Starlight Book Review – Ann Dávila Cardinal’s The Storyteller’s Death 🇵🇷

Cover of The Storyteller’s Death on a dark chartreuse background | Image Source: Goodreads

Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – Bonus – Puerto Rico

3.8/5 After I posted my last review for the World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), I realized I still owed my Gnomies one more Starlight Book Review (SBR) for the RUSA SRC. Initially, the idea of reading something set in a U.S. Territory thrilled me. Since the Book Girls’ Guide inspired this SRC region, I also looked to them for direction on reading. Check them out by clicking here. This, of course, led me to discovering Ann Dávila Cardinal’s The Storyteller’s Death. I chose to read with my ears with the copy narrated by Marisol Ramirez that I purchased on Audible.

Learn more about these 2023 SRC by clicking here.

Click here to discover more about 2024 SRC.

Trigger Warnings (TW): Mention of suicide, racism, colorism, classism 

“From International Latino Book Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes a gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican woman who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.… There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family’s house when Isla was a child…Isla Larsen Sanchez’s life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage… When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family’s cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her… At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can’t solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.”

Once I finished my library books and began reading The Storyteller’s Death, I read this book with ease. Isla passed the “Dad Test” of sympathetic character, so much so that I cringed right along with her at her mother’s various gaffes. I liked how the author showed Isla’s grieving process. Cardinal set the scenes well enough that I saw that parts took place in Puerto Rico. Yet, I found the ending too tidy. Yet, the author evoked a strong sense of both Puerto Rico and New Jersey. I recommend this to fans of magical realism.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog 🦔🇫🇷

Cover of The Elegance of the Hedgehog on a blue background | Image Source: Goodreads

World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – Bonus – France

Translated from French

3.8/5 In my reading life, I felt I ventured to literary darling Paris, France numerous times. For the World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), I aimed to read books written in the main language and translated to English for the In Translation Journey SRC. After pouring over scads of reviews, I chose Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog despite the fact that the book isn’t the first in a series.

Learn more about these 2023 SRC by clicking here.

Click here to discover more about 2024 SRC.

Trigger Warnings (TW): This novel contains references to self-harm and death by suicide.

“A moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us…. We are in the center of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Renée, the concierge, is witness to the lavish but vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Renée is a cultured autodidact who adores art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. With humor and intelligence she scrutinizes the lives of the building’s tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence…. Then there’s Paloma, a twelve-year-old genius. She is the daughter of a tedious parliamentarian, a talented and startlingly lucid child who has decided to end her life on the sixteenth of June, her thirteenth birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as everyone expects her to behave: a mediocre pre-teen high on adolescent subculture, a good but not an outstanding student, an obedient if obstinate daughter….Paloma and Renée hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building. Only he is able to gain Paloma’s trust and to see through Renée’s timeworn disguise to the secret that haunts her. This is a moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us.”

While uncomfortable with Paloma’s plan to kill herself, I found myself enjoying The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I smiled when Renée said she liked reading Harry Bosch books because I was on a Michael Connelly kick at the time. I consider The Elegance of the Hedgehog a leisurely stroll of a book. I admit, though, I became impatient for the initial interaction between the two main characters. Also, the booked ended on a rather bittersweet note. Still and all, I liked visiting Paris on the ticket provided by Barbery.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review -Minnie Darke’s With Love from Wish & Co. – 🇦🇺

Cover of With Love from Wish & Co. by Minnie Darke on a purple background | Image Source: Goodreads

World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – Australia

4.25/5 As I looked for a book set in Australia, a most stellar Gnomie mentioned With Love from Wish & Co. by Australian author Minnie Darke. This sounded excellent — a rom-com sort of read from a new-to-me author.

Learn more about these 2023 SRC by clicking here.

Click here to discover more about 2024 SRC.

