Books, Movies, and Chinese Food

Summary from Christianbook.com: Dinfoil, Germany, 1538. In a little town on the edge of the Black Forest, a double murder stirs up festering fears. A lonely woman despairs of pleasing her husband and wonders why other women shun her. An overworked sheriff struggles to hold the town—and himself—together. A priest begins to doubt the power of the words he shares daily with his flock. And the charismatic Inquisitor who arrives to help—with a filthy witch in a cage as an object lesson—brings his own mix of lofty ideals and treacherous evil. Under his influence, ordinary village fears and resentments take a deadly turn. Terror mounts. Dark deeds come to light. And men and women alike discover not only what they are capable of, but who they are…and what it means to grapple for grace. First off, I had no idea this book was part of a series until after I finished the book. It's apparently the third book in the Chronicles of the Scribe series but one does not need to read the others to un...

One of the darkest and bloodiest stories of all time comes not from a medieval battlefield but from inside one of the most opulent palaces ever built. The strategies come not from men eager to extend their influence, but from women bent on exercising their wit and prowess in a kingdom not their own. Treason and murder are fair game. Marriage is manipulation, a means to an end. Children are the enemy. And the days of the House of David are numbered-unless one woman can find the strength to conquer them all. This book really appealed to me because it took a Bible story that is not well known and brought it to life. I actually did not know much about Athaliah other than a small blurb in my children's bible when I was growing up. We didn't talk at all about her in Sunday School. For that matter, we barely mentioned Joash , other than the fact that he was really young when he became king. Pretty much this part of the Old Testament seemed to be taboo in Southern Baptist child...