Meg walks! and I read books

We're all excited at this end because Meg took her official first unsupported step on Monday. It was just one, and she took a spill right after, but she's so close. She knows it too, and has taken to crawling on her hands and feet, legs straight. She hasn't ventured out by herself again, but she's sure cruising along the furniture.

I've been reading quite a bit lately, which is always fun. Some of the highlights:

The New Policeman by Kate Thompson. This is a fairy tale set in modern Ireland. The premise was mildly entertaining, and I liked it for all the music. The main character and the fairies were always fiddling and dancing, and Thompson even put a tune at the beginning of each chapter, usually relating to that chapter's events. I didn't so much care for the way the priest was the villain (in his monomaniacal urge to rid the countryside of fairies, music, and dancing, he nearly destroyed time). It was a bit creepy, but mostly because I kept thinking it was going to get creepy and it didn't. I think one thing I like about Celtic stories is the way they force an author to reveal his loyalties. Either he will come down on the side of Christianity or against it. It's very hard to be "neutral" when the fairies get involved, though Gerald Morris and Lawhead partly manage it.

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. Keller is the pastor of that huge Presbyterian church in New York City. I'd read an interview with him and his wife in which they admitted to liking Tolkien, so I was inclined to like him going in. Now I know I like him: he mostly quotes authors and philosophers I know and respect. He's pretty sound, though I differ with him on creation. Keller's great gift is, Lewis-like, being able to drop the Christianese and speak to ordinary, intelligent unbelievers in their language and make theological sense. It's a wonderful quality, but a little like having college friends come home for a visit - my worlds are colliding! A couple of his chapters actually really encouraged me and were relevant in Bible study on Tuesday. I wish I could remember what they were.

Kilt Dead by Kaitlyn Dunnett. A cute murder mystery about a forcibly retired Scottish dancer. It was a fun, quick read, though about page thirty I was demanding she get a lawyer to deal with the harassing police investigator and that didn't occur to her till about page seventy, after she saw the lawyer for something else entirely. Also she seemed shocked and hurt that a small town would gossip about her morals when she moved in, purely platonically, with an eligible bachelor. As it turned out, the gossip was later fully justified, and in an incredibly off-hand, boring way too. (Sheesh.) Our Heroine had read far too many mysteries herself to excuse her actions in the final chapter when she confronted the murderer all by herself. At least she told someone where she was going, and was able to be rescued before the good-for-nothing threw her off the roof. Anyway, it was adequate enough I do intend to read the sequel Scone Cold Dead, which conveniently I have already checked out, and it inspired me to go upstairs and sketch out a better plot myself. When I get it published I'll let you know.

A Dismal Thing to Do by Charlotte MacLeod, writing as Alisa Craig. I've liked MacLeod for years, but I'd never gotten around to her Inspector Madoc Rhys books until just lately. The mysteries are usually respectably constructed, and her characters are quite the characters. I was incredibly impressed by a previous book, in which Janet got kicked out of her room in the middle of the night by a promiscuous roommate and had to take refuge in Madoc's. In contrast to Kilt Dead, they had a discussion about where Madoc should sleep, and voted for the library, Janet being of the opinion that when they slept together it should be special and mean something. Sensible people! Madoc and Janet are newly married in this one and, as Madoc said, it's a poor investigator who can't find a can of oil for squeaky guest-room bedsprings. So we're all happy. This particular plot was a little contrived, but it was fun to run around with Janet and Madoc and all of Janet's relatives in the heavy snow, with explosions and people getting shot and moonshine-running and whatnot. Keeps life exciting.

AND... I have The Chestnut King, by N.D. Wilson! I didn't even know it was out yet, but the new Glen Allen branch had a copy of it sitting there on the shelf. So I checked it out. :-)