Miss Lowe's Book Nook

Occasionally, a book stumbles in to my To-Be-Read pile. Someone recommends it to me, or I see in an article, or it's new at the library. For one reason or another, I start reading it, though there are hundreds of other books I could be reading instead. Then this book that has appeared out of the ether grabs me by the collar and doesn't let go until I read the last page, when it simply lingers in my mind, filtering my thoughts and memories. Not many books do this. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  by Sherman Alexie. Exit, Pursued by a Bear  by E. K. Johnston. Now I can add to the stack: Opioid, Indiana  by Brian Allen Carr. As a recent addition to the land of the Hoosiers, I consider it a responsibility to find out more about this land and its people. At first glance, they seem much like Kansans or Nebraskans. But Hoosiers are their own breed, for better or for worse. So, of course, the title of this book jumped out at me. While Indiana has some strange town...

If you haven't heard, in about two months, I'll be starting my first school year as a proper, real-life, actual high school English teacher. I have loved reading basically since I could hold a book (if this ridiculous blog isn't a good enough indicator) but nowadays, I have the opportunity to approach it from a new stance. Now, when I pick up a book, I read it for myself on one level, and on another level, I think, "How would I teach this? What would a student think of this book? What would make this book worth teaching to my students?" This type of thinking has really opened up a new way for me to comprehend and process the books I read and made me even more excited to take on teaching. A great example of this self-observed phenomena is the book I've most recently finished: The Knife of Never Letting Go  by Patrick Ness. I've read other Ness before (check out my post reviewing The Rest of Us Just Live Here ) and enjoyed him, but Knife  was a different ge...

Every time I turn on the radio or the TV, all the ads scream variations on the same thing: " Make this the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER! " We all simply MUST have that new piece of tech or toy for the kids or perfectly quirky little object to put on a shelf. Otherwise, how could we possibly have the " BEST CHRISTMAS EVER "? But here's the deal, people. Come on, lean in close. Closer! I'll whisper it in your ear. The best Christmas ever already happened . Whaaaat? I know, it's crazy. Surely having a bigger tree and more lights and more eggnog can make this year  the best Christmas ever? But alas. There is no way that we could ever, ever top the real, true Best Christmas Ever. Could it have been the year that you got that bike you really wanted as a kid? Or the year your family vacation went perfectly? What about last year, when everyone liked the gifts you got them? Nope. The Best Christmas Ever, the one we can never top, took place over 2000 years ago. A car...

I know this is a few days late, but I've been sleeping and unpacking the last couple of days. It's great to be back home, but my experience in St. Louis was full of amazing experiences, wonderful people, and over a chance for me to grow and learn. My last week in STL was one of my favorites. As our internships were winding down, all of the interns got to spend a lot of time together. One day, we all worked in a conference room together, getting to both get work done and chat with each other. When the summer started, I never dreamed that I would grow so close with the other five girls, but I did. We all hailed from different places and had different backgrounds and majors, but we bonded over CPH, John Mulaney, Christ, and the fact that we were all outsiders together. We were joyful, tearful, and laughable. We ate cupcakes and pizza, visited tourist sites, and went to church. I am so thankful for Adele, Emily, Katie, Audrey, and April. In addition to all the fantastic people I ...

My time at CPH has flown by and I now only have one week left in St. Louis! I had a lot of fun this past week, though. As the VBS intern, a lot of my job has consisted of updating and changing files for next year's VBS, Miraculous Mission . I got really good at using the "find and replace" tool in Word! However, this week I got to do more with creating original files and content. Adele and I have been working on creating the PowerPoints for the song lyrics and the opening and closing sessions of VBS. This required a lot of waiting for various art files, waiting to make sure the song lyrics were proofread, and waiting for InDesign to export files. After this week, I could go years without using InDesign again and I would be happy! But really, it's been so cool to put together something that I know will be used by churches next summer. Heck, I'll be using it! When we were exporting lyrics for what felt like the thousandth time, Adele and I reminded each other about...

