WWRW: The Sackett Saga Goes On...and on...

Linking up a couple of days late with the darling of the airwaves, Jessica.

Kyle continues to grace us with his knowledge of all things Louis L'Amour and Old Testament...

"2015 - The Year of the Sacketts continues...

What's that sound I am hearing? Why it sounds like the blogosphere hankering for another installment of my book reviews of Louis L'Amour's epic saga of the American frontier family: The Sacketts.

As you will recall, we left off last month with some adventures of Yance and Kin Ring Sackett in The Warriors Path. Now the stories pick up again with their younger brother Jubal in L'Amour's novel Jubal Sackett.  A loner from a young age, more at home in the woods and wilderness than in the company of others, Jubal seems to have inherited the wandering spirit of his father and and an ingrained desire to see what lies beyond the mountains. In the Bible, Jubal, son of Lamech and brother to Tubal-Cain, is said to be the father of all who play the harp and lute but that has nothing to do with our story.

Jubal Sackett sets out from the family home in the Appalachians of North Carolina to cross the Great Plains and eventually reaches the Rockies. Jubal is an expert tracker and woodsman, and well known to many of the local Indian tribes, one of which enlists his help to go in search of their Sun or Princess.  The story follows the adventure of Jubal as he sets off to find this princess, meeting challenges, friends and enemies along the way. The Sackett families tend to run long on boys, raised to be self-reliant with strong morals and fierce loyalty to the family. Jubal is no exception. He is a steadfast friend, thoughtful pondered, and natural leader. The Sacketts do not fear the wilderness nor the Indians, but rather recognize that one must know and understand one's surroundings in order to survive. This novel also introduces a strong female leader in the character Itchakomi Ishaia, the Natchez Sun that Jubal comes to respect and eventually love. Like the rest of the Sackett line of books, Jubal Sackett is an enjoyable read of historical fiction and in paperback form will always fit perfectly snug in the back pocket of your Wranglers. 

This fourth novel is the last novel of the early Sacketts, when we return next month we will continue with the fifth novel, Ride the River, which takes place about 200 years later in the hills of Tennessee."

WWRW: Another Guest Review Installation from The Year of the Sacketts

Linking up with the classy and sophisticated Jessica for this month's WWRW.

Kyle has graciously offered to guest blog once again! And I am happy to share with all of you his wit and intelligence:

2015 - the Year of the Sacketts continues...

If you remember from our last Post, this year we set the goal to read all of Louis L'Amour's novels about the fictional American frontier family, the Sacketts. Well, so far the year is off to an excellent start as we are nearing the end of the first quarter and I have completed 31.25% of my goal. This puts me 6% ahead of schedule! I am not sure if this What We Are Reading Wednesday blog offers any prizes but if they do I feel quite certain that I am a shoe in for whatever prize is offered. 

So, in our first blog on this topic we were introduced to the Sackett family by way of Barnabas Sackett in the novel Sackett's Land. In To The Far Blue Mountains, we continue to read about his adventures in settling the frontier in a very wild new land.  Barnabas, his wife Abigail, and their group of comrades settles in the area of Shooting Creek, NC. Barnabas and his mates quickly earn the respect of the local Indian tribes for their fighting skills as well as their trade. Barnabas fled England to the New World looking for a land where he could raise a family and where his children could be free to blaze their own trails, away from the rigid class system of England. Barnabas and Abigail have four sons (Kin Ring, Yance, Jubal, and Brian) and one daughter (Noelle) and in this way the mighty Sackett clan is born.

