Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts - Jun 27

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. This is a chance for book bloggers to dabble in areas besides books (but those are welcome too). Share your plans for the weekend, a rant on people not using their turn signals in parking lots, or your love of Sunday morning mimosas.

There really are never enough hours in the day before vacation. In addition to all the regular chores, this week includes:

1. Two home inspections for properties I've sold recently;
2. Getting the in-laws' house on the market;
3. Packing;
4. Shopping for vacation;
5. Cleaning so the house isn't a mess when we get home.

With God's grace and a healthy dose of prayer it will all come together, but it will definitely be a frantic pace.

Mailbox Monday - June 25

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

Happy Monday! It's late on Sunday and I'm posting this so that I won't forget tomorrow. It's going to be a nutty week, so I'm trying to post what I can ahead of time. The next time I post a Mailbox Monday, I'll be sitting on the beach in North Carolina. Thank God for little favors. We all need a break: the Lil' Diva after dealing with being bullied most of the school year; the Lil' Princess from stressing over the private school she'll be attending in the fall; Dad from working ridiculous hours; and me from trying to work, help the kids, run the house, and get the in-laws' house on the market.

I've been doing a bit of reading, but my focus is in getting ready for vacation and finalizing everything that must be done before we leave. I pray the world cooperates.

Nothing new in the mailbox this past week, but I am hoping this one arrives before we leave:

What was in your mailbox? Hope you have a blessed week.

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts - June 20

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. This is a chance for book bloggers to dabble in areas besides books (but those are welcome too). Share your plans for the weekend, a rant on people not using their turn signals in parking lots, or your love of Sunday morning mimosas.

My mind is on vacation. The Lil' Princess graduates from middle school on Thursday and the final day for the Lil' Diva is Friday. Dance recital is Saturday. The whole family is ready for a break. I'm hoping John Boy and his wife decide to join us for a few days, but might not happen.

After decades of traveling to the Outer Banks, I've learned a lot of stuff...

• You often pack things you don't need
• No car is big enough to fit all the stuff the kids bring
• There will be at least one disagreement while you're away
• Moms don't really get vacations

After driving all night, we unpack the car and then I make all the beds, put away all the food we just bought, and start laundry. I usually make two of the three meals each day. I'm still the dog's master. 

On the flip side, vacations, by their nature, encourage you to slow down. Even if you don't get a good night's rest, you usually feel okay because you're not dealing with the day-to-day grind. Reading is so much more fun at the beach. Even when you have to work, it's much easier to handle because after you're done you can go do something fun. 

There is also something very reassuring in knowing you will be coming home again. 

Where do you go on vacation? Do you have a favorite spot? 

Mailbox Monday - June 18

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

We are back to Monday again. I've had three closings in seven days, so it feels like more time has passed. Sold a vacant lot in town this week and, by the end of today, I hope to have two more houses under contract.

Only one book to share this week. I picked it up at the recommendation of our pastor.

From college classrooms to bestselling books to the Internet, the historic picture of Jesus is under an intellectual onslaught. This fierce attack on the traditional portrait of Christ has confused spiritual seekers and created doubt among many Christians --- but can these radical new claims and revisionist theories stand up to sober scrutiny?

Has modern scholarship debunked the traditional Christ? Has the church suppressed the truth about Jesus to advance its own agenda? What if the real Jesus is far different from the atoning Savior worshipped through the centuries?

In The Case for the Real Jesus, former award-winning legal editor Lee Strobel explores such hot-button questions as: Did the church suppress ancient non-biblical documents that paint a more accurate picture of Jesus than the four Gospels? Did the church distort the truth about Jesus by tampering with early New Testament texts? Do new insights and explanations finally disprove the resurrection? Have fresh arguments disqualified Jesus from being the Messiah? Did Christianity steal its core ideas from earlier mythology?

Evaluate the arguments and evidence being advanced by prominent atheists, liberal theologians, Muslim scholars, and others. Sift through expert testimony. Then reach your own verdict in The Case for the Real Jesus.

What was in your mailbox?

Coming in October: Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy

I am so excited!!! I learned about this new Green Gables book coming in October and I had to pre-order it right away so I didn't forget the release date. Any other Anne fans out there?

A bold, heartfelt tale of life at Green Gables . . . before Anne: A marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century, that imagines the young life of spinster Marilla Cuthbert, and the choices that will open her life to the possibility of heartbreak—and unimaginable greatness

Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother has dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, Matthew and father, Hugh.

In Avonlea—a small, tight-knit farming town on a remote island—life holds few options for farm girls. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world.

Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. Joining the Ladies Aid Society, she raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia that secretly serves as a way station for runaway slaves from America. Her budding romance with John Blythe, the charming son of a neighbor, offers her a possibility of future happiness—Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another. She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition—jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe. Now Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.

Pre-order here!

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts - June 13

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. This is a chance for book bloggers to dabble in areas besides books (but those are welcome too). Share your plans for the weekend, a rant on people not using their turn signals in parking lots, or your love of Sunday morning mimosas.

