Go State!

My son is all ready for the big game tonight!  Of course we had to take it off for school, but he can definitely put it back on when he gets home!  Go State!

Friday Book Report: First, There is a River by Kathy Steffen

 

Kathy Steffen’s novel, First, There is a River delves deep into the world of the riverboat and its crew on the Ohio river in the early 1900’s.  The Spirit of the River is one such riverboat that offers escape and a second chance at life for Emma Perkins.  It was published in 2007 by Medallion Press, Incorporated.

On the surface, it seems as though Emma Perkins has the perfect life.  She has two wonderful children and a hardworking farmer of a husband that loves her very much.  But that hardworking husband is a façade, and Jared is not as loving as he seems.  Jared uses his belief in God as justification for punishing Emma when she isn’t the perfect wife he wants her to be.  For years, Emma did nothing and let him abuse her, afraid that he would harm her children or take them away from her.  But when Jared sells the children into labor at a nearby farm, Emma seeks refuge and escape onboard her uncle’s riverboat, The Spirit of the River.  On the river, Emma is seemingly safe from her abusive husband and uses that time on the river to regain her self-confidence and self-worth, all the while gaining the courage to stand up to her husband once and for all and regain the life she so desperately wants back.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this book.  I liked it, especially in the beginning, but I felt the middle dragged a bit and the end was just mediocre.  It’s a decent read for a weekend or on vacation, but it’s not very memorable and I doubt I’d ever read it again.  I thought Ms. Steffen did a great job capturing life aboard a riverboat in the 1900’s, and the scenes depicting riverboat life were vibrant and very well illustrated.  The characters of Emma and Gage were also very well written, and I found that I kept reading because Emma and Gage were so interesting and I wanted to find out more about them.  At first, Emma is meek and afraid to speak up for herself, her husband Jared has basically beaten the spirit out of her, and it was fascinating to watch her transform into the spirited, confident woman she once was while riding on the river.  I also thought Ms. Steffen uses the river brilliantly as a metaphor for life.  The river twists and turns, there’s bumps and slow, low sections, but all the while it keeps flowing just like life, and you can either submit and drown or go with the flow and continue on.

Despite all the positives this book has to offer, there was a lot left to be desired as well.  For one thing, the narration gets a bit confusing about halfway through.  There aren’t any clear breaks when the point of view switches, and all the narration changes kind of creep up on the reader which can be confusing.  I know there were several times it took me a minute to figure out that there was a narration change and realize who’s point of view I was reading.  I really liked Gage, I thought he was an interesting character, but the supernatural nightmare element implemented in his story about mid-way through was really weird.  It wasn’t fully developed and it felt uneccessary and very distracting.  If you’re going to write about the supernatural either commit fully to developing it, or leave it out altogether.  And my biggest problem with the book was the character of Jared.  From the start we know he’s not a very good dude, but to have him use his belief in God and the Bible as an excuse to punish his wife as violently as he does just felt like the easy way out.  I didn’t like the bible-beater husband story arc, and I think with a little more creativity the author could’ve given us a more original reason as to why Jared thinks he needs to beat his wife. 

There are also a lot of secondary characters that don’t really seem all that vital to the initial plotline.  It felt as though they were just in there to supply a little filler during the slow periods, but then the end came and their tiny storylines were never finished.  I understand there needs to be more than just the main characters, but having a half-hearted attempt at developing other characters without finishing their storyline was a little frustrating.  I would’ve much preferred they just serve as background characters instead of making me interested in them only to have their respective story’s cut short.

Overall it’s a decent book.  The storyline is promising and I did like the riverboat aspect very much.  I’d have to give this book a C grade for the efforts.  It’s not very memorable, I doubt I’ll read it again and aside from wanting to know more about Emma and Gage, I didn’t feel connected to anyone else in the story.  It’s good for a weekend or a vacation read.  I can’t judge too harshly since I did read it rather quickly, but it’s not something I can recommend whole-heartedly.   It’s a good, but not great book despite how great the Spirit is on the river.

Friday Book Report: Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass

Dr. Bill Bass and author Jon Jefferson team up under the moniker Jefferson Bass to create Carved in Bone, the first of the Body Farm Series.  Dr. Bill Bass is a well-known anthropologist responsible for “the body farm”, a three acre stretch of land at the University of Tennessee devoted to study how the human body decomposes in certain environments.  It’s an ultra-creepy environment that is perfect as the backdrop of a murder mystery novel.  The book combines the real life experiences of Dr. Bass and a little dose of fiction to create something completely original despite the fact that CSI shows/novels are popping up like dandelions these days.  The first of The Body Farm series was published in 2006 by Harper Collins Publishers.

