Blog
As a homeschooling veteran, I review middle-grade stories to help parents, librarians, and teachers choose good books.
Look for author news here too!
Choosing words from Paul the Apostle, Romans 8
Our Romans Bible study has gotten to Romans 8, the last third of the chapter. We were trying to decide which verses to memorize. Want to help me decide?
Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock, a review
Abramm is calling himself Brother Eldrin, and all he wants is to be left alone by his family. But his family isn’t happy about it, not the least because it’s the royal family, and he’s now second in line to the throne. Soon Abramm discovers that the holy orders that have been his life for the past eight years are a front for evil people who want to use him as a puppet.
Firebird by Kathy Tyers, a review
Lady Firebird Angelo was born the third daughter of the queen of her world. That sounds like she might have had an easy life. But the warped rules on her planet dictate that she must die as soon as she drops down to fifth in line to the throne. It’s not just those in the royal family; this happens to the heirs of all the major houses on her planet. She’s a “wastling,” born to be wasted. Her time comes, and Firebird, a pilot, is sent on a suicide mission along with other wastlings. But her enemy saves her life. What can she do now?
Archive, a devotional
Those messy piles are the remnants of my childhood home. I’m compiling the material into an archive, and each time I dig in I learn something new.
Dandelions, gifts from God
Most of all I loved taking my toddlers to the park to pick dandelions. In the spring, there were lots of beautiful flowers in neighbors’ yards that they longed to touch, pull, pick, and generally destroy. I had to steer them away. They couldn’t admire them without touching them, so we had to go somewhere else.
Free e-book: Code Triage (Mercy Hospital) by Candace Calvert
Our suggested e-book for today is Code Triage (Mercy Hospital Series) by Candace Calvert, free both at Kindle and Christian Book Distributors.
Spring has sprung
Deuteronomy 32:2 says “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” Even though we didn’t have an intense winter this year in Georgia, I am thirsty for what spring has to offer. Spring makes me want to write and read and socialize and do all sorts of neglected projects around the house. God’s spring (His teaching) waters my soul just like the real dew nourishes the grass and plants.
Book of Days by James L. Rubart, a review
Cameron Vaux has lost both his father and his wife, Jessie. Now he fears he’s losing his mind, the same way his father’s mind went, one memory at a time. He latches onto an idea mentioned by both his father and Jessie: God’s book holding all memories. Problem is, Cameron doesn’t believe in God.
Football, a metaphor for the Christian life
In my small group studying Romans, we grappled with Romans Chapter 7, where the Apostle Paul describes his struggle with sin. He switches from past tense to present tense and launches into a confession: “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. …I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.”
Hunger Games books 2 and 3: discussion for Christians
I’ve had a chance now to read Catching Fire and Mockingjay, books 2 and 3 in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy.
There are questions you could ask your children, to help them consider the works from a Christian point of view.
Aslan is on the move
You may not be aware of it, but there are a lot of miracles going on now, many more in this past decade than in the previous one. They are happening all over the world. If you’re interested, take a look at this video by Randy Clark, a healing evangelist.
Against the wind
Biosphere 2 is massive and interesting, but it was the discussion of one seemingly insignificant tree that got my attention. Just a twenty-plus-year-old tree, growing under glass. The tour guide alerted our attention to the bracing on its limbs.