Our Hearts Are Restless

Finally, I managed to break the Netflix addiction just enough to pick up a few novels in the past couple of weeks.  A few days' travel to DC helped, because who wants to waste phone battery in an airport when books fit neatly into a purse?  My recent reads are an odd variety of genres, but here goes. I've been in the happy process of reviewing a handful of books, most recently Karina Fabian's Dicovery .   (And I got to interview her !  Yay!)  No spoilers on the other two, but suffice it to say I burned through one of them in a total of two hours.  And discovered again that non-fiction takes me forever to get through unless I have to read for class. On audiobook, I picked up Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's The Long Earth , which was a fascinating start to a series that I only hope I have the stamina to finish.  If I only read this one, though, I think I'll be okay, as it's much more sci-fi and much less fantasy than his other books (not quite my t

Following up from the review I posted on Tuesday , I have the great pleasure of welcoming to the blog stellar sci-fi author Karina Fabian.  Getting a glimpse into the workings of an author's mind is like opening up the engine of a spaceship.  My challenge was to come up with questions that dig deep into Discovery itself and Karina's own remarkable creativity.  It's possible that I had way too much fun.  Enjoy! By day, Karina is a mild-mannered reviewer of business software and services for Top Ten Reviews . After hours, she’s a psychic intent on saving the world; a snarky dragon who thinks he saves the world all-too regularly; a zombie exterminator who just wants her world clear of undead vermin; and Catholic religious sisters whose callings have taken them off our world. Needless to say, her imagination is vast, her stories legion, and her brain crowded. When she’s not converting her wild tales to stories, she’s enjoying time with her husband, Rob, their four kids

What happens when you put religious sisters in space?  A darn good book, that's what you get, but I suppose a little more elaboration is called for. Karina Fabian's new release from Full Quiver Press,  Discovery , is well-crafted sci-fi with a quirky Catholic edge.  Fabian drops her readers into a believable future Earth, and launches us with a massive and diverse spaceship crew to explore a mysterious alien ship - all the while challenging the minds and hearts of both characters and readers. The official synopsis: Sisters Ann, Tommie and Rita are part of a classified mission to explore an alien ship that has crash landed on an asteroid three billion miles from earth. Humanity's first contact with beings from beyond the solar system is bound to unlock the mystery of life in the universe, but the crew have their own secrets; hidden fears, desires, horrible sins - and a mission to kill. Researchers discover something unique about the third arm of the ship: something wo

Hi y'all!  I've spent the last few weeks working on the launch of Restless Independent , my new blog for young adults.  RI has (or will have) how-tos, notes from the young adult trenches, recipes, lists, resource dumps, infographics, and guest posts.  Check it out! In the meantime, I'm mulling over the fate of Our Hearts Are Restless.  I still have a ton of book blogging I want to do, and I'm not sure that will always fit well at RI.  So OHAR may turn into a lit-focused site, basically an opportunity for book reviews, what-I'm-reading posts, author interviews, and book tours.  Faith might come in a bit too, since I'm trying to keep RI fairly non-denominational.  I just don't know!  If I'm going to keep up two blogs, though, it'd better be pretty straightforward.  So I'll keep working on it.  How does Recusant Books sound as a rebranding title? In the meantime, pop on over to Restless Independent and tell me what you think!

One down, unknown quantity to go.  A year ago today, I moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and took up legal residence in this corner of the Midwest.  All things considered, A2 is a great location, but the state and Michigander culture certainly have unique points. As I've been repeatedly asked "So what are the differences between Michigan and Indiana?" I decided to whip up a list based on my experiences of this first year. 1. Speed Limits are Suggestions You know you live in Michigan when the policeman standing on the shoulder of the freeway with a radar scanner doesn't blink when you cruise by at 15 over.  At this point, I wonder how fast one must actually drive in order to get pulled over?  Definitely, don't go the posted speed limit, because you'll get run off the road. 2. The Great Lakes Obsession It's all about the Great Lakes.  (One might think there's nothing else to brag about?  See #4.)  "Unsalted and Sh

This blog is getting pretty quiet, isn't it?  I'm close to launching Restless Independent, my new site, and that's draining most of my creative energy.  BUT I haven't decided yet whether I'll keep Our Hearts Are Restless as a separate entity, or possibly switch its identity to more of a books-and-faith focus, or say goodbye to this site altogether.  The life updates and miscellania will all switch over to RI, which is basically a blog about adulting. Anyway!  The OpenBook linkup is still the highlight of my blogging month, so here's your regular window into my bibliophile world.  This one is slightly delayed, but what the heck. My mom and I share a love of fiction.  When I asked her for a reading list this summer, because I needed recommendations for new novels, she happily gave me a piece of paper that brought nostalgia and excitement.  As a kid, I knew the season had begun when Mommy gave me my summer reading list.  Always hand-written on lined, usua