Brighter Winter wrap up:

I always dread the end of the holiday season.  It finds me a bit teary and so when I heard about the Brighter Winter challenge for the first time last year, I was SO excited.  It was just the thing that I needed.  You get a four by five grid of various challenges for January and February with a mix of ideas from book topics to reading in a cozy spot or while sipping your favorite yummy hot cuppa.  I LOVE it.  I wish they would make a year round challenge.

But alas...here we are at the end of February and so I wanted to do a quick wrap up for the challenge.

January :

I read Tramp for the Lord, James Herriot Treasury, Greenglass House, The Personal Points Cookbook, the book of James (repeatedly), Flight of the Dragon Kyn, The Great Passage, Eat That Frog (did not finish by end of the month though), A Place to Hang the Moon, A Christmas Carol, and The Llama Who Had No Pajama.

My favorite from January : Tramp for the Lord and A Place to Hang the Moon

February:

I read Prisoner B-3087, Book Girl, 84 Charing Cross Road, Fish in a Tree, Little White Horse, The Winter Garden, Just Mercy (YA edition), The Hunger Games, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and the book of Philippians (repeatedly).

My favorite from February: Just Mercy and Fish in a Tree

I am so glad that I finally picked up Just Mercy to read it, but you cannot read this book and be the same person when you are done (even the young adult version).  I am what many people term a "sensitive reader", and that coupled with how hard our days and weeks can be, I picked up the young adult version.  Last year actually.  But I waited to read it and this past week, after moving the stack that it set on top of (again!) so that I could get to my shelf to find a math book we needed, I decided there was no time like the present to dig in. 

I was NOT prepared for this book.

It immediately sucked me in, I found myself looking for time so that I could squirrel away another five minutes.  I found myself having to pace while reading some chapters just to process the events in that chapter and alternatingly praying and crying and just so heartbroken over the lives that were destroyed.  I hesitate to use that word because so many, soooo many in this book overcame overwhelming odds - but in that period of time - when their lives were turned upside down and justice wasn't even an option for them - I just don't know what else to say except that it destroyed that season of their life.  

I don't know that I have the words to adequately give this story it's worth in review.  It is in short an AMAZING story - not amazing in the way that it's awesome and good (although the fight for justice and sheer perseverance is in fact awesome and good) - but it is an amazing story in that it happened.  Right here in America.  When I was a teenager (the main story took place then, but the side stories he tells about other people - those are still happening into the 2000s).  When racism was supposed to be all but gone, when we were at the height of the "good years" of America (or so we were told going through school).  I am still stunned by this book.   

I think this book needs to be read.  And reread.  And reread again.  It is SO important that we not forget - that we get distracted by other things.  One life is worth fighting for.  One life is worth seeking justice for.  Hundreds (perhaps thousands?) are still waiting for that fight to come for them.  What can I do? Am I praying daily for the imprisoned?  

Oh that justice would run down like water.  And that righteousness would be an ever-flowing stream.  (from Amos 5:24)

As I look back over the list of what I have read the past two months, I realize the old adage that five minutes here and five minutes there will truly add up.  Almost all of these books were read five or ten minutes at a time - only a few were read out loud so that we could enjoy them together, several were re-reads (a visit to an old friend is SO important, and my books are some of the best friends I have 💖), and a few times I read while the rest of my family watched a movie.  But the bulk of the reading took place in small snatches of time: waiting in the car, while folding laundry, waiting for the water to boil, sitting next to the girls while they worked on their school work etc;  💝

*edited to add* I came so close to finishing The Little White Horse ,but didn't quite get it done by the last day of February.  What a beautiful book though!!  Will definitely be re-reading this one.  

Just Mercy

I have a pending post for Monday, which includes every book I read for the Brighter Winter challenge.  This title is included among others - so I won't write a wordy review on this post - 

but this book!!!!  What are the words that would serve this title well?  I am not sure I have them.

I read Just Mercy this past week and it turned my entire world upside down.  I chose the young adult version mainly because the season of life I am in - I cannot handle heavier books.  I am by nature a sensitive reader, but the past ten years - as our struggles have become longer and heavier - the extra emotional capacity just isn't there.  But this story was so important that I wanted to get a version that I could read - but even in that - even with the young adult version - the stories in this book broke my heart.  They caused me to question every single thing I thought I knew about fairness and justice and race.  This books is a vital story that needs to be told - over and over and over again until every single person knows it - examines it - and prayerfully reflects over it.

