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February 2024 Recap: Reading and Ren Faires

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A day late but hopefully not a dollar short… Welcome to March! I start this month off in quarantine, having gotten diagnosed with Covid on the 29th of February. So far it hasn’t been too bad, as long as the cold meds keep the nasal congestion and cough under control. I managed to go four years before it caught me, so I guess I beat a lot of the odds there.

Aside from illness, February was a somewhat uneventful month. I finished four books during the month – we’ll go over them first.

My first book of February is one I’ve been interested in reading for a hot minute – this time last year, I was re-reading Jared C. Wilson’s The Imperfect Disciple, and I’ve been meaning to get to more of his books. This month I read The Storytelling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables. This one didn’t grab me as hard as The Imperfect Disciple, but I did enjoy the deeper look at the parables Christ told, and some of the parables told by others in the Old Testament. 

I feel like I’m going to want to go back through this in depth and make study notes in the near future. And since the book was published in 2014, it was my choice for challenge prompt #4, Read a book published in 2014 (10 years ago).[4.25 stars]

I got stuck in a bit of a reading slump after that – I started a book that was a bit of a heavy read, and very thought-provoking, but it didn’t mesh well with my habit of reading before bed, because it made it hard to drop off to sleep afterward. So when I started to fall behind pace for meeting my goal of 60 books again this year, I picked up something lighter. Something much lighter…. my choice for prompt #7, Read a book that is a comedy or satire. I am almost certain I’ve read Terry Pratchett’s The Color of Magic before – or at least started it – but I honestly had no memory of most of the plot.

I’ve had so many recommendations to read Discworld, and have every intention of reading more of this series – I have 17 others on my Kindle, after all. I do have to be in a specific mood to enjoy the bizarre and wildly imaginative imagery, but when I am, Discworld is a fun world to visit. [4 stars]

Next up was a fast paced roller coaster of emotion – Find Layla by Meg Elison is a coming of age story starring a 14 year old girl with a sharp scientific mind, living – or existing – in a dysfunctional family in dire circumstances, trying to care for her younger brother and navigate the social landscape at her school. She begins the story trying to stay unnoticed, but when a friend’s mother pushes too hard and Child Protective Services is alerted, she makes a decision to expose her truth to the world, and she goes on the run while her viral video spawns a trending hashtag, #FindLayla.

Layla’s home environment and her mother’s mental state are horrifyingly real, and heartbreaking. Her story reminds me that we never know what is really going on with the people we encounter, and the odd and the outcast may be suffering more than we know. This book was an Amazon First Reads selection in August of 2020, so it was my choice for challenge prompt #1, Read a book you got for free. [4.25 stars]

The last book I picked up in February, I managed to finish on the 29th – this one was my choice for challenge #11, Read a caper story (heist, thievery, etc.). A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab gives us parallel worlds, with only two young men who have the magical power to move between them. One of them is a smuggler, who finds himself accidentally in possession of a dangerous magical artifact, and finds himself teamed up with the thief who stole it from him trying to save all of the parallel worlds.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one – the stakes were high, and while I figured they would come out victorious, there were moments where I wondered how many lives would be lost getting there. There are two other books in this series, and I very much plan to continue with it. [4.25 stars]

Aside from the books, our fast at church ended, so I was finally able to break into the many, many boxes of Girl Scout cookies I bought to help out a friend’s daughter. And I spent a Saturday at the Arizona Renaissance Festival with my bestie and her kids and dad – always a good time. The best photos of February, including my two nail art looks for the month, are below.

A short month gives a relatively short blog post! Perhaps March will be more interesting… in the meantime, let me know what you’ve been reading! What’s the most interesting television show or movie you’ve watched recently? Have you ever been to a Renaissance Festival, and did you dress up? And what is your favorite Girl Scout cookie flavor?

The Linzthebookworm/Logophile 2024 Reading Challenge

Level 1: Book of the Month Club [8/12 complete]
1. Read a book you got for free – Find Layla – Meg Elison
2. Read a book by an author you’ve previously read – Defiant – Brandon Sanderson
3. Read a book that is under 400 pages
4. Read a book published in 2014 (10 years ago) – The Storytelling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables – Jared C. Wilson
5. Reread a book you have recommended to someone else – Jade City (reread) – Fonda Lee
6. Read a retelling of a fairy tale or a classic novel
7. Read a book that is a comedy or satire – The Color of Magic – Terry Pratchett
8. Read a book that’s been on your “shelf” for over a year – Collages – Anais Nin
9. Read a book with a color in the title
10. Read a book from the Los Angeles Public Library’s staff recommendations –The City We Became – N.K. Jemisen
11. Read a caper story (heist, thievery, etc.) – A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab
12. Free Space – Pick any book!

