Jessica Snell's Blog, page 7

Mini Reviews: The Books I Read in February 2017

--I'm catching up on my book notes, taking them a month at a time. Since I'm behind, I'm only allowing myself a line or two on each book. I hope they still give you an idea of whether or not these would be books you'd enjoy picking up yourself!--


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-"The Zoo Job (Leverage #2)," by Keith R. A. Candido. I didn't enjoy this as much as the first Leverage novel, but it was still a fun read. No need for any explicit content warnings that I recall, but just the kind of normal language and such you might expect on a network drama.


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-"Unf*ck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess," by Rachel Hoffman. This one clearly deserves a language warning! If that doesn't bug you, though, there's some good stuff here, especially for people dealing with mental or physical disabilities, who still want to live in a decent home. The author clearly comes from a different philosophical/political/theological viewpoint that I do, but her practical suggestions are brilliantly helpful, and I love her down-to-earth version of advice-giving.


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-"The Corinthian," by Georgette Heyer. This was such a fun reread, because I was a lot younger last time I read this. When I read it through this time, I picked up on so much subtle humor that totally went over my head before. Heyer has so much fun in this one. She never tells you what the hero is thinking, not explicitly, but she doesn't have to, because it's all there in the action and dialogue.

Heyer is just so good.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell



This post contains Amazon affiliate links; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.  (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Mini Reviews: The Books I Read in January 2017

--I'm catching up on my book notes, taking them a month at a time. Since I'm behind, I'm only allowing myself a line or two on each book. I hope they still give you an idea of whether or not these would be books you'd enjoy picking up yourself!--


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-"Have His Carcase," by Dorothy L. Sayers. In which our hero and heroine alternately romance each other and get cranky at each other. Featuring a lovely coastline walk I'd love to take, minus the murder. Delightful, as always. (Lord Peter and Harriet Vane 4Ever.)


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-"Murder Must Advertise," by Dorothy L. Sayers. Of the Lord Peter Wimsey books which do NOT feature Harriet Vane, I'd put this or "The Nine Tailors" at the top of the heap. Seeing Lord Peter go undercover in not just one, but two! roles...it's a thing of beauty. Please read this. It's marvelous.



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-"The Con Job (Leverage #1)," by Matt Forbeck. Great fun if you're a fan of the show. The "Con" of the title is Comic Con in San Diego, making this a con pulled at a con--a happy thought that justifies the book's entire existence. The author has so much fun with the combination of these characters in that setting, and I had a great time reading it. Cautions for the sort of language and situations you'd expect to find on a network television drama.


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-"Gaudy Night," by Dorothy L. Sayers. The best of novels. What else can I say?  Well, this, I guess: after reading it through this time around, I found myself telling my sister-in-law, "Every time I read this, I copy out more quotations from it. Eventually I'm going to have retyped this book word-for-word onto a document on my computer."


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-"Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories," by Anthony Trollope. Not my favorite of Trollope's work, but I enjoyed dipping into this bit of Victorian fiction over the holidays. The story set in the United States during the Civil War was especially interesting. (It's always interesting to read treatments of America by foreign visitors.)


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


This post contains Amazon affiliate links; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.  (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Weekly Links!

(not really)

~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING AND WATCHING, FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR WEEKEND ~



-"Why Pray for the Dead?": On the difference between praying for and with the saints, vs. praying to the saints.


-"9 Ways to Pastor Those Longing for Marriage": so much better than most things I read on this subject, honestly.


(Quick sidebar: If you're talking about singleness in the Christian life, and you're not taking into account the fact that we're all following a Man who never married during His earthly life, you're really not talking about it properly.)



-"The Hollywood Executive and the Hand Transplant That Changed His Life": if you like reading about fascinating medical stories (I do!), you'll love this.




-Finally, this is all good, but I really appreciated the second half, where they get into the difference between "How does the reality of the Trinity have an impact on your prayer life?" and "How does your awareness/knowledge of the Trinity have an impact on your prayer life?"

God is very gracious to us, meeting with us and listening to us, despite our (fathomless) ignorance.







I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Weekly Links

From a lunchtime walk last week.

A quick note before I get to the links: if you're a regular here, you've probably noticed that my blogging has decreased sharply. That's because, as I wrote here, I've changed my habits significantly in this new year, most especially by taking off my editor hat for awhile in order to concentrate on my writing.