I also read Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson and have some great ideas for future reading and amazingly enough found courage and reassurance as I read a story with so much hurt and injustice as Just Mercy - that one of the ways to fight against the darkness daily is to follow Wendell Berry's rallying cry to daily love the Lord and to love the world and to daily do something that won't compute with the dour expectations of this fallen world. (taken from pg. 226)

We also hope to wrap up The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge this weekend (hence the pending post for Monday).  I did not get to any planned reading, but that is ok.  My heart was occupied with the reading of Just Mercy and now the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine.  

There is so much heartbreak in the world, all I know to do, all I can do is pray and to daily do something that goes against the darkness - whether it is to help catch the stones or to sing and glory in a good God who is still on His throne.

praying for Ukraine

I woke up this morning and checked the news first thing.  This is never a good idea.  But after I read a mix of headlines and shut down the browsers, I sat here for a moment wondering what in the world to pray.  How do you pray for the innocents caught between two political ideologies?  How do you pray when it feels like chaos is exploding and reporters are sensationalizing the violence and capitalizing on the fear?  How do you pray when you hear that the orphanages are being abandoned by the people who work there so that they can save themselves and their families - meanwhile the children are left behind?

So, I googled to see if anyone like Anne Graham Lotz or Paul Washer had posted any prayer points - and I found this link from Radical (David Platt).  It gives a good jumping off point for prayer and a little more background information about how this war has been brewing for a lot longer than I realized.  

I also find myself turning to Psalm 37.  This Psalm so accurately gets to the heart of the struggle of watching evil triumph (however temporary it is).  And it reminds me that God has the final say.  And that not for a second has He stepped down off of the throne.

Sugar Fast Friday # 3

Totally forgot to post about this yesterday.

First of all, I have been reading a bit more on the subject of fasting and denying yourself.  Those verses in the Gospels when Jesus addresses this, they kept popping up this past week.  Matthew 10:38, 16:24,25, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, 14:26, 33, and John 12:25.  I realized that God has been trying to teach me something and it is tied into the repentance piece from last week.  

The idea of repentance - that turning from something, suggests a full 180, which means that you will be turning from something, in order to turn to something completely different.  God called the Israelites to return to Him.  When they turned away from Him, He called them to turn back - to repent and to return back to Him.  A command to lay that down and instead pick this up.  

The discipline of fasting is not only a discipline to humble me, allowing myself to see how weak and dependent I truly am, but it is also a laying something down (in most cases food - but there are all kinds of fasting you can undertake - complaining, media, eating out, sugar, alcohol, parties and social events, books, etc;).  I lay what I am fasting from down, and if the item(s) I am fasting from was/is sinful or I treated them in a sinful way (i.e. idolized them) then I need to confess it as such.  Then take up His Word, His Presence, and His forgiveness.  

I turn from the comfort and treat of going to get a Starbucks and instead turn to His Word and allow it work in my heart.  He is faithful and His Word is true.  It may not happen on your timetable but it will happen exactly how He promises it will.  His promises are true and you can indeed build your entire life upon them.  

If you are not used to the discipline of fasting and have not cultivated this in your heart, which I was not, did not...then start small.  Choose one day a week (which is what I did), pick one thing to fast from (most sugar but specifically Starbucks hot chocolates), and faithfully do that each week.  Pray and ask God to develop this discipline in your heart.  

This is a quote I absolutely love from Lysa TerKeurst's book (it used to be called Made to Crave, but has since been updated and rereleased under a new title) I'll Start Again on Monday.  I start the quote in the middle of a passage - so just to give a bit of background she is referencing the young man that Jesus charged to sell all he had and give to the poor and then come follow Him in Matthew chapter nineteen.:

"Jesus didn't mean this as a sweeping command for everyone who has a lot of money.  He meant for any of us who wallow in whatever abundance we have.  I imagine Jesus looked straight into this young man's soul and said, "I want you to give up the one thing that you crave more than me.  Then come, follow me," " from Lysa's introduction in I'll Start Again on Monday)

This is exactly what I think the spiritual discipline of fasting is supposed to do - we are supposed to lay down the thing that we crave more than Him.  And then to come and follow Jesus.

