Watching (The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn)

I'm not normally a mystery reader (but I think my picture for this book is rather good considering I set up and took the photo). I read this while on vacation because my daughter had it on her bookshelves. All the hype about it is true: Hitchcock feel to it, well-written, keeps you wondering. You can chalk up my three stars as a matter of me not being a mystery reader. The book is entertaining. Some of my friends would not touch it with a ten foot pole (creepiness abounds); others would love the book.

I was impressed with myself that I caught on to a key clue at the beginning. I didn't guess who did it but I was also proud of myself for not cheating and reading the ending first. Easy read -- I took 2-3 days to read it. Short review today.

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My having children and grandchildren section -- what could I come up with to match this book?! Well, since in my last post I regretted buying into the whole "spare the rod and spoil the child" belief, maybe this would be a good time to say that doesn't mean "let the children run amuck and do what they want." There are some obnoxious kids in this book. Raising children and coming alongside grandchildren takes time, lots of it, and consistent love and care. Time that seems difficult to give day in and day out (and let's not forget nighttime as well!) I'm impressed with parents these days. So much good research has come out and parents are learning from it. I'd say that falling into same patterns when we'd rather leave those old patterns behind is a challenge for every generation. A newer challenge for all of us is the lure of technology (a sentence I write using technology 😬). Technology is neither good nor evil, but it definitely can tempt us to skip out on living in the present. Technology is also a part of this book.

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A great spiritual formation practice would be to try and go without technology (or social media if technology is part of your job or too broad a sweep) for 24 hours. There's also a couple of good books I could recommend: The Power of Off (which has even more ideas for learning to avoid the siren call of technology) and The Winter of Our Disconnect.