SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: novel-TEA

Sometimes a little "light" bedtime reading is what I put on my plate. Easy to digest---not too much suspense. As I age, the tension of suspense can be a little much, especially if sleep is next on my list. Gone are the days of James Patterson's too scary Alex Cross series and Patricia Cornwell's, too gory Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner. Likewise Sarah Paretsky's, V. I. Warshawski series.
Just give me a good cozy mystery. Think Agatha Christie. Scene of the crime (usually a murder) happens early on in the book and then the deduction takes over. Granted, many such books are not "well-written" and a series can become trite and too predictable after awhile. A lot of "hit and miss" to find a little light reading---a bit above mindless fluff. Recommendations from others help. But....all readers have personal preferences.
Whereas I chose the "Cat Who......" series by Lillian Jackson Braun, my friend's choice of Sneaky Pie, talking cat books, was NOT for me. I read cozy culinary mysteries as well---Laura Child's, Tea Shop Mysteries and Katherine Hall Page's caterer and pastor's wife Faith Fairchild's The Body in......series. Anyone who knows me would understand my draw to those two series. However, the 2 tries I had at Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson's series didn't pass muster for me. Many differ in that view. So.....that's what reviews are---just personal preferences, nothing more. Each reader must decide for herself.

Friend Beth and I share the same affinity for two British based series, a Maisie Dobbs series, an investigator in World War I London and a surprising find, Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series. Bradley's first book won the "Agatha Award," which is the Cozy of Cozy mystery books award. That award has led me to many "good reads."
Having recently finished The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, I realized I had missed a holiday one. Immediately I called Beth, who buys books, whereas I am an avid public library patron. She, as always, willingly loaned me the "missed" copy, but said that since I had already read the most recent one----well that would be a "spoiler" of great proportions. Some series can be read out of order....BUT, I always like to read in order, even when not necessary.

The Flavia de Luce series is unique and award winning; Agatha for Best First Novel, 6 other mystery awards as well as starred reviews from Library Journal, Booklist and Kirkus. Unique because the incorrigible, precocious, yet plausible, sleuth is an 11 yr old chemistry "buff," living in a cozy English village in the 50s. You might be gobsmacked by some of the British jargon but to me, that adds to the charm. Boston Globe calls her a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes. The protagonist is a preteen but the reading audience is adult.
This adult enjoys the novel-TEA of  this "light" fare.

Visions of Life

4/12/11 “Seeing is not necessarily something we do with our eyes alone” was the statement Maisie Dobbs quoted in Winspear’s recent novel in that series. That sentence grabbed me because it’s been part of my contemplative mood of late. There’s more to life than meets the eye. Or we all view the same things but see them differently based on our perspectives.

Some of us have a narrow view point based on what we have experienced----similar to the age old story of the blind men and the elephant. Each of the men “saw” with his fingertips BUT because each was experiencing a different part of the elephant each of their “sightless perspectives” reflected that.

In Girzone’s, Joshua, A Parable for Today, readers are reminded that “each person looks at life through a different vision.” The example given is that of three men viewing a tree. The entrepreneur might view it as a financial endeavor and be calculating the value of the lumber. A family man might view it as firewood to give warmth in the winter for his brood. Another man might simply view it as God’s creative art that expresses “God’s love and enduring strength.” (Girzone, 67)

All of these references coupled with God’s word about the condition of our heart as it affects our perspectives have given me pause for thought. Our heart condition (our values) reflects the way we see life. I want my children and grands to see life based on their own godly values. I want them to focus on God’s love and provision. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: (Proverbs 23:7) Once again one’s heart reflects the real person, thus affecting his life’s view.

My plan is to pray these verses toward that end, that they might have a godly vision of life.

The eyes of your understanding (rendered “heart” in NIV) being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18)

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. John 7:38) (That overflow would brighten our life's vision, not cloud it. DAL)