Day 3 (or I am beginning to think of these Fridays as setting the tone for my weeks...so week three) the focus is on the crumbling stronghold of sugar.  Shout His victory even before He sets you free.  And set your heart to a listening posture.  Wendy gives five takeaways from the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho at the end of chapter/day three in her book The 40-Day Sugar Fast.  The one that I realized I am the worst at is listening.  Ask God what He wants to do in my life, my heart, this fast...and then listen.  So this week as I praise God in His victory of crumbing strongholds in my life, I will incline my heart to His Word.  And listen.  

What I read this week:

F is for Fugitive by Sue Grafton 

and 

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

I chose F is for Fugitive because it checked off two of the requirements from Calendar of Crime (it took place in February and the title began with 'F') and it also counted for 52 Books in 52 Weeks (it left me asking 'she did what?' several times).  I've never read Sue Grafton, and it probably didn't help that I jumped in on letter six of the alphabet mystery series about private detective Kinsey Millhone without any previous knowledge of what the series was about.  With that said, it actually only took the first three or four chapters for me to get a feel for who Kinsey was and how she operated.  

Sue Grafton was an extremely talented author (just found out she passed away in 2017), with a knack for writing from the point of view of Kinsey.  The entire story unfolds as if we are sitting through a long meal and Kinsey herself is retelling you point by point how it all went down.  I found this story and their characters to be like watching a train wreck - you are somewhat disgusted by it, but you cannot look away, you might miss some detail that will help you understand why they did or said what they did.  I found myself wondering as the book drew to a close - was there anyone in Floral Beach capable of and/or willing to tell the complete and unaltered truth, and was there anyone in Floral Beach who did not cheat on their spouse or take advantage of Jean Timberlake?  I skimmed over parts that were too much for me and there was quite a bit of language at various points - but all of it - the good, the bad, and the ugly seemed to be par for the course for these characters unfortunately.  

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff was read for the Brighter Winter challenge and it was like getting to visit with an old friend.  I love this book of letters about books.  I realized this time reading it through (I have read it four or five times) that there is another book called Q's Legacy that goes more in depth about how she came to love classic literature so much.  That is going on my ever growing TBR list. I also highly recommend the movie with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins - read the book first and then treat yourself to the movie!

I am going to add another challenge...

to the 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

The Brighter Winter Reading Challenge wraps up at the end of February and I have LOVED doing that (I wish they would come out with an entire year's challenge!).  I'll be doing a wrap up post next week for what I read and eagerly await next January.  It is such the perfect way to start the new year and recover from the holiday blues.  Does anyone else get teary that the holidays are over come January 1st?  

Anyway, I have all of my non-fiction goals set through Tim Challies, but fictional reading is so important to me.  I wanted something to take the place of Brighter Winter.  In doing the 52 Books, I realized that I have never really read the old mystery authors (actually not many mysteries at all).  I've never read Agatha Christie, but I read and liked Mary Roberts Rinehart.  I want to read more of those types of authors, so I looked around and I found the perfect addition to 52 Books: 

 "Calendar of Crime" and Bev hosts it on her blog My Reader's Block.  

I am excited to begin.  Now, to find my first book 💝...

In addition to this - I am so excited to try something else.  I watched a video this weekend (we were stuck inside most of the weekend because a tummy bug struck.  The virus was over and done in about 24 - 48 hours, but it has upset the apple cart of their underlying issues...so it has been a very looooong weekend.)  Anyway - I watched a video on how to do Jonathan Edwards note-taking system called the Miscellanies.  Have you ever heard of this?  I didn't save the link to the video, but I remember the person who made it : Pastor Matthew Everhard (he refers to himself as Pastor Matt in the video).  I am going to try it out this week in my Bible reading, as well as a color coding system that Eva Kubasiak talked about on Instagram this past week (she also emailed a video that is fantastic!). Her dad taught it to her (how neat is that?!?!) and she is sharing it with everyone else.  