Well known and respected anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton has been called upon numerous times by federal and state agencies for his expertise and knowledge regarding death, and when a mummified corpse is discovered in the backwoods of Tennessee, his expertise is needed once again to solve the mystery surrounding the young woman’s death.  Although she’s been dead for over 30 years, the unique environment of the cave she was found in has remarkably preserved her body and the discovery is about to turn the local town of Cooke County upside down.  Cooke County and its people aren’t known for allowing outsiders into their community, but when the sheriff of Cooke County calls for Brockton’s help, he knows that this is one mystery he needs to solve.  Brockton’s investigation is threatening to expose certain secrets that the townsfolk don’t want revealed, and attempts to thwart his progress and attempts on his life have him anxious to discover the truth in this baffling mystery.

I’m not usually a fan of the CSI and forensic genre, but I really really enjoyed this book.  For one thing, it’s a very real read, and I think that has to do with this book being co-written by an expert in the field of anthropology.  Dr. Bill Bass takes his own experiences and weaves them into this fictional book and it has such a fluid feel to it, the pages practically turn themselves.  This book is stuffed with information about dead bodies, which could be gruesome to read about, but it’s done in such a clinical way that it never really creeped me out.  I found I really enjoyed learning about the skeletal anatomy and the reasons why a person might have died, once you get past the creepiness of the body farm, it’s pretty interesting stuff.

I also liked that the authors gave Brockton a life outside of the body farm.  He wasn’t just an anthropologist helping the police department.  He’s also a man battling the grief and guilt of his wife’s death, and his faults as a father.  He’s human, and he makes mistakes just like all of us.  Writing about his personal life wasn’t necessary, but it helped to make the character of Dr. Brockton more believable.  He’s also really funny, and for someone that spends so much time surrounded by death, it was refreshing that he had a little bit of wit and humor in his personality.

There are a lot of secondary characters that are just as well written as Brockton.  The secondary characters never over shadowed Brockton, but they complimented him very well, and the wide range of personalities was compelling enough to keep you reading.

There aren’t a whole lot of twists and turns in this book, and those looking for more of a mystery will probably be a little disappointed.  It’s not your typical “whodunit” book, and once you dive into the heart of the book you’ll probably have an idea of who the culprit is, but this book does have the feel of how things would really shake out in an investigation.  I give this book a solid B+ grade.  It’s well written, with excellent characters and the body farm setting and backwoods of Tennessee provide an excellent location for a murder mystery.  As I said, I’m not a fan of the CSI shows on television these days, but I very much enjoyed how this book played out and I think that anyone that does enjoy that genre would enjoy this book, too.  It interested me enough that I’ve read it more than once and I am seriously considering reading the other Body Farm novels.  If I’m willing to read more from the same author, well then, that’s about as big as an endorsement that I can give.  I highly recommend this book, especially for those that like the murder mystery/forensic science type genre.

Happy Halloween!

 
Happy Halloween everyone! This is a picture of my mantle, some of the decorations were Pinterest inspired, others I thought of myself (I'm sure other's have thought of them, but I'm taking credit for my own creativity since I never saw them on Pinterest myself. *wink, wink*).

The ghost in the mirror is just a piece of frosted vinyl I got from JoAnn's, cut into a ghosty shape and adhered to the mirror with a little scrapbooking tape. This I found on Pinterest, and some have used Ziploc Press N' Seal to make their ghost, others used window vinyl to stick to the mirror. I like the look of the frosted vinyl, and while you can sort of see the scrapbooking tape through the vinyl, it isn't so noticeable that it looks bad. The Bats are just window clings that I got at JoAnn's, but of course those you can get anywhere.

The pumpkins are just those craft funkin pumpkins that you can get at any craft store (I think the black one came from Target). Same goes for the candle sticks. I think you could probably find something suitable at a second hand store, but I didn't have time to search through all the thrift stores for suitable candlesticks, so I got these at Hobby Lobby while they were on sale for 50% off.

The crows came from the Dollar Tree, and the skull was $5 at Target. The mantle runner is from JoAnn's that was also on sale for 50% off (plus my discount) which made that pretty cheap.

Now, what I made were the spell books and the potion bottles. They were both super easy to do, just so long as you've got a little time and effort to put into it.