And I have been writing, mostly on a novel, although I have a few non-fiction assignments I've been working on too.

The result of all this non-blog writing is that, when I turn to my poor, neglected blog at the end of the day, I find that I don't have many words left. 

I think this will change soon--I'm taking lots of notes for posts I want to write!--but for now I'm just going to keep putting up these Sunday links posts. I love sharing good writing and interesting stories. I hope you'll stick around for the links and, eventually, for some more original work from yours truly.

Okay, now onto the good stuff!


~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING AND WATCHING, FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR WEEKEND ~



-"Are You Fighting the New Greed?" - on technology addiction

-"The Distinct God of the Book of Job"

-"The Benedict Option: What It Is and Isn't": the always-helpful Karen Swallow Prior, on the book of the moment.

-"What Will You Do? You Must Read to Lead"


-"Professing to be Wise, They Became LeFous": Linking to this especially for this good point that I've not seen anyone making elsewhere:

Disney...had to go and act like this story only exists to preach a bad sermon. This is worse than the most moralistic Christian films.

-"Family Christian Stores Close, But What Happens to Authors?"

-"Simple Rules for Healthy Eating"

-"Resist the Internet"

-"'London Bridge is Down': the Secret Plan for the Days After the Queen's Death"



I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Weekly Links!

~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING and WATCHING, FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR WEEKEND ~



FAITH -"The Story of Those Little Communion Cups, Whatever Those Are Technically Called"


-"10 Reasons to Love Lent"


-"If Literature's Biggest Romantics Could Text" - the Odysseus one!


-"God's Omniscience as Law and Gospel": worth listening to:






FAmily -"Solving the Autism Puzzle": This article from MIT Technology Review has research I haven't read elsewhere. You might be interested.




Fiction -"Think Like a Pirate" - a very useful podcast episode, for you authors out there.


-"The Mad Truth of 'La-La Land'": I haven't seen this yet, but this review makes me want to see it more than ever.


-"How 'Weird Al' Eclipsed Almost Every Star He Ever Parodied": Not fiction, but art, so I'm putting it here.




I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Weekly Links!

~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING & WATCHING, FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR WEEKEND ~



Faith -"What Is Gospel Fluency?"


-"Embracing Valentine's Day Disappointment"


-"A Just Silence": This was helpful to me, especially as I've been thinking recently about how I do (vs. how I should) use social media.


-"Submit to the New Sexual Orthodoxy or Risk Losing Everything"

Family -"A Simple Way to Speed Delivery": Somehow, this just reminds me of HOW HUNGRY I WAS after I delivered my first child.
Fiction -"Painting a Story"


-"Why Don't We Talk About 'Stranger Than Fiction' Nearly Enough?": I love this movie.


-"Sunny Day": not fiction, but a good poem, worth reading.


-2016 Novelist Income Survey Results, Part One, and Part Two




I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Weekly Links!

~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING & Watching, FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR WEEKEND ~

-"Not Writing for Writers": I enjoyed this post about how pursuing non-literary art forms help writers write better. Here's a snippet:

What amazes me the most is that I haven’t lost anything. I don’t have less time to enjoy the audiobooks and films and tv shows and social media I love. But I have incentive to be more purposeful about what I consume, because it has to be better than spending time with my thoughts. I’ve lost patience for the empty noise, I only want the good stuff.

-"On Signaling Versus Displaying Virtue in a Trumpian Age"


-"How the Order of the Beatitudes Could Change Your Life": I can't remember ever seeing this point made elsewhere, and it's a really helpful insight.


-"I Work from Home":  I'm enough of an introvert that I can't identify with much of this, but as someone who does work from home, I still find it hilarious.


-"Dear Supporter, There's So Much More I Wish I Could Tell You": a missionary friend of mine linked to this post, and (for what it's worth) as a missionary kid, I commend it to you.

Pray for the missionaries you know, folks. And then pray for them some more.


-"Ten Meter Tower": I could not look away from this. Weirdly fascinating.


-"C.S. Lewis Talks to a Dog About Lust": So helpful.


-"Why Our Son Doesn't Have a Smartphone"


-"I Was a Black, Female Thru-Hiker on the Appalachian Trail"



-"An Iceberg Flipped Over, and Its Underside is Breathtaking": really gorgeous pictures.


-"Which Paid Marketing Works (and Doesn't Work) for Books": I know this is totally inside baseball, but I like Rachel Aaron's blog (and recommend her book), and found this long meaty post really interesting.



---Finally, on a note of shameless self-promotion, it's almost Lent, and if you don't already have a copy of "Let Us Keep the Feast: Living the Church Year at Home," now is a great time to buy one! Cate MacDonald and Lindsay Marshall do a great job of showing you simple, meaningful ways to bring the church's celebration of Lent and Easter into your own home.

You won't regret getting yourself a copy before Ash Wednesday rolls around (March 1, this year.)---


I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell




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This post contains Amazon affiliate links; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.  (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Weekly Links!

~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING ~ Just a few this time, but they're all really good & meaty ~


-"How to Fix Christian Fiction: More Christianity": I love this so much. YES. Christian fiction is bad when it's generic Nice Literature. More dogma, more drama. Yes, PLEASE.




-"4 Reasons to Soak Yourself in the Psalms": I've been going through the Psalms every month for several years now, and I agree with all of this. I'd add: it sure helps your prayer life. It gives you words to say to God when you have no good words of your own.




-"What's the Point of Sex? It's Communication on a Biological Level" - This is about the intersection of fertility and the immune system, and it's fascinating.




I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Book Notes: "Write Without Crushing Your Soul: Sustainable Publishing and Freelancing," by Ed Cyzewski

"Write Without Crushing Your Soul," by Ed Cyzewski, is a mix of practical advice and theoretical musings about the business of being a freelance writer. And, as such, it suited me very well. I like books that are basically intelligent people writing down their free-ranging thoughts on their area of expertise, and then giving their best advice to me, the reader.

Here are a few quotations from the book that I found particularly helpful:

The last thing you want to do is waste your time on something that isn't your first priority to begin with. In fact, my goal for myself and for you is to spend the vast majority of each day writing.

Just think of a new way to promote your book every week and leave things at that. You can do as much or as little as you want, and that removes a lot of the pressure and stress. Promotion simply becomes a small thing you add to your schedule each week rather than an all-consuming monster that threatens to take over your life for several months. Mind you, this may not be as effective as the industry standards for publicity, but there's no guarantee that either will work any way. Why not opt for the path that leaves you with a potentially healthier outcome?

...here's how I've found a sustainable way forward--at least for now. In order to write sustainably, you need to relentlessly be yourself. That isn't necessarily the same thing as following a calling or your dreams. The difference is essential, in fact.

Not an earthshaking read (though that last bit of advice might be earthshaking, if you really followed it), but encouraging and interesting. Recommended.


Peace of Christ to you,Jessica Snell

This post contains Amazon affiliate links; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.  (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Weekly Links!

~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING, FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR WEEKEND ~


-I have loved Linda Holmes' thoughts on reality TV since the days she was covering Survivor for the now-defunct site Television Without Pity. Here she is, talking about the ethics of a recent episode of Top Chef for NPR.



-A review of "Nailed It" from Aimee Byrd over at The Housewife Theologian. A snippet:

This is a devotional for those who don't fit into the happy-little-Christian box. And it's also for those who think it's okay to have a little humor in their reading reflections. Kennedy doesn't pick all the easy verses either. She pulls devotion to God out of what may have seemed random acts in history. Our days are kind of like that, aren't they? Circumstances often seem arbitrary and we sometimes question if it really matters how we get through them. That is what I especially appreciated about the book---Anne weaves all the tapestry together and helps the reader see the significance of God's holiness, mercy, and love in Christ working in our own lives now.

-And while I'm on the topic of my favorite devotional, here's a lovely podcast: "Persuasion: How Sarcasm is Good for the Soul." 



-And speaking of good podcasts, I liked this one: "Mere Fidelity: Humble Roots, with Hannah Anderson."



-And here's another good thing by Hannah Anderson, this time an essay: "You Can't Do It All: Rex Tillerson and the Limits of Vocation."



-"Minimalism Gets It Wrong."



-Also, "The Minimalism Trap."



-And, on our current season of the church year, here's "How To Throw an Epiphany Party In Four Easy Steps." 



-"How 'Sherlock of the Library' Cracked the Case of Shakespeare's Identity"



-These short filmed scenes of King Lear are amazing.



-And, finally, sailing the solar system with solar sailing ships.



I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell