Recap Book Chat

“Grown-up people find it very difficult to believe really wonderful things, unless they have what they call proof.” 

We join Cyril, Anthea, Jane, Robert (aka Bob), and the baby (aka the Lamb) as they explore and discover a wish granting Psammed (aka ancient sand fairy). However, every wish backfires on the fivesome in many humorous and unusual ways.

The kids work together to solve the problems created by each wish. Our guests, Jonah and Titus, thought the theme of the story was greed and the lesson could be that we should be satisfied with what we have. Great insight for a 7 and 9 year old!

Do you feel like challenging your children with a family read-aloud? Try out this E. Nesbit classic Five Children and It and enjoy expanding your sense of wonder. She writes from the kids’ viewpoint in such a way you feel like you’re included in their adventures. Many adults choose not to stretch their imaginations, but by doing so they miss out on great reads like The Hobbit, The Wind and the Willows, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe just to mention a few out of the plethora of timeless treasures. Travel to a time when kids had nothing but their imaginations to transport them into predicaments that boggle our minds and tickle our funny bones. : )

“Trying not to believe things when in your heart you are almost sure they are true, is as bad for the temper as anything I know.”

Be sure to let us know if you have read this novel or if you have books you would like to recommend.  You can join our Facebook Group, ⁠Recap Book Chat⁠ or leave us a voice memo.

My favorite way to read is curled up with a soft blanket and a hot cozy drink in my hand. Currently my go to beverage is decaf coffee with ⁠Earth Echo's Cacao Bliss⁠ blended in. Ten powerful, organic superfoods that help with relaxation, joint pain, weight goals, and mental focus. Use my coupon code KATEM10 to get 10% off your order when you try their products.

Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Connect with Kate and Sheila online at ⁠www.recapbookchat.com⁠

Note that some of the links above are affiliate links to books and brands we love and ones we think you will too! Keep those pages turning and those book lights burning!

“No young man can live in such an atmosphere of unpunished dishonesty and lawlessness without wrecking his character.”

This quote connects hauntingly well with our society today just as it did back in 1897.

What guides your decision making? Where is your focus? Join Kate and Sheila as they discuss an 1890s instant classic, In His Steps. Charles Sheldon’s best seller tells the story of Henry Maxwell’s challenge to his congregation,  prompted by a tramp who wandered into his church,  spoke boldly to the congregation, then suddenly collapsed. What did the Henry’s pledge consist of? He presented them with one simple question to guide all their decision making…

 What would Jesus do? Ironically, one hundred years later a youth leader shortened Henry Maxwell’s question to the acronym, WWJD. It was put on everything from coffee mugs to T-shirts. 

What a powerful question! Sheldon takes readers on the amazing journey illustrating how that one question impacted  those brave enough to accept and live out the pledge in their lives. 

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.” 1 John 2:6

During this time period the United States was suffering an economic downturn, known as the Panic of 1893. We discovered how living out that question enriched and challenged the lives of a newspaper editor, a singer, an heiress, a store owner, a college president, railroad superintendent and others. The resoluteness of these folks was inspiring! 

Why is this book important? The store owner said, “The first change I made was in my thoughts about my employees…What would Jesus do?” Thoughts are powerful and they are where change begins. Thoughts feed our actions. Remember the old truism, “Two natures beat within my breast, one is cursed, one is blest, one I love, one I hate, the one I feed will dominate”?

In our busyness it is easy to forget our true focus. We make decisions on the fly as we go willy-nilly through life with Jesus on the back burner but we must slow down and remember…

“We can’t imitate Jesus if we don’t know Him.”

Be sure to let us know if you have read this novel or if you have books you would like to recommend.  You can join our Facebook Group, Recap Book Chat or leave us a voice memo.

My favorite way to read is curled up with a soft blanket and a hot cozy drink in my hand. Currently my go to beverage is decaf coffee with Earth Echo's Cacao Bliss blended in. Ten powerful, organic superfoods that help with relaxation, joint pain, weight goals, and mental focus. Use my coupon code KATEM10 to get 10% off your order when you try their products.

Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Connect with Kate and Sheila online at www.recapbookchat.com

Note that some of the links above are affiliate links to books and brands we love and ones we think you will too! Keep those pages turning and those book lights burning!