Level 2: Casual Reader Club [0/12 complete]
13. Read book 1 of a Duology
14. Read book 2 of a Duology
15. Read a book about faeries
16. Read a book you meant to read for last year’s challenge
17. Read a book with three or more colors on the cover – Watchman Nee Collection: The Spiritual Man, A Living Sacrifice and Authority & Submission – Watchman Nee
18. Read a book by an author who shares a first or last name with a family member
19. Read a book published by Simon & Schuster or one of its imprints
20. Read a book with the word “Dark” in the title
21. Read a book published in 2004 (20 years ago)
22. Read a book with a Gothic theme
23. Read a book on a banned book list
24. Free Space – Pick any book!

Level 3: Dedicated Reader Club [1/12 complete]
25. Read an Enemies to Lovers story
26. Read a Lovers to Enemies (or Friends to Enemies) story
27. Read a book that starts with the letter “S”
28. Read a book from Refinery29’s “The Ultimate Book Bucket List: The 75 Best Books Of All Time”
29. Read a book with a grey cover
30. Read a book by an author you think has an interesting name
31. Read a Historical Fiction novel
32. Read a book with the name of a place in the title
33. Read a book about a veterinarian (or someone who works with animals)
34. Read the first book in a series you’ve wanted to start
35. Read a book that was published before you were born – A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 – W. Phillip Keller
36. Free Space – Pick any book!

Level 4: Speed Reader Club [0/12 complete]
37. A book by Eleanor Hibbert under any of her pseudonyms
38. Read a Memoir
39. Read a book that is referenced in a film or TV show
40. Read a book with a skull on the cover
41. Read a book with the word “Truth” in the title
42. Read a book that involves gamer/fandom/geek culture
43. Read a book with a Scientist as the main character
44. Read a book that takes place in a cold climate
45. Read a book that has double letters in the title
46. Read a book by two or more authors
47. Read a book involving or inspired by Egyptian mythology
48. Free Space – Pick any book!

Level 5: Overachiever Club [1/12 complete]
49. Read a book with a Unicorn in it
50. Read a book that takes place during the 18th century (1701-1800)
51. Read a book by Jonathan Coe
52. Read a book with over 700 pages
53. A book with a title that has 5 words
54. Read a non-fiction book – You Have Not Many Fathers – Dr. Mark Hanby
55. Read a book with a picture of food or drink on the cover
56. Read a book by an author with Fred in their name
57. Read a book that takes place in South America
58. Read a book you previously started but left unfinished
59. Rickrolled! Read a book with one (or more) of the following words in the title: Never Going To Give You Up
60. Free Space – Pick any book!

January 2024 Recap: Focus and Fasting

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Well hello there, 2024. It’s amazing how slow January feels, but how fast it’s actually over. It’s always a strange month for me, because work is busy and no vacation days are approved, and every year my church has been participating in New Covenant Association of Ministries’ 40 days of prayer and fasting, during which we have a nightly livestream of encouragement and prayer. So my days are busy, and my nights are busy, and I’m making a concerted effort to cut out distractions and focus on God, so during the times that I’d normally spend scrolling social media and watching TV or YouTube, I’m pushing myself to do productive things and/or pray. 

The food part of fasting has been the least important and least difficult for me – I stepped down and quit caffeine, and gave up sugar and dairy and red meat (and eventually all meat, and bread). I do pretty well without caffeine, considering how much I really love coffee. I’m not trying to give it up permanently, so no need to recommend decaf. No desire to go there. *wink* I’ve been drinking an enormous amount of herbal tea the last few weeks, and decided it was time to get myself an electric kettle.

So for books! That’s why at least some of you are here, right? In the month of January, I completed 6 books – a good start to the year, even if a couple of them were under 200 pages. As we got deeper into our 40 days of fasting, I made the decision to switch to reading books that would keep my focus on God for the remainder of the fast, and not be a distraction.

After reading five – count ’em – five new books by Brandon Sanderson last year, I decided he’d be a good one for challenge prompt #2, Read a book by an author you’ve previously read. Ha. So I started off the year with yet another one, released in November. Defiant is the final installment in his Skyward young adult sci-fi series, and it was absolutely a satisfying conclusion. The main character, Spensa, has a very amusing narrative voice, and the cast of side characters (including a mushroom-loving AI and a 15 centimeter tall furry ninja alien) provide even more entertainment, but the story was tense and action-filled, and the stakes were high.

Spensa went through a lot of introspection and emotional growth in this story, and there were times the story brought me to tears. I know there’s a collection of three novellas associated with this series that I haven’t read yet, which I’m looking forward to picking up. I’ve enjoyed this sci-fi world and the humor and heart Sanderson put into it. [4.25 stars]

After that, I made a start on my pile of physical books on the nightstand (seriously, it’s huge) and picked up Collages by Anais Nin for prompt #8, Read a book that’s been on your “shelf” for over a year. This one was recommended by my sister-in-law a few years back, and I can see why she thought I’d enjoy it. It’s a weird little collection of stories, full of luscious language and gorgeous imagery. The stories center on a few different characters who are all connected to the central character in the tale, and form something of a collage themselves (also one of the stories is about an artist who creates collages).

The pace was a little on the slow side but I was entranced by the writing. One paragraph for example: “The rocks were continually filled with surprises from shipwrecks, and the nights with sounds which the regular rhythm of the sea orchestrated. The wind flung itself between the rocks, dishevelled, wrestled with the waves, until one of them expired. The sky put on its own evanescent spectacles, a pivoting stage, fugitive curtains, decors for ballets, floating icebergs, unrolled bolts of chiffon, gold and pearl necklaces, marabous of oyster white, scarves of Indian saris, flying feathers, shorn lambs, geometric architecture in snows and cotton. His theater was the clouds, where no spectacle repeated itself.” [3.75 stars]

My next choice was a re-read for prompt #5, Reread a book you have recommended to someone else. I am constantly pushing Fonda Lee’s Green Bone Saga on my fantasy reading friends (most recently this month in the alliance chat for a phone game I play). I finished the final installment in the trilogy last month, and immediately wanted to start over at the beginning, since it had been over two years since I read the first novel. Jade City is an excellent introduction to the world of Kekon, an Asian-inspired island which is the only source of a fictional precious stone called bioenergetic jade.

Jade is precious because it interacts with human physiology in a way that produces enhanced physical and mental powers – but it is dangerous to anyone who does not have a genetic profile that allows them to tolerate and harness the energy, and who has not gone through extensive training to allow them to use it safely. The worldbuilding and culture is intriguing, and the magic system is heavily influenced by martial arts. I remember being fascinated by the interactions of the protagonist Kaul family, and this time through I could understand even more the choices each person made and how they led to the inevitable end. Bonus, after having watched two seasons of the The Wheel of Time on Prime Video, I now have a mental picture of the eldest Kaul brother, Lan, as Daniel Henney. [5 stars]

Next up, I picked up my choice for prompt # 10, Read a book from the Los Angeles Public Library’s staff recommendations – The City We Became by N.K. Jemisen. I’ve read the first in Jemisen’s Broken Earth trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed it – so I’d been intrigued by her new The Great Cities duology. The concept is fascinating – what if, over time, the collective identity of the inhabitants of great cities caused the city itself to gain sentience and a life of its own? In this first installment, we witness the birth of New York City in this metaphysical sense, as 6 avatars (one for the city as a whole, and five for each of its boroughs) are awakened as embodiments of the city. 

And of course, it wouldn’t be a story without conflict, supplied by a trans-dimensional force that has been opposing the birth of cities across the centuries – because each city’s birth causes the collapse and destruction of dozens of parallel dimensions. Or maybe it’s something darker and more disturbing at the heart of the enemy’s motivation… Like I said, the concept was fantastic, but there was something lacking for me. Maybe it’s just that I’m not as big of a fan of New York City as the author is – I’d be intrigued to see the birth of another city, but as I understand it, the sequel picks up where this novel ends, with a continuation of New York City’s battle against the enemy that threatens not only itself, but our entire plane of existence. Your mileage may vary. [3.5 stars]

Nearing the end of January, I picked up a book recommended for my church’s leadership team – You Have Not Many Fathers by Dr. Mark Hanby is out of print but very relevant to those in positions of church leadership and ministry. The book focuses on the Biblical pattern for relationships in ministry, a father/son bond that provides care and accountability lacking in the loose organizational oversight – or complete lack of oversight – that so many ministries labor under. Dr. Hanby takes us back to the forefathers of the Hebrew nation, as well as the founding fathers of the Christian church, to discover the pattern of generational blessing and inheritance.

This was a really insightful read, and as a bonus, one little nugget has already helped me look at the scriptures in a different way: ”We today tend to gingerly skip over all the lists of ‘begats’ in the Scriptures. All those details of the generations of Adam, Noah, Shem, Terah, Jacob, and the 12 tribes of Israel, we sometimes feel are not essential. Although these genealogical lists may seem irrelevant to us, it is imperative we understand that the very presence of these large lists, repeated over and over in our Bibles, indicates an enormous generational interest in the heart of God.” The day after I read that paragraph, I found myself facing another long genealogy in Ezra chapter 7 – and immediately took note of where it was leading, back to Aaron, the high priest, and that added to my understanding of the chapter. I chose this as my selection for prompt #54 – Read a non-fiction book. [4 stars]

I finished up the month with a short one, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller. This is another recommendation from my mom – I’ve been trying to go through the books she recommends for her one-on-one discipleship students for the last few years, as everything she’s recommended has been insightful and worthwhile. I really enjoyed the detailed look at a Psalm that I’ve had memorized since childhood, from the perspective of someone who has actually been a shepherd. 

