It’s Monday! What are you reading?

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Is a meme sponsored by Sheila at Book Journey.  Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Menor Texts gave the meme a kidlit twist.  It’s a great way to reflect on what you’ve read and reviewed the last week and plan what you want to read next.  Join up with us and discover what good books other people  are reading.

This has been a week filled with Christmas baking and Christmas music and even a few Christmas books. My reviews, though, are entirely in another world. Check out my thoughts about The False Prince and The Blood of Olympus.

I read…

Quintillius: The Star that Shone by William B. Thielking – I have loved this book ever since I was a little girl. Quintillius is the littlest star, but he lives in the exact spot of sky above where the new baby king is born. He practices and practices to shine brightly to announce the birth until he shines so brightly that he bursts. Now his light lives on in all who believe and reflect the light of Jesus. I am so glad my daughter loves this one, too. She read it to us to mark the beginning of Advent.

Children of the Lion by Peter Danielson – This saga is one of Biblical proportions. It tells the story of Abram and Sarai as they leave Egypt to settle in the land of Canaan. My favorite characers, though, are not the Biblical ones, but the imagined stories of those who traveled with or encountered Abram–the slaves, the soldiers, the metalsmiths. This begins a long saga indeed, but I’m looking forward to reading the rest. Packed with detailed characters and fast action, they are hard to put down.

The Miracle of Christmas by Stormie Omartian – A new Christmas book for me. My husband’s Sunday School class is reading this one for Advent, and I borrowed it from my husband. The 15 stories reflect on the Christmas story recorded in Matthew and Luke, imagining what the people involved may have felt and thought through these events. Each one ends with a prayer that relates the past events to today.

Santa’s Book of Names by David McPhail – I love this story of Edward, who is good at math and can name most of the dinosaurs, but can’t quite read yet. His parents say “wait,” and then one Christmas night Santa drops his book of names. Edward finds it, and Santa invites him along for the journey in the sleigh. A magical book the wraps up Christmas and the magic of reading.

The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner – After I finished reading the last page, my daughter informed me that she had already read ahead and finished the book on her own. At least she let me finish it with her anyway! I do love how characters and phrases from the book have found their way into our conversations about other things throughout our days.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss – My daughter chose to read this story to us for the second Sunday in Advent. She read it to us at breakfast, and it matched perfectly the Advent devotion that we read together at church as we lit the second candle during worship. Including scripture from Isaiah about the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare for the coming of the Lord, the devotion reminded us not to be distracted by the materialism that fills the season, but to use even those distractions to remind us of what is truly important. I love that Dr. Seuss makes the same plea but leaves it open to each reader to define the undefinable spirit of Christmas.

I’m currently reading…

The Shepherd Kings by Peter Danielson – This one picks up with the children–and mostly grandchildren–of the first book. Jacob is in Haran where he befriends Hadad, a Child of the Lion and Ahuni’s grandson. This is a saga of people who have lost their way and are trying to find their way back home.

Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends–Angry Customers Tell 3,000 by Pete Blackshaw – Even though it is from a different approach, this book shares many ideas with the last marketing book I read. Due to the rise of the Internet and social media, marketing no longer goes one way from company to customer. Now customers control some of the conversation, and companies must respond.

Coming up…

I’m definitely into the Children of the Lion series. As soon as I finish The Shepherd Kind, I will be ready to pick up book 3. And, of course, I still have my stack of Christmas books waiting for me!

What have you been reading this week?