1. I have just finished reading “Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther” this week. It started out somewhat questionable, to be honest. The first few “entries” weren’t written very well. I thought I was headed down the poorly-written Christian literature route, but I gave it a few more pages since the opening entries were written by a “teenager.”
2. However, it wasn’t long before I was hooked. I don’t know this author’s background, but the story of Esther was a perfect conduit for addressing matters of faith and sexuality, and I want to share a quote that shocked me, because I have NEVER seen such a perspective written outside of NFP circles. Here it is:
“I am a woman, created in the image of the one true G-d. I will lay His glory at the feet of no man, and for no fleeting pleasure. To touch me is to touch the eternal.” (Emphasis added.)
3. Another great quote, on matters more general: “In some people, love of G-d leaves little love for others, especially those who stumble and sin often.”
4. I didn’t go into it expecting more than a quick read, but now I’ll be looking for more works by Ginger Garrett.
5. While we’re on the subject of women’s issues, I thought this was a great post, entitled “Satan’s Best Trick.”
6. I have a cold. Which is no surprise, I suppose, considering that my children have been trading the bug for two weeks, and I’ve been fighting it off for almost a week myself. Still…blech!
7. And finally, I have questions for those who have their own blogs (and keep an eye on traffic). Do you find that there has been a dropoff in traffic lately? Or is it just me? I’m theorizing that the weather’s so pretty in so much of the country that people aren’t spending as much computer time. Which is not a bad thing. Time will tell if I’m right.
Kathleen M. Basi 
Get well quickly (because it is obviously your choice and if I tell you what to do then you’ll do it, right?)!
As far as traffic, analytics says that mine is down 24% since last month. But I am not sure if that is a general thing. I attributed it to a combination of me not caring/ commenting on fewer people’s blogs/ not irritating people as much (other than NFPers, but apparently most don’t care to fight back:-)).
The book on Esther sounds interesting! I love books written in diary format.