Lots of news

There's a lot of updating I've got to do here - which is kind of sad considering it's only been a few days.

First of all, I stayed up a little later than I should have on Friday night to finish Irish Eyes. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening (and read) - although with a Tia puppy in my lap and half of an admittedly large mug of tea (officially it's two and a half to three normal cups of tea) to go, I wouldn't have minded if it were a bit longer, or if I'd had the next book in my stack with me as well. Near the beginning of the book, I'd been amused that one character had only ever (in the whole series) been listed as either George the Priest's boss, or the Little Bishop (I'm not quite sure how he got this nickname exactly, but oh well). I'd been wondering if he was going to actually get a name. Then, farther into the book, he's at the Coyne house having dinner with Dermot and Nuala as well as their babysitter and her boyfriend (whose names I seem to have forgotten at the moment) - they were trying to do a little matchmaking/mending. During dinner, however, the Little Bishop comments that they should call him "Blackie." I had to laugh at this because, at least to me, that means he's Blackie Ryan - the main character in a bunch of other books by Fr. Greeley. From the little I've read about him (he's referenced a bit in the two autobiographies Fr. Greeley has written and I've also read Virgin and Martyr in which he's one of the major minor characters - if that makes sense), he's a character I'd like to get to know more - one of those characters one wishes were a real person - someone to chat with or get to know - sort of, say, bounce your ideas/thoughts off of them. I guess I'm just out of luck. In the other books in the series there's usually been at least a slight connection between the modern mystery they have to solve and the historical mystery, but that wasn't much the case in this book. But that's okay, I think I like it better this way - everything fit together a little too nicely otherwise.

So, Saturday morning, I started the next book in my stack (after a bit of debate on skipping ahead to the following book in the stack - I'd renewed this one and wasn't sure I'd be able to do that with the next one if need be - but I decided I'd be better off sticking to my original plan and my rule of reading them in order of when I got them - except in very particular situations). The book was Witchery: A Ghosts of Albion Novel by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden. I'd already read the first book in this series (Ghosts of Albion: Accursed) and had been looking forward to this next one. I did enjoy the story - Victorian England culture with fantasy/sci-fi twists is quite fun. The characters are mostly quite enjoyable - some are still a bit of a mystery to me (mostly John) but I also think they're supposed to be, so I'm not too upset by this. In this story, girls (both human and fairy) have been disappearing - and a few have been found murdered as well. The Protectors of Albion, especially Tamara, are interested in solving this, but have some difficulty as the fairies don't want their help (until the very end once Tamara determines what the actually cause is). The witches in this book aren't quite what I expected of witches - I'm a bit interested in doing some research to see how much (if any) of the depiction in this book is actual lore and how much is pure fiction. I was also amused by the New Orleans trip and the references to Marie Laveau. By the end of saturday, I had finished this book, and was tempted to start the next book in the stack, but ended up deciding that it was actually getting late and if I were smart I'd go to bed - so I did.

This morning after church, I started that book (another Andrew Greeley book); it's called Home for Christmas and is quite interesting. In some ways, it reminded me of The Shack, but I suppose that's mostly in the talking with God part. I cried through much of the book, but I did quite enjoy it. Oh, and Blackie makes a brief appearance in this story too! This book is the story of a couple who were meant to be together, but almost miss out - God intervenes a bit with an NDE (near death experience). It is a sweet and touching tale that I'd recommend to most anyone. I'd rather like to suggest it for the Lemmings bookclub, except for the fact that it's so new, I suspect it's not in paperback format yet, so it's not allowed. I may have to suggest it anyone, as a "for anyone who's interested" book.

Having finished that book early this afternoon, I'm about to start L.A. Banks' book The Darkness. I'd have started it earlier today perhaps, except I'd had plans to knit this afternoon, and it was already packed up for the trip to Mom's house. Instead, I took a nice long nap - probably too long, however. I'll get to this one soon, though.