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turning_every_paige's reviews
560 reviews
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
Minor: Domestic abuse
Mort by Terry Pratchett
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
First off, I was pleasantly surprised by how clean this book was! There was some minor innuendo, but that was literally it as far as sexual content. Also very infrequent, minor language. All in all, very pleasantly surprised to find that in a book like this.
Sir Terry Pratchett is a satirical genius. This book had me laughing SO much with all the snarky, funny-but-true witticisms.
I loved the personification of Death. To take the Grim Reaper and make him lovable, relatable, and funny is certainly quite a feat. Loved it.
I look forward to my next foray into the Discworld series!
Sir Terry Pratchett is a satirical genius. This book had me laughing SO much with all the snarky, funny-but-true witticisms.
I loved the personification of Death. To take the Grim Reaper and make him lovable, relatable, and funny is certainly quite a feat. Loved it.
I look forward to my next foray into the Discworld series!
Healing Your Body Naturally After Childbirth: The New Mom's Guide to Navigating the Fourth Trimester by Jolene Brighten
informative
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
Minus one star because there’s a shocking lack of cited sources. That always bugs me. Especially in a more natural health-type work— we need to be citing our sources! This is the reason everyone thinks natural remedies and whole nutrition is just quack medicine.
However, there is a lot of helpful info in here.
However, there is a lot of helpful info in here.
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
Minor: Drug abuse
The Path of Loneliness: It May Seem a Wilderness, But It Can Lead You to God by Elisabeth Elliot
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
This is *almost* 5 stars for me. I gave it 4.75 stars. I love Elisabeth Elliot and her writings speak to me very deeply, but she gives the weirdest relationship advice. So the parts of the book that deal with dating relationships I can’t recommend, especially after reading about her almost toxic-sounding courtship with her first husband, Jim.
That aside, this book really was wonderful. Loneliness is part of the human experience, and there is something here for everyone— widow(er), friendless, single, separated from friends by distance— you name it, she probably addresses it in this book.
I love the idea of reframing loneliness as solitude that can be offered back to God. As a missionary on a foreign field I definitely have and continue to experience an often achingly deep loneliness. This book gave me comfort, hope, and a lot of things to think about. Certainly worth a re-read.
Some favorite quotes:
That aside, this book really was wonderful. Loneliness is part of the human experience, and there is something here for everyone— widow(er), friendless, single, separated from friends by distance— you name it, she probably addresses it in this book.
I love the idea of reframing loneliness as solitude that can be offered back to God. As a missionary on a foreign field I definitely have and continue to experience an often achingly deep loneliness. This book gave me comfort, hope, and a lot of things to think about. Certainly worth a re-read.
Some favorite quotes:
…that love, revealed in the Cross, does not exclude but must always include suffering.
When all we have to offer seems pitifully small and woefully poor, we must offer it up nonetheless, in obedience like the widow’s and in the simplicity of a little child who brings a crushed dandelion to his mother. The child is not bitter and resentful at the poverty of his offering. He is happy to have something.
At the Cross of Jesus our crosses are changed into gifts.
Turn your loneliness into solitude, and your solitude into prayer. …Loneliness is a wilderness, through receiving it as a gift, accepting it from the hand of God, and offering it back to Him with thanksgiving, it may become a pathway to holiness, to glory, and to God Himself.
The Holy Bible: King James Version by Anonymous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness, I. Lilias Trotter
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This lovingly written biography of a lesser-known missionary was so moving and inspiring. Lillias Trotter was quite a woman, who had quite a relationship with her Lord. Her love for people, her passion for the impossible, her drive to serve the Lord, and her ability to pull spiritual lessons from the scenes of nature that she loved so well are all incredibly thought-provoking and challenging. What a life!
Some quotes from the book and from Lillias herself:
-“It is loss to keep when God says ‘give’.”— L.T.
-“The only valid question, she believed, was how anyone who had experienced the light of eternity ‘in the face of Jesus Christ’ could withhold that light and life and love from those who had not. …’All that is of dimness and dreariness and hopeless heart-emptiness is wrapped up in those two words— without Christ’.” -M.H.R.
-“I am full of hope that when God delays in fulfilling our little thoughts, it is to have Himself room to work out His great ones.” —L.T.
-“And yet let us write evermore write over all our miseries, big, and for the most part very little, these transforming words ‘With Jesus’.” —L.T.
-“…you cannot get beyond that blessed climax of impossibility. Let faith swing out on Him. He is the God of the impossible.” —L.T.
5 ⭐️
Some quotes from the book and from Lillias herself:
-“It is loss to keep when God says ‘give’.”— L.T.
-“The only valid question, she believed, was how anyone who had experienced the light of eternity ‘in the face of Jesus Christ’ could withhold that light and life and love from those who had not. …’All that is of dimness and dreariness and hopeless heart-emptiness is wrapped up in those two words— without Christ’.” -M.H.R.
-“I am full of hope that when God delays in fulfilling our little thoughts, it is to have Himself room to work out His great ones.” —L.T.
-“And yet let us write evermore write over all our miseries, big, and for the most part very little, these transforming words ‘With Jesus’.” —L.T.
-“…you cannot get beyond that blessed climax of impossibility. Let faith swing out on Him. He is the God of the impossible.” —L.T.
5 ⭐️
Chosen But Free by Norman L. Geisler
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Excellent resource. While it is definitely a slower, more academic work, Geisler does an excellent job of breaking down Extreme Calvinism, moderate Calvinism, and Arminianism. He uses proper hermeneutics to make biblical points, as well as logic to defend them. And while it does get a bit repetitive or overly wordy now and again, I appreciate the author’s thoroughness. Not a fast read! But very valuable if you take your time and work through it slowly and with prayer.