Whether Here or There

This post may contain affiliate links.  If you’d like to purchase any of these books mentioned, the best course of action is to go to your nearest locally-owned, independent bookstore, and ask them to order it for you.  But, if that’s not an option, or you just feel the need to feed the beast that is amazon.com, go ahead and throw me a bone and click through the links here.  

This month, not one, not two, but THREE of women I know (or know of) have published their first books.  I’m pretty stoked about all of them.  But, truth be told, as they’re so brand-spankin’ new, and I’m only able to purchase books once a year (as I refuse to get an e-reader) I have not read these yet.

So I’ll wind up this post, raving about the two excellent books that I am currently reading.

The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture

Haley Stewart is the creator of Carrots for Michelmas, a blog that I’ve been loving for the last two years, and she writes about intentional living, homeschooling, Catholicism (she’s a convert, too!), simplicity, their hobby farm, Jane Austen, and whatever else strikes her fancy.

With this book, I’m excited about getting an extended glimpse

into what’s on Haley’s brain and heart, as it sounds like she’s going deeper into those themes of simplicity and intentionality, the motivations that Haley and her husband to pursue the life that they’re living, and the driving force behind what attracts people to her blog.

 

Travels with Grace

Erma Note and I arrived in Mexico together 15 years ago.  We’re The Redheads Who Never Left.  (OK, I did leave for two years.  Erma’s more hardcore.)  She just published Travels with Grace, a

children’s book that shows off the wonders that Mexico City has to offer.

Mexico City is a fabulous, and I’m looking forward to virtually traveling Mexico City through her eyes–she knows it much better than I do, and got to know it’s charms (and frustrations) while toting kids around, so it will appeal to the children that it’s intended for.

There’s a lot of grace being published this month!

Organic Love: A Novel

A few months ago, Meghan Weyerbacher was asking around for someone to proofread an article she was looking to send out.  She sent it my way, and her descriptions and

ways of painting a picture and showing her readers the story, rather than just flat-out telling the story, woke me up to the creative potentials that are in creative writing.

Being a romance novel, I’m looking forward to finding out how she let her creative juices flow!

What Am I ACTUALLY Reading?

New Seeds of Contemplation

Last year, I’d tell anybody who would listen how mind-blowingly amazing Richard Rohr’s Divine Dance was.  And it still is!

But after reading New Seeds of Contemplation, it’s clear that Rohr is heavily influcenced by

Thomas Merton.  I’m only halfway through this book, but it’s one that I’m reading a chapter at a time, because it’s just so hearty and full of thought that it can’t be fully appreciated if read faster.

That being said, though, it’s still very readable.

But it’s blowing my mind every bit as much as the Divine Dance did.  Which makes me wonder–what on earth am I going to pick up next year that’s going to set my world on fire?

Leona (Spanish Edition)

Last week was the state of Coahuila’s International Book Fair.  Are you thinking of your elementary school book fair?  No–it’s not like that.

OK, maybe it is like that, but on steroids.  A LOT of steriods.

This book fair took up two buildings on the University of Coahuila’s Arteaga campus, plus a huge tent for children’s activities.  Schools came out for field trips.  Authors presented their books, professional story-tellers told stories, panels were held on various topics–it was a big, fat, hairy book fair!

I couldn’t walk away empty-handed, of course.

I came across Leona, written by Celia del Palacios.  Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres.  It’s pretty much the reason why I know history and enjoy history.  After discovering Philippa Gregory, my taste for very-well researched historical fiction is upping the ante.  But Celia del Palacios also holds a doctorate in history, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong.

Leona is a novel about Leona Vicario, a figure in Mexico’s independence movement.  Not knowing much about anyone from Mexico’s independence beyond Hidalgo, I was looking forward to learning more.

At the beginning, the dialogue seemed a bit labored and forced.  But now that the action has picked up, it has gripped my attention, and I am really digging it!  At the moment, I am also only halfway through this one, but enjoying it thoroughly!

This is only available in Spanish, though.  (But I know that’s not an issue for some of y’all reading this!)

What are you reading this month?  Anything rocking your world?  I love a good recommendation!