The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls ~ Book Review

My last complete read for 2018.  Seems fitting as it was my oldest book on my library To Read Shelves.

Memoir of a young child who survived a hugely dysfunctional upbringing. This story evokes many emotions out of the reader as you read of her horrific childhood of neglect and abuse. An alcoholic father who yet, when he was sober, taught them many things, a mother who basically let them do whatever and left them to fend for themselves as she was into her artistic pursuits and shunned anything to do with household care or raising a family, constantly on the move, living in extreme poverty were the norm for this author. But in spite of it all she seems to have grown into a responsible, caring adult who in has managed to keep from being bitter and kept a relationship with her parents to the end. It's always interesting to take a peek into someone else's life, so different from my own. The book moved at a good pace, was absolutely heart breaking at times, maddening at times and makes you question how this family could ever have fallen through the cracks of the social system.

Rated this 8/10

Chosen People by Robert Whitlow ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:
Bestselling author Robert Whitlow returns with an international legal drama that speaks to critical issues of our day.

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation...

 During a terrorist attack near the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a courageous mother sacrifices her life to save her four-year-old daughter, leaving behind a grieving husband and a motherless child. Hana Abboud, a Christian Arab Israeli lawyer trained at Hebrew University, typically uses her multi-language skills to represent international clients for an Atlanta law firm. When her boss is contacted by Jakob Brodsky, a young Jewish lawyer aggressively pursuing a lawsuit on behalf of the family under the US Anti-Terrorism laws, he calls on Hana’s expertise to take point on the case. After careful prayer, she joins forces with Jakob, and they quickly realize the need to bring in a third member for their team, an Arab investigator named Daud Hasan, based in Israel. To unravel the case, this team of investigators goes from the streets of Atlanta to the alleys of Jerusalem, a world where hidden motives thrive, the risk of death is real, and the search for truth has many faces. What they will uncover will forever change their understanding of justice, heritage, and what it means to be chosen for a greater purpose.

My Thoughts:
This story was an interesting look into terrorism in the Middle East and it's legalities as related to U.S. terrorism laws.  Hana Abboud was a very interesting main character.  As a Christian Arab Israeli lawyer there were many facets to her personality and her faith is strong and touches everything including her work life.  I really liked how faith forward her character was. Because of growing up in Israel and her skill with the languages there, she is now working for an Atlanta law firm when she is asked to be co-counsel on a case that a secular Jewish lawyer, Jakob Brodsky,  is trying to pursue for one of his clients, a man who's wife was killed and daughter injured in a act of terrorism while on holiday in Jerusalem.  As the case progresses, they realize they will need help and Hanna pursues hiring an investigator who will help them on the Middle East side of digging out the truth.   As she and Jakob try to juggle their working relationship events in Atalanta start to look like there might be a connection to the case they are working on.     The story was good though I felt the romantic part of the story didn't ring quite true for me.  There was some aspects of that relationship that just felt rushed.  But other than that I found it interesting learning about relations between the Arab and Israeli parts of the Holy Land, reading about different areas and attractions of Israel and how laws affect pursuing justice in acts of terrorism. I loved the exploration of being chosen for a greater purpose both in the sense of the Jewish people and in a personal way and enjoyed Jakob's growth within the story. If you like legal thrillers with lots of action and light romances this would be a great read, though if reading about terrorism is a trigger for you, I would have to add a caution as this book does not shy away from it's plans and effects.

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

Under a Cloudless Sky by Chris Fabry ~ Book Review

In 1933, in the mining town of Beulah Mountain, two young girls form an unlikely friendship.  Though from different walks of life, Ruby being the daughter of one of the mine's owners and Bean being the daughter of an alcoholic mine worker, their friendship runs deep and ignores the prejudices from both sides of the track, so to speak.  Ruby's father is working hard to try and bring changes to poverty stricken area but he is up against the the other mine owner who only looks at the bottom line and where he can take advantage.

In 2004, Ruby is now in her 80's.  She has been invited to the grand opening of a museum in the town of Beulah Mountain where the mining history of the town will be featured.  She has avoided going so far as she doesn't want to think of the tragic massacre that happened there just before she left.  But as she listens to a message on the radio from her favorite preacher, she realizes she needs to deal with some secrets from her past.  But when her son and daughter show up announcing they want her to quite driving she knows it is now or never and facing the past can no longer be put off.

At the same time in Beaulah Mountain Hollis Beasley is trying to hang onto his property that has been handed down to him.  It is the only thing that his family owned and with come all the history, memories and family legacy.  But the mining company has convinced the rest of the town to sell so that they can literally strip the mountain.  Hollis doesn't know how much longer he can be the last holdout, especially now that his beloved wife is ill.  As the town is nearing it's celebrations for the Company Store Museums grand opening a perfect storm is brewing for Hollis, Ruby and the town of Beaulah Mountain.

I loved this story!!  Bean and Ruby drew me in right from the beginning.  Their personalities and unlikely friendship were a great element to the story and it was fun being privy to their developing friendship.  I loved the historical aspect of the story that told of the hard lives of the miners and the attitudes of the owners and how that played into Appalachian history.  I thought the author did a great job in building all the main and secondary characters in spite of their being quite a few.  I was never confused as to who was who and their relationships and stories were all interesting and relatable.  Because I am at that time in my life of parents in that age group the part of the story about Ruby and her children really struck home in a lot of ways.  There are twists in the story that were timed perfectly.  This was a wonderful read.  Highly recommend.

As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner ~ Book Review

The Bright family experienced a huge loss of son and brother when their infant Henry passed away.  Pauline struggled to get past the death of her son, so when her husband proposed moving to Philadelphia to get away from the family tobacco plantation so they could have a fresh start, Pauline agreed.  Living with Mr. Bright's uncle in his house/funeral parlor which Mr. Bright will inherit at some point, the family has a chance at a better life.  Pauline finds solace in doing the makeup of the deceased and when her middle child, 13 year old Maggie, insists on learning how to also, Pauline convinces the uncle to let her.  Though they still grieve for Henry, things may be turning around.

Then WWI hits and when Mr. Bright is called away to training, Pauline and the girls are left on their own to help at the funeral home.  Little did they know that not only would WWI start affecting all those they knew, but with it would come the Spanish flu epidemic.  No one is immune and as fear and grief start to grip the city and the bodies start to pile up, the city of Philedelphia and the Bright family will never be the same.

This a a beautifully written story about family and love, grief, and survival.  It explores decisions made in the worst of times and how mistakes and choices affect our lives.  I never really knew anything about the Spanish flu pandemic but this story really brought home the reality of what these kinds of viruses can do.  The author did a tremendous job of the historical aspect of the story.  I thought the perspective of how a funeral home of the time would handle such an influx was very interesting.  The story is written back and forth from the perspectives of Pauline Bright, the mom, and each of her 3 girls.  The Bright family was a very everyday kind of family trying to get past the passing of their baby boy when they went to Philadelphia and I thought their grief and it's effects was well done in their story.  It's also a coming of age story as the girls grow up within the story.  How each of them, with their own personalities and age, reacts to the events surrounding them really drew me.  Even though this story was set in an almost hopeless setting the author still was able to maintain a positiveness in the midst of horror and sorrow.  I loved the characters and was totally drawn into their world.

I gave it a 9.5/10

Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:
In a most improbable friendship, she found love. In a world where women were silenced, she found her voice. From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy. In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice—and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had. At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story—a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all.

My Thoughts:  
I am having a difficult time reviewing this book.  I was excited and very interested in the story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis.  I had watched Shadowlands years and years ago and vaguely remembered some of it so thought this book might be a great way to learn about first their pen pal relationship, then friendship, then love.  Unfortunately, it was everything else surrounding their story that finally made me set aside this book at 3/4 of the way through.  I just didn't care enough to push through to the end.  The pace in the book was very slow and because I didn't really know their story, I found it mentally tiring trying to separate the fact from fiction or the fleshing out of the story.   I felt the author did a ton of research into the topic and that she really gave a voice to Davidman who was a gifted author herself, but because of the times and circumstances of her life found herself struggling to find her place.  Joy Davidman did not have an easy life.  I enjoyed reading excerpts of Lewis and Davidman's correspondence and quotes from Lewis.  And the description of how the idea of Narnia and it's characters and story was most interesting.  The descriptions of England and it's countryside and Oxford were lovely and made me really want to visit that country.  That being said the circumstances surrounding their story and the way it was written read very much like a worldly novel to me.   Don't get me wrong, I read all sorts of genres beyond Christian fiction, but when I pick up a Christian fiction book, I have certain expectations.  I think that had the book been a memoir or biography I would have approached it from a different mindset as an actual factual read and would have thought nothing of it.  But because it is labeled as fiction and from a Christian publishing company, I found myself mentally tiring  and bogging down trying to sort what might have been actual fact and what was the author fleshing out the story.  Even if it had been a mainstream novel from a mainstream publishing house I would have approached it differently.  I found way too much detail surrounding circumstances that I was not expecting in my choice of Christian fiction.  And the amount of alcohol and drinking portrayed in the story not only on the part of Davidman's alcoholic husband but also on the part of Davidman herself was too much for me in a "christian fiction" novel.  Hence, I feel that for me, the story would have been better served as a non-fiction biography.  I also found the pace very slow.  The reviews by others seem to be divided down the center and leave it as a book you either love or not with not many reviews in the middle, but for me, I'm sorry to say, it was not my cup of tea.  It's one of those books where one would have to read it themselves to make up their own minds about it.

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

The Little Old Lady Strikes Again by Catharina Ingelman Sundberg ~ Book Review

The League of Pensioners is at it again.  Martha and her gang of seniors is in Las Vegas and planning the heist of the century.  They want to steal from one of the biggest casinos in town.  As usual, things don't go quite as planned.  Back home, they buy a house in country they can all share as they plan how to disburse their "winnings" to senior facilities and cultural programs.  But their new neighbors give them a run for their money in the crime department.

This is the second installment in this light hearted series with a message that looks at some of the issues that face seniors while it provides laughs to the reader.  Unfortunately this second book fell flat for me (though it does get good ratings on amazon but not my library's site).  While I loved the first one, laughing through the whole thing, this one bordered on the ridiculous for me and I was kind of bored right from the get go.  While the crime capers in the first one had me in stitches trying to imagine my own senior parents doing such a thing, this one didn't seem at all even near believable in the dealings and interactions with their new neighbors.  I doubt that group of people would be as dumb or easily fooled as the book presented.  I also felt the cover and blurb led me to believe the setting would be Las Vegas  which I thought would put an interesting twist into their story but that really was only at the very beginning.  In all I was just reading to finish the book while not really enjoying it as the first.  There is a third and I will give it a go to see if it returns to the enjoyment of the first one.

I gave it a 5.5.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton ~ Book Review

When famous British actress Laurel Nicolson was 16 years old, she was witness to a murder of a man on the front steps of her home.  Hiding in the tree house while her little brother's birthday party was going on, Laurel was about to join the cake cutting in the garden when a man came up the drive.  When her sweet, loving mom Dorothy answers the door to find him there, she seems to know him but instead of a welcome she plunges the cake knife into him.  Fifty years later, Laurel is home along with her siblings to celebrate her mother's 90th birthday.  But questions have always lingered about her mother since that fateful day and now her mom is saying things that just don't make sense.   Because Dorothy is in a nursing home and Laurel is staying in the family home, she goes on a hunt to find the answers to the questions that linger.  What she finds will lead her to 1940's London during the blitz and a life her mother has never spoken of.  Instead of answers there seems to be even more questions and a feeling that she has never really known her mother after all.

I loved this story.  It goes back and forth between present day, the 1960's and  1940's England just before and during the London Blitz.  There were several points of view and the author wove them together in such a way that I was never confused.  The story captured me from the very beginning and I found it hard to put it down.  The mystery of Dorothy's past is revealed in such a way that kept the pages turning and it was interesting to try and resolve the Dorothy of the 1960's and the present with the Dorothy of war torn London.  The reader is taken on a journey of three young people who's lives intersect and are forever changed by knowing each other.  Events conspire, both instigated by each of them and those not under their control,  that lead them to make decisions that they might not otherwise and I, as the reader, eagerly turned the pages trying to find the mystery of who this man that was murdered by Dorothy might have been in her past.  Throw in a love story, and the fact that the war might have caused people to do things they might normally have never done and a twist I did not see coming and you end up with a wonderful mystery with great characters that kept the pages turning.  This was one of those rare stories that caused a satisfied sigh to escape when I turned the last page.

I gave it a 10/10.

The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister ~ Book Review

This is the sequel to The School of Essential Ingredients. Again the author takes a cast of several characters and individually tells their story even as she slowly mixes their lives together. Lillian, the restaurant owner returns, though she is taking a break from teaching her classes. Her relationship with Tom has continued to progress but now something has happened that will change their lives forever. Chloe loves working for Lillian and is not only learning from her but is starting to step out with her own creations. After having her heart broken she finds it hard to trust but moving in with aging Isabelle she is starting to let down the walls just a bit as she finds a place of acceptance even as Isabelle is starting to lose her memories. Finnegan has started working at the restaurant as a dishwasher. He would love to know Chloe better but her walls are hard to break through. He's a hard worker, quiet and reliable but despite his great height his past has taught him how to fade into a background. Then there is Al, Lillian's accountant. His meetings with Lillian are always something to look forward to as she always brings him some delicious concoction she has made. He's always taken great comfort in numbers, but as of late with problems at home with his wife, Louise, he has found comfort in rituals.

 Like the first book the author's prose and descriptions are lovely as she builds the characters stories. They are an eclectic mix of backgrounds and personalities but food is always the the underlying thread that connects them. The story and characters were engaging though I just didn't love it as much as the first book. There was just something missing that the first book had. Maybe I read them too far apart. That is not to say it wasn't a good read but it just didn't evoke the same feelings in me as the first. I loved how the author ended the story with a throwback to something that happened in the beginning of the story. It really tied that part together.

I gave this a solid 7.5/10

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce ~ Book Review

After receiving a note in the mail from a former co-worker that is saying her goodbyes as she faces a terminal illness, Harold Fry  writes her back despite not having had communication with her for many, many years.  But as he goes to post the letter in the mailbox, he just can't bring himself to drop it in.  After a conversation with a young gas station attendant about hope, Harold makes an impulsive decision to give his friend hope, by walking all the way across the country to see her.  But Harold didn't quite think through everything this decision would entail.  He has no proper footwear or coat, no maps or phone.  His wife does not understand what he is doing.  But he knows he must keep going, because he is trying to save his friend's life.

This story was an interesting and heartfelt look into the human heart.  As Harold walks  he has nothing to do except think and he faces his own thoughts, emotions and history.  As does his wife back at home.  It's a subtle coming to terms with aging  and what one's life has become because of your past decisions and what one's life can still be.  It's also a story of perspective and how we remember events in our lives.   As Harold walks he he comes across many interesting characters who both add to his walk but also those who are detrimental.  The book drew me right in as I kept the hope that Harold would indeed make it on time to Queenie and that somehow against all odds this walk would save her.  But it also drew me because, strangely, in so many ways, Harold is so relatable.

The story is very introspective but the author brilliantly unfolds the past that has led Harold to this point.  It is a study in human nature in many layers not just of Harold but all the people that his journey brings him across.  About 3/4 of the way through, just when I thought I had enough of the introspection, the author reveals aspects of Harold's story one after another that had me crying  and then crying again and yet again.  I thought this was a lovely story that was very well done, humorous and subtly thought provoking.

I give it a 9.5/10

The House at Saltwater Point by Colleen Coble ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:  
The dangerous beauty of Lavender Tides is harboring secrets that reach around the world. Ellie Blackmore is making a name for herself as a house flipper. But when her sister Mackenzie disappears, Ellie can’t focus on anything but uncovering what happened. Her only clue is the bloodstain on the deck of Mackenzie’s boat. Ellie knows her sister isn’t on the best of terms with her ex-husband, Jason, but he wouldn’t kill her—would he? Coast Guard intelligence officer Grayson Bradshaw believes Mackenzie faked her own death after stealing a seized cocaine shipment. The problem is convincing Ellie, who seems to view him as the true enemy. Both Ellie and Grayson want truth, but truth—and family—is often more complex than it first appears. From international terrorism to the peaceful lavender fields of Puget Sound, The House at Saltwater Point is a thrilling race to uncover the truth before it’s too late.



My Thoughts:  
The is the 2nd installment in the Lavender Tides Novel series.  Though it is part of a series it can be a stand alone novel.  Some favorite main characters from the first book make an appearance but you don't have to know their full story to "get" this one.  There is also a character introduced who was barely made mention of in the first book, but again the author gave enough background that you got their story without having had to have read the first.  Though that being said I loved the first book, "The View From Rainshadow Bay",  so was looking forward to this one.   The element of Ellie Blackmore flipping houses for a living was interesting as it is such a popular thing right now on a lot of tv channels, and the author opened each chapter with a quote from the character's renovation blog which was an ambiguous reference to the coming chapter.   There was a lot of action, a smidge of romance and a well done exploration of family loyalty and personal history affecting how a person will react.  The characters are well developed but I must say at first the character of Grayson I found most annoying and presumptuous.  Though I enjoyed the action and suspense and the story in general in the back of my mind I kinda wondered if I thought it believable.  But it was a great summer beach read that took me away to another place and kept the pages turning to the end.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for providing a free copy for my honest review.  All thoughts and opinons are my own and I wasn't required to give a positive review.

No One Ever Asked by Katie Genshert ~ Book Review

The lives of three women intersect as an affluent school district is forced to allow students, mostly black, to be bussed from a neighboring poor school district after the school loses it's accreditation.  Anaya is a teacher who grew up in the poor district but has now been hired by the elementary school in the affluent district.  Camille is the wife of  an executive.  She's a stay at home mom and heavily involved in her children's schools.  Jen is new to the area.  After years of trying to have children, her and husband have finally adopted a little orphan girl from Kenya but the perfect picture of the happy little family she built for herself is somehow eluding her as she struggles to mother a child with trauma issues.

This story tackles the issues of racism, international adoption,  the illusion of perfect lives and marriages, perception and  sexual harassment and forgiveness.  It attempts to present in as sensitive and accurate a measure as is possible from a white author both the black and white experience in a school setting forced to come together.  It is well written and really made me think.  The story is based on a true situation where an affluent school was made to take on students bussed from a poorer district when they lost accreditation.  The author tries to round out the story by bringing in characters with different backgrounds, different view points and different current problems.  There is a lot of characters to keep track of but once you get onto them it flows well.  Because I am a Canadian residing in Alberta our school systems work a little differently so the story gave me a bit of insight into the American school system and their challenges in the area of districts and racism.  The character of Camille was most interesting to me because as she fights the bringing in of these students for what she perceives as very viable different reasons other than the color their skin, she and the others of the affluent school are forced to come face to face with what is really in their hearts.  It really made me think and search in my own heart.   Love when a story is able to do that.

I loved the approach the author took in having a shocking event occur in the beginning of the story and then rewinding a year to tell the stories of the characters and situations that culminate in that shocking event.  You are left with just enough information to get the jist of the event in the beginning but you don't know who was involved which keeps the pages turning as the situations come to the crisis point.  There was one situation within the story of one of the characters that I am still mulling over and wondering how I feel about the resolution of that.   I don't know what to say other than I'm torn at the wrap up of that particular thing without giving things away.  But this book for me was well worth the read and I would recommend it.

I gave it a 9.5/10

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Alice Love wakes up on the floor of her gym staring up at a bunch of strangers who seem to know her quite well.  Apparently she fell of the spin cycle and had a bump to the head.  But wait a minute, Alice hates the gym.  And that is not the only thing that is strange.  Very worried about the baby she is pregnant with, her and Nick's first child, Alice is baffled when the hospital insists she is not pregnant at all.  And not only that, she is not 29 but 39 and her three children are waiting to be picked up at school.  And her world just keeps getting stranger as it is apparent that she has totally lost 10 years of her life out of her memory.  Now as the hospital releases her she must go to that life she has no memory of and try to put the pieces together so that she and her family can function in some way.  But her family is broken and she is in the midst of a divorce and she has no idea why, she barely has a relationship with the rest of her family