Book Review - Everything is Just Beginning by Erin Bartels

 

I've read several of Erin Bartels' novels, and I have enjoyed them.  Everything is Just Beginning is a bit different from the others, but I enjoyed it, too.  It was a fun setting for me, with an ordinary guy getting into a star's house party on New Year's Eve 1989.  Despite how that sounds, it didn't seem far-fetched at all in the story.  The characters were believable, and like most people, the main character struggled with growth and making good decisions.  It was refreshing to read a story from the near past, but before cell phones.  Deb Wheeler's character has very little "screen time", but her presence is felt throughout the story, and that makes it all the more memorable.  I recommend this book.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher, Revel, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

Snow Day (That Really Isn't)

 So today the kids got a snow day.  We only got a few flurries of snow, but the roads were icy this morning.  So it amounted to a day off, but without any snow fun.  Some of the kids are with friends, others are watching Night at the Museum, and I am trying to get a few things done.  I've got bones simmering to make chicken broth on the stove.  I am enjoying the fact that Acorn is snuggling with the boys instead of barking at me to sit with her.   She's quite demanding.  

But she sure is cute!  We're all pretty fond of her.

In other news, Emry enjoyed celebrating a belated birthday with my parents this weekend.  We had originally planned to have it earlier, but we got sick and it got postponed.  Really, though, I think it worked out better.  It's kinda nice to celebrate a month later when your birthday is so close to Christmas.  

Perfect Snow

 We woke up to perfect snow this morning, complete with fat snowflakes pouring from the sky.  Nathaniel and I enjoyed a walk.

I love to walk in the snow when it's 33 degrees outside! 

And here is Acorn a couple of days ago, fighting her leash:

She's a bit of a rascal.  We got her a new harness, but she can slip out of it, too, so we will have to figure something out.  She sometimes listens, but sometimes she doesn't want to!

Animal Updates

 Our menagerie is doing fairly well.  We are finally getting eggs again.  We did lose both barred rock hens due to their own stupidity, so we only have 12 hens now.  Most of the chickens have re-grown their feathers.  

Lavendar is once again a very pretty chicken.

Harry is doing very well.  Gyunay still loves him and is constantly interested in him.

And little Acorn is doing very well.  We are working on housebreaking her, and on getting her used to a leash.  Panther still avoids her, but he will come into the basement and hang out most days.  Midnight is as independent as ever, but she still loves her belly rubs.  Buddy Bean loves this colder weather, and he is still quirky.  

More Acorn

 Acorn has pretty much stolen the hearts of everyone she meets.  She is a cutie.  

Well, almost everyone is thrilled to be around Acorn.  Panther is not amused.

2022 Book List

 As usual, this is only the books I completely read in 2022.  The fiction count is way up, because for quite some time after my hospitalization, I couldn't focus well enough to read nonfiction.  The overall count is higher, too, since I have so much sit-down time now.

        Fiction:

The Girl Who Could Breathe Underwater by Erin Bartels

Malicious Intent by Lynn Blackburn

Kate's Choice by Louisa May Alcott (JFIC)

On Distant Shores by Sarah Sundin

The Painter's Daughter by Julie Klassen

The Master Craftsman by Kelli Stuart

Fatal Code by Natalie Walters

Carved in Stone by Elizabeth Camden

Among the Innocent by Mary Alford

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (JFIC)

The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kipp by Sara Brunsvold

Mandy Lamb and the Full Moon by Corrina Turner (JFIC)

Krozel by Mike Whicker

Hideaway Home by Hannah Alexander

Skink: No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen (JFIC)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Land Beneath Us by Sarah Sundin

The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron

The Rose Round by Meriol Trevor (JFIC)

The Lady and the Pinkerton by Jeannie Savage

Twice a Quinceanera by Yamila Saied Mendez

Evansville's Finest Hour by Mike Whicker

Kat Finds a Friend by Joan Stromberg (JFIC)

Dangerous Beauty by Melissa Koslin

The Chesterons and the Golden Key by Nancy Carpenter Brown (JFIC)

The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus by Jaime Jo Wright

Deadly Devotion by Sandra Orchard

As Dawn Breaks by Kate Breslin

The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano

Honor's Refuge by Hallee Bridgeman

Thomas Finds a Treasure by Joan Stromberg (JFIC)

Written on the Wind by Elizabeth Camden

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

    

        Non-Fiction  

The Wilderness of Ruin: A Tale of Madness, Fire, and the Hunt for America's Youngest Serial Killer by Roseanne Montillo

Millenial Nuns: Reflections on Living a Spiritual Life in a World of Social Media by the Daughters of St. Paul

The Lady and Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley's Masterpiece by Roseanne Montillo

The Rooted Life by Justin Rhodes

The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn

Secrets from Heaven: Hidden Treasures of Faith in the Parables and Conversations of Jesus by Sebastian Walshe

A Teacher of Strange Things: Who Jesus Was, What He Taught, and Why People Still Follow Him by Cy Kellet

The Early Church Was the Catholic Church by Joe Heschmeyer

Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie

Free Plants for Everyone: The Good Guide to Plant Propagation by David the Good

These Twelve: The Gospel Through the Apostles' Eyes by Rode Bennett

Witness to Love: How to Help the Next Generation Build Marriages that Survive and Thrive by Ryan and Mary-Rose Verret

The Story of Mexico: The Mexican American War by R. Conrad Stein (JNONFIC)

Saints Who Battled Satan by Paul Thigpen

Of course, I don't list all of the picture books, magazines, etc, although I read plenty of those, too.

One Cabbage

 December Harvest Totals: 

It was a delicious cabbage, and I picked it right before the bitter cold snap (-7 actual temp).  

As for the chickens, they were molting throughout December.  Belle did lay one egg a few days ago, but we didn't get it because one of the other hens pecked it.  That was the only egg for more than a month, but things should be getting better: I gathered one egg this morning!