A Melodious Sonnet

Esther Filbrun

Midweek Mix-Up #13: Romania, Adoniram Judson, and Tools for Writers

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Well, midweek mix-up is a bit late this week. I’ve had a full schedule lately in uploading new book reviews, enjoying spring time, and writing the September newsletter. Here I am now, with a few new books for you to peruse!

Reading this week:

Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand

Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand
Progress: Finished!

Oh, this book. I love it, and at the same time I hate it. It’s…powerful. Through Richard’s eyes, we see the harsh reality of what it means for many Christians in restricted nations to never be able to know—from one day or the next—what their future is going to look like. What it’s like to always hide—even from your own pastor at times!—that you’re a believer. Richard suffered much under the Communists—when the USSR had control of Romania—and while he doesn’t go into a lot of detail, he shares enough that you can understand where he’s coming from.

On Why We Like a Good Villain

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Every story needs a good villain. At least, that’s the recommendation I’ve seen everywhere I look when I’m trying to find solid writing advice. However, I’ve often wondered why this is something that’s so accepted as a needed element in a story. Surely you can have a good story without a villain?

Good-Villain

Recently, I received a link to a free video series on editing. Shawn Coyne taught the series, and had a great overview of genre conventions (what people expect when they see a certain genre applied to a book), organizing tips, and much more. One convention he mentioned was the “hero at the mercy of the villain” scene. Then it clicked.

Midweek Mix-Up #12: World War II, Pessimism, and Free History Videos

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Hello! How has your last week treated you? In today’s midweek mix-up, I’m sharing some of the interesting and slightly mismatched things I’ve come across this week.

Reading this week:

I’ve had a very interesting week when it comes to books. Part of my work right now has been on the computer, so I’ve been listening to an audio book while I did that. Also, I got sucked into a historical novel, and I had a fantasy going for school . . . and somehow I ended up reading all three simultaneously!

The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom

The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom
Progress: Finished.

The Hiding Place never fails to challenge and encourage me. Through faith, hope, and perseverance, Corrie shares snapshots of her early life, the events leading up to their family taking in Jews to hide them from the Germans, and eventually her arrest and imprisonment. This is a book written to remember her father and sister Betsy, but it is so much more. Her faith in God brought her through many trials, and over and over God is shown faithful through her life. This is also a powerful picture of what life was like under the Nazi regime, and how people lived and worked in their concentration camps. I’ll be writing a review of this soon, which will be on the website after a while.

Reading, Art, and Guilt — a Guest Post

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Twice in the past two months I have had an “ah-ha!” moment. Both times, I suddenly had an answer to something that I had been feeling guilty about for years.

I was reading by the time I was three years old. When I was a baby, someone gave my mom a book, something about “Teach Your Baby to Read.” I was the first baby, so she had time, and she made flashcards to put on objects all over the house. I can’t remember not being able to read, and I’m guessing maybe she eventually regretted teaching me that young, as I quickly developed an addiction to reading! I remember being excited to start first grade, but then being very disappointed because the first day of first grade the reading lesson was simply, “God.” I was reading whole books by then! I spent hours and hours reading thousands of books as I grew up, and put that love of books to good use when I started a bookstore in my late teens. However, after I got married, little by little I started feeling guilty for loving to read, and guilty for taking time to read when there were other things to do, as there always are. Comments some people made such as, “I only ever read the Bible and ___________(church paper),” or, “Reading is a waste of time for me,” added to that feeling of guilt. I still read, because I can’t make myself stop reading, but always with a slight feeling of guilt.

Reading, Art, and Guilt

Last year, my daughter came in from her bedroom one morning saying that she felt like the Lord had given her an idea. She wondered what I thought of a website devoted to book reviews. She would include warnings with the reviews of anything that parents might want to know about the book before giving it to their child, and build a search function to help parents find books about a particular area they were studying. After we all prayed about it, she built the website, and soon I started writing some reviews for her of books I read to myself or aloud to the other children. Still, I felt somewhat guilty about loving to read!

Midweek Mix-Up #11: A Great Revolution-Era Book, and Productivity Printables

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This week, as I was adding some books to Goodreads (follow me here if you’re interested!), I realized that I had forgotten to update this year’s reading goal for the past couple months! I was thankful that I had the record on here of past midweek mix-up posts—that made remembering what I’ve been reading much easier. So besides the fact that I enjoy putting these posts together, I was thankful I had taken the time to keep a record of what I’ve been reading!

Reading this week:

The Destiny of One, by Sarah Holman

The Destiny of One, by Sarah Holman
Progress: Finished

I finished this book Saturday. What an adventure! I’m thrilled to know I have the second book in the series, too, but I’m slightly hesitant to start it because I don’t want to get to the end and not have the third book ready to start! I found the first half of this book pretty slow going, but after the 60% mark things really picked up and I finished the whole thing one afternoon. This book isn’t quite as good as some of Sarah Holman’s later books—but considering it was her debut, I can understand. Overall, I really enjoyed the story, and plan on writing a review of it for the website.

>> My review of The Sound of Diamonds is up! You can read it on my personal blog here.