The inside knowledge gives a richer understanding of the metaphors in the passage, and really provides understanding of the amount of work, observation and detailed care it takes to be a “good Shepherd”, as Christ is described. And as it was first published in 1970, it worked perfectly for challenge prompt #35, Read a book that was published before you were born. [4.5 stars]

Aside from reading, I haven’t been watching TV so I’ve been listening to a lot of Spotify. My go-to playlists are the ones I made with all the songs my team has done for praise and worship at our church for the year – I have 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 if you’re interested.

The best photos of January are in a gallery below, including three nail art looks for the month, my herbal tea stash, and Fred’s new “cardboard kitty condo” – since she’s determined to jump into every box that comes in the house I saved a bunch of them and taped them together in interesting ways with holes cut between them (inspiration from Linz, who made one for her kitten Nebula – who is essentially the same as my cat).

And here is where I solicit comments from you! What have you been reading this year? Did you set a reading goal for the year? Do you like herbal tea? (Recommendations accepted, what’s your favorite?) And what are you looking forward to for February? Talk to me, people!

The Linzthebookworm/Logophile 2024 Reading Challenge

Level 1: Book of the Month Club [4/12 complete]
1. Read a book you got for free
2. Read a book by an author you’ve previously read – Defiant – Brandon Sanderson
3. Read a book that is under 400 pages
4. Read a book published in 2014 (10 years ago)
5. Reread a book you have recommended to someone else – Jade City (reread) – Fonda Lee
6. Read a retelling of a fairy tale or a classic novel
7. Read a book that is a comedy or satire
8. Read a book that’s been on your “shelf” for over a year – Collages – Anais Nin
9. Read a book with a color in the title
10. Read a book from the Los Angeles Public Library’s staff recommendations –The City We Became – N.K. Jemisen
11. Read a caper story (heist, thievery, etc.)
12. Free Space – Pick any book!

Level 2: Casual Reader Club [0/12 complete]
13. Read book 1 of a Duology
14. Read book 2 of a Duology
15. Read a book about faeries
16. Read a book you meant to read for last year’s challenge
17. Read a book with three or more colors on the cover
18. Read a book by an author who shares a first or last name with a family member
19. Read a book published by Simon & Schuster or one of its imprints
20. Read a book with the word “Dark” in the title
21. Read a book published in 2004 (20 years ago)
22. Read a book with a Gothic theme
23. Read a book on a banned book list
24. Free Space – Pick any book!

Level 3: Dedicated Reader Club [1/12 complete]
25. Read an Enemies to Lovers story
26. Read a Lovers to Enemies (or Friends to Enemies) story
27. Read a book that starts with the letter “S”
28. Read a book from Refinery29’s “The Ultimate Book Bucket List: The 75 Best Books Of All Time”
29. Read a book with a grey cover
30. Read a book by an author you think has an interesting name
31. Read a Historical Fiction novel
32. Read a book with the name of a place in the title
33. Read a book about a veterinarian (or someone who works with animals)
34. Read the first book in a series you’ve wanted to start
35. Read a book that was published before you were born – A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 – W. Phillip Keller
36. Free Space – Pick any book!

Level 4: Speed Reader Club [0/12 complete]
37. A book by Eleanor Hibbert under any of her pseudonyms
38. Read a Memoir
39. Read a book that is referenced in a film or TV show
40. Read a book with a skull on the cover
41. Read a book with the word “Truth” in the title
42. Read a book that involves gamer/fandom/geek culture
43. Read a book with a Scientist as the main character
44. Read a book that takes place in a cold climate
45. Read a book that has double letters in the title
46. Read a book by two or more authors
47. Read a book involving or inspired by Egyptian mythology
48. Free Space – Pick any book!

Level 5: Overachiever Club [1/12 complete]
49. Read a book with a Unicorn in it
50. Read a book that takes place during the 18th century (1701-1800)
51. Read a book by Jonathan Coe
52. Read a book with over 700 pages
53. A book with a title that has 5 words
54. Read a non-fiction book – You Have Not Many Fathers – Dr. Mark Hanby
55. Read a book with a picture of food or drink on the cover
56. Read a book by an author with Fred in their name
57. Read a book that takes place in South America
58. Read a book you previously started but left unfinished
59. Rickrolled! Read a book with one (or more) of the following words in the title: Never Going To Give You Up
60. Free Space – Pick any book!