Following the death of Barnabas, the tale continues with his sons Kin Ring and Yance in The Warriors Path. In a tale similar to the kidnapping of the daughter of Daniel Boone, a pair of young women are kidnapped and the girls parents send a plea to the Sacketts to come to the rescue. The younger girl is the sister to Yance's wife, and in a recurring theme throughout the series when one Sackett is in trouble the rest will come running. Kin Ring and Yance set out to New England to pick up the trail, and quickly learn the kidnapper are not Indians but rather slave traders. With the skills of men raised in the woods, the Sacketts quickly hunt down the kidnappers but the adventure continues as Kin Ring tracks the villains to colonial Jamaica. The action is non-stop as the Sacketts work to bring the villains to justice. The books are works of historical fiction, so again they seek to bring in real life occurrences and characters such as Samuel Maverick to lend credence to the tale. The writing is highly stylized and entertaining. I recommend these books to left- and right-handed readers alike as I think all readers will find something to love. 

And, check back again for reviews of the next few books in the series.

WWRW: Guest post!

Linking up with DJ Jazzy J for this month's WWRW!

Since I haven't been reading a lot lately, I asked my brilliant, handsome, and well-read husband Kyle (of vlogging fame) to write a guest post for me. 

And he actually complied!

For your reading pleasure, I give you my beloved's review of Sackett's Land:

2015 - The Year of the Sacketts

In case you are not familiar with Louis L'Amour's work, the Sacketts are a fictional family who emigrated from England to America in the 1620's and then proceeded over to continue a western migration across America over the next 250 years.  Over the course of about 18 books, L'Amour tells the story of the settlement of America, life on the frontier, and the continuous push to the West.  I have read several of these novels over the years, but in 2015 I set the goal to read the complete saga, in order, from start to finish.  The books are good, short reads perfect for a weekend - and most importantly, in paperback form they fit perfectly in the back pocket of your jeans!  Over the years these books have been made into TV Mini-series and even several films.

Sackett's Land begins the story of this fictional family in 1620's England with the introduction of Barnabas Sackett, a free man with a small patch of land who through a series of events finds himself drawn to the New World.  Set against the background of class struggles, the novel tries to delve into the motivation that would cause certain people to pack up and emigrate to an unknown land while others remain content in their homeland.  There is plenty of action and adventure with pirates, Indians, battles, escapes, and sea battles.  The author does tend to repeat himself quite a bit, but all in all it is a good book.  L'Amour brings in historical characters and events and uses them as the backdrop for Barnabas and his friends who make the journey and eventually settle in America.  The reader is led from the English countryside to 17th century London, across the Atlantic to the Carolina coast with Barnabas and his friends always fighting for justice and sticking up for each other.

Stay tuned for further reviews of To The Far Blue Mountains which continues the adventures of Barnabas as he settles in America with his wife begins to build up a life in the wilderness, and The Warrior's Pathwhich starts the tales of their children, particularly Kin Ring Sackett.

WWRW: Divergent

Joining Jessica because I actually read something!

Always late to the party, I finally read Divergent by Veronica Roth. In a word: underwhelming.

Since this book (and it's series) has been out for a while, I won't waste much time giving a book report. Basically, it's another young adult novel set in a dystopian future-Chicago. Some nameless war in years past has caused the society to split into 4 factions based on certain personality traits, and in Amish fashion, when a person reaches 16 s/he can choose which faction in which s/he will live out the remainder of her/his life.

We good?

The main character, "Beatrice/Tris", is revealed to be "divergent" when she undergoes the customary testing at age 16. This means she exemplifies strong characteristics of more that one faction and this is viewed as "bad". 

Blah, blah, blah. Fast forward past where she is advised to hide her "divergency", chooses a new faction, and is forced to abandon her parents and brother. 

This is where it began to lose all touch with any kind of reality for me. The violent and brutal initiation rites of the new faction, the quickly-formed rock-solid friendships, the ever-present references to physical sexual feelings (not overt, just overdone) did not feel "human" or "realistic" to me. 

For me, a story can be as far-fetched as Harry Potter, but still be "real" because the conversations between characters and the development of the characters themselves are true to human beings and our nature. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is a good example of a plot that is far-fetched made even worse by poor dialogue and an unwillingness to "act human" on the part of the characters. This was never more evident as when the book was made into a movie and most intelligent people could easily hear and see the odd way the characters acted and conversed.

