BOOK REVIEW - "A WIND IN THE HEBRIDES" (MONASTERY MURDERS BOOK 7) BY DONNA FLETCHER CROW

 What connection does a Spiritual Director conference have with a revival that occurred nearly three quarters of a century ago? Is a girl's missing boyfriend able to help solve a mystery of a disappearing corpse? And are there enigmas that might put Father Antony and Felicity in danger yet again, only this time with their five year old son?

"A Wind in the Hebrides" is the seventh in Donna Fletcher Crow's Monastery. This one has a different feel, because this novel moves back in forth between the conferences, church history stories, and worship services Father Antony and Felicity frequently enjoy and singer Aileana Mackay's search for her sister's love interest during a post WW2 revival in an isolated part of Scotland. As a reader of several of Crow's books, this seems like a cross between the Monastery Murders and her 10-part Celtic Cross series, each of which follow a story between a couple in 1993 and various church history stories of Scotland and Ireland.

This novel may start slow for some readers, but don't give up on it. Crow does a masterful job of weaving the two stories together, with their similarities and differences. She helps make them distinct by having the 1949 in italics.

I recommend this book, which I received for an unbiased review.

ISIDEWITH.COM 2024 VERSION (OR 2025 OR MAYBE 2028)

 

Me with my friend and '24 candidate for US Senate Andrew Horning at the Compact for Liberty Signing in 2016.

I have been regularly taking the iSideWith.com polls, but this year, I didn't get around to it until... today, two months after the election! But I found the results interesting. Let me share some thoughts that stood out.

1. Top of the list of Presidential Candidates I agree with? President Elect Donald Trump with 92%. VP elect Vance? 93%. Who is on the bottom of the list? VP Harris at a dismal 12%. Her running mate Walz clocked in at 19%.
2. But this list had other parties as well, not playing the horrible 2 party game. Of course, I lean toward Libertarianism, and I agreed with LP candidate Chase Oliver 76% of the time - less than the 85% with '16 candidate Gary Johnson, but better than the 48% with '20 candidate Jo Jorgensen. What's interesting, though, is that the 48% I agree with Jorgensen were the issues most important to me, while I disagreed with Johnson on potential deal breakers. I did hear Oliver interviewed, and I liked him okay, but not enough to vote for.
3. Did I mention that Oliver was in 3rd place of the Presidential candidates I agreed most with? Who then was 2nd place? Robert Kennedy Jr.? No, he was in 4th place with 69%. Second place was... Peter Sonski of the American Solidarity Party with 80%? What's interesting is four years ago, the ASP Presidential candidate wasn't as high, but his 49% edged out LP Jorgensen for 2nd place. Yet when I look at the Party, I agree with the ASP a mournful 27%! Trying to figure that one out. (The LP agreed with me 65% as did the big government never-heard-of-before No Labels party; the Constitution Party was a close 2nd to the GOP, 89% and 91% respectively.
4. At the bottom, they asked about potential candidates for '28. I voted for the person I was rooting for in '24: Nikki Haley. The next and final question was "Why didn't I say I'd vote for Wes Moore?" Who? First time I heard of him! So where did he fare? Not as well as Nikki, who scored 87%, behind Republicans Vance (94%), Dan Crenshaw (93%), Megyn Kelly (90%) and Libertarians Justin Amash (89%) and Spike Cohen (88%). No, Wes scored with a measly 24%, though that's actually a high number... compared to his fellow Democrats. So why did they think I'd want to vote for him? (And no, there were other Democrats scoring higher.)
5. Finally, my good friend Andrew Horning was on the list for US Senator, but they didn't have any info, so I'm not sure - would I agree 100% with him? 0%? Or somewhere in between? (I have a hunch I know the answer.)

Okay, I found that fun. Do you have any comments on what I shared? Any advice? Maybe move from being a LP fan to the Constitution Party or the American Solidarity Party?

BOOK REVIEW - "BLOWN COVER" BY JODIE BAILEY

 

What is Makenzie Fuller's former partner - AWOL for a year - doing at her undercover assignment? Does Ian Andrew really have no memory of the past four years? And is their threat the associates of the now-deceased criminal Fuller's assigned to, or somebody they would never suspect?

"Blown Cover" is an excellently crafted, thrilling suspense novel by Jodie Bailey. The author keeps releasing books that I consider the best one I've read by her, and this is an example.

You may notice the cover has a car going off a cliff. Thus, I don't think mentioning that a car going off a cliff - with one of our heroes inside - would be spoiling the novel, nor that it occurs at the beginning. There is no drop-off in the suspense. The story of Makenzie and Ian is also well written.

I considered this the best novel I read in 2024. Thus, I'm sure you won't be surprised for me to highly recommend this book.

BOOK REVIEW - "JAMES: FAITH/WORKS" BY MATT CHANDLER

I was in a Sunday School class where we went through this workbook. It is a 13 week expository series by Matt Chandler through the book of James.

This was a very good study. Besides discussion questions for the class, there is a pair of studies to do at home for each week. The book has a password so you can view videos for the lesson.

Differences between this and other studies I've done: 

1. The others were shorter, no more than 10 lessons; this had 13.
2. The videos were of Chandler preaching sermons. The others I've seen look like they're filmed at a stage and gave the impression that he was addressing a small group (maybe even the individual viewer); this study gave us the impression we were part of the congregation.
3. The videos are longer. Other series have videos that are about 20 minutes or less; Chandler's sermons were between 30 and 40 minutes.
4. If you're looking for an expository series, I would recommend this one. Our class also used J.D. Greaer's study on Daniel: Faithful in the Fire, but that one was more focused on Daniel's standing up in a hostile society and thus focused on the passages that fit the theme. Chandler's on James covered the whole book.

I would definitely recommend this book for a Bible study, either by yourself, or in a class.

FIRST BLOG OF 2025!

 

Missionary Learning Center, Rockville, VA

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted. This is not the first time I tried to write, but it's the first time I've succeeded. 

One quick apology. When I gave my list of favorite novels, I shared the links to my review of those books, except the first one I mentioned, which I said would be up on January 2nd. Uh, no it wasn't. It should be up tomorrow.

I probably was attempting to be regular on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays for the past couple of years. For the most part, I'll say I'll aim to get those three days. If you see a blog, it will probably be posted on a Tuesday, a Thursday, or a Sunday, with this being an exception (being written on Friday).

This year will have some of what you'd expect from me. For example, I've already put down the dates for NCFCA speech and debate contests... well, I've already participated in two tournaments - one on-line and one in person - and will be doing another on-line tournament the end of the month.

How about Kingdom Come Festival? Yep, that's on the calendar in ink, which will be the 19th-21st of June. Normally, it's on Father's Day weekend, but I'm guessing that it's on the 3rd Saturday, which for six out of seven years will be the day before the 3rd Sunday (aka Father's Day); this is the exception.

Other things on the list? Some are too soon to tell, some are waiting to iron out various details. 

As far as this blog, I'm sometimes ready to give it up. Maybe I should, maybe I should work harder on it. Thank you for your prayers. I will be posting reviews still. Interviews? Those have been a struggle this year.

Well, that's it for now. See you all soon.