“A heartwarming novel about what we are prepared to give–and give up–in the name of love, from the author of Star-Crossed and The Lost Love Song.… Two boxes, both alike in size and shape . . . Marnie Fairchild is the brains and talent behind Wish & Co., a boutique store that offers a bespoke gift-buying service to wealthy clients with complicated lives. Brian Charlesworth is Marnie’s most prized customer, and today she’s wrapping the perfect anniversary gift for his wife, Suzanne . . . and a birthday present for his mistress, Leona. What could possibly go wrong?… For years, Marnie’s had her heart set on moving Wish & Co. to the historic shopfront once owned by her grandfather. When the chance to bid for the property unexpectedly arises, Marnie–distracted–makes an uncharacteristic mistake. Soon Brian is in a fight to rescue his marriage, and Marnie is scrabbling to keep her dreams alive. With the situation so complicated, the last thing Marnie needs is to fall for Brian and Suzanne’s gorgeous son, Luke. In the end, will it be her head or her heart that wins out?”

With Love from Wish & Co made my top reads of 2023 list. I enjoyed getting to know Marnie and Luke and felt as though I was reading a movie in which I cast the actors. Also, I found it a bonus that I had to look up some Aussie terms because this transported me to the Land Down Under. Darke created a novel with some meat to it. Yes, I mostly delighted in reading the book but With Love from Wish & Co yielded some food for thought. Along with some of the characters, I wondered about the ethics of gift-giving. As some other reviewers wrote, I, too, found some parts lagging and I had little interest in reading about Leona, the mistress’ point of view. I imagine, however, other readers wanted to know her side of things. Overall, I enjoyed With Love from Wish & Co.

Click here to read the Starry Says Episode on my 2023 Top Reads.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review -Martha Batalha’s The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao – 🇧🇷

Cover of The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha on a green background | Image Source: Goodreads

World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – Brazil

Translated from Portuguese

4/5 I have always wanted to visit Brazil. Of course, an easy ticket to this glittering jewel in the Southern Hemisphere is via literature. My search for such a book led me to The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha.

Learn more about these 2023 SRC by clicking here.

Click here to discover more about 2024 SRC.

Trigger Warnings (TW): period typical racism (also showing as fetishization) and sexism.

“Euridice is young, beautiful and ambitious, but when her rebellious sister Guida elopes, she sets her own aspirations aside and vows to settle down as a model wife and daughter. And yet as her husband’s professional success grows, so does Euridice’s feeling of restlessness. She embarks on a series of secret projects – from creating recipe books to becoming the most sought-after seamstress in town – but each is doomed to failure. Her tradition-loving husband is not interested in an independent wife. And then one day Guida appears at the door with her young son and a terrible story of hardship and abandonment. The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao is a wildly inventive, wickedly funny and keenly observed tale of two sisters who, surrounded by a cast of unforgettable characters, assert their independence and courageously carve a path of their own in 1940s Rio de Janeiro. A deeply human and truly unforgettable novel from one of the most exciting new voices in world literature.”

At first, I enjoyed reading The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao. I liked and cared about the titular character, Euridice. I often wanted to climb into the book to give her husband, Antenor, a piece of my mind. Batalha painted a vivid picture in this charming work of the Gusmaos’ home life. I docked the book a star, though, because it delved into many of the other characters and I wanted more Euridice. Nevertheless, I highly recommend to fans of historical fiction with a dash of magical realism.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis’ The Boy in the Suitcase 🇩🇰

Cover of The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis on a light cyan background | Image Source: Goodreads

World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – Denmark

Translated from Danish

3.8/5 In 2023, I aimed to read books by “new to me writers” alongside the Stellar Reading Challenges (SRC). Since some of my heritage and much of the “Starry Night Elf” persona derives from Denmark, this seemed extra challenging as I previously sought out Danish writers. Of course, I read Hans Christian Andersen. I also read mysteries by Jussi Adler-Olsen and Sara Blædel. At the start, I wanted a book other than something “Nordic Noir” but, just the title alone of The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis compelled me to read the book.

Learn more about these 2023 SRC by clicking here.

Click here to discover more about 2024 SRC.

Trigger Warnings (TW): Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

“Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can’t say no when someone asks for help—even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy: naked and drugged, but alive… Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy’s are in jeopardy, too. In an increasingly desperate trek across Denmark, Nina tries to figure out who the boy is, where he belongs, and who exactly is trying to hunt him down.”

