Finished Medical Mystery Madness challenge

I finished a challenge! Woo hoo! Wasn't sure if I was going to actually finish one this year. Finished Plague War by Jeff Carlson. This is a sequel to Plague Year and definitely needs to be read in order. This book builds on Plague Year and makes more sense having already read the first book. A machine plague has decimated the human population, making it impossible to live below 10,000 feet. A vaccine has been developed but the powers that be are fighting for control of it. War has broken out. The scientist who developed the vaccine tries to spread it to as many people as possible in order to allow civilization to move back below the barrier of 10,000 feet.
Interesting read and makes you think about all the things that this type of plague would affect (animals and plants - the whole ecology system becomes out of whack).
For those who are interested/wondering, there will be a 2010 Medical Mystery Madness Challenge - details to come in December.

Biblical Fiction Challenge 2010

I have found that reading a fiction book that is based on a story from the Bible has often made the Bible story come more alive for me. It helps me to put myself into the story and what things were like during those times. There seems to be a plethora of books out there that take a character from the Bible and turn it into a fictional story. I have a whole list of books that fall into this type of genre. The challenge I'm putting out is to read at least 6 of these books during 2010. Some examples of this type of book are:
The Garden of Ruth by Eva Etzioni-Halevy
Havah: The Story of Eve by Tosca Lee
Song of Abraham by Ellen Gunderson Traylor
Rebekah (Women of Genesis) by Orson Scott Card
The Handmaid and the Carpenter by Elizabeth Berg
The Beginning by Gene Edwards

WHAT: 6 fiction books based on stories or characters from the Bible
WHEN: January 1 - December 31, 2010

As usual with my challenges, you can change your list at any time and books can be used for multiple challenges. Please use this post to sign up.

Turning the Paige by Laura Jensen Walker

Turning the Paige by Laura Jensen Walker


My rating: 4 of 5 stars






Laura Jensen Walker is one of my favorite authors. I have really liked every book of hers that I have read so far. I read a good chunk of this book all in 1 day. Very easy, light read. This is the 2nd book in the Getaway Girls series about a group of women who are part of a book club together. In this club they go on adventures related to the books they are reading. This book focuses on Paige, in her mid-30's and divorced, who spends much of her time taking care of her aging mother. Her friends try to gently tell her that she needs to set better boundaries and not let her mother control her and guilt her. But Paige feels responsible for her mother as the only sibling left near home and with her father gone, she is all that her mother has.
I loved that Phoebe from the Dreaming in Black & White books had a small "cameo" in this book. It gave an answer to what happened with her after the end of Dreaming in Technicolor. Fun!

This book is the 6th book I've completed for the Chick Lit Challenge this year. I don't think I'm going to make the full 10 by the end of December but we shall see. I do plan to host the Chick Lit Challenge again in 2010 - details to be posted at the end of November.

Flashback Challenge 2010

Aarti and Kristen M. are hosting this challenge for next year.

The Flashback Challenge will run from January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010. If you're super-excited and want to reread a book before that, feel free, and let me know. If many people do so, then I'll do a December challenge linky post and you can all link to it here. Otherwise, we can hold them over to January.

You can sign up for the following levels:
Bookworm - Up to three books
Scholar - Four to six books
Literati - Over six books

Within these levels, we have mini-challenges! These are:

1. Re-read a favorite book from your childhood

2. Re-read a book assigned to you in high school

3. Re-read a book you loved as an adult

I'm actually already doing this challenge as a perpetual challenge -Read It Again. So I'm going to join this and attempt to do the 4-6 books (Scholar) level. My main list of books that I want to try re-reading is found here. However, for the Flashback Challenge, these are the re-reads I'm going to attempt for 2010. I may substitute other books - depending on what grabs my attention at the time.

-Biblioholism by Tom Raabe
-Lightposts for Living by Thomas Kinkade
-Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
-Yearning by M. Craig Barnes
-Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb
-The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture by Shane Hipps

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and Church by Shane Hipps


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In some ways, this book was almost more of a "how the emerging church is trying new ways to communicate in this postmodern culture". It was interesting though, particularly in how different media have shaped our culture throughout the years. Even the invention of printing and telegraph were revolutionary in changing how we perceive things. Printing caused us to become more linear in our thinking, while images (TV) use our right brain and make us view things in a more holistic way.

God Between the Covers by Marcia Ford

God Between the Covers: Finding Faith Through Reading by Marcia Ford


My rating: 4 of 5 stars





The author takes us through her personal spiritual journey and the books that impacted and affected her throughout her life. Books that brought her back to God, books that helped her along the way. She gives a brief synopsis of each book along with how it impacted her personally. The books are also listed in the back of the book for reference.
One problem with reading a book like this is that it makes my To-Be-Read list grow even more as the books she describes make me want to read them too!

Some quotes:
"Yet I cannot stay away from bookstores any more than I can give up my 3 mugs of coffee each morning. That's what addiction is, after all: a need, not simply a preference."
"Telling a person about God is far less important than showing who God is by the way we live."
"Everything Eldredge writes...is aimed at getting us un-used to the loss of everything that makes life worth living." - interesting that I recently read A Sacred Romance and this is one of the books that she highlights.

Christian Non-Fiction Challenge 2010

I have been reading a lot of nonfiction, particularly Christian nonfiction and have quite a few on my TBR list. So I thought maybe I would do a Christian Nonfiction Challenge during the year 2010. The goal is to read at least 10 Nonfiction books in the Christian genre - Christian Living, Inspiration, or Christian biography/autobiography. I plan to list the books ahead of time, but may end up changing the list as I go along. If anyone would like to join me for this challenge, please sign up in the comments.

WHEN: January 1-December 31, 2010
WHAT: 10 or more Christian Non-Fiction books

Books can be changed at any time and can be used for multiple challenges.