So it goes with Divergent. When I spoke some of the phrases out loud, I was faced immediately with the idea that no 2 people would ever really speak this way to one another. 

Divergent was a big "meh" in my opinion and I have no desire to read the rest of the series. And, I have even less desire to watch the movie. 

What is the fascination with this book?

WWRW and 7in7: The Feeling Good Handbook

Linking up with the Double J Ranch: Jessica and Jen!

Full disclosure: I read this book last summer, but I refer to it weekly and this week I have turned to it almost as often as I have turned to my Rosary.

The Feeling Good Handbook By David Burns came highly recommended to me by a mental health care professional last Spring. First, I checked out a copy from the library, but I soon found that it was one of those books. You know, the type of book you know you will want to refer back to many times. The type of book you can see becoming valuable in all sorts of new situations in the future. So, I bought my own copy and it has been so very worth it.

Overall, it's marketed as a self-help book for the average person and uses behavioral awareness and modification as the tools to help the reader improve. The author is a psychologist (he looks grooooooovy, right?) who has a very conversational writing style and uses many real examples as ways of illustrating personality types, flaws, and ways to improve. 

On it's own, it's a fascinating read.

When you apply it to your own life, it takes on a whole new meaning. Somehow, Burns gets the reader to really see himself/herself as others do, but in a very gentle, non-judgemental way. He then leads you through all different types of exercises to show where you can improve and change. His very helpful explanations show you exactly how to change without feeling overwhelmed. 

He devotes several sections of the book on how to deal with difficult personality types successfully. This was eye-opening, to say the least. Truly, I never realized that there are so many different ways of approaching a difficult person or situation and achieving a tolerable-to-good outcome. Not only do I wish I had this book as a young wife and mother, I wish I had it as a middle-schooler!

This book is laid out in such a way that jumping around from section to section isn't a problem, but I would definitely recommend reading it in it's entirety at some point. 

Whether you are female or male, married or single, childless or a parent, this book can help you in all areas of your life. It certainly has helped me!

WWRW: I Have TWO Book Reviews This Week!

I know.... I'm probably going to burn myself out at this rate.

Linking up with Jessica for the second week in a row for What We're Reading Wednesday!

So, Faith's 4th Birthday was the day after Thanksgiving this year and her godmother, Aunt St. Liz (Faith canonized her), gave her a bunch of goodies. In those goodies were two books which have become fast favorites in this house already. They are both authored by Charlotte Zolotow, but have different illustrators. 

Over and Over

Our "flava flave!" book is "Over and Over", and it's illustrated by Garth Williams (of Little House fame!). Aunt St. Liz told Faith that the little girl reminds her of Faith in many ways. For anyone who spends a great deal of time around little ones, the storyline of a little girl who keeps asking "What comes next?" after every holiday and season will ring very true. The simplicity of the wording is good for reading it to small children, but it also is an honest rendering of true childhood from the child's point of view.

Another thing that really struck me is how very few recently-penned children's books have truly beautiful illustrations. (Begin sarcasm font) You are free to correct me, but I was a child raised on the likes of Tasha Tudor books, so my standards are fairly high. 

"Over and Over" is one of those books that will stand the test of time and I'm so glad Aunt St. Liz chose it for Faith!

I Like to Be Little

Her second equally- awesome choice was "I Like to Be Little". Again, Zolotow has an uncanny ability to grasp the very essence of what it is to be a small child, while still tugging at the heart strings of the parental reader. This book follows another little girl (totally different illustrations by Erik Blegvad) who explains to her mother why being little is preferable to being big. It's just as sweet and simple as "Over and Over", but with a slightly more mature view (as in 4-6 year olds!). 

If you're looking for some very wholesome and enjoyable books for the under-7 crowd, I highly recommend both of Zolotow's books. (Probably, I should add them into the link-up...).