The Boy in the Suitcase made for a quick, fast-paced read. Kaaberbøl and Friis pulled me in with a stunning amount of ferocity. Nina Borg and the three-year old child of the title gained my sympathy in an instant; I finished this book because I wanted to see the kid through to a safe and prosperous end. I must also mention that a quarter of the action, possibly a third, took place in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius which added a language barrier to the already dire situation on Borg’s hands. In the end, though, I deducted stars from The Boy in the Suitcase for some of the major ick factor (i.e. – who drugs a child and stuffs him in a suitcase?) and that the book seemed written for a Danish audience. Regarding the latter, the book assumed I knew more about Copenhagen than I do. Still, the book riveted me to it and I might try others in the Nina Borg series.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Basma Abdel Aziz’s The Queue 🇪🇬

Cover of The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz on an “Egyptian Blue” background | Image Source: Goodreads

World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – Egypt

Translated from Arabic

3.6/5 When I sought a books set in Egypt, preferably translated from a language other than English for the 2023 World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), all roads led to Basma Abdel Aziz’s The Queue. In fact, this shorter book, available via my library’s Libby holding, seemed designed for this particular SRC. The cover, an Egyptian-style eye, further compelled me to read it.

Learn more about these 2023 SRC by clicking here.

Click here to discover more about 2024 SRC.

Trigger Warnings (TW): body horror (gun wound), torture, sexism, religion, war, governmental oppression, loss of a loved one

“Set against the backdrop of a failed political uprising, The Queue is a chilling debut that evokes Orwellian dystopia, Kafkaesque surrealism, and a very real vision of life after the Arab Spring.… In a surreal, but familiar, vision of modern day Egypt, a centralized authority known as ‘the Gate’ has risen to power in the aftermath of the ‘Disgraceful Events,’ a failed popular uprising. Citizens are required to obtain permission from the Gate in order to take care of even the most basic of their daily affairs, yet the Gate never opens, and the queue in front of it grows longer… Citizens from all walks of life mix and wait in the sun: a revolutionary journalist, a sheikh, a poor woman concerned for her daughter’s health, and even the brother of a security officer killed in clashes with protestors. Among them is Yehia, a man who was shot during the Events and is waiting for permission from the Gate to remove a bullet that remains lodged in his pelvis. Yehia’s health steadily declines, yet at every turn, officials refuse to assist him, actively denying the very existence of the bullet… Ultimately it is Tarek, the principled doctor tending to Yehia’s case, who must decide whether to follow protocol as he has always done, or to disobey the law and risk his career to operate on Yehia and save his life… Written with dark, subtle humor, The Queue describes the sinister nature of authoritarianism, and illuminates the way that absolute authority manipulates information, mobilizes others in service to it, and fails to uphold the rights of even those faithful to it.”

The Queue pulled me in early in my reading of it. This book possessed many characters who passed the “Dad Test of Sympathy.” Among these happens to be Tarek, the doctor seeing to the care of Yehia, another sympathetic character. Yet, I doubt one should feel at ease reading The Queue; the realism of this book shook me up for sometime after I read the last page. All these months later, I still vacillate on my feelings on The Queue.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Mansi Choksi’s The Newlyweds… 🇮🇳

Cover of The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India by Mansi Choksi on a “Tangerine” background | Image Source: Goodreads

World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – India

3.85/5 While India remains on my leap list of places to visit, I have read many books at least partially set there. In fact, Jhumpa Lahiri holds a prominent spot on my list of favorite authors. Yet, I challenged myself to read “new to me” writers in 2023. When I saw The Book Girls’ Guide’s recommendation of The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India by Mansi Choksi, I felt this work of nonfiction met much of my 2023 reading criteria. Check out this and more suggestions from The Book Girls’ Guide by clicking here.

Learn more about this 2023 SRC by clicking here.

Click here to discover more about 2024 SRC.

“A literary investigation into India as a society in transition through the lens of forbidden love, as three young couples reject arranged marriages and risk everything for true love in the midst of social and political upheaval… In India, two out of every three people are under the age of thirty-five. These are men and women who grew up with the internet and the advent of smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love and marriage, they’re expected to adhere to thousands of years of tradition. It’s that conflict between obeying tradition and embracing modernity that drives journalist Mansi Choksi’s The Newlyweds… Through vivid, lyrical prose, Choksi shines a light on three young couples who buck against arranged marriages in the pursuit of true love, illustrating the challenges, shame, anger, triumph, and loss their actions and choices set in play… Against the backdrop of India’s beautiful villages and cities, Choksi introduces our newlyweds. First, there’s the lesbian couple forced to flee for a chance at a life together. Then there’s the Hindu woman and Muslim man who escaped their families under the cover of night after being harassed by a violent militia group. Finally, there’s the inter-caste couple who are doing everything to avoid the same fate as a similar couple who were burned alive… Engaging and moving, The Newlyweds raises universal questions, such What are we really willing to risk for love? If we’re lucky enough to find it, does it change us? If so, for the better? Or for the worse?”

The Newlyweds… made for a quick read. Choksi’s book read like many novels with the narrative alternating among these three different couples. I felt I came away with a considerable amount of knowledge about the state of Indian marriages. In particular, I rooted for Neetu and Rani, the inter-caste couple. Sometimes, I found myself bogged down with some of the statistics and I might have preferred less “couple hopping” but I don’t begrudge Choksi that too much. At the end of the day, I encourage anyone seeking more information about marriage in India to read The Newlyweds…

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – New Testament – Book of Revelation

The Vision of John on Patmos by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1860) on a dark blue background with the Starry Night Elf avatar in the lower righthand corner | © Starry Night Elf

Part of a series of SBR on NT Books of the Bible. Click here to see other NT SBR.

* The following post transparently exhibits my Christian faith.

5/5 Last week, I wrapped up my Starlight Book Reviews (SBR) of the Old Testament Prophets with “Minor Prophets IV.” Click here to read my SBR of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Today, I conclude my SBR of individual books of The Bible for 2023 (yes, last year) with the Book of Revelation.

“The Book of Revelation, also erroneously called the Book of Revelations, is the final book of the New Testament (and therefore the final book of the Christian Bible). Written in Koine Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text: apokalypsis, meaning ‘unveiling’ or ‘revelation’. The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon. It occupies a central place in Christian eschatology… The author names himself as simply “John” in the text, but his precise identity remains a point of academic debate. Second-century Christian writers such as Papias of Hierapolis, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Melito of Sardis, Clement of Alexandria, and the author of the Muratorian fragment identify John the Apostle as the “John” of Revelation. Modern scholarship generally takes a different view, with many considering that nothing can be known about the author except that he was a Christian prophet. Modern theological scholars characterize the Book of Revelation’s author as “John of Patmos”. The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian (AD 81–96), which evidence tends to confirm.”

With each read of Revelation, I feel the need to eat my proverbial Wheaties. Yet, as I do visit this book every year, I see many of the comforting promises of the Lord. Also, I marvel at God’s love for His people. Speaking of comfort, promise, and love, here’s my all-time favorite verse from this last book of The Bible.

Here is a verse which resonated with me:

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20

Select Bibliography

• Bauckham, Richard (1993). The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-35691-6.
• Carson, Don (2005). An Introduction to the New Testament (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. pp. 465ff. ISBN 978-0-310-51940-9.
• Collins, Adela Yarbro (1984). Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-24521-4.
• Holmes, Michael (2007). The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations. Baker Academic. p. 749ff. ISBN 978-0801034688.
• Martin, Dale B. (6 April 2012). “The Last Trumpet”. The New York Times.
• Stuckenbruck, Loren T. (2003). “Revelation”. In Dunn, James D. G.; Rogerson, John William (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. p. 1535. ISBN 978-0-8028-3711-0.

Starlight Book Review -Brittany Cavallaro’s A Study in Charlotte – 🇺🇸

Cover of A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro on a blue colored background | Image Source: Goodreads

RUSA SRC – Region #4 Northeast – Connecticut

3.8/5 When taking on the 2023 Stellar Reading Challenges (SRC), particularly with the U.S.-centric one, I aimed to read books set in the “less popular states.” When I saw book set in Connecticut, as opposed to New York, and that it offered a contemporary twist on Sherlock Holmes on The Book Girls’ Guide. The first book in the Charlotte Holmes Series, A Study in Charlotte, fit the bill. Click here to see The Book Girls’ Guide’s post on

Check out the Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) Tour by clicking here.

“The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar… From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.”

For the most part, I enjoyed A Study in Charlotte. I liked how Sherlock Holmes and John Watson truly existed in the Charlotte Holmes universe crafted by Cavallaro. Jamie and Charlotte intrigued me. While Connecticut remains on my leap list, I imagined with ease the Sherringford campus in the Nutmeg State. Someday, I might read the next in the Charlotte Holmes Series. I took off 1.2 stars on my rating for perhaps some arbitrary reasons — 1) I have yet to read Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Series and I had to return my copy a number of times because others wanted to read A Study in Charlotte.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Old Testament – Minor Prophets IV

Images of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi (works by James Tissot) on a Dark Blue Background.
| © Starry Night Elf

Part of a series of Starlight Book Reviews (SBR) on Old Testament (OT) Books. Click here to see other OT SBR.

* The following post transparently exhibits my Christian faith.

5/5 With this Starlight Book Review (SBR), I wrap up my focus on the Minor Prophets/ Twelve Prophets Books. The last three are Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Click here to check out the Sacred Texts Journey SRC.

The Minor Prophets or Twelve Prophets (Hebrew: שנים עשר, Shneim Asar; Imperial Aramaic: תרי עשר, Trei Asar, “Twelve”) (Ancient Greek: δωδεκαπρόφητον, “the Twelve Prophets”), occasionally Book of the Twelve, is a collection of prophetic books, written between about the 8th and 4th centuries BCE, which are in both the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament… In the Christian Old Testament, the collection appears as twelve individual books, one for each of the prophets: the Book of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Their order, and position in the Old Testament, varies slightly between the Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles.

“The Book of Haggai (/ˈhæɡaɪ/; Hebrew: ספר חגי, romanized: Sefer Ḥaggay) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and is the third-to-last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. It is a short book, consisting of only two chapters. The historical setting dates around 520 BC before the Temple had been rebuilt. The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.”

“The Book of Zechariah, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, is included in the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible… Zechariah’s prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great and were contemporary with Haggai in a post-exilic world after the fall of Jerusalem in 587/586 BC. Ezekiel and Jeremiah wrote before the fall of Jerusalem while continuing to prophesy in the early exile period. Scholars believe Ezekiel, with his blending of ceremony and vision, heavily influenced the visionary works of Zechariah 1–8. Zechariah is specific about dating his writing (520–518 BC).”

“The Book of Malachi (Hebrew: מַלְאָכִ֔י, Malʾāḵī) is the last book of the Neviim contained in the Tanakh, canonically the last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. In most Christian orderings, the grouping of the prophetic books is the last section of the Old Testament, making Malachi the last book before the New Testament.

Of these three books, Malachi stands out the most to me since it’s the last book of the Old Testament. With this latest read, though, as a Christian in a particular, I developed a strong liking for Zechariah as it prophesied the coming of Jesus. Below are favorite passages from Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

These verses stood out to me:

⁹ ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Haggai 2:9 NIV

⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zechariah 9:9 NIV

¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Malachi 3:10 NIV

One special resource which helped me in both reading and SBR was “Major and Minor Prophets Infographic” by Jordan Ladikos. Click here to access it.

Select Bibliography (Alphabetical Order by Author’s Surname)

• Coogan, Michael D. “A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament.” Oxford University Press, 2009. o. 346.
• Dempster, Stephen G., Dominion And Dynasty: A Theology Of The Hebrew Bible. Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8308-2615-7
• “Ezra the Scribe by Mendel Adelman, Chabad.org“.
• Grudem, Wayne; Dennis, Lane T.; Packer, J. I.; Collins, C. John; Schreiner, Thomas R.; Taylor, Justin, eds. (2008). ESV Study Bible. Wheaton: Crossway. ISBN 978-1-43350241-5.
• Josephus, Flavius (1958). Vol. VI: Jewish Antiquities, Books IX–XI. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 326. Translated by Marcus, William. London: William Heinemann. pp. 125–129, XI.xi.2–3.
• Keck, Leander E. 1996. The New Interpreter’s Bible: Volume: VII. Nashville: Abingdon.
• Kent H. Richards, Nahum Introduction: The Harper Collins Study Bible, (New York: Harper Collins, 2006) 1250.
• Metzger, Bruce M., et al. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
• Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-8308-9482-6.