Book Review: Too Far Down by Mary Connealy

Well...I usually love Mary Connealy, but her latest book, Too Far Down, was a dud for me.

Connealy's genius comes in her action writing. This book spent the first full half inside the characters' heads and in reminisces (retelling) of what happened in all the other Cimmaron Legacy books up to this point. Waaaay too much thinking. Way too much talking! The first half of the book was boring, redundant, and not even especially believable.

Now the second half of the book got fun! The plot finally MOVED, there was at last more action than thought and dialogue, and, yeah, basically things started happening. There was still too much dialogue, ie. Murphy's loooong speeech, Hattie's loooong speech--neither seemed quite believable, but they were at least more interesting.

I'm not sure what made the author change her normal method of writing (the last book in this series was weak too), but I hope she goes back to what makes her older books so great. A little less Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot scratching verbally at the problem and a little more, well, Mary Connealy!

Also, I have a bit of a problem with the last page of the book describing the author. Connealy's books are NOT "romantic comedies about cowboys." At least, not in the American sense of "comedy". At least, I don't think of them as comedies. Enjoyable, but not because they are knee-slappers.

Review for book 2 in this series: http://ladymsdistractions.blogspot.com/2017/04/book-review-long-time-gone-by-mary.html

Review for book 1 in this series: http://ladymsdistractions.blogspot.com/2016/07/book-review-no-way-up-by-mary-connealy.html

P.S. The Bartered Bride by Tish Davis was a pleasant discovery last weekend after reading Irenaeus and Too Far Down! It too is the third in a series, and now I'm reading the first in the series because The Bartered Bride was such a solid Christian romance.

Book Review: Irenaeus of Lyon

This year we didn't have any plans for Thanksgiving until later in the day, so I took the opportunity to finally read one of my free-in-exchange-for-an-honest-review books that I was supposed to review weeks ago. Oops.

Irenaeus of Lyon by Simonetta Carr is a lovely-looking biography for young readers. My mom and I relaxed on our living room couches and I read to her the 62 landscape-laid pages.

Although definitely meant for readers above my 6-9 yr. old range, Irenaeus is thorough and very clearly written. My mom and I were fascinated by this less well-known brother from early church history. As was the same with the author's biography on Martin Luther that I shared with my class last month, this one is interspersed with Rembrandt-esque original art relating to the story and with photos of statues, ruins, and other relevant depictions of the culture of Irenaeus' day.

The book is very informative not only about Irenaeus but also about early church history and the theological differences of the day. It was edifying and interesting. My favorite part is actually about a disagreement between Polycarp and Anicetus about when Easter should be celebrated. The author says, "In the end, Polycarp and Anicetus couldn't persuade each other but agreed to allow both practices so that the churches could be united." Apparently this unity left an impression on Irenaeus. I was delighted too.

I highly recommend this book, but I think it is more fitting for pre-teens and teens than elementary-age children. The theological content is deep, but also there are descriptions about persecution that, while sensitively handled, are still intense. 5 out of 5 stars!

Compilation of This My Single Life: Blessings links

For most of the days of October I blogged about some blessing specific to singleness. Talk about cultivating an attitude of thankfulness within myself! It was a blessing to focus on blessings even if the blessings came from odd corners of my life. Here is a list of the links to the posts--fyi, some of them ended up being repeat blessings.

seriously, how am I going to come up with eye-catching titles every day?
the blessing in stress
teacher friendship
the blessing of extended singleness
the present
learning about marriage
gotta conversate
time and flexibility
mom
time to jazz
that my present circumstances are more than enough
unknown
naps
freedom and flexibility and time
one blah day does not define the rest
external work
can't blame that on singleness
people I've met, places I've been
no clue
no family
sounds in the night
unexpected reminder
different is normal
can't whine, so what then?