Under Lock & Skeleton Key Secret Staircase Mystery #1 by Gigi Pandian
My rating: 3 / 5 Genre: Cozy mystery
When a terrible accident forces Tempest Raj to end her career as a stage magician and return home, she never expects her show business world to follow her home. But then her stage double’s dead body is discovered in the wall of a home that her father’s construction business is renovating, and the question on everyone’s mind is: was Tempest the intended target?
Between the stage magic angle and Tempest’s dad’s construction business specializing in installing secret rooms and passages into homes, I felt that this mystery would be right up my alley. Sadly, my high expectations were met with a mediocre, at times confusing, story and a mystery that, only 8 days after I finished it, I barely remember the final resolution to. There were a lot of characters, including Tempest’s eclectic and spread-out family, and I had a difficult time keeping everyone straight.
I did like the many references and homages to classic mysteries, some of which I missed out on when I was younger but have read lots of recently (Holmes & Poirot, for example). I really liked the idea of the secret staircase construction company; it seems like the kind of company that would be awesome to work for, similar to working at an escape room company (which I did for a while). The stage magic aspect wasn’t a huge part of the story, though Tempest does a lot of…I guess dance moves, when she’s stressed or thinking or whatever, which are moves she used in her show, and there are some tricks performed both by her and a fellow magician friend of hers. Overall though, we’re mostly just told about the story she used to tell in her show and that she was really good at what she did.
I can say for sure that a lot of what fell flat for me in this book is personal preference or experience. I didn’t connect with Tempest or her large, somewhat intrusive family. I’m not super interested in the different dishes of food that are described in the book, which makes the abundance of them and the details about them a bit much for me. But if the different elements I mentioned throughout this review sound interesting to you and you enjoy mysteries, you might be the perfect audience for this book. Please do click the link below to check out the more favorable reviews, of which there are plenty!
In today’s culture, lines of gender and sexuality appear to be blurred, but that comes as no surprise at a time when truth is seen as relative and each person is told to follow his or her heart wherever it leads. But there is an absolute authority on truth, including a distinct line between man and woman. That absolute authority is the Creator of man and woman—and the entire universe—and He has given us everything we need to know about life, including the two different genders, in His written word (the Bible). In Made to Be She sisters Kristen Clark and Bethany Beal stand on that firm foundation as they share insight into how to sort through the noise and confusion to get to the truth of the question of what it really means to be female.
The first, and probably most important, thing I want to say about this book is that it is, indeed, completely biblically grounded. I really appreciate the authors’ commitment to the truth, unashamedly taking what will undoubtedly be an unpopular stand about gender, biology, and femininity. I believe this book could be a great resource for Christian women who don’t quite know how to respond to today’s culture or aren’t even sure what they should believe. I do not have any confusion about these matters myself, but I did still gain some valuable insight.
History of the feminist movements over the years is explored, and I found it interesting seeing how it plays a role in our modern culture, even when we don’t realize that some of what we think has its roots in feminism. Particularly fascinating to me was the idea that religion can also skew our view of womanhood, for example the way “purity culture” (a big movement in the 90s when I was a teen) gave young women a mission without a heart change or a biblical understanding of why they were keeping themselves pure. The authors challenge their readers to examine their own beliefs and possible feminist attitudes or ideals they may have without even realizing it.
The Bible is not silent or unclear on gender or gender roles, and Christian women should not be either. I can see this book being read in church groups or other similar settings, even possibly mothers reading it and discussing it with their teenage daughters—though be aware that the authors go into some depth about sex and sexuality, completely within a biblical context. I considered suggesting it to my daughter and discussing it with her as she read, but as she is only 14, by the time I finished reading the book, I knew I’d prefer to wait a few years on that. With that in mind, I do recommend this book to every Christian woman, especially those who are overwhelmed by today’s tumultuous, truth-denying culture.
I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.