Oh...my...gosh! I swear this week is so crazy I want to rip out my hair. Next week should be a bit better, but the girls have finals, the Lil' Princess graduates from middle school (thank the Lord for His many blessings), and the Lil' Diva wants to try and get her driver's license before we leave for NC. Please stop the rest of the world so I can catch up.

On a good note, the garden is planted! Pics are coming. It's not a large garden, but hopefully it is manageable. Unfortunately, the crop cover I bought was missing a part, so it's not set up yet. Need to take care of that before we leave or I'll come back to eaten plants.

The gypsy moths are bad this year. When I walk the dog I can hear them chewing leaves in the woods. Yuck!

Looking forward to the Outer Banks and the beach. Hopefully I'll be able to work very little while away.

Mailbox Monday - June 11

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

You ever have plans--really great plans? You ever look forward to those plans and then get miffed when they get messed up? That was me yesterday. All I wanted to do was get back in my garden and put up the crop cover and finally plant everything. Did I do that? No. I showed houses instead. Now, don't get me wrong. I love my job. I just wish it hadn't taken over my life.

I'm probably grumpy. I missed all last week blogging because I was...working. That came on the heels of me spending a few days doing the most depressing thing I've done in a long time--cleaning out my in-laws' house. I'm not sure I fully appreciated how difficult it is to pack up the lives of your parents or in-laws until doing it. Gosh, they aren't even gone yet and I was crying over finding things like family photos and art projects from the boys' school years. There are two big things left to clean out--the basement and my husband's old room. Not looking forward to either.

On to lighter and brighter things...my mailbox. This weekend brought with it something I've been waiting for. Author Vannetta Chapman, one of my favorite Amish fiction authors, opened up a store on her website. So I bought something because I firmly believe in supporting my fellow authors as much as I can.

Amish schoolteacher Miriam King loves her students. At 26, most women her age are married with children of their own, but she hasn’t yet met anyone who can convince her to give up the Plain school that sits along the banks of Pebble Creek. Then newcomer Gabriel Miller steps into her life, bringing his daughter, an air of mystery, and challenges Miriam has never faced before.

Will Gabe be able to let go of the past that haunts him? He thinks he just wants to be left alone, but the loving and warm community he and his daughter have moved to has other plans for him. After a near tragedy is averted, he hesitantly returns offers of help and friendship, and he discovers he can make a difference to the people of Pebble Creek—and maybe find love again.

I also picked up two Kindle books by my friend Marilyn Meredith. She writes the Rocky Buff P.D. (under F.M. Meredith) and the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series.

Based on the author’s family stories, three generations of dauntless women follow their hearts across the western plains.
1858 - Mary, the gentle eastern schoolteacher, loses her heart to a handsome trapper. They overcome the hardships of frontier life in Wisconsin to establish a family dynasty.
1880 – Wilhelmina, Mary’s flame-haired daughter, kidnapped as a child by Indians, is renamed “Indian Paintbrush.” She marries Taihinco, a Menominee brave, who teaches her the meaning of unbridled passion.
1908 – Desdemona Diana, nicknamed “Minnie,” the fiercely independent daughter of Wilhelmina’s older sister, defies family and convention to wed the man of her choice. They journey to Southern California to make a new life, where she founds a dynasty of her own.

Based on the real lives of two families, Two Ways West, chronicles the journey of the Crabtrees through Mexico and by steamboat to California; and the Osborns by wagon train along the Mormon Trail.

That's it for me this week. Hope you had a great mailbox.

Book Review: Who the Bishop Knows by Vannetta Chapman

Who the Bishop Knows by Vannetta Chapman is a stellar end to a superb series.

In the final installment of Chapman's Amish Bishop Mysteries series, Henry Lapp and Emma Fisher are attending the rodeo when Jeremiah Schwartz is fatally injured. In the past, Henry's special gift has helped the local authorities solve mysteries. This time, however, he wasn't in the arena when Jeremiah was killed, so drawing what he saw won't work. When other members of his community are threatened, Henry will need to rely on his keen sense of human character and observation to crack the case.

I'm sorry to see this series end; but if it must end, I am so glad it went out in such a spectacular way. Beloved characters blend with new characters and a plot filled with twists and turns to create an engaging mystery. Chapman has always been talented in creating that vital sense of community that is indicative of the genre. Her books highlight the challenges and blessings of working alongside the Englisch members living nearby. This series has been as much about building bridges between the two worlds as it is in solving the mysteries.

Though this is a stand alone novel, I highly recommend starting with the first book, What the Bishop Saw. It's nice to watch the relationships evolve throughout the three books. Faith, friendship, and learning to accept our talents are recurrent themes. If you like Amish fiction and enjoy mysteries, you won't want to miss Who the Bishop Knows by Vannetta Chapman.


Series: The Amish Bishop Mysteries (Book 3)
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (March 6, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 073696651X
ISBN-13: 978-0736966511


I purchased a copy of this book from Amazon. This review contains my honest opinion, which I have not been compensated for in any way.