From Off the Shelf

August 15, 2019

Pioneers: Settlers Who Brought American Ideal West

I recently finished reading a book that I enjoyed very much, so I thought I would share it with you. It is David McCullough‘s latest book titled: “The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West.” It is a rather long title and a little misleading. When I think of pioneers …

July 16, 2019

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Have you ever read a perfect book? One that is so good you never want it to end? When you have finished it you are disappointed you are at the end? That is the way I felt when I read “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.” I wanted it to go on forever. …

July 4, 2019

Moment of Lift: Empowering Women

I recently read the very good book by Melinda Gates called “The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World.” I am an admirer of Bill and Melinda Gates because they worked hard with a new idea (Microsoft). While they made a fortune from it, they have worked just as hard at giving it …

June 16, 2019

Presence of Jesus is a Present

I’ve been reading a little book for my devotions with the title “Jesus Calling.” The book is by Sarah Young and she writes each devotional as if Jesus is speaking. The devotionals are very short and I read about six each day, so it won’t take me long to finish the year. But the notion …

May 13, 2019

One Dollar Book Swap in Dayton, Ohio

During our too-short stop in Ohio, Tom and I wanted to go to Dayton. We had two reasons for going. First, we wanted to see second “son” – Steve and his wife Amy. They just bought a house and we wanted to see where they are living now. The second reason to visit Dayton was …

May 8, 2019

Warner Boys and Far From the Tree

Six years ago I read the excellent but difficult book, “Far from the Tree,” by Andrew Solomon. Ever since I read this book, I have been interested in stories about parents facing the challenge of raising children who are disabled. Thus I added the book “The Warner Boys: Our Family’s Story of Autism and Hope” …

April 7, 2019

Resistance to the Beast

My devotional book for the week is “Inspired” by Rachel Held Evans. I reviewed her book, “Searching for Sunday” in January. “Inspired” is a different kind of book. It is a Biblical Scholar meets storyteller book. The ideas are mostly scholarship that I have been dealing with since seminary (a long time ago). But Rachel’s …

March 24, 2019

Quotes from “The Cost of Discipleship” by Bonhoeffer

I have been reading “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer for my devotional time in the morning. Reading this book slowly is a blessing because there is so much to think about in it. I think this is my third or fourth time through the book. It is more powerful because I know it …

March 14, 2019

Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

The small book, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” caught my eye recently in a bookstore. It is very short – only 134 pages in the paperback edition. The title intrigued me and I checked the book out of the library (the e-edition). Jean-Dominque Bauby was a French writer. At the age of 43 he …

February 28, 2019

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

During the government shutdown, I averaged five books a week. I had plenty of time for reading and I took full advantage of it. One of the most powerful books I read was “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate. “Before We Were Yours” is a novel based on fact. In western Tennessee, in the …

Dinette looks cool! Fan for sleeping sounds cooler!

Love the dinette renovation. Looks great! (Repeating the comment …. Was not planning to make the comment anonymous…LOL).

Love the dinette renovation. Looks great!

Erie insurance has been great. I would highly recommend them and it is nice to hear you have had a…

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