How to Thrive as a Pastor’s Wife by Christine Hoover
My rating: 5 / 5 Genre: Christian non-fiction
My husband picked up this book for me just based on the title, since he’s currently working toward becoming a pastor and I have told him, multiple times, that I don’t feel adequate to be a pastor’s wife. We’re both in our early 40s, and this was a sudden, out-of-nowhere decision on his part, at least initially. What we’ve come to see throughout the journey so far (8 months) is that God definitely put us on this path. And for me, that means that if He put my husband on this path…He must have meant for me to be on it too, since we’re a package deal.
This book definitely addresses more of the traditional pastoring journey—the young couple who are starting their lives together around the same time as the husband is starting his pastoring life—whether the reader is in the early stages of that life or the later, which makes sense, since it’s by far more common than our situation. However, much of Hoover’s advice and discussion about what a pastor’s wife’s life looks like is universal enough to be very helpful for me as I anticipate this future change. She does even mention at least once the very scenario I’m currently living. And actually, some of what she talks about addresses issues I’m having currently as the head of a particular ministry in my church (butting up against people with a different idea of how things should go, dealing with self-doubt and expectations of myself that are too high, etc.). That has actually helped me to step back and re-assess my initial, knee-jerk reactions and think through a better response to differing opinions.
The understanding that, though “pastor” has a pretty specific biblical job description, “pastor’s wife” really has none is a huge help to me, as I did question whether I’d be able to fill the role with my particular giftings. I’m sure many of us have a specific idea in mind of what a pastor’s wife is/does, usually based on a pastor’s wife at a church we attended at some point in our lives, whether one that we respected or perhaps didn’t. I even asked our church’s pastor’s wife about if she ever felt that she was expected to fill a role that she couldn’t (this pastor is retired now, and I asked her about this a few weeks before his last Sunday). She told me that she was blessed to be at a church that let her serve where she was best suited, and this book reinforced the idea that that is really how it should be. We don’t all play the piano, sing well, enjoy working with children, or whatever pastor’s wives might traditionally be thought of as doing well. But that shouldn’t be a source of friction, either on the part of the wife or of the congregation.
I may have spent a lot of my review on that one topic, but this book has so much more insight and useful tools than this. Creating boundaries to protect the home life, for example. The importance of not neglecting our own spiritual health while doing so much to help others with theirs. Not looking for a fellow broken human to fill the role that only God can. And so much more.
I also really appreciate the chapter that Hoover addresses to the pastor himself, the husband of the woman reading this book, giving him insight into what his wife is most likely going through and tips on how he can help her to thrive in her position alongside his ministry by creating boundaries and recognizing her difficulties. I will definitely have my husband read that chapter at some point in the near future as he finishes his schooling, gets licensed as a pastor, and looks for a position in ministry. This book makes it clear that being a pastor’s wife can be difficult but rewarding, and my hope is that going into it with some foreknowledge and a foundation of 25 years of marriage will help me to avoid some of the major pitfalls. Or at least provide tools to navigate them. I have no doubt I’ll revisit different parts of this book in the future as different situations arise, and I can see it being a great help to other women who are married or engaged to pastors or married to pastors-to-be.
Unleashed Andy Carpenter #11 by David Rosenfelt read by Grover Gardner
My rating: 4.5 / 5 Genre: Mystery
When an old friend of Sam Willis dies in a plane crash—a plane Sam was meant to be on with him but missed—the man’s widow is charged with his murder. Sam asks his friend, reluctant defense attorney Andy Carpenter to defend her, certain that the woman he once had a fling with himself couldn’t have done it.
This is another good addition to the series, with some twists and turns and just enough changes to the formula I’ve come to enjoy to keep it fresh. I got a kick out of Sam’s team of elderly Jewish computer students, chuckled at Marcus’s stoicism and Hike’s expert knowledge of poison, and felt indignant for Andy when his character was besmirched (more indignant than even he seemed to be). Andy’s snarky and self-deprecating humor that first drew me to the series is just as strong as ever.