Things We Didn’t Say by Amy Lynn Green was a book out of the ordinary. She weaves a tale using only letters, telegraphs, and notes. This piece of history was unknown to us, German POWs were brought to America to work with farmers. We were taken back in time to January 1944 to Ironside Lake, Minnesota. We met Johanna Berglund, a determined linguistic student that was coerced into returning to her hometown to work as a translator at the nearby POW camp. She couldn’t wait to leave her hometown and now, ironically, she is headed back.

Peter Ito, Jo’s closest friend, is a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers, he encourages her to do her best to give Ironside Lake a second chance. Peter has a lot of wisdom: “God never promised us an easy path. But He did say He’d be with us through it all.” 

               “The past is never in the past. But we have to have the courage to move beyond it.”

               “We can do anything we must. How we do it is up to us.”

               “Don’t hold on so tightly to one idea of what you want that you don’t let God push you 

                 In another direction.”

Jo was a guarded: “I don’t have enough charm to spare and have to ration it for general     

                               interaction with humanity.”

                             “Real life is dreadfully tedious, the way it interrupts reading.”

She cleverly began her letters to Peter with German idioms, such as:

                              “To add one’s mustard=put in one’s opinion”

                               “The fish begins to stink at the head=the source of trouble is often at the top”

                               “To howl along with the wolves=do as those around you are doing”

As Jo’s adventure continues she battles with owner of the newspaper, Mr. McHenry, who prints anonymous negative letters about the POWs in the name of freedom of expression. Her attempt to show him the wrongness of his practice is priceless. “As I see, no one should be able to sling mud from a dark and shadowed corner…”

Pastor Sorenson wrote, “Sometimes showing grace breaks us before it heals us. Forgiveness can feel like a betrayal of justice.” Powerful message from a man that lost his son in battle from the same place the POWs were captured, yet he agrees to let the prisoners attend church.

Why was Jo on trial for treason? What will be revealed in the trial?  Will Peter survive his time in the army? Who was Jo’s scholarship donor that told her to choose the better dream, not the bigger dream?” How can letters alone paint a picture of days gone by, but connect so amazingly to the world we live in?

Please, join us as Kate ‘adds her mustard’ and I add mine about Things We Didn’t Say.

“

The same author that gave us Ebenezer Scrooge and Oliver Twist also gifted readers with a kind, loyal, misfortunate, and somewhat naïve, David Copperfield. After reading this novel from the genre, bildungsroman (dealing with the protagonist maturing) we agree with the famous praise of Thackery, ‘Bravo Dickens’.

Let’s share a few quotes from these classic characters:

“My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.”

David Copperfield

This quote echoes Ecclesiastes 9, “Whatever your hand finds to do, to it with all your might.” David did everything wholeheartedly. Even when he fell in love, David was ‘head over ears’ in love with Dora and willing to ‘take his woodman’s ax in hand and clear his way through the forest of difficulty’ to become her husband.

“Cheer up, keep a good heart and know your own value.” Mrs. Crupp

We should never forget our value either, we were made in God’s image. David struggled with this because he had an unsavory step-father who sent the downtrodden seven year old away from the only home he’d ever known.

“We must meet reverses boldly, and not suffer them to frighten us, my dear. We must learn to act the play out. We must live misfortune down, Trot!” Aunt Betsy Trotwood

‘“I look back on my life, child,’ said my aunt, ‘and I think of some who are in their graves, with whom I might have been on kinder terms…I have been a grumpy, frumpy, wayward sort of a woman, a good many years. But you and I have done one another some good, Trot-” Another jewel from Aunt Betsy

What a worthwhile goal for us all as well, ‘Let us strive daily to do some good ❤️.’

If you are looking for a classic that has stood the test of time by delivering endearing characters, dastardly dudes, and comical quips, David Copperfield has it all👏

Be sure to let us know if you have read this novel or if you have books you would like to recommend.  You can join our Facebook Group, Recap Book Chat or leave us a voice memo.

My favorite way to read is curled up with a soft blanket and a hot cozy drink in my hand. Currently my go to beverage is decaf coffee with Earth Echo's Cacao Bliss blended in. Ten powerful, organic superfoods that help with relaxation, joint pain, weight goals, and mental focus. Use my coupon code KATEM10 to get 10% off your order when you try their products.

Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Connect with Kate and Sheila online at www.recapbookchat.com

Note that some of the links above are affiliate links to books and brands we love and ones we think you will too! Keep those pages turning and those book lights burning!

Have you ever noticed how some folks seem to get a lot done with little effort while other folks g barely get the bare essentials done? One camp seems to swim effortlessly while the camp I’m in  dog paddles with our heads barely above water. Why is this? We all are blessed with 168 hours in a week but that is where the similarity between these two camps ends, my friend. 

Tim Challies helps those of us that are organizationally challenged. Step by step he helps us  develop a plan with  routines to help us navigate life much more efficiently and stress-free in his book Do More Better. His goal is to help readers be productive. He defines productivity as effectively stewarding our gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God. 

He warns us about the productivity thieves that some of us know all too well: 

laziness, busyness, (which are within our control) and thorns and thistles (problems life throws at us that we cannot control but we can control how we react to them). Being mindful helps us react positively because we see possibilities instead of problems. (Check out Jordan Peterson’s interview with mindfulness guru Ellen Langer who explains how 1 + 1= 1 😃) Change Your Mindset, Your Health, Your Life | Dr. Ellen Langer | EP 381

Humility helps us realize we are limited. We cannot do everything. When we accept this we also realize that if we spread ourselves too thin we are not doing anything with excellence. “We have limited amounts of gifting, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm, but unlimited ways of allocating them.”

 Learn about the slow “yes” and the quick “no” and ‘a home for everything, and like goes with like’. Motivation is like the moon, it waxes and wanes. Implement habits during waxing times and those habits will carry you through when the waning times come. It is important to know your most productive time in the day, are you a lark or an owl or in between? Put the big rocks in first when you are at your best. 

Why are we here? 1 Corinthians 10:31 tell us, “So whether you eat or drink, (or organize) or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Our lives should glorify God, let’s go forth and live for Him!

We got our book remediation today from Robyn Buchanan. Check out her youtube channel and website to get inspiration for taming the chaos.  

Be sure to let us know if you have read this novel or if you have books you would like to recommend.  

You can join our Facebook Group, Recap Book Chat or leave us a voice memo.

Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Connect with Kate and Sheila online at www.recapbookchat.com

My current my go to beverage is an iced decaf coffee with ⁠Earth Echo's Cacao Bliss⁠ blended in. Ten powerful, organic superfoods that help with relaxation, joint pain, weight goals, and mental focus. Use my coupon code KATEM10 to get 10% off your order when you try their products.

Note that some of the links above are affiliate links to books and brands we love and ones we think you will too! Keep those pages turning and those book lights burning!

Is your life so busy you barely take time to breathe let alone pray without ceasing? We think this nugget of truths can help us to focus on God no matter what we’re doing.  Brother Lawrence was not a monk. He was a  wounded soldier, failed footman, and finally a cook and dishwasher and cobbler who lived centuries ago. How can he help us today? Brother Lawrence was known to be ‘sensible of his faults but not discouraged by them.’ People wrote him letters seeking his advice.

His responses were short lessons such as “One does not become holy all at once” and 

“Our only business was to love and delight ourselves in God…”

Brother Lawrence said it was a great delusion to think that times of prayer were different from other times. God is always with us! We are never alone! Before working he prayed:

“ O my God, since Thou are with me and I must now, in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech Thee to grant me the grace to continue in Thy presence, and to this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections.” 

I love that his book is called The Practice of the Presence of God because we must practice  and practice and practice to form this amazing ‘holy habit’.Christ followers are not perfect but we should be different. We should be working wholeheartedly because we are serving our heavenly Father no matter what we are endeavoring to accomplish.   Mowing a lawn, cooking a meal, washing laundry, bandaging a wound, teaching a child the list is endless but the drive and determination to do our best should be consistent. 

1 Corinthians 10:31 is the focus scripture in the movie Remember the Goal. The coach put it on T-shirts for her team to help them remember, “...whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” Brother Lawrence and the cross-country coach share the same mindset. 

There were many powerful lines in this book but my favorite was pithy and packed a punch, 

“Let us think often that our only business in this life is to please God.”