The soloist finished before the decorating was complete, so the pastor said, "The kids shall continue ornamenting while we move on with the service." I liked how he made a noun into a verb. At one point a soloist came up and sang a beautiful song but it was hard to pay attention to her since the cute kids were placing ornaments on the trees while she sang. The majority of service was directed at the children with stories, music, and the lighting of the advent candles. The first, at 4 PM, is a children's service, where the children of the church parade around dressed as angels, shepherds, sheep, pigs, and, oddly as butterflies. Both celebrations, the one in Eugene, and a few days later, here, were meaningful and family-full.Ĭhristmas eve services: The church where my mom and sister attend, First United Methodist Church in Eugene, has two worship services on Christmas eve. That freed up Don and I to spend Christmas eve and day with Mom in Eugene. Two Christmases: Our youngest daughter couldn't make it home for the actual day of Christmas so we planned a celebration for the whole family on Saturday the 27th. When we got up my grandson declared that the sun was out and I told him it wasn't. Weather: It was sunny today after an overcast morning. The birth of Christ must have been a confusing time. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. I loved the character development which didn't take the typical trope of a teen mother's life falling apart. With the Fire on Highby Elizabeth Acevedo-the only YA book on my list. The Dutch Houseby Ann Patchett-A recent completition. The Library Book by Susan Orleans-Who set the fire that consumed the Los Angeles Public Library and much more. The narrator is music and I loved it from start to finish.Ĩ. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom-this is the best book you've probably never heard of. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green-this book fed my desire to read something quirky and "out-there" yet spoke to a generation about our obsession with social media.ħ. This one won the Pulitzer Prize for 2019.Ħ. The Overstory by Richard Powers-seven or eight stories come together as the focus remains on the main characters, the trees. I recommend listening to the audiobook for this book.ĥ.
Circe by Madeline Miller-Greek mythology comes to life. Becoming by Michelle Obama-I saw her in person on her book tour.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens-beautiful prose and poetry a mystery and a love story.
It is about the AIDS epidemic from the beginning to current time and about the caretakers of the sick men.Ģ. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai-my favorite of the favorites. Here are some books from my own reading journal, listed from shortest to longest.1. I’d love to hear what you’re reading for this category, and what books YOU would add to this list, in the comments section. Need more short titles? Check out these 20 life-changing nonfiction books you can read in a day, and these 20 short novels you can read in one day. Whether or not you hit your goal, I hope your reading life has been improved by the effort. That’s true for these small-but-mighty titles, and it’s also true for your challenge. In the reading life, quality matters more than quantity. Most of these slim works run right around 200 pages-although, if you really have a ways to go on your reading challenge, several are significantly shorter. These books may be on the small side, but they pack a lot of punch. Today’s list focuses on 16 short titles you could read in a day, or even in an afternoon. As the end of the year approaches, I’ve heard from many of you who tell me you’re pushing to meet your reading goals for the year: you still have plenty of books to read and not enough time to read them in.