WWRW: Advent Series

Linking up with the liturgically appropriate Spicy Housewife for an Advent/Christmas edition of What We're Reading Wednesday!

Yes, I am the mom who keeps all the Advent and Christmas books safely stowed away until Advent begins.Over the last 2 decades, we've amassed a really nice collection of these books but the crowd favorite has got to be The Advent Book that my mom gave us in 2004. It tells the story of Jesus' conception and birth through scripture; a part of scripture with corresponding picture for each day of Advent (well, December 1 through 24, but let's not split hairs, ok?). 

Over the past few years, we've approached it differently each year: when all the kids were younger Kyle or I read each night and then as they grew older they took turns reading aloud. Now, we try to let anyone who is available read each night or every other night. 

The book has to actually be seen and experienced in order to fully understand why someone would pay this kind of money for a book used once a year. But, I'm going to try my level best to give you a good idea!

Cover shot. Nothing too fancy, right?

Inside cover.

First "door". Yes, it's a "flap book". Don't judge yet!

Inside of door #1. Better, right? Well, it continues for 24 more doors! You read one each day!

One of my boys' favorite doors.

Then, it became one of my favorite doors!

Will's fave!

Can you see each angel in the multitude?

The Lion....

...and the Lamb.

Last page/door. Doncha want to squeeze those cheeks?

This book is amazing! My 3 youngest (21 mos, 4, and 6) can sit TOGETHER and gaze at the pages WITHOUT FIGHTING. It's magical!

This would make a lovely Christmas or baby shower gift, as it can be the start of a beautiful family tradition. Each year, when I drag out the bin of Christmas books and the kids start rummaging, the cry of "OH! The Advent Book! I LOVE this one!" can be heard from more than one child.

Go check out the other Advent and Christmas books over at Jessica's!

What We're Reading Wednesday: The Westing Game

Joining the lovely Jessica for this week's installment of WWRW....

Reliable Dwija over at HouseUnseen recommended this book to me a while ago. Since I was vetting several books for Maeve (thanks to all the parents out there who think reading any book is good, because "well, they're READING, aren't they?"), I didn't have time to read The Westing Game until this past week.

It's a young adult mystery (well, lots of mysteries, actually!), which makes it more difficult to review without spoiling the ending, but I will try.

The Westing Game is the story of the tenants of Sunrise Towers who are all

seemingly unconnected to one another but as the story unfolds, you begin to learn that they all have one person in common: Samuel Westing.

Westing is an eccentric old business tycoon who disappeared years ago and is rumored to be dead. His mansion is situated across from Sunset Towers, and one Halloween, the tenants see smoke rising from the chimney. (Cue the spooky music...)

From here on out, Raskin (who won the Newberry for this book) does a superb job of introducing you to each character while weaving a complex storyline. The book is less than 200 pages, but I was forced to read slowly so I wouldn't miss a single detail or clue. In some books, this is confusing and problematic, but that is not the case in The Westing Game. 

The tenants (from 13 year old Turtle Wexler to old Crow) are summoned by letter to the Westing Mansion as heirs, divided into pairs, with each pair receiving $10,000 and a set of 5 words as clues. They are told they have a short amount of time to solve the mystery of who took the life of Sam Westing.

From here on out, the reader is treated to the character development necessary to solve the mystery and to make one truly invested in the lives of these characters. Each character is a mystery within the larger mystery. It's fascinating.

I also enjoyed the overall theme of hope that came across as very pro-marriage and pro-life. A sense of this permeated the entire story and gained my trust -- which sounds weird, but it's true. The very ending let me down a little, though. And, without giving anything away, I will

tell you that my sense of established trust in the hopefulness of the storyline was violated by the decision of 2 of the main characters.

However, I still feel this was an extremely good book and totally appropriate for anyone high school age or older. (I would allow my 13 year old to read it, provided we discuss my feelings regarding the ending).

