time.

I do have the Christmas tree up. I don't have a colour-coordinated tree, with everything matching and elegant and stuff. That's not really my style. My tree is all coloured lights and a mix of ornaments, mostly ones that people have given me, or things that I bought because they made me smile. My favourite is a pretty, beaded angel. From the right angle, she looks headless (the wings hide her head). When I catch a glimpse of her, I am always startled by the headless angel on my tree.

I also have greenery and lights strung up along the long shelf on the wall, and a little Christmas village set up, with some lights and greenery and small Christmas trees.

I'm ready for Christmas to get here. Just in case you're not in the mood, I present my traditional Christmas video offering.