Oh what a week it was! After taking the week of July 4th off to visit home, it was decidedly more difficult to get back in the swing of things at CPH, but it was a great week nonetheless! In terms of what I was working on day to day, most of this week was spent writing a few blog posts for the CPH VBS website. I got to collaborate on these posts with my fellow intern, Adele, which made it an even cooler project. Our first post is already up, if you would like to check it out! I'll put a link at the bottom of this post. We've also been working on creating PowerPoints, PDFs, and other documents that will be a part of next year's VBS, Miraculous Mission . It has been so amazing to work on this VBS and know that churches all across the country will use it next year, including my home church! It is going to be a fantastic way to share Christ's love with kids, and I'm a part of it! I just really love this job. Most of the excitement this week came in the form of activi...

Hello again! This was a fantastic week of CPH, though it was a very tiring one! I felt like I was doing a little bit of everything my job could entail, and I loved it. Monday was probably the slowest day of the week. I spent most of my time on Monday at my desk, working on various documents and dealing with the more logistical side of Miraculous Mission . The rest of the week held a lot of ups and downs! On Tuesday we began shooting for our Song Action Videos at a park in the suburbs of St. Louis. My fellow intern Adele and I got to come into work late because we would have to stay late for the video shoot. We were praying all day that we wouldn't be rained out. Instead, we drove to the park in torrential rain through construction! All of the kids for the videos still showed up and we got two of the songs done between storms. At about six, the deluge began again, soaking us all, and leading to another stressful drive through the rain. I was very thankful for dry clothes and a war...

How is it possible that I have already been at CPH for four weeks?! The time has flown by, but this week was a long one. Monday was fairly low-key this week. We finished taking down all of the decorations that had been up for the promo shoots and luncheon. I spent a lot of time carrying foam core, deflating planets, ripping up tape, and riding on elevators. The big excitement of this week was shooting the skit videos for Miraculous Mission . I got to help put together the set for the videos. Borrowing quirky items from offices all over the building, we ended up with a funky set that's sure to intrigue next year's viewers! On Tuesday, the shooting actually began. We had two actors brought in, including one former CPH intern. Cameras, a stylist, lights, and a clapboard all made me feel like I was on a tiny movie set. While I didn't get to stay for the whole shoot, it was so fun to see a production in a different format than my usual theatre. My other exciting activity this...

This week of my internship flew by! I was busy every day, doing a variety of fun tasks and really digging into my role as the VBS intern. Every day held something new. Monday was working to reset the VBS rooms, getting ready for Tuesday. I also got to work on converting documents from this year's Splash Canyon  VBS into documents for next year's Miraculous Mission . It was like a game, hunting down the things that needed to be changed and those that could stay the same. It also gave me a chance to really familiarize myself with the Bible stories, memory verses, and themes for Miraculous Mission . On Tuesday, we had another promotional shoot. For this one, we brought in about a dozen child models - ones that had experience taking direction and being photographed and filmed. It was an adventure to say the least! Overall, the kids were wonderful and I know we got a lot of great shots, which will be really helpful as the promotional materials get put together. I just had fun shar...

My first full week at CPH is complete! It flew by quick as a wink, but it was packed with great experiences. Most of this week was dedicated to decorating two of our large conference rooms for the Miraculous Mission VBS promotional shoot. I spent my days hanging backdrops, blowing up inflatable planets, taping down tarps, and cutting galaxies out of paper. It was tedious at times, but it was all worth it when Friday rolled around and I got to see the reactions of all the kids who were part of the shoot. One highlight of this week was a celebration. On Wednesday, the curriculum department went out to lunch in honor of Lisa Clark, a member of the team and author of the popular Messengers  series from CPH. We ate at the Taco and Ice Cream Joint, which was delicious, authentic, and fun. It was nice to just "hang out" with the department and get to know people a bit better. It was also fun to just see a small part of St. Louis that I hadn't explored yet! Friday was my bigge...

