Yarnalong: Knitting socks and reading "Made to Last"

Linking up with Ginny over at Small Things, who says: ~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

The knitting: Plain ol' vanilla socks, my regular pattern. What can I say? Pretty yarn, and a plain stockinette sock, and I'm in knitting bliss, because it's so easy and relaxing.

The book: The book is "Made to Last", by Melissa Tagg. I've just barely started it, but the premise is fun and the writing good, so I'm enjoying it so far. A sweet, easy romance novel sounds about right for the beginning of fall.

How about you? What have you been reading and crafting? 



Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

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Why I review the books I do

Recently, the Writing Excuses cast talked about how they choose which books to review on their blogs. And they all basically said that, being writers themselves, they chose to only review books they actually liked.

And I thought, Cool. I do the exact same thing.

Because I do. The truth is, being a writer makes you slow to want to publicly criticize other writers. Partly because it might look like sour grapes. Partly because you understand well that not all books are for all audiences.

And partly because you know that there's a difference between providing a helpful critique for a friend, and providing public criticism to someone you might not even know.  It's all about context. The helpful critique for a friend might be even harsher than the public criticism, but that happens in a context where you know your friend wants the real deal, where maybe even you expect the same thing from that friend in return. Because you're both committed to making your work better.

The weird thing is, I'm really grateful for good book reviewers who honestly take on books they like and books they don't. But I think that's a hard post to hold if you're an author yourself.

And I don't write dishonest book reviews. I honestly like the ones I say I like.

And you can't even tell that I don't like a book by the fact that I choose not to review it. For instance, I just finished John Scalzi's Lock In and enjoyed it. Stayed up late to finish it, even.

I just don't feel like reviewing it. I read it for fun, had fun, and don't feel like turning it into work.

The funny thing is, the closer the book is to the stuff I write myself, the easier it is to critique it. I know the field, and I know what I like and what I don't and why.

But the further the book is from the stuff I like myself, the easier is to be public about what I don't like about the book. Probably because in that case, I'm speaking much more as a reader than as a writer.

And, in the end, it's as a reader that you need to write your book reviews.

Other writers - when they are thinking like writers - are not your end audience.

Readers are.

And in the end, it's how your book appears to the readers that really matters.


Which is why I only review books I like.  :)


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

The wisdom of Abigail

Abigail Offering Bread to David, PD Art-Old, Louis de Boullogne (1654–1733), via Wikimedia Commons

I love Abigail.

The story of Abigail is found in 1 Samuel 25, and I've listened to this chapter of the Bible over and over.

Here are a few things I noticed about Abigail:

-Abigail is the sort of person other people confide in. When there's trouble in her household, one of her servants lets her know what was going on. She was trustworthy, and that saved her. (Whereas Nabal, her husband, was "such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him!")

-Abigail knew what to do in a crisis

-Abigail lived the sort of life that resulted to her being ready for a crisis.

-Abigail was wise about who she consulted and who she didn't. (She didn't tell Nabal what had happened till things were over.)

-Abigail was ready to humble herself when the circumstances required it.

-Abigail was ready to take consequences upon herself that weren't even her fault, for the sake of those who were in her charge. (And this is love . . .)

-Abigail was well-spoken and knew how to persuade with her words. (Look how clever she is when she talks to David - she even hints at David's famous victory against Goliath! Talk about appropriately flattering!)

-Abigail, moreover, knew how to persuade David specifically. When she faced David's wrath, she didn't give a general argument, but an argument tailored specifically to David. She referenced the LORD's promises. She spoke to David's future, and the man he wanted to be, and what David knew to be true of the LORD (that he would avenge on his beloved's behalf). She hinted at regrets David might have if he continued on his present course of action.
This was not a woman flailing about, hoping to catch on a winning argument. She was specific and shrewd in the words she chose to use.

-And moreover, Abigail asked for something for herself - in addition to just the solution of the present problem.

-Despite her humility, Abigail knew her own worth. When David eventually demanded her as a wife, Abigail went to David mounted, and with a retinue. She went as a woman of means and reputation. Because that was who she really was.

