Malice by Keigo Higashino ~ Book Review

 This review is so behind.  It was my last read of 2017 wrapping up a reading year of  40 books, again short of my ever illusive goal of 50 books.  But I did read some great books, lots (for me) of non-fiction included,  found some great new authors and knocked out a whole pile of books out of my closet.

So on to the review.

The body of a bestselling Japanese author is found in his locked office at his home.  The wife and his best friend both discover him but their alibis seem pretty tight.  Detective Kyochiro Kaga immediately recognizes the best friend as Osamu Nonoguchi whom he used to teach with at a public school.  Osamu left the school to become a full time writer but unlike his friend he writes children's books and is not a best selling author.  As Kaga begins to investigate he finds threads that lead to him believing that the two authors were not friends at all but now he must unravel why Osamu would have killed the author. 

This book is a Japanese translation from a bestselling and popular Japanese whodunit author.  It's a cat and mouse type of mystery story.  I liked the unique approach the author took with the mystery, you know fairly early just who did it but then comes the unraveling of the why.  With layer upon layer, you are drawn into the story because you never really know what is truth and what is made up on the part of the character.  The revealing of the truth is done well as just enough is given to you through the detective's figuring it out that before you know it you are at the end of the story.    It's written in a simple easy going type of style, maybe because of the translation.  Once I got used to the Japanese names and which character was who, the story really picked up it's pace.  And I have to say this was a major cover buy.  Love the cover. 

Rated this a 7.5/10

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent ~ book tour and review

Publisher's Description:

Soon to be a Major Motion Picture
 A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery. An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel. A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream. A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it.

 It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana . . . and an East Texas honky-tonk . . . and, without a doubt, inside the heart of God. It unfolds at a Hollywood hacienda . . . an upscale New York gallery . . . a downtown dumpster . . . a Texas ranch. Gritty with betrayal, pain, and brutality, it also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love.

 Bonus material in this special movie edition includes: A new epilogue with updates on the authors since the release of the original book; The amazing story behind the movie, how it got made, and the incredible experiences while filming in Jackson, MS; 16 page color photo insert from the movie set.


My Thoughts:
I've been wanting to read this book for years and when the movie came out this year I made a point of getting to it. What an incredible true story it is. It challenged my faith, challenged me in how I am obedient to what I think God is trying to say, challenged me in how I view the homeless and even in my attitudes to volunteering. Deborah Hall had a heart for the homeless of Fort Worth, Texas and when she talked her husband into going with her to volunteer at the Mission serving lunch, he never imagined how it would change their lives. Deborah had a dream of a very poor homeless man changing the city and the day he walked into the shelter she knew God had big plans. But the only trouble was the man, Denver, wanted nothing to do with anybody. He was big and he was mean and everybody gave him a wide berth. But God had a plan and Deborah was courageous, persistent and determined. This is their story.

The story reads easy and draws you right in causing to take a look at where your own heart is and asks the question "whom is God trying to tell you to show love too and what are you doing about it?".  What I really loved about their story was it tore down the preconceived notion that this is a story of how a rich white man changed the life of a poor down and out black man, it is also the story of how that poor black man changed the life of the rich white man.  This is also the movie edition so there is an interesting section on the making of the movie.

 Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for providing me with a free copy for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

One Week in December by Holly Chamberlin ~ Book Review

Becca Rowan is a career minded 32 year old from Boston.  She is driven and doesn't have much time for friends or family.  This Christmas, however, she will be joining her family at her childhood home in Maine. But it's not because she wants the togetherness that the holidays bring.  She has a mission in mind and that is to confront her family on what she considers a huge injustice perpetrated on her when she was a 16 year old in shaky circumstances and to reclaim what was hers.  The news will be shocking and will upset the whole family dynamic but she could care less. She is determined to get what she wants. But when she arrives home and meets the neighbor who befriends her she finds herself opening up to someone for the first time in many, many years and her perspective about love and family begin to change.  And now she must make a decision that will affect not just her life but her family's.

I saved this book specifically for a December wintery read.  The story was good and delves into many layers of family dynamics, family decisions, the affect of secrets and the revealing of them, and how perspectives can be skewed over years of hurt.  I have to say that I did have a hard time connecting with any of the characters, however.  I just didn't like them.  Could I too have been skewed in my perspective towards them because I was sick and not feeling well when I read the book?  Were the complicated family dynamics just too deep for my fever muddled brain?  Hmmm, who knows.  But at any rate it was a decent winter read but just not one that really grabbed me and I gave it a 7/10.

Lion by Saroo Brierley

This is the true story of Saroo Brierley who grew up in a very poor family in India.  At the age of 5, he mistakenly boarded a train looking for his older brother and the train left the station.  Saroo was now on his own, not knowing where he came from or where was headed.  Where he ended up was in Calcutta, across the country from his hometown.  Now, at the age of 5 he had to survive on his own.  Twenty five years later, Saroo now an Australian upper middle class young man and very thankful for his upbringing, has never forgotten his Indian family and has always maintained a desire to find out where he had come from.  This is the story of his determined search and the miracle that the invention of Google Earth played in it.

This story was so good.  I could not put it down even though I had seen the highly nominated and award winning movie this year (or was it last year?).  Anyway, the movie was excellent and the book was too.  It boggles the mind that not only did this little five year old survive the ordeal of being separated from his family but that he survived on the streets of Calcutta until he was rescued and sent to an orphanage.  That he ended up adopted to an Australian couple whom he loves but that he determined even at a young age that he wouldn't forget any little detail he could remember is amazing.  How the whole journey of getting lost to the events that helped him to find his family is an absolute miracle.  He shares his story to give others hope to never give up.

I gave it a 10/10 high rating for readability, engagement level, how the story gripped me, did the story make me feel for the person(s) involved.   It checked all the boxes for an amazing true story.

Making Life Rich Without Any Money by Phil Callaway

  In this book, humorist Phil Callaway takes us through six characteristics of rich people, and by rich he is not referring to the monetarily wealthy.  Instead of a book telling us how to become rich, the author instead takes on a journey of making life rich.  The characteristics have nothing to do money in the bank but have everything to do living well.

It took a little for me to get into the book, there is a few beginning chapters that go through some statistics which isn't my thing and seeing this book is already almost 20 years old, I sort of just scanned those.  But the principles it lays out really are timeless.  Nothing earth shatteringly new in them, but in Phil Calloway's trademark humor, you are relating and laughing along and sometimes without even realizing it you've learned both an eternal value and a life changing principle about what really matters and what really brings joy.  I love his writing and this book is worth the read for the humor and the reminders of what really does make us rich.  And I'll just say that any of his books are great.  He takes hard life issues that most of us deal with at some time or another, wraps them in joy and humor and is able to spread a warm message of hope.

I gave it a 9/10

NON-FICTION NOVEMBER REFLECTION
Well, there is only one more day left to the month of November, so that will end my goal of knocking some of the non-fiction books that have been piling up in my closet out of the pile.  I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself.  I have read a total of 5 non-fiction books.  That is some kind of record!  And I enjoyed them all (though one of them was a difficult read), which is also another record.   I read 2 autobiogrpahies, a memoir, a biography and I don't know where you'd classify this book:  study book?  self-help book (though it really isn't a SELF-help),  essay?  I don't know.  Anyway, Yipee for me.  I'm glad I did this, it really helped.  I don't know why I pile up the non-fiction because I do generally like them once I get going on them.   Now my pile is reduced to half of what it was.

My Secret Sister by Helen Edwards and Jenny Lee Smith

This is the memoir of twin sisters who didn't even know the other existed until they were in their 50's.  Separated at 6 weeks old in post war England,  the two lived lives that couldn't have been more different from each other.

Jenny, the twin who was given up for adoption, was raised as an only child with parents who loved her and doted on her.  Her father, who loved to golf,  introduced to the sport when she was three and both parents supported her as she pursued the competitive side of the sport.  Even after her father passed away, Jenny's mom made sacrifices to make sure that Jenny was able to go on and become a high ranking championship golfer who competed in the LPGA.  Though happy and knowing she was loved, Jenny always felt that something was missing and attributed it to being an only child until she inadvertantly found out she had been adopted.

Helen, was kept by her mom and grew up with a brother George living close to her grandmother and aunts, uncles and cousins.  Though she was surrounded by family, hers was a very lonely childhood as her father was horribly physically abusive towards both her and her mother.  He was king of the household and made sure they knew it every chance he got constantly telling Helen everything was her fault.  And added to that was her mother's psychological abuse  and manipulating that held Helen in it's grips until well after her mother had passed away.  Helen grew up with her parents engaged in a daily battle where her mother would taunt and goad her father to violence that most times ended up with her taking the brunt of consequences.

Though she found out as a teen that she was adopted, Jenny didn't started to look for her birth family until later on in life. When the two sisters connect and they look for answers as to why they were separated they unearth as family legacy of lies and deception.

So many mixed emotions while reading this book.  It was a good story but and oh so hard read.  Helen's abuse was horrendous and I had to stop and pause throughout the book as it was so hard to read about.  That she turned out to be a loving, caring adult is really a miracle.  I was torn reading the story of both girls because the story was laid out in a way that went back and forth between the two as they told of their growing up years.  I'll be honest and say reading Jenny's story was almost difficult in the sense that hers was such an easy life compared to Helen's and almost felt like fluff (insert myself with guilt pangs for feeling that way) and I felt I wanted to rush through it to get back to Helen's story.  Not that I wanted to read about the abuse but I wanted to read that she made it through, that she was able to get away, that she finally was able to leave it behind her.   I did learn a little bit from Helen's story about how someone who is abused and manipulated ends up staying in the situation.  But I found myself almost talking out loud in frustration to the grown up Helen as both she and her husband at the time continued to make decisions that let certain things continue happening without standing up for themselves.  But Jenny's story too, did have some struggles as she dealt with feeling cast aside and rejected by her mother and what she perceived to be a happy family that got rid of her as she had no idea of the abuse that went on in her sister's family.  The last part of the book of course was the best part as Jenny and Helen finally find each other and share their inspirational bond and the strength and faith in God they have to not let bitterness define the rest of their lives.

Because of the frequent abusive situations within Helen's story, I feel that a warning should go with the review of the book for those who would be triggered and/or sensitive to the material.

Night Song - A story of sacrifice by Tricia Goyer

Young Jakub Hanauer's whole world turned upside down when the German soldiers came and took his father away.  His father was a great musician and violin repairer who played in orchestras.  His brother was a violin progidy who had a great future.  Jakub felt he never could be as good as his father or his brother.  Now the Germans are back and the remaining family, his mother and younger brother, are being loaded on trains to be transported away from their home.  At the concentration camp of Mauthausen he is thought to be his talented brother and put into the care of a world renowned conductor and forced to play in the camp's orchestra.  But can he fool everybody with his music or will his deception be found out?

Evie and Nick are a young couple who met in the States.  He is learning to be a doctor and she is the daughter of a diplomat from Europe.  The night Nick was to propose changed their lives forever when Evie's family was ordered back to their homeland.  With news of the war ever increasing, Nick receives his draft papers and is now training as a medic.  He hopes he can find Evie in Europe and will take great risks to do so.  But in an encounter with the resistance,Evie  has had circumstances happen that drive her into hiding making the task Nick sets for himself impossible.

As a young German soldier, Otto longs for the power that he had inadvertantly witnessed at a high ranking German officials private meeting.  Not just the everyday human driven power  but the spiritual power from another world that he knows can rule over everything else.  Nothing will stop him from trying to attain that.  But when he in his pride tries to make it happen he is transfered over to help catagorize the ever increasing stash of musical instruments. 

This was my first book by this author and it will not be my last.  Inside the horrific details of the death camp, Tricia Goyer has told a beautiful tale of faith, grace, courage and survival.  The way she tied the three threads of the story together was really well done and it was hard to put the book down even though some of the details were so hard to read.  The historical details were so well researched and woven into the personal stories so well it was like a movie running through my head as I read.  My heart was gripped and torn at Jakub, Evie and Nick's stories.  I will say though that there was a large cast of characters because of the three story lines and at times I did have to pause and think who different characters were.  But this is definitely one of those stories that gave me a "book hangover" where I had to process everything for days afterward.  Though this is a stand alone novel there are some others in this World War II Liberators series that I will definitely be reading!

Thank you to Tricia Goyer for sending me this beautiful story.

The Dionnes by Ellie Tesher ~ Book Review

If you are Canadian, you no doubt know about the Dionne quintuplets.  If not, you will still find their story fascinating.  They took their place in Canadian history when they were born in the 1930's to typical French Canadian farmers.    The world's only surviving quintuplets at that time.   Because of the uniqueness and miracle of their birth the unthinkable started to happen.  In order for the to survive, the doctor had the other siblings removed from the house to keep all germs down so the babies would have every chance of survival.  The government stepped in and because of news of their miracle birth and survival spreading across the province, then Canada, then worldwide they built a "hospital" for them across the road from their parents home.  They staffed it with the doctor and numbers of nurses.  Then it got bizarre, as the parents were kept away from them.  The nurses (and nuns who eventually schooled them in the compound) were not allowed to show any affection or interfere with the doctor, they were poked and prodded and tested for research for years by doctors.  They formed a unique bond beyond the normal twins or triplets bond because they only had each other for love.  The government of Ontario saw a chance for a great money making opportunity in them as they saw the world's fascination with them.  The hospital turned into a compound where the sisters were put on display daily for tourists to gawk at.   In the act of supposedly protecting them, they were turned into exhibits that the government sanctioned.  Wrenching control from the parents they were made guardians of  various agencies.  Many from the government to their father to advertisers benefitted from these children.  At first their parents tried to fight what was happening, their babies taken from them, a doctor rigidly controlling their visits,  but soon it became apparent that they were losing the fight for the quintuplets and meanwhile their other children were suffering.   But then the father also saw an opportunity to provide for his other children things like quality education in expensive schools that they would not have been able to have otherwise. 

When they were 9 and no longer bringing in the cash flow, the government turned their world upside down yet again and built a huge furnished house for their family, shut down the compound and forced them to go live with the family who were virtually strangers.  Living in the fortress-like mansion, the sisters were kept isolated and separated from the world due to the father's fear of kidnapping while their other siblings lived normal lives.  Trying to fit in was virtually impossible for everybody.

When they became young women their whole lives had been so abnormal, that they all came away as adults with many issues.  Added to that was that the trust fund that was supposed to take care of them for life was found to be depleted by the very people that were supposed to manage it for them; their father and the trust fund board.  From their fund everything the government was saying they were providing, the sisters were actually paying for.  It was a strange upbringing brought about by a greedy government that interfered in the lives of a family when they saw potential for big dollars.  By taking over, it allowed the exploitation of 5 little children, power struggles between government, the family and appointed care givers.  Media manipulated a public who was in the throes of a depression and fed on their need to have something hopeful and happy to grasp onto.  After two of the siblings passed away they disappeared from the public eye. This particular book looks at the sister's 1990's step back into the spotlight after years avoiding it to fight with the Ontario government to get what should have been rightfully theirs to begin with.

This book is older, published in 1999, but I was curious about their story.  It is heartbreaking, totally unbelievable in today's thinking.  It's a story of greed gone wrong, prejudices and views of the time, a public looking for something good in life to the point they were willing to overlook what was really happening, and a quest for justice. The author not only gave their childhood background, but also through conversations with the 3 surviving sisters looked at the how their adult lives were anything but a fairy tale as all were living in poverty with many issues.  The author of the book, as a journalist, covered their story of pursuing justice and it helped cause a public outcry to force Ontario's government at the time to pay them what was due them.   Very readable, super interesting and because of it's unbelievable happenings, it was hard to put down.  I finished it in a couple of days.

I gave it a 8.5/10

Home All Along by Beth Wiseman ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:
Charlotte, an Englisher, is living in Amish Country, and she has formed strong and lasting bonds with the people in her new community. She has even fallen in love with an Amish man. But just when she is considering a permanent conversion to the Amish way of life, her world crashes around her. An unexpected death and a mysterious visitor unsettle Charlotte, and she begins to question her faith and her choices. Daniel loves Charlotte and wants to share his life with her, even it if means leaving the only world he’s ever known. But as he walks alongside of her through her struggles, his own world is turned upside down when a loved one receives a grim medical diagnosis and a prodigal relative returns home. Will Charlotte and Daniel’s relationship succumb to the many pressures around them, or will their faith and the strong community around them allow them to weather the storms of their own lives in order to build a life together?


My Thoughts:
This is book 3 in the "An Amish Secrets Novel".  I reviewed book 1 here.  I didn't read book 2 but I didn't feel lost at all in the 3rd book continuiing Charlotte's story.  I really like the author's portrayal of real life tough stuff  in this series and especially this book.  This was not a fluffy Amish romance.  Though there was a love story involved, there were some strong story lines of life's crisis' and hard decisions both from an "Englisher" perspective and an Amish perspective wrapped around Charlotte and Daniel's love story.  I like that the author took these head on without trying to downplay them or the struggles with faith that they bring.  The characters had to really work through the issues and I thought she did this well from both perspectives.  Though not an action filled book it really drew me with the characters, their journeys, the honesty of emotions and where God fits into it all.  Nice finish to the series.   I already bought book 2 and will read that later in the year.   I know, out of order but I want to see what the second adds.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions were my own and I wasn't required to write a positive review.

The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck ~ Book Review

Writing is in Tenley Roth's blood.  At least that is what she is hoping.  Her great grandfather, grandfather and father were all writers.  And Tenley is now a runaway bestseller awarded with the very award that is named after her grandfather.  Under pressure from her publisher, Tenley now sits with writer's block.  No matter how hard she tries, she can't even begin a second novel.  The first was her heart poured out in grief over the death of her father, who raised Tenley alone since she was 5.  Who does she think she is trying to follow in his footsteps?

Then out of the blue, Tenley hears from her estranged mother who wants her to come care for her while she goes through chemo.  Tenley can't believe the gall of the woman who abandoned her so many years ago but under pressure from both her writing, or rather lack of it, and her "fiance" to go to Paris, Tenley takes a chance and goes to Florida in the hopes of restoring some kind of relationship with her mother and gaining some sort of inspiration to write.  There she finds an old antique desk in her mom's family home that she quickly hopes will become her spark.  But when a guy named Jonas Sullivan tries to take it claiming her mother sold it to him, Tenley literally falls all over it.

A century before a young woman named Birdie also had wrote at the desk.  She grew up in the Gilded age and was the daughter of very rich parents and a mother who arranged a marriage for Birdie so that she herself could climb the heirarchy of New York.  But Birdie has a dream to be a writer but does she have the courage to make those dreams come true?

This was my first story by this author.  I must admit that it was the cover that totally drew me to this book.  It is beautiful.  I did enjoy this duel time line historical romance.  The stories of both women were engaging and drew me right in, though I must admit the whole nature of the attitudes of the gilded age made me want to throw the book at times(not because the author didn't write it well, she certainly did).  How could people have acted like that?  Yeesh.  But the author did a lovely job in describing the time.  You could tell it was well researched and I really felt for Birdie who was a young lady ahead of her time.  I also felt for Tenley and the pressure she was feeling and could totally relate to her way of handling it.  I kinda really loved the way Tenley and Jonas related to each other, in a bit of a sarcastic tone, and laughed aloud a few times with their dialogue.  I did, though have a couple of eye roll moments with some of the attraction thoughts wondering if that is really how young people think nowadays.  LOL.  But it was a really nice double time line story and I loved how the author connected the two women and their stories.

I gave this a great 8.5/10

Orchard of Hope by Ann H. Gabhart ~ Book Review

Orchard of Hope is the 2nd book in the Holyhill Series.  It picks up and continues the story of young Jocie Brooks (started in Scent of Lilacs reviewed here).    Lots is changing in the lives of the Brooke family and in the town of Holyhill.  Jocie is starting high school, her sister Tabitha is about to have her baby, her father may just be falling in love with a wonderful lady, Wes has moved into their home while he recuperates from his shattered leg, which Jocie feels totally responsible for). On top of all this a new family has moved into town and bought the farm land from a loving older couple, hoping to turn it into an apple orchard.  But trouble starts when people realize the family is not only black but the Mom was heavily involved in protests in the big city they were from and is not about to back down from a civil rights confrontation.  In fact, she almost seems to invite it.   Not only is the town on pins and needles but so is the church as what is really in the hearts of the people starts to rise to the surface and the close knit town starts to see divides forming.

I loved this second book in the series.  Just like the first book, I loved all the characters.  The introduction of the Hearndon family made the story really take a whole other turn, a good one, as the town and it's individuals must face what is in their own hearts.  The orchard of hope, as the family calls the farm they are turning into an apple orchard, is their father's fresh start from everything happening in the bigger city where they are from.  Jocie's father hires the young boy from the family to help at the newspaper while Wes recovers but as he finds out, not everyone thinks he should have.  While the book takes on racial discrimination it also tackles the subject of guilt and forgiving oneself so that you can move on in life.  Like the first book, this is not abook that jumped from action packed chapter to action packed chapter, though it did have some,  but was beautiful story telling.  I gave it a 10/10

The Space Between Words by Michele Phoenix ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:
"There were seconds, when I woke, when the world felt unshrouded. Then memory returned."

 When Jessica regains consciousness in a French hospital on the day after the Paris attacks, all she can think of is fleeing the site of the horror she survived. But Patrick, the steadfast friend who hasn’t left her side, urges her to reconsider her decision. Worn down by his insistence, she reluctantly agrees to follow through with the trip they’d planned before the tragedy.

“The pages found you,” Patrick whispered. “Now you need to figure out what they’re trying to say.”

 During a stop at a country flea market, Jessica finds a faded document concealed in an antique. As new friends help her to translate the archaic French, they uncover the story of Adeline Baillard, a young woman who lived centuries before—her faith condemned, her life endangered, her community decimated by the Huguenot persecution.

 “I write for our descendants, for those who will not understand the cost of our survival.”

 Determined to learn the Baillard family’s fate, Jessica retraces their flight from France to England, spurred on by a need she doesn’t understand. Could this stranger who lived three hundred years before hold the key to Jessica’s survival?


My Thoughts:
When I first got this book for review, it wasn't really a book or author I had heard of before.  The description vaguely intrigued me so I ordered it.  At first taste I thought maybe I would have a hard time getting into it.  There are some french words and places in Paris mentioned.  Never having been fond of reading or trying to sound out the French language this made me think I might have chosen something that wasn't quite for me.  But boy, once the story got going I could not put this book down.  I didn't know a lot about the Paris Bataclan attacks of 2015.  For some reason I didn't really pay attention to the news at that time.  I think I might not have wanted to know as that was the year my daughter had travelled to Paris and I just didn't want to be consumed with thoughts of "it could have been her had she gone a few months later".  I don't know.  Anyway, this story really opened my eyes to the horror of what those attacks were.

  I've always shied away from reading about matyrs and Christian persecution as it deposited fear into me.  In a way, it was a step of faith for me to read this story.   I had never heard of the Huguenots of France before but after reading this I have come to realize that their story and that of any story of persecuted Christian faith is important to tell and when told well it can leave a deposit of encouragement and faith and resilience.  I found this story hard to put down.

By interweaving the ancient story of the Huguenot persecution and the more recent Bataclan attack, this new to me author explored the questions:  "Can someone who witnesses unthinkable evil and survives the unbearable, who loses everything, can they not only survive but find happiness in life again?"   "Can one live beyond the fear to realize their story is not over and find the courage to continue their story and fight for their ending?"    For me, the story of these two women, modern and ancient, and how they answered these questions for themselves was an important one to explore.   The story also looks at dealing with grief, PTSD, the importance and blessing of friendship, dealing with guilt, faith and belief in the midst of evil and taking steps forward.

Though the pacing of discoveries by Jessica and Grant was quite quick in this story for story telling's sake, I thought the author did a great job in helping us not to forget this history and told a wonderful story of courage, resilience and faith.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for providing this book free of charge for my honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are mine and I was not required to give a good review.

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova ~ Book Review

Olivia is on Nantucket by herself.  No husband and no son with her.  She is there trying to make some sense of her son Anthony's short 8 years.  Anthony had been diagnosed with Autism at the age of 3.  It had been a hard 5 years, ones in which Anthony didn't speak to her, he didn't look at her and he hated being touched by her.  And it was hard on her marriage.  So hard that she and her husband were not together anymore.  But there was also happiness in the midst of the hard, but now Anthony was gone, her husband was gone and life didn't make sense.

While in Nantucket Olivia meets Beth who is going through her own life issues.  Beth is writing a book and what she writes will reopen Olivia's hurting and grieving heart.

This was a wonderful story by Lisa Genova.  The author of "Sill Alice" uses her knowledge as a nueroscientist to once again bring us into a story that brings compassion and understanding into a hard to understand area.  I was trained in working with disabled individuals and used to work in the school district with autistic children and this book brought me into places of knowledge, perception and sympathy that I didn't know I was lacking, not only for the autistic individual for their families.

The only reason I gave this a 9 out 10 instead of a 10 was the story line of Beth.  I felt distracted from Olivia and Anthony's story with Beth's issues of an unfaithful husband and was bouncing back and forth in my emotions between the two.  I wanted to concentrate on more on Olivia's story but Beth's life kept yanking on my emotions too.  Both story lines were intense emotionally and I felt a bit torn between the two.  I wanted my focus to be more on Olivia and Anthony's story as I thought the book was more about that.  Don't know if that makes sense but it's how I felt during the story.

That being said, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about autism and it's effects on the individual and the family.

The Truth Teller by Angela Hunt

Lara Godfrey's beloved husband died unexpectedly from a horrible bone cancer not long after they were married.  They had very much wanted children so they took steps when he became ill to make sure that that could happen in case all the cancer treatments interfered with their ability to conceive.  But now Michael is dead and Lara, after thinking long and hard and praying about it decides to go ahead with the procedure that would allow her to get pregnant by Michael's child.  She wants nothing more than to have his baby and have a part of him still with her.  And as it turns out Lara works as a physician assistant at a woman's clinic and the husband of the doctor she works for and is friends with is a genetic scientist.  So Lara asks him to check if Michael's cancer genes would be passed on to any offspring.  Assuring her that he eradicated those genes, the doctor goes ahead with the procedure and Lara finds herself pregnant.  When a local celebrity millionaire in her area, a proclaimed bachelor, announces that he is expecting his first child through a surrogate, he is the talk of the coffee room at Lara's clinic.  But when he starts showing up at the clinic, some start to get a little suspicious and suspect Lara to be that surrogate.  When Lara starts to notice some odd discrepancies in her files, she starts to dig further and makes discoveries that put her and her unborn baby's life in danger.  As she deals with the fact she has been deceived by someone she trusted but she is being used as the surrogate for some experimental child that has consequences not only for her and the baby but possibly for the human race.  At first repulsed, now Lara will do anything to protect the child from the evil that waits to befall him.  Living in hiding, and growing and flourishing under his loving mother's fierce protection, the boy starts to show an unusual gift of sensing when other's are not telling the truth.  Now they are again on the run from those who would silence that gift.

This book was very unique.  It was edge of your seat, fascinating, thought provoking and suspenseful.  It explores very important issues of genetic manipulation, medical ethics and morals and their clash with science and research, the love of a mother, the value of life and children no matter their parentage and how far a mother would go to protect her children.  The book was first published in 1999 and it's messages are still important today, in fact, so much so that the publisher reintroduced in 2006.  What I loved about this story was that though it was based in scientific stuff it never bogged down, and kept it's pace from beginning to end.  It made me more aware about topics I never thought too much about before but it sure got me thinking now.  And of course, with Angela Hunt you get lots of twists and turns keeping you up way past one's bedtime to see what happens.  There is some good discussion questions for reading groups in the back.

I rated this 9.5/10

His Love Endures Forever by Beth Wiseman ~ Book Review

Danielle Kent and Matthew Lapp couldn't be more different. She's a young girl taken in by family friends when her left her. Martha and Arnold have raised Danielle for the last year or so as their own. Having no children of their own, they had no problem taking her under their wing when her alcoholic and abusive mom took off, leaving Danielle behind. Matthew is a young Amish man, from a very devout family. Matthew, though, longs to leave the Amish traditions behind and is making plans to go live with his cousin who has done the same. In Danielle's mind, this was perfect. She wanted nothing to do with God as she felt He wanted nothing to do with her. Matthew was going to leave the order so there would be no pressure on her to conform. But when she finds herself pregnant at 18, her knight in shining armor suddenly develops some rust when he runs away, leaving her to face her pregnancy on her own.

 Levi is Danielle's best friend. Much to Levi's mom's dismay, he and Danielle have a very close friendship and she is always afraid that the "Englisher" will take her son away from God and their way of life. Levi, himself, loves the Amish life and always planned to stay in the area and marry and raise his children in the Amish ways. He's always told his mom they are just friends. But when Danielle finds herself in trouble and feeling all alone, Levi feels God has other plans for them but it would mean giving up everything he's planned for his life.

 This was a sweet, Amish fiction read that had much depth to it from an author I love. Danielle's struggles are ones that a lot of young people find themselves with nowadays. I loved the themes of friendship, trusting God and His plans, having faith to follow God's leading, forgiveness, sacrifice, love and family that ran through this story. Loved the characters and how they worked through their stuff as the story moved on.

Rating:  9/10

Scent of Lilacs by Ann H. Gabhart ~ Book Review

In the quiet town of Hollyhill, Kentucky Jocie Brook is set to enjoy her hot lazy summer before she starts high school.  She has one prayer and that is that she gets to see her sister whom she hasn't seen since she was five.   Jocie has grown up without her since her mother up and left with her sister without saying a word to anyone.  Her loving father is an interim pastor of Mt. Pleasant Church praying to get the permanent pastorship and the vote for that is coming up.   But he has some obstacles in his way and he's just believing God will work it all out.  He has poured his love and God's love into Jocie and she has grown up being raised by him and her strict aunt.  Jocie knows she should just take her father's word for the past but there has always been that wish to know why her Mom and sister took off and left her and nobody seems to know or is willing to tell her.  Her two biggest prayers are for a dog and for her to see them again.  Both would take a miracle.   As she starts digging into her past, she stirs up things she might not want to know and that could affect not only her but her Dad's vote for the pastorship.

This was such a perfect summer read.  It is lovely story building and meandering through the lives of this family during the summer of 1964.  I love stories set in this time period and I thought the author captured small town living and attitudes of the time wonderfully.  Jocie is a fun, inquisitive, spiritual young girl who draws you into her world and her hopes.  All the characters are wonderful from Jocie to her Father with his strong faith in spite of all that has happened to her scripture quoting aunt to her father's quirky friend and co-worker Wes.  The secrets they all are hiding are woven together into a story of faith, love and family that I really enjoyed.  Looking forward to the second book continuing the story.

I gave this a 9/10.

Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble ~ Book Review & Tour

Publisher's Description:  

Dana has already learned that love isn’t safe . . . but could it be different in Rock Harbor? As a 911 dispatcher, Dana Newell takes pride in being calm in tough circumstances. In addition to her emotionally-charged career, she’s faced enough emergencies in her own life. She recently escaped her abusive fiancé to move to tranquil Rock Harbor where she hopes life will be more peaceful. But the idyllic town hides more danger and secrets than it first appeared. Dana is continually drawn to her new friend Boone, who has scars inside and out. Then she answers a call at her job only to hear a friend’s desperate screams on the other end. Soon the pain in her past collides with the mysteries of her new home—and threatens to keep her from the future she’s always wanted.


My Thoughts:

This book is revisits the Rock Harbor series, a popular series by Colleen Coble,  which was written a few years back, something that I didn't realize when I requested it for review.  I hadn't read the prior series but I feel this book can be a stand alone and you don't have to read any of the others before you dive into this one.  There were only a couple instances when descriptions of minor characters to this story confused me a bit and I felt those descriptions of who was related to who didn't really need to be in there to make the story flow or come together.

That being said Beneath Copper Falls was a fast paced, edge of your seat murder mystery mixed with romance.  But it is not a fluffy read at all.  Along with the aspects of abuse, stalking and serial killers in the mystery, it also looks at deep heart issues like focusing on outward appearances and how they can be in direct contradiction to what the heart of a person really is.  How do we deal with things we don't like in ourselves especially when life seems to constantly be throwing us curve balls and how do we face what has shaped us and how to go on from there?

I really like the character of Dana as she tries to get her life back together while on the run from an abusive fiance.  To get away from him she heads back to where she feels she'll have some safety and support living with her adoptive brother and in the town where she grew up and has some friends.  But it seems trouble follows her no matter where she heads and just when she doesn't need it the past starts to rear it's ugly head.  I'll not lie, I found some of abusive parts very difficult to read as well as the actual deaths involved in the story and it may be a trigger for some who have been through situations like that.  I can usually handle that and just take it as part of the story but this one touched something in me and it was hard.  But Dana's story drew me in as she tried to deal with the feelings that came as everything was happening.    I liked the exploration into how we face things or bury them and how either way it shapes who we are and how we handle things.  I also liked the look into the work lives of 911 dispatchers and the training of search and rescue dogs.  Both careers that I didn't know much about.   The ending wrapped up a bit abruptly for me but still enjoyed this page turner.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for a free copy of this book for my honest review.  I wasn't required to write a positve review and all thoughts are my own.

Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner ~ Book Review

In 1938 Violet and Audrey meet in Hollywood working in the secretarial pool for the making of the movie Gone With the Wind.   Violet is from a small town and looking to start life over in a new place.  Her deepest desire is to become a wife and mother and have a happy home. Audrey is a bit older and more experienced.  Having gotten a big break a few years back in a silent film that fell to the introduction of talking movies, she is looking to get re-noticed and be made into the star she knows she can be.  When she finds out Violet is looking for a place to live, she offers a room in her home and the two, though so different, become extraordinary life long friends.   But the things each woman does to hide the fears from their pasts and to achieve their deepest desires could come to a head and put their very friendship at risk and change the course of their lives.

Meanwhile in present day, Christine McAllistar comes across the find of a life time when a hat from the movie Gone With the Wind mistakenly surfaces in a box of donated clothing to her vintage clothing boutique.  As she returns it to the owner at their request the mystery of how it ended up there intrigues her.

I loved this book.  It's a story of deep friendship and what the definition of that is.  It explores what one does and justifies to oneself as one seeks after their dreams and desires.   What secrets would we hide, what we would expose?   It explores the concept of love and fear sometimes feeling like the same thing and how we hang onto things thinking we love them but in reality we are afraid to let go and that is exactly what love would have us to do.  Both women made choices in their lives motivated by the wrong reasons and were broken characters that ultimately just wanted to be happy.  I thought the characters were well written, though that doesn't necessarily mean that I always liked them, in fact at times they were infuriating, but that is part of the draw for me.  Characters who are flawed and can draw out emotions in me. I thought the author brought the set and making of Gone With the Wind and old Hollywood to life and also touched on  how World War II affected Hollywood and the making of films.   I love this author's ability to tie a historical story into a present day story.

I enjoyed the concept of this story thoroughly and how it played out in the character's lives.  It made me think about some of my own choices in life and the motivations behind them long after I closed the book.  Worth reading are the interview with the author and thinking about some of the reader's group questions.  I gave it a 10/10.

Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin

I am having a hard time doing a small recap on what this story is about.  There was so much depth to this story that it is hard being brief and not giving things away.  As all of this author's stories, it has many layers.   It is about searching for the truth and where one belongs, it's about secrets and lies and truth rising to the surface, abuse, compassion on the lost and hurting no matter where they've been,  it's about brokenness, forgiveness and redemption, it's about life and death and loss and finding one's self, it's about what you do with the life and circumstances you've been dealt and ultimately it is a story of placing value on people no matter where they've been.

The main characters lives are interwoven through the contemporary story line and through a previous history story line of one of the characters.  Chase Walker is a reporter who grew up never knowing his family but raised in a loving foster home where he was eventually adopted.  But the drive to know who his father was and the truth about his abandonment has driven him his whole life, even to the choosing of his profession which he figured give him access to information to help him find answers.  Willie, or "Unc", as he's referred to by Chase, is a man who is compassionate towards children who have had a hard life.  He too has had a hard past with loss and betrayal but it has only made him more of a loving person, even as the town and members of his own family look down on him.  The other main character is a small boy who has suffered horrific abuse.  He is unable to talk but can draw with great skill in order to communicate.  They nickname him Sketch no one, not even the boy himself seems to know his real name.  As Chase and Willie try to unravel the mystery that Sketch is and where he has come from and to whom he belongs, they must both confront their own issues of brokenness, abandonment and pain.

I'll not lie, the prologue and some parts of the story that involved the young boy were absolutely heartbreaking and not easy to read.  Nor was the story line of a secondary female character who is a longtime friend of Chase and niece of Willie.  Her story line is also a painful one.  But the story is one of redemption and of love standing strong in the face of the worst of what life throws at some people.  All the characters are well written and relatable but Willie especially was wonderful.  His southern sayings bought a levity to the story that brought smiles even in the midst of their truth.  As always Charles Martin's words and story telling ability drew me right in.  His phrasing and pacing were right on target and every emotion was drawn out of me, the reader.  This story was sad yet beautiful and filled with hope.

I gave it a 9/10

The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler ~ Book Review

A young woman named Lily Azerov is coming to Canada from a war torn Europe. Her finance, a man whom she has only communicated with through letters, is to pick her up at the Montreal train station. But when Sol lays eyes on Lily, he turns and leaves. His brother Nathan, sees Lily and has compassion on her and decides right then to marry her. As they try to build a life together, Sol starts to regret letting her go. But Lily has some secrets she has brought with her and she finds fitting into the family difficult. Even after she has a baby, she can't quite shake the depression and guilt that has hounded her so she decides to leave without telling anyone.

 As Lily and Nathan's daughter, Ruth, grows she has many questions about the mother she doesn't remember. The only clues she has are a diary and an uncut diamond. But no one seems to have any answers, not even her Dad who has never spoken a negative word against Lily. But as she starts to dig and connect some dots she finds that life intertwines families in more ways than can be seen just from the surface.

 This book was not what I expected but it was a really good read. It was written by a Canadian author, which I didn't know when I picked it up. It was most enjoyable to me because of all the mentions of Canadian cities and places. It even mentioned the river that runs through my city. I also enjoyed the references to the cutting of diamonds and the subtle comparisons of that to life. It's a tale of survival, of starting anew, of how hidden secrets change the direction of lives other than the secret keeper's, of the desire and need to know one's roots, of the ties of family.

 The mystery of Lily is embedded in World War II and moves itself into the Jewish community of Montreal, Canada. It offers the reader the hope that out of devastation, one can still have love and family. It is not a fast paced read but more of a study of character and the events that shape us into who we are.  I gave it a 8.5/10