Hi all! To share about my experience as an intern at Concordia Publishing House, I thought it would be a fun idea to do a sort of recap blog post at the end of each week. I hope you can get a smidgen of the joy out of these posts that I've gotten from this week! I began my journey at CPH on Tuesday, May 29. My family and I had driven out to St. Louis on Sunday, stayed in a hotel, and then moved me in with my host family on Monday. We explored the quintessential St. Louis Arch, got some blisters and a little too much sun, and the fam hit the road back to Kansas, leaving me in the big city. Getting a handle on how to drive in St. Louis has been... interesting. There are people everywhere! I've seen more people jaywalk in the last week than I have in my entire life. There's so much traffic! After living in the quaint, quiet town of Seward for three years, having to deal with three lanes of traffic is a little stressful. Thankfully, my drive to work is only about ten minutes,...

Have you ever encountered a book that was both highly popular and widely despised? That was what it felt like when I ran into We Were Liars  by E. Lockhart. It's been out for a while, and I had seen a lot of publicity about it, so I thought it was high time to read it. However, several people, including my sister, warned me that it was the sort of book that I would want to throw against the wall at the end. They were right. We Were Liars  tells the story of Cadence, the heir of the Sinclair family. Every summer, she can her two cousins and their friend Gat spend their days on the family private island. One summer, something happens - Cadence is found in the ocean, she can't remember anything, and she is plagued with migraines that confine her to bed for days on end. Why can't she remember that summer? Was there more going on than people will tell her? With three generations of Sinclairs struggling to survive, something was bound to explode sometime or another. This was a ...

Wow, wow, wow, my pals! It's pretty much summertime and I finally have time to read again. On a whim, I picked up Big Little Lies  by Liane Moriarty - I had heard about the TV adaptation and when I saw a copy for sale for $4, I couldn't resist! Then it sat on my shelf for several months. This weekend I actually picked it up and BOY did it hit me right between the eyes. This book was insane and I loved every second of it. The beach town of Pirriwee is home to an absolutely lovely public school. The kindergarten mothers are all so excited for their little boys and girls to start school! But the advent of young mother Jane and her son Ziggy knocks down the first domino in a chain of events that may just cause the town to explode. Madeline, Celeste, Jane, and their husbands and children are thrown into a bizarre world of conflict, violence, bullying, subterfuge, and drama. I can't say any more because the plot is too crazy! I did not have any sort of expectations for this boo...

If you won the gene pool like I did, you know how it feels to have the world blur and fuzz out unless you have glasses on or contacts in. Thin pieces of plastic help us see everything in a completely new way. As I was thinking back over the last year, I realized that I got the chance to view life through a lot of different "lenses" thanks to all the opportunities and experiences I enjoyed. When I say lenses, I mean that I got to view familiar experiences from new perspectives. Junior year brought change in so many areas of my life and I was able to serve those around me in new ways. Rather than just being a member of Concordia Youth Ministry, I was given the honor of serving as a co-president. My role within the group changed - rather than leading teams to lock-ins every weekend, I became much more a coordinator and day-to-day problem solver. While I missed getting to stay up all night and ruin my sleep schedule, it gave me so much joy to see new people getting the chance t...

I sped through Girl Against the Universe  by Paula Stokes in the last few days. I read her book Liars, Inc.  a few years ago and enjoyed it, so I had high hopes for this one. Girl Against the Universe  wasn't quite what I expected, but it was thoroughly enjoyable, thought-provoking, and had just the right amount of plucking at my heartstrings. Maguire Kelly is bad luck. When she was eleven, her dad, uncle, and brother all died in a car accident, which she survived without a scratch. When she was twelve, a roller coaster she was riding derailed and everyone except her was severely injured. More and more bad things keep happening to those around her, so surely Maguire is the source of the bad luck? So she ostracizes herself, keeping track of the bad things that happen, and developing intense good luck rituals and five-second checks. Then, before her junior year, another major accident leads to Maguire and her family moving across San Diego, where she can get a new start. T...