So, even though we had to cancel and reschedule almost all of our appointments this coming week...and even if we stay stuck inside...I have lots to look forward to.  Oh and I almost forgot, yesterday while I was looking around for something for me, I found something for my girls!  I found an older Nancy Drew reading challenge posted on Good Reads.  I copied and pasted and printed it out and they now have a reading plan to be excited about too!!  Have a great week 💘 and Happy Valentine's Day💘!!

Prisoner B-3087

After my disappointment with Amanda Quick's book that I tried, I just pulled two out of my TBR pile - Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge and Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz.

"But we have only one purpose now: survive.  Survive at all costs, Yanek.  We cannot let these monsters tear us from the pages of the world." pg 70

I just wrapped up Prisoner B-3087 and WOW WOW WOW.  I loved this book, but it was so hard to read - the cruelty was so brutal, but I think the hardest thing to read about was the people who saw what was happening and did nothing to help.  I mean the horror of knowing you could so something, anything, and you did nothing - how did those people live with themselves?  How did they sleep at night?  How did the parents tuck their kids into bed, knowing what was happening to children at the hands of their country?  Right there in their country.  The incongruency of loving animals so much to punish the SS guards for animal cruelty and yet reward them for their brutality to the humans...I just cannot wrap my mind around this.  

My great grandmother was Jewish - her family immigrated to America long before the Holocaust, but they came from Prussia, I wonder if any of my ancestors could not or did not make the trip and lost their lives in the Holocaust?  Anyway - I have read aloud several of Alan Gratz's books, but this one my oldest read before I did and she recommended that I read it.  I am so glad that Amanda Quick's book did not work out.  I would recommend this book to anyone studying the Holocaust.  (And I highly recommend Alan Gratz as a good solid historical fiction author)

I am on chapter twenty-six of Secrets of the Secret Place, I was gifted this book and workbook several years ago, and it goes on my TBR list every year.  I am so excited to finally get to it and am really enjoying it.  It has been a nice counter balance to reading about the horrors of the Holocaust.  

I did a post

a few years ago after I heard a sermon about how important it is to do 'good works'.  I wanted to follow up with something I learned this morning while working on my verse map.  

I hear the phrase 'good works' or 'the works of the Lord' and how important they are, but I feel like that often times people will preach that or write about it in a book - and I just never really get what that means.  Authors, preachers, and teachers never seem to take the time to break down what exactly a good work is, or if they do, I just don't get it.  I wrote a post here and a few other ones in late 2020/early 2021 as I dug into what exactly the concept of works meant.  

I got busy and if I am honest, frustrated, with my lack of understanding/insight into what this means.  Mainly - how do you know what good work to do and do you begin it - does God - how do you carry on in the good works without becoming legalistic/trying to earn something.  Anyway, life went on until last month, as part of the Brighter Winter challenge, I read and re-read the book of James.  If you are at all familiar with James he talks about how important it is to show your faith by your works and I started ruminating on this idea again.  

Then this morning as I was working on my Philippians 1:6 verse map (The James Method posted a free plan to map through the book of Philippians), I hit the jackpot.  This was SUCH an amazing insight into God's Word I wanted to share it here:

As I looked up the meaning of the word good and the word works, I could NOT believe it.  Right there in the Lexicon and Strong's it answered my question.  God helped me to see THE MOST important truth - HE originates the work, it is empowered by HIM, it is carried out as a completion of an inner desire - how does this inner desire/purpose happen?  HE DOES IT ALL.  He starts it, He carries to completion, He changes our hearts and causes the desire to grow and we act in faith on that.  BUT HE DOES EVERY SINGLE PART OF IT.  How amazingly awesome is this?  

Sugar Fast Friday #2

The question Wendy asks:  "what do you turn to instead of Him?" is a loaded question, is it not?  (Day Two 40 Day Sugar Fast)

In the middle of a bad day - that answer varies - a hot chocolate, 5 minute Instagram scroll, the great news hop (Fox News, state news where I live, local news, or Christian News Headlines - I guess to reassure me that there is a world bigger than the hard moment we find ourselves in?), music, funny videos, or texting - sometimes a walk or drive to change the scenery, grabbing fast food at the end of a very long day...  While. it has helped that my phone can no longer stay charged if I unplug it - I don't scroll or text or news hop as much, it is also true that I haven't put any better habits in place.  

Today, as I was reading Day Two (this is like the tenth time I have read Day Two?), I was again reminded of the fact that it is never enough to simply stop doing one thing.  

