When I got married, my aunt Margie gave me an aloe vera and four cactus starts–two Thanksgiving cactus, a Christmas cactus, and a traditional prickly cactus. The Thanksgiving cactuses were cuttings from a plant that belonged to Mrs. Maysel Lyon, my dad’s and my aunt’s beloved first grade teacher. (We heard many stories about this…
Pembrick’s Creaturepedia is found on bookshelves all over Skree. But the original resides on the desk of Andrew Peterson, esquire. It is filled with exceedingly exquisite examples of a half-gobbled artist’s sketchery. Jam-packed with drawings of such creatures as Tail-handed Thwaps, Toothy Cows, Trolls, Ridgerunners, Dagger Fish, and Gunkees, this tome is exceptionally delightful! Ollister B. Pembrick’s Creaturepedia is ridiculously wonderful.
When I’m not writing or reading, I’m pondering a plot line, developing a character, dreaming up a new idea, or wondering what happens next in the book I’m reading. With an allegory, I know what happens next. I know that the Greatest Author of All Time will write the character’s story, redeem their brokenness, and let in the…
There’s a reason Jesus used parables: sometimes a story makes a lesson more memorable and easier to understand. “Each person has their own story.” My friend Natasha’s stories have made many truths tangible for me through the years. Her non-fiction is raw and real and filled with the thread of God’s redemption; her fiction is…
Science fiction was never a favorite genre of mine until I discovered The Truth Chronicles. My cousin was reading a book while we were on a day trip with our families. My curiosity piqued by the intriguing cover, I asked what this book was about. My cousin told me all about four kids and their…
Someday we should open a bookstore… We’ve said it to each other for years, from our first dates (siblings in tow!) at The Book Bin, to our honeymoon when we found every used bookstore in each town we visited (and came home with a stack of children’s books). We repeat it when we leave the…
At the beginning of 2020, I set my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal for 75 books. I didn’t want to set the bar too high and get discouraged. But I spent much of January with a nasty cold, and made great progress toward my reading goal the first month of the year. The month of April…
Two girls run around the driveway, flicking at the air with willow twigs. They look a bit old to play with imaginary horses, but that doesn’t change their enthusiasm. One girl reins her steed into a faster canter, calling to the other, “Race you to the corral!” The other girl hollers back, “Just try!” I happen to know those two…
When a friend pulled her kids out of public school to homeschool them last November, the first thing I did was gather a stack of books about homeschooling to loan her. But what I really wish I’d added to the pile is a few picture books about homeschooling for her kids. That was pre-pandemic. Now…
I grew up less than a mile from our local public library. It was back in the day when there were rows and rows of little drawers holding the card catalog, each card representing a book on the library’s shelves. To check out a book, you signed your name on the card you pulled from…
Oh how I’d hoped to give you a hug this side of Heaven.
But you touched my life from afar. Just like you did the lives of so many others.
Last fall, I was asked to share with a local mom’s group about some of my specific goals for my children. I was glad of the opportunity, because it forced me to actually think through and write down some specific ideals. It also brought me face to face with the reality of our humanness–theirs and…
The End.
The End.