The standard-fare conspiracy in this book is thankfully simple enough that there didn’t seem to be as many away-from-Andy POV sections as some of the previous ones have had. I was glad for that, because it means more Andy, but to be honest, I’d be okay with Rosenfelt throwing in some simpler mysteries now and then too, or at least conspiracies on a smaller scale. They don’t all have to involve high-profile targets and be nationally (or internationally) reaching. I don’t want this to sound like a complaint, though, because I did still enjoy this book as much as any of the others (or more, in some cases). I love this series and recommend the book (especially the audio) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas.
Shatterproof The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers #4 by Roland Smith
My rating: 4 / 5 Genre: Middle grade mystery, adventure
Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.
First Berlin and then Timbuktu, Amy and Dan Cahill continue to jump through hoops for their enemy, Vesper One, trying to save the lives of their abducted friends and family members. Meanwhile, the hostages are hatching a scheme of their own.
For as much as I’m enjoying this series, I’m glad it’s a little shorter than the original. I really thought that the premise set forth at the beginning of the series—Cahills and friends taken hostage and Dan and Amy given various tasks to ensure their safety—would be a launching point to a greater story, but it’s really just been the same premise all the way through. Though Dan and Amy have traveled all over, been in and out of trouble, and scrambled to keep up with Vesper One’s demands, the hostages’ plight has gotten a little stale. This book did shake things up a bit for them, but I would have preferred a little more.
I like the team of Amy, Dan, Atticus, and Jake. They complement each other well, and I’m intrigued to hear more about Atticus’s role in the whole Cahills and Vespers thing. I expected there to be more about the ring that Amy was entrusted with at the end of the original series by now, but apparently we’re saving a lot for the last 2 books in the series. As for Amy and her romances, I could do without most of it. The surprising thing (for me) is that I do actually like a couple of these guys for her…which means I care about which one she picks, if any. Oddly enough, the one I don’t really care about is the one that is currently her boyfriend. In fact, based on how this series has gone in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out he was a mole. I also have to say that these writers are not against having a bit of a body count, which has been surprising in a series for pre-teens. Still, I’m quite invested in these books and look forward to seeing how this plot arc turns out.
Anchor in the Storm Waves of Freedom #2 written by Sarah Sundin
My rating: 4.5 / 5 Genre: Historical Christian romance, mystery
When Lillian Avery moves to Boston to be a pharmacist in 1941, she has a long way to go to overcome her boss’s prejudices against her as both a woman and a handicapped one at that. She’s determined to win him over, but her task is made more difficult when suspicious prescriptions come in to be filled. Arch Vandenburg, naval ensign serving aboard a battleship, has some questions of his own when some of the men on his ship are acting drowsy on duty. Lillian and Arch will have to work together to get to the bottom of what’s going on in Boston.
After finding the first book in this series only okay, I was pleased to enjoy this one all the way through. Arch was in the previous book, the best friend of the male main character. He came across as a bit of a player, at least to me, but Sundin was already setting up his backstory, his baggage. As the heir to a fortune, Arch tends to attract the wrong kind of woman, which has led to trust issues. Lillian has her own version of the same, having been hurt badly in the past by a man who was controlling and at least a little abusive. The progression of their relationship is mostly natural and sweet, though it also becomes a little predictable about halfway through the book. Despite some clichés (and more kissing than I need in a romance book), the backstories and personalities are well set up, and I enjoyed the follow-through.
My preference when reading romance is that it not be the only focus of the plot, and I got my wish with this book. The mystery side, while not exactly a twisty whodunit, was intriguing and kept me engaged. When the romance went the way of cliché, the mystery sped up a bit, which evened things out for me. I was really caught up in it by the end. I also want to mention that Arch’s best friend Jim, the male MC of the previous book, is also Lillian’s brother. And there is a moment in the book where Arch does/says something really stupid and Jim reacts exactly how I wanted to react. I practically cheered! I recommend this book for fans of Christian romance, especially those set during WWII.