On David:
Also, just to point it out, in this chapter, that it's evident David:

1) wanted justice, but,

2) was ready to hear a reason for mercy.


I can't help but appreciate that, too.



Honestly, so much has been said about the Proverbs 31 woman that it's hard to jump into the fray. But, for my money, if you want to see a woman who was, in real life, virtuous, just, and shrewd, it's hard to find a better example than Abigail.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Also wanted to mention . . .

My interview with Michael Porter on Anglican Review is now available for download onto iTunes.

On a personal level, I wince at how often I say "um" on this interview..

But on a professional level, I'm really happy with the content. Michael did a great job asking questions that elicited a lot of interesting content, and I think you'll all be entertained and encouraged by this interview. 

Enjoy!


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica snell

Just wanted to note . . .

Just wanted to note, in the middle of this lovely weekend, that I'm still an avid participator and reader in/of Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books.

If you love books (and I assume most that read this blog do), Semicolon's Review of Books is a great place to find more great titles to add to your to-read list.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Weekend Links: Prayer, the Princess Bride, and more!

A little good reading for your weekend:

"Prayer, A Doctor’s Duty":

This week I ran around the lake as a cure for the stagnation I feel at work. I may see thirty patients a day, I thought, but how much ministry do I really accomplish? I pounded through my frustration each time I struggled up the hill and down around the lake . . . 

"After Paris: Meta, Irony, Narrative, Frames, and The Princess Bride":

To make a pastiche work, you have to be able to see what makes the original thing great as well as what makes it absurd, you have to be able to understand why people want it in the first place. You have to be able to see all around it. This is why Galaxy Quest works and everything else that tries to do that fails in a mean spirited way. The Princess Bride is the same, Goldman clearly loves the fairytale even when making fun of it and that makes it all work. The characters are real characters we can care about, even when they’re also larger than life or caricatures.

"Moving past the urge to truth-bomb":

Most people have gone through something painful or difficult, either in the past or in the present, and they don’t feel the need to carry a sign announcing it to everyone. Most people are not out to offend. Most people, when they make a nice comment, are just trying to be decent human beings, so why not return the favor and just be human beings together?

Finally, my sister (whose judgment I trust) let me know about some friends of hers, David and Tracy, who are trying to raise the last little bit of money they need in order to adopt Collier, a boy with Down's Syndrome who is about to age out of his Eastern European orphanage. When this happens, he'll be institutionalized and no longer eligible for adoption. David and Tracy are, according to my sister, a wonderful, Christian family, who saw Collier's picture and just knew that he was supposed to be a part of their family.

If you can help, you can donate here.


Have a great weekend!
Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Book Notes: Working Stiff, by Judy Melinek, M.D., and T.J. Mitchell

I blogged about this book first here, and now I've finished reading it.

It went really, really quickly. I was fascinated the entire time.

Now, this is a bad book to read while you're eating. I'll just state that up front. And if you were one of those kids who was grossed out in biology class, this probably isn't the book for you either.

But I loved biology class, I'm fascinated by weird medical details, I like stories about weird jobs, and I adored this book.

Melinek gives you a good idea of what her job entails, and she does it through stories. Which is perfect. She gives you general principles, but then shows how they worked out in her day-to-day life through various case studies.

And the chapters are split up into various causes of death. There's a chapter on homicide, on suicide, on death by medical misadventure (so to speak), etc.

But the most harrowing chapter by far comes near the end, where she describes her experience of the events of 9/11. Melinek was one of the ME's who worked on the remains recovered from the site of the Twin Towers. It's sobering, and hard to read.

But I really felt like she gave articulate witness to that hard and sad chapter in our natural history. It was hard to read, but it felt like it was really worth reading.

"Working Stiff" is the story of a doctor becoming a medical examiner. Parts of it were entertaining, parts of it were intriguing, parts of it were horrifying, but it all felt worth reading. I'm glad I picked it up.


Peace of Christ,
Jessica Snell


This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)