Five Favorites and WWRW by Eamon

Eamon (6) is our 5th child (well, really, Fiona is 5th, but she's generous enough to let him have the distinction) and he DEFINITELY has at least 5 favorite things (and 1 is a book!) so today he is linking up with Hallie and Jessica for 5 Faves and WWRW!

Eamon is our resident sweetheart and has an innate sense of nurturing. If anyone complains of a headache, he quietly moves over to that person and begins rubbing his/her head. Scraped your knee? Eamon is at the ready with the first aid kit. Need an extra hand setting the table or stirring that batter? Eamon is happy to help!

 He's also the 4th of 5 brothers, so this kid knows how to be a "real boy"! He's always carrying some sort of weaponry and tying ropes around chair legs (why they gotta do that?!).

When he graduated kindergarten this Spring, he gave a speech and told everyone that when he grew up, he wanted to be "a regular guy with a job and a family; like my dad.".

We all love him! 

Here are some of his faves:

1) Magna-Tiles! These magnetic building tiles are "fun to work with" and "very easy to use", according to Eamon. He, Jack, and Faith spend hours creating buildings and elaborate play sets with our collection of Magna-Tiles. While they are expensive, they are quality toys which last and are fun for kids of all ages. (I've been known to build a few things with them, too!) Eamon and Jack received their first set for Christmas, and when Eamon turned 6 last month, he asked for more sets as his "big gift". Besides

Legos, they are our "most played with" toy in the playroom.

2)

  "Arthur and the Bad-Luck Brain"

This is one of Eamon's choices from the library. He is an above-average reader for his age (reads at a 4th grade level), so he is burning through all the chapter books he can find. Here is a brief synopsis of his latest choice: "Arthur and all of his friends are on a baseball team and they are against another team. Arthur's team were losing every game and during one of these games, Buster brings them a bat and tells them that if they all spit on it, they will win the game. But, The Brain tells them that those kinds of things aren't true and he won't spit on the bat. After that, Brain can't hit any more balls and they lose the game. Then, the Brain stays home from their games but they really need him. I'm not telling you the end because that would ruin it, OK? You have to read it for yourself."

3) Tv Tag. Per Eamon: "this is just like regular Tag, except that when the person who is It tries to tag you, you have to yell out the name of a TV show so he can't tag you. And you can't use the same TV show more than once; I don't know why, Joe just says that's true. I like to play it because it's fun. Why do you keep asking me why I like these things?"

4) Gerald McBoing Boing. This is Eamon's and Faith's latest favorite rainy-day series to watch on Hulu. It's based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name and isn't too annoying to adults, either. According to Eamon, it's a "show about a boy who can't talk, only make awesome sounds with his mouth. His parents have to guess what he's saying by understanding the sound. It's hilarious!"

5) Andrew. Eamon's best friend is his cousin Andrew. Eamon is only two and a half weeks older than Andrew, and when they were seen together as babies, people used ask if they were twins.

Eamon (l) & Andrew (r) on their 1st Halloween.

Eamon's take on Andrew: "he's fun to play with, that's true. He's nice and very generous. He and I love to play Legos, Magna-Tiles, and superheroes together. His favorite superhero is Superman and mine is Robin. We look hilarious when he dresses up like Superman and I'm his sidekick, Robin. Get it? Cuz Robin is BATMAN'S sidekick, not Superman's. Ha! That was Andrew's idea. Hilarious!"

Eamon, Andrew, Faith

Andrew and Eamon ready to take the NesTea Plunge!

Five Favorites: FUN-NESS!

Joining Grace this week because the undaunted Hallie is taking a trip with her 3 youngest...

1) Holyfreakingmoly! Have you guys seen this:

I just love how Jimmy Fallon seems to have the same "you know what would be cool?" thoughts that I have and then makes them happen.