 

For the witchcraft books you'll need:
* Black spray paint
* Antique White acrylic paint
* White Sharpie paint pen
* Craft books (can be found at any craft store)

Basically, all you need to do is spray paint your books black (or whichever color you prefer).  Once the paint is dry, I used a sponge brush to paint my antique white acrylic paint onto the part of the book that would be the pages.  I thought the sponge brush did a nice job of creating lines as if they were actually pages.  I only used one coat, to keep the page-like feel, more coats and the black lines wouldn't be there.  Then I used my paint pen to write the titles onto my books.  I wish I had better handwritting, I don't think the titles look to "witchy" but they'll do.  And that's it!

The potion bottles were essentially the same thing as the books.  This is what you'll need:
* Glass bottles (I found mine at JoAnn's and Michael's for $1 apiece)
* Acrylic paint
* Glass writer pen

First off, I squeezed some paint inside the bottle, then swirled it around to cover the entire inside of the bottle.  Next, I took my glass pen and wrote on the outside of the bottle various witchcraft ingredients (eye of newt, aconite, gall of goat, hemlock, etc.)  Once the glass paint was dry I put the cork back on top and there you go, easy as pie!

I really liked how my mantle turned out, and I got a lot of compliments during our Halloween party as well.  So not only did I like my decorations, but others did as well and that's all I can really ask for.  I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween!

Halloween Crafts: Googly-eyed Picture Frame

I found this quick and easy Halloween craft on Pinterest, so much fun stuff on that site!  This one was super easy to do and it took me probably a little less than two hours to finish.


Here's what you'll need:

* Wood craft frame (or any type of frame with a flat front)
* Craft paint in Halloween-ish colors
* Wood or chipboard letters
* Googly Eyes in various sizes
* Spray Adhesive or any type of craft glue
* Paint brush and/or sponge brush






Ok, the first step is to paint your picture frame.  I used a wood craft frame I got at JoAnn's.  The googly eyes won't cover the whole thing, so you'll need a bit of background color to hide the wood.  I painted mine black with a sponge brush, but you could do any color you wish (orange, purple, green, etc.). 

Next, paint your letters whatever color you wish.  I painted mine orange, but any other Halloween type colors would work just as well.  I used wood letters (Also from JoAnn's) to spell out the word "EEK" but I think "BOO" would be real cute, too.

Now it's time to start adding the googly eyes.  I bought several different sizes (from JoAnn's, where else?) and with my 40% coupons they weren't too expensive.  I used a spray adhesive I already had at the house, but any type of craft glue would work, I think.  The only negative about the spray adhesive is that it sort of leaves a film (it doesn't dry completely clear) so it kind of takes away from the black background of the frame.  But I'm nitpicking because it doesn't look that bad, and it was way easier than trying to individually glue on each googly-eye.  Get lots of different sizes to fill in some of the gaps with some of the smaller sized googly-eyes.


















Once you've got all your googly-eyes glued to the fame, it's time to glue the letters on.  I used some sort of craft cement glue that I had on hand.  I can't remember the name, but I think that any type of craft glue or cement would be just fine to adhere the letters.  The original frame from Pinterest added a ribbon before the letters, so you could do that too, but I just went the simple route with letters only.

And that's really all there is to it!  Add in your own picture or whatever you please and your frame is done!  I put in a Halloween picture of my little guy from a few years ago.  He was a darn cute Yoda!  Overall I think I spent around $10 or maybe less for this project.  The frame was about $4, the letters were $2 all together, and the googly-eyes probably came to about $4 or so.  The paint and glue I already had.  I think I might make a few more of these and add in more Halloween pictures of my guy to make a little googly-eyed display...but probably not this year, maybe next year!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Crafts: Raven Wreath

Since it's almost Halloween, I'm going to skip the book reports for a bit and instead post a few of the Halloween crafts I've been working on for this year.  I never used to be all into Halloween, but my husband likes the holiday and my little boy sure does love to dress up for it.  Plus, we are having a Halloween party this year and I decided I needed to spiff up the house with some ghoulish decorations!  This first craft was super easy to do, and I think it looks both creepy and cool at the same time.  It reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", don't you think?  Nevermore!

Anyway, here is what you'll need to make your own Raven wreath...

* Grapevine Wreath (mine is 18")
* Black Spray Paint
* Black Glitter (optional)
* Black Feathers (optional)
* One small Black Bird (got mine at Dollar Tree)
* One large Black Bird  (got mine at Joann's)
* Hot Glue and Gun (or any strong adhesive)

Alrighty, the first step is to spray paint the entire wreath black, make sure you get in all the nooks and crannies and get both sides of the wreath.

 

Next, while the paint is still wet, sprinkle the glitter.  The glitter is optional, I just like how it made my wreath a little more sparkly.  But, you don't have to glitterize your wreath if you don't want to.  After painting and glittering (or not) you'll have to wait a little while for the paint to dry.  I think mine was dry after about an hour or so.

