April is a great month for starting gardens here where I live in far-northern California. I have outdoor plans.
Word of the Month
Resurrection
Bible Verses of the Month
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” – Paul (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NKJV)
My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/lindajm
★ – I’m reading it.
✓ – I finished reading it. Yay!
⇗ – Still reading at the end of the month.
⇓ – I did not like it or finish it. (DNF = Did Not Finish)
∅ – Stalled – I started but didn’t finish. (Soft-DNF)
Finished Reading in April
✓ Christian Fiction: Waves of Mercy, by Lynn Austin
Another Christian fiction novel – I seem to be enjoying this genre right now. I just wanted another Lynn Austin novel to audio-read this week. Finished on 4/10/26. Wonderful novel. Here’s my review.
✓ Art: Becoming an Artist: How to Make Art Like a Human by Embracing Failure, Discovering Your Creative Voice & Finding Joy in the Process, by Scott Christian Sava
I don’t feel like a beginning artist, but I was interested in seeing what Scott had to say in this book. He is well-known on YouTube. Finished on 4/6/26. Here’s my review. Though the book was written for young artists considering an art career life-path, I enjoyed reading what this author had to say about his art experiences.
✓ Christian Memoir: Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, by John Bunyan
John Bunyan is of course, author of Pilgrim’s Progress. This memoir is what he wanted us to know about his life. Finished 4/6/26. Great memoir and testimony! My review.
✓ Christian Fiction: The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery, by Amanda Cox
I’m reading this Christy Award winner for my “Read and Roam” reading challenge. It is set in Tennessee. Finished after only a few days of reading. Here’s my review. To be honest it wasn’t my favorite Christian novel ever but it was a nice story and I’d be willing to read another novel by the same author.
Reading Intentions
I just removed all my prior reading intentions because I was making no reading progress on those books. I did not DNF the books. I’m just stalled on them to give myself a breather.
Here are a few books I’m currently reading and making progress on.
★ History: The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough
I have only two more books to read for my David McCullough reading challenge, and this is one of them.
Did Not Finish – aka: DNF
☆ Fiction: The Immortalists, by Chloe Benjamin
This has a section set in SF and since I’m reading CA books, I’m reading this novel.
DNF: Well, the SF part of the novel was disgusting and I decided not to read the rest. Actually, I didn’t get all the way through the SF part either.
Here we go with a short rant.
I used to live in San Francisco in the 1970’s and I loved it. It was such a nice city. But like all cities, it has it’s problems. There are plenty of problem people and problem issues, but to characterize a city by one particular problem or issue and then ignore all the wonderful and beautiful parts of the city is really unfair.
At this point I’ll possibly never return to San Francisco. I live far north of there now and prefer my very rural quiet area, but when I think of the city I don’t characterize it by the miserable sections, which as I recall, even in my days of living there I managed to avoid just fine. To have to read literature that trashes the city by focusing on the un-lovely is too much for me, so I DNF’ed the book.
Apostle Paul gave us this advice (recorded in Philippians 4:8) – “…whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
So, in my effort to focus on things that are noble, pure and lovely, I’m going to have to DNF this book.
As of January I no longer have a diary section at the end of my monthly book posts. I discontinued it because I rarely use it. However, if I have anything more to say about anything, I’ll write it down here. It just won’t be in a diary-type format.
About art – My only intention for this year’s 100 day project was to work on art daily, and I’ve been doing that consistently.
Recently I got a new Royal Talens sketchbook and my first sketch there is a self-portrait.
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