It must be a stop that and start this.  

I want my heart bound to His.  So, this next week I will meditate on the concept of returning.  Weep, mourn, grieve over the distractions that I have allowed to buffer my heart, instead of allowing His Word, His Presence to soothe.  And then daily ask Him what to do instead.  

This week I am praying: Nehemiah 1:5-9

OK, so I tried it...

but did NOT like Amanda Quick's (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) romantic mystery.  So, it is Wednesday and I am essentially out two days trying to give it a decent try.  *sigh*

What I did not like :

The smut.  I used to devour romance novels.  My favorite author was Julie Garwood.  I loved, loved, loved her books.  But then the more I started reading my Bible after the birth of my firstborn, the more I realized that this writing did not honor God, and I was not honoring God by reading it.  So, I have set standards in place for what I should be reading and what I should not be reading.  This book falls most assuredly under the should not.

What I was hoping for:

I was hoping for more mystery, less references to sex, and more actual (what I consider clean) romance.

What I struggled with:

This was an author recommended to read this week for 52 weeks.  I know there will be authors I won't like and everyone else will.  I am afraid that I sound judgmental writing this, that is not my intention.  I read romance novels without any issues for a looong time.  This author was one I have heard of many, many time before and really wanted to like, but just could not.

What I am going to do now:

Try another book by a different author and hopefully get it done before Saturday.

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Once, a long, long time ago, when I was in fourth grade at a Catholic school I had this teacher.  She was SO incredibly mean.  Not your normal, run of the mill mean either, a cruel mean meant to humiliate and hurt.  I remember her name, her haircut, the glint in her eyes that she got when she could single out someone and embarrass them.  There was this one kid named Jamie and Mrs. J would always have us read aloud for social studies.  It would start at the first desk and run back row upon row until the selection was finished.  But Jamie had a REALLY hard time learning to read.  He was quiet and sweet and funny, but he could not read fluently.  She LOVED when it was his time to read aloud - it gave her an opportunity to point out how lazy he must be, how if he would just work harder, he would be able to read without all of the stopping and starting and sounding outs and fumbles.

As a mom to special needs kids, and kids (who are now teens) who have learning differences, there are so many days I think back to that year, that class, and my heart hurts even more for Jamie.  I wonder if he ever got the help he needed, if anyone along the way ever pulled him aside and told him - hey you are smart - REALLY smart, you just have something called dyslexia.  It is not a learning disability - a reading disability, it is a learning difference.  You will need to be taught in a different way than most. One of my girls is severely, profoundly dyslexic.  She is learning to read, but she has to work SO SO much harder than other kids her age.  This book, Fish in a Tree, is incredible in its ability to accurately shine a light on what the process is like - identifying what is going on, finding a method that works for how their brain works, and moving forward at their pace with LOTS of encouragement to keep going. 

There are very few books that I read and feel like the author understands the turmoil, shame, and absolute burning desire of kids that have learning differences - or actually any difference at all - to be able to do what everyone else can do.  To be able to read or make friends or have one day that is not tsunamied (is that a word?  If not I am making it one for my post 👍) by meltdowns.  To be accepted by their classmates, church family, actual family, or co-workers....for who they are truly are.  NOT who the family thinks they should be, but simply who God created them to be.  Whether that difference comes in the form of appearance, mental illness, disabilities...whatever it is - that the only cry of any human heart is to be deeply known and completely loved.

This book is an INCREDIBLE book.  It should be required reading for every single teacher, doctor, and parent.  Anyone at all who works with kids - this should be read.  And re-read.  And re-read again.

Traces of Guilt &...

Interestingly enough, I heard about Dee Henderson as a recommendation right before this week's challenge was posted...so I was excited to see her name on the list as recommended reads for 52 weeks.  After finishing The Winter Garden, it took a day for me to just process that book, but I really wanted to try Dee Henderson, so even though it was late in the week to start another book, I picked it up and am so glad I did💖. 

Traces of Guilt was a sweet, engaging read to bounce back from the intensity of The Winter Garden.  *Full disclosure, I am almost done with Traces of Guilt, but not quite yet. 