Three Act Tragedy Hercule Poirot #11 by Agatha Christie read by Hugh Fraser
My rating: 4.5 / 5 Genre: Classic mystery
This Poirot mystery was quite a departure from the previous ones, in that much of the investigating is done without Poirot around—at least the investigating that we get to see. Poirot comes in during the last 3rd or so of the book to throw a wrench into the ideas of the people who had taken it upon themselves to try to get to the bottom of the recent deaths. The story really kept me on my toes. In some ways, I feel like I’m starting to get a feel for Agatha Christie’s way of creating a mystery, which leads me to take more outlandish guesses as to the solution than I probably otherwise would. But since I don’t really ever guess at the motive, I don’t feel particularly vindicated if I end up being right. And I was only part right about the killer in this case anyway. I’ve begun to enjoy these stories a lot more than I did early in the series, and I still appreciate the narration by Hugh Fraser. And bonus, this book left me with a laugh right at the end.
I’m not going to pretend that I went into this book with an open mind. The subject matter and the little bit I heard from the author in a video threw up so many red flags, but I read the book because my sister told me she was reading it to help her through some difficulties in her life. The author posits that a lack of self-love is at the root of many (even most) people’s mental health struggles and relationship issues. This is a super-boiled-down explanation, but I don’t want to take a long time to explain, nor do I want to spend much time on this review, lest it turn into a rant. The truth is, it is very difficult for me to put words to my concerns about this point of view and this book, but I felt uneasy throughout most of it. The author does quickly lay to rest the immediate thought that telling people that they need to love themselves more will lead them to become self-centered, but on the other hand, when he gets to the part about putting the ideas from this book into action, it’s very self-centered.
One of the biggest things I questioned by the end of this book is where God really fits into this. Sure, the author talks about God and about the Bible plenty, even quoting some verses. But it’s almost exclusively about God loving us (it’s right there in the title), and almost zero mention of us loving God. In fact, while I was reading, I highlighted this quote: “God will love you, even if you decide to never serve him!” and asked, “Though if that’s the case, does the person really love God?” Yes, God doesn’t require us to serve him in order for us to be saved—that’s the entire basis of salvation by grace vs. works. But if we truly love God, we will want to serve Him, and at no point is that really discussed in this book. It’s also contradictory, in that one of the ways the author says to start loving yourself more is by helping others, yet multiple times the book says that helping others when you don’t love yourself enough can lead to burnout.
The author also quotes Ephesians 5:28 (“In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”) but conveniently stops without ever addressing verse 29 (“After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church…”). The author maintains that it’s difficult to love others as we love ourselves when we don’t or don’t know how to love ourselves, yet Paul states that we generally love ourselves enough to keep ourselves alive. DeJesus actually sees the “as you love yourself” part as a command, but it seems more like a given to me. I understand that some people do harm themselves and that there are plenty of people with psychological issues that involve self-hate, but I think this whole thing is more nuanced than the author allows for in this book. In fact, so much of this book was repetitive and thus felt shallow.
I don’t know if the intended audience for this book is everyone or specifically Christians. It seemed like it was targeted at Christians most of the time, but when it tells us that we need to “[position] ourselves for being filled up with God’s love,” I question why I wouldn’t already be filled with God’s love, if I’ve accepted Christ as my savior. Maybe what the author means is that we need to let ourselves “feel” God’s love more, but that opens up a whole new argument for me, since “feeling” God’s love is not always possible or easy for me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe 100% that God loves me. I’m also not really sure where sin enters into this, since more than once, DeJesus posits that self-love means accepting yourself with no strings attached. While I understand that God doesn’t want us to constantly live in shame over past sins, I feel like this removes the conviction of current sins. Even “lawlessness” as referenced in Matthew 24:12, NKJV (“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will growcold.”) is attributed to broken hearts that cause us to fall into “darkness and destructive behaviors.” Maybe I’m nitpicking, but it feels like we’re glossing over sin here.
Some of DeJesus’s suggestions for how to begin to love oneself more made alarm bells ring in my head, since it feels too close to being New Age practices for me. At the very least, the suggested meditating, breathing in the spirit while breathing out toxicity, even words of affirmation, almost completely leave God out of the equation, instead focusing on myself.
