Elizabeth > Recent Status Updates

So excited by the extension of this series with Sanctuary House. Writing,dialogue, and character development are complex. Love how the characters are real, and how faith and their relationship with Christ are multidimensional. Mixture of sermons and discussions, as well as prayer to figure out how to live truly gives the stories realism many others don't have.

Nice clean read. It has some slow parts, and the matchmaking by both mothers is a little cliche, but character development and writing is well done. I loved the originality of the relationship, but the ending could have been better developed. It seemed rushed (not going to explain why to avoid spoilers).

The captain retains the Jade Key in a dwelling long neglected But you can only blow the whistle once the trophies are all collected (129)

My issue with this book is much of the history alluded to is imprecise or outright wrong. If you are going to write a historical fiction, please make sure of your historical facts.

"'My God, it is full of stars.'... ... I didn't hesitate. I jumped into the open gate. It seemed to pull me in, and I began to fall. But I fell forward instead of down, and the stars seemed to fall with me." (107)

"You may well suppose that. I think I am not in a position to be dreaming of marriage. Marriage! I cannot bear the word; it sounds so silly and utopian." (145)

"If I could guide that benignant heart, I believe I should counsel it to exclude one who does not profess to have any other aim in life than that of patching up his broken fortune, and wiping clean from his bourgeois scutcheon the foul stain of bankruptcy." (109-110)

There is a continual repetition of Catch-22s throughout the book. When McWatt slams his plane into the mountain and Doc Daneeka is listed on the passenger list, it starts a chain of improbable events of him being dead first to the squadron... Army....and his wife. Nothing Doc does proves he's alive, because the truth is in theppaperwork, not the reality of the Doc being alive.

"...They've got a God and chaplain of their owe, haven't they?"
"No, sir."
"What are you talking about? You mean they pray t the she God we do?"
"Yes, sir."
"And He listens?"
" I think so, sir."(217)

Being human totally
sucks most of the time.
Videogames are the only
thing that
make life bearable.
-Anorack's Almanac

'And don't let anyone up there push you around," the brother advised. "You'll be just as good as anyone else in heaven, even though you are Italian."
"Dress warm," said the mother, who seemed to know. (208).

"A Yorkshire burr," he affirmed, "was as much better than a cockney's lisp as a bull's bellow than a raton's squeak." (44-45).

"There was a certain dignity in the little elderly gentleman's manner of rebuking these youths, though it was not, perhaps, quite the dignity most appropriate to the occasion. ( 10)

For a easy historical fiction book it is pretty good. Writing is typical for the genre, not remarkable, but not bad.

It's been 30 years since I've picked this up. I forgot what a enveloping book it is. There is so much detail in this book. While I still see parallels to M.A.S.H., what I relate to more this time around, is the black humor. I'm also enjoying the writing style, motifs, and psychology of the characters, probably because of a couple of degrees and life experience.

From the 1930's ed. from The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Doubleday 2 vol set.

WOW! I am enjoying this book

I'm still not sure about this one. The writing is typical for the genre..nothing spectacular. The storyline is very engaging, with several sub-stories going on. Mainly it is about a murder in a small town with a controlling "corrupt" sheriff, an orphan as the main suspect, and the missing daughter of the dead man. NOTE: do not read if you can't handle explicit sexual abuse.

Did a marathon read last night - awesome book

Awesome book! Wish I had read it sooner.