I love the prayers they prayed in this book, I love how committed they are to making sure justice is served even when that goes in a very uncomfortable direction, and I loved how this was a hallmark movie and mystery type mystery - I think they are called cozy mysteries?  

Evie Blackwell is coming to Carin County Illinois to spearhead a new task force to review cold cases.  The next sixteen days are their trial run and things get off to a rather rough start as a buck deer tries to literally take her, her car, and her dogs out.  She inadvertently stirs up a hornet nest as she gets down to business, taking over the old post office and setting up camp.  

I have the last few chapters to read tonight and am REALLY looking forward to it! I will definitely be reading more Dee Henderson books!

*edited* I finished the book - what I liked is how well Dee Henderson switched point of views - it was done so well and actually added to the story (normally I find it hard to follow when an author switches character points of view chapter by chapter).  What I didn't like was how the story drug on and on and on at the end.  I feel like she repeated herself so much that the resolution of the three crimes could have been wrapped up four or five chapters before they were.   

I also got behind on the 'need-to pre-read' stack because The Winter Garden was all consuming (in the best way), but I promised to get this done this week, so I picked up The Bravest Princess from the Wide-Awake Princess series and jumped right in.  I LOVE this series.  It is SO cute.  E.D. Baker does an excellent job with the mystery element, the intrigue and fairy tale princesses are perfect for tweens/young teens to enjoy.  I hope to finish the last few chapters tomorrow before beginning the new challenge 💝.  

Odds and Ends...

(Less) Sugar Fast: First Friday down!!  It went ok.  I cheated at dinner and had a small cup of soda and a chocolate chip cookie for dessert.  But other than that, I stuck to it! (I am calling it a less sugar challenge, because I am allowing myself a bit of sugar in my coffee - I do want to give honey a try, but I am currently out so it will have to wait until the grocery run.  I use half and half, I also eat boxed cereal almost every morning for breakfast, and am not reading labels to make sure there is no sugar in items - for example my salad dressing.)

Goals and Such: Well, the reading goals are going REALLY well, the tidy goals are moving along (mostly) swimmingly, I joined WW digital to help with my fitness goals, we just finished the first part of our big car maintenance and I have done fairly well with my SMAUG goals.  The most disappointing of all is that I have yet to pick and stick with a Bible reading plan.  I don't know what it is, but it is like I just can't settle on a plan.  So yesterday, I simply picked up my Bible and began in Genesis.  And started reading.  No plan, just read.  

Sugar Fast Friday One

Today is Friday number one!  This has been a brutal week, I am glad I chose to do one day a week for now.  I am going to read Day One, Journal, and then check in tonight.  Have a beautiful Friday 💝

The Winter Garden

Have you ever read a book, and afterwards felt a little dazed by the impact?  I stayed up late last night to read the last pages in Kristin Hannah's The Winter Garden and oh my goodness.  

This book was unbelievable.  

Reading this was my first Kristin Hannah experience, although I hear and see her name almost everywhere.  I don't know where to begin with a review, because I feel inadequate to say anything other than - GO READ THIS BOOK as soon as you can. 

*two caveats* there is some language in this book (it doesn't feel like she throws it in just to do it, it fits with the turmoil of the characters in the moment) and there is sex (not explicit, but you definitively know what the character is doing - or about to do).  I know those are deal breakers for many readers and they usually are for me, but I felt that the raw, messy human emotion in all of its good, bad, and ugly was needed to to fully tell this story.

Meredith and Nina are Evan and Anya's beautiful, successful daughters who mask the pain of rejection in very different ways.  Their mother, Anya, is an indecipherable enigma they have spent a lifetime both trying to figure out and simultaneously co-exist along side without engaging too much of their hearts, in order to buffer the pain of rejection.  Their one bright spot, the glue that holds the four of them together is their Daddy, Evan.  His love is pure sunshine.  He does not ever give up trying to pull the three of his girls (his wife and two daughters) together. to have Meredith and Nina listen, really listen and to have Anya share, fully share the story she's carried in her heart for so long, too long.  

Take the time to slowly immerse yourself in the pages of this book, push through the slow beginning and get caught up in the story as it unfolds.  If you can read it during the wintertime, so much the better.  I initially checked this book out through the Libby app, but then bought the paperback when I was about halfway through.  I recommend the actual book over ebook.