Have you ever devoured a 400+ page book in less than six hours? Have you ever done that after not finishing a book for months? Have you ever finished said book and thought, "wow, maybe I should post on my blog about this" after not posting on said blog for over seven months? Because that's what happened to me. Yesterday, I dove into As You Wish  by Chelsea Sedoti. It wasn't the greatest book I've ever read, but it was just so refreshing to be lost in a book again. I picked up As You Wish  because I thought it was a Princess Bride  reference, but instead I came away with an interesting coming-of-age story that had nothing to do with princesses, pirates, or dueling to the Pain. The tiny town of Madison, Nevada is boring as all get out. Nobody stops there except to get gas on their way to Rachel, a popular UFO sighting spot. But Madison's residents like that no one stops in their town - in fact, they do their best to make sure that they don't. Because Madiso...

I've spent most of this summer reading non-fiction-y books and soaking up knowledge. I figured it was time to get my dose of delightful teenage normalcy, this time in the form of Jenny Han's bestselling series of three books: To All the Boys I've Loved Before , P. S. I Still Love You , and Always and Forever, Lara Jean . I had never read any of Han's work before, but I loved these books and devoured them in less than a week! Lara Jean Song Covey, middle daughter and accomplished scrapbooker, writes letters to the boys she falls in love with. She pours out her every feeling and notion about them, using up all her emotions. Then, rather than sending them, she keeps them in her hatbox, hidden away. She's written five letters, and when they get sent out to their respective recipients, Lara Jean is mortified, because one of the letters was to her next door neighbor, who is also her older sister's recent ex-boyfriend. In order to cover up her feelings for Josh, Lara ...

There's nothing better than a proper sequel. I had been eagerly looking forward to Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly, and this week I finally got my hands on Trouble Makes a Comeback . It was just as great as the first one! It's been over five months since Philip Digby jetted out of Zoe's life. She's adjusted- friends and a boyfriend have been gained, people stare at her less, and she feels (mostly) prepared for the SATs. Then Digby reappears. He's still relentlessly searching for clues about his sister's case and still the same Old Digby - or is he? Henry is acting weird, and Sloane comes to Digby and Zoe for advice, Zoe's boyfriend feels threatened by Digby (with good reason), and Bill still won't leave Digby alone. In between hunting down long-cold trails in Sally's case, will another drug bust be on the horizon? Are there even richer snobs than the Blooms out there? What the heck is going on with Digby and how is Zoe supposed to...

Jane Austen's novels are some the best-loved of all time, most notably among the seemingly-condemned-to-spinsterhood group. What happens when one Darcy-loving spinster-to-be finds herself on the trip of a lifetime in Austenland ? I read Shannon Hale's take on a story of a girl thrown into the ultimate Regency fairy tale and I was utterly enchanted myself. Jane Hayes has bad luck with men. Her 13 ex-boyfriends exemplify that. But worse than her string of break-ups is her reaction to the break-ups. Every time, she turns back to the comforting fantasy of Mr. Darcy (as played by Colin Firth, of course). Jane sits at home, watching her hidden Pride & Prejudice DVD and mooning over Austen's heroes instead of real men. When Jane's great-aunt bequeaths her a trip to Pembroke Park, an immersive Austen experience, Jane is at first hesitant. Is diving fully into her fantasy the right choice? Or will having the full Regency lifestyle finally help her kick her Darcy habit an...

All good things must come to an end, even teenage serial killer hunter novels. I finally finished Jennifer Lynn Barnes' last Naturals novel, Bad Blood . It was so good, I nearly got whiplash from all the plot twists. After the crazy revelations of All In , Cassie and the rest of the Naturals gang are stressing out, hanging on to any microscopic lead to Nightshade's cult. When a childhood friend of Michael's disappears on a Fibonacci date, the Naturals head to New York state and encounter Michael's father. More leads appear, calling Cassie back to her forgotten past, dredging up old memories for more than one member of the team. With cults, murder, and twisted family histories merging all around, how can the Naturals separate the truth from the lies and stop the Masters? I've loved all the Naturals novels. Barnes, who has advanced degrees in psychology, has done such an amazing job with making everything in the novels believable and accurate. Her characters are i...