 

Now that the paint is dry, it's time to apply the feathers and birds.  I used hot glue to adhere a little nest of feathers for my birds to sit on.  The feathers are optional as well and definitely aren't needed to create this wreath.  I just liked that my birds were kind of chilling in their nest.  After I glued in the feathers I attached my two birds.  I got the smaller one at the Dollar Tree (great place for neat Halloween decor), the larger bird I bought from Joann's at half price.

 

 

 

So, there's my Raven Grapevine Wreath.  Looks a little bit like the original, don't you think?  I really like it and I think it's a bit different from some of the other Halloween wreaths out there.  If you want the original instructions on how to make this, go here.  In fact, Joann's has a lot of fun little projects for Halloween, not just this one.  Anywho, there's one halloween craft done, I've got a few more I want to do and hopefully I can get them posted up here soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Book Report: The Shack by William Paul Young

William Paul Young writes a modest tale about a man and his struggle with tragedy and life in general in The Shack.  It was published in 2008 by Windblown Media.

Mackenzie Phillips considers himself a normal man.  Married with children, he has a good life but definitely still struggles with past hurts that have haunted him for years.  His struggles continue when his youngest daughter, Missy, is abducted during a family vacation.  Frantically searching for his daughter, the evidence the authorities find leads them to believe she may have been brutally murdered in an abandoned shack in the Oregon wilderness.  After Missy’s death, Mack turns inward, hiding his emotions and fears from everyone.  He becomes angry at God for letting this happen to his family.  Four years later Mack receives an odd note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that horrible shack for a weekend.  Mack struggles with the desire to confront God and the fear that letting out all those emotions will open wounds he’d rather keep hidden.  His curious nature leads him back to the shack and what he finds there will change his life forever.

Whew.  This book is…powerful.  I can see why there is so much controversy surrounding this book.  From all the other reviews I’ve read, people either love this book or they hate it.  There’s hardly any in-between when it comes to The Shack.   I think I am one of the few that fell somewhere in the middle regarding this book.  I didn’t absolutely love it, but I didn’t hate it either.  And while I didn’t absolutely love it, I can admit that this book is powerful and it raises a lot of questions into subjects that most people would rather just ignore.

This is a Christian fiction book, and everyone should know that before proceeding.  William Paul Young uses this book to try and break down some of the stereotypes that people have of God and The Trinity with his own ideas about what he thinks they are like.  This isn’t a book to try and sway the reader into Young’s thinking, at least it shouldn’t be.  These are his ideas just like any other fiction novel out there and I think if the deeply devotional readers out there that did not enjoy this book can get past that, they might actually enjoy the story.  There’s talk of this book being heretical and inaccurate.  I’m not sure why, Mr. Young is writing a fictional story about a man and his battle with tragedy that is threatening to engulf his life.  His meeting with God changes his perspective, as I think it would do for anyone that met God.  I guess I just didn’t have a problem with some of Young’s ideas about the Trinity, even if they weren’t my own because I was able to read this book knowing it’s fiction and in no way should replace Scripture.

I really enjoyed that the majority of this book deals with the enormity of God’s love, and the inadequacy of humans to really understand how to fully love without the presence of God.  That part I really liked.  I really enjoyed how Young portrayed just how amazing God’s love is.  Mack has the stereotype that God is mean and an “eye for an eye” God, and Young definitely tries to alleviate that stereotype.  It was definitely enlightening to read a different perspective about God’s capacity to love and his grace to forgive.  

There are definite flaws in this book.  I didn’t think it was very well written, for one.  Mr. Young is not a writer and it’s very evident in this book.  I didn’t realize until after reading this that he never intended to publish this book, but it was more a story for his children.  So he does get a little pass after learning that.  The dialogue seems forced and unrealistic at times, especially the interactions between God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit.  And while I thought Mack was very well developed, the dialogue wasn’t.   There are poignant scenes that are definitely emotional and tug at the heart strings, but even those powerful and heartfelt illustrations can’t hide that fact that a lot of the scenes were somewhat cheesy and forced.

Overall though, I liked this book.  It was interesting to read a different viewpoint on the Trinity, even if a lot of the thoughts I didn’t agree with.  Still, I would recommend this book solely because of the way Young describes God’s love and ability to forgive.  And for that alone I have to give this book a B grade, I’ve never read any other Christian fiction that was so enlightening about God’s capacity to love.  I don’t think The Shack is for everyone, but for those with the ability to discern between theology and fiction, I think this could be a very interesting book to experience.