2) (You're still singing the Full House theme song, aren't you?) Dempsey Summer Birthday season wrapped up yesterday (too much cake) with Maeve's 13th birthday. One of her gifts was a spa package to this new salon geared towards tween and teen girls. Honestly, if they do it right, it could be a really great way for girls to feel pampered and special without being made to look like 20-somethings ready for a night of clubbing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

3) My Birchbox arrived! After I read Jessica's description of this awesome service, I signed right on up! Then.... Jessica went and gifted me a subscription as a "welcome to the Fabulous Forties!" gift! (side note: she is a truly thoughtful and awesome friend!) In this month's box I received a perfume sample (nice, but wears off quickly), a funky neon nail polish (actually made me look a little tan!), a shaving cream sample that is the bomb-diggety (I will be purchasing the full size), a moisturizer (jury's still out), and a hair powder (still haven't tried it). Truthfully, I have t even made it 1/3 of the way through their website's product listings, and I'm already impressed at their variety. Best part? You receive a little pick-me-up in the mail every month. That alone is worth $10/month!

4) Getting ready to paint my bedroom furniture! Last summer, I bought a dining set (table and 8 chairs) off of Craiglist, and followed this righteous Tutorial and painted it black.

I also painted that icebox cabinet you can see in the background, as well as a hope chest. We had a brand new dining room set and an entryway bench for the low, low price of $230.

So, this summer I have to paint my dresser and our 2 nightstands a shabby-chic white. We'll see how that goes, as I've never tried white before. I really enjoy transforming things around our house -- even if it means the rest of the house gets neglected for a couple of days!

5) I'm not finding a lot of time to read any great new books, but Jessica's new Linkup is sure to remedy that problem. Go check it out!

WWRW link-up! Woot! Woot!

My genius friend-in-real-life-and-online, Jessica, has started an awesome weekly link-up: What We're Reading Wednesday! She created this really cool button to go along with it:

Her taste in retro artwork is almost as good as her taste in friends! 

Last week, we were on vacation at the lake and I finally had time to finish reading this book I had started back in February:

Erik Larson wrote another book that some of you may be familiar with, which was mostly non-fiction. Beasts is entirely non-fiction and I loved it. Normally, I am not a huge fan of non-fiction, but Larson's writing style comes off more as storytelling -- think: really interesting dinner party conversationalist chatting you up -- so this book was absolutely entertaining.

Larson researched all the public and private writings, records, etc of Ambassador William Dodd and his daughter, Martha, from their life in 1930s Berlin during the rise of Hitler. He coupled all of that with other records (both personal and public) from other people and institutions, and pieced it all together to form a really clear picture of that period in Berlin.

The first few chapters were a real punch in the gut for me. I could not help comparing the state of Germany's government and economy to that of the U.S. in 2013. Even more startling was the inevitable (at least, for me!) comparison to Hitler's increasing restrictions of the German people's freedoms and our own country's struggles in that area today. Lastly, and most terrifying for me, was the overwhelming similarity to the initial restrictions, discriminations, and persecutions experienced by the Berlin Jews compared to what is currently happening to Catholics in the U.S. The realization that people in 1930s Germany are pretty much the same as people in 2013 U.S. hit home hard: those people ignored all the warning signs, made excuses, and even lauded the rampant violations made by their government, and so do we.

I also appreciated the "insider's look" at life in an American embassy. I had no idea, really, what ambassadors and their staffs do, other than help their fellow countrymen find their lost passports. Especially in this case, where the ambassador was performing his job exactly as it was explained to him, and yet, not following the social mores of that time. He was seeing all of these awful events unfold before his eyes and trying to warn both the German people, as well as President Roosevelt, of all of the evil that was about to be unleashed. Yet, because he didn't fit the mold of what his superiors in the U.S. felt was a proper ambassador, he was ridiculed and ignored. The entire book is fascinating from start to finish.

The biggest surprise to me was how absolutely interesting the bibliography was to read. Yes, I said "bibliography". Larson included all of his own personal notes and stories along with the citations, and it really gave a much clearer picture.

Even if you hated Larson's first book (I didn't), give this one a chance. It's fascinating.