Sadly, I completely understand why this book speaks to some people in their need, but I would have a difficult time believing that this way of thinking can affect lasting change. There is a chapter or so that I thought made some good points, but for the most part, it just felt empty to me. Granted, I’m definitely not its target audience, because though I don’t think I’d ever have described myself as being full of self-love, when I struggle with feeling worthless or unloved, I don’t hesitate to seek God through prayer and Bible reading. This book reminded me a lot of what I don’t care for about modern worship music. Generally speaking, there are a lot of songs about how broken we are, how God loves us right where we are, etc., and while none of that is false, I don’t think we’re meant to camp in that mindset. It’s important to spend time loving God, praising God, not just for what He has done for us, but for who He is—the power, wonder, majesty of His being. Maybe focusing more on how awesome He is, is really what we need to put things into perspective and boost our own moods. Like Job said in the depths of his despair, wishing he’d never been born, after God put things into perspective for him: “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more.” Job’s circumstances hadn’t gotten better (yet), but he knew that God was so much bigger than he could ever understand, and maybe that’s something we have forgotten in our modern world.
I guess I did end up spending a while on this review. There was just too much I wanted to say, and this only includes a portion of the highlights and notes I made while reading. It probably goes without saying, but I don’t recommend this book to anyone; I simply don’t think there’s enough substance, or the right substance, to be worthwhile.
2024 was a fairly standard year of reading overall, minus the push in February and March to read shorter books that were outside my norm, in order to get more entries into a local library reading challenge. But I kinda made up for that in April, when I burned out a little and read a lot less.
I read 153 books in 2024, hitting my Goodreads challenge of 150 books (which I raised from 140 in November when I realized how close I was) on December 24th. My total page count was 42,857, making my average book length for the year 280 pages.
Below are the books I read in 2024. The link is to my review for that book, and a link to the book on Goodreads is at the bottom of each review.
This list includes 29 ARCs (marked with a *) and 20 re-reads (marked with a **). During the last year, I started 20 series and finished 12 series, caught up on 2 series (meaning the author plans to release more in the future), and decided not to continue 4 series (after being at least 2 books into the series). I currently have 13 series in progress. I also DNF’d 1 book (not listed anywhere in this post).
Here is a break-down of the ratings I gave (minus some re-reads whose rating I didn’t count again):
1 star: 1
1.5 stars: 1
2 stars: 7
2.5 stars: 4
3 stars: 22 3.25 stars: 1
3.5 stars: 12
4 stars: 50
4.5 stars: 7
5 stars: 40
Average rating: 3.9
I spaced on posting a top-ten post about my favorite books from the year, so I’ll just list my top 5 here (in order of when I read them, not of preference): A Beautiful Disguise by Roseanna M. White Masterminds by Gordon Korman The Raven by Mike Nappa Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Though I did read 150 books, I know that has a lot to do with the reading challenge at my local library early in the year. I’ll stick with 140 books for this year’s goal for the Goodreads challenge. This number is already only achievable if I read a lot of shorter children’s books, which is always my plan, just maybe not as many as I read last year.
My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here. I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads, if anyone is interested in that.
What did you read last year? Let me know in the comments, and even feel free to link to your own summary post!
I read 13 books last month, which is right at what my monthly average ended up being for 2024. The number would have been much smaller, though, if I hadn’t had so much time to listen to audiobooks throughout December. Between Christmas (and Christmas prep) and a couple of longer/harder-to-read books, I got really slowed down in my normal reading time. Still, I hit my Goodreads goal of 150 books (which I raised from 140 in November when I realized how close I was) on the 24th.
This list includes 4 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from December was Book Scavenger. I started 1 series, continued 4 series, and finished 2 series*. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.
*This includes 1 series I didn’t reach the end of, but decided not to continue reading, after being at least 2 books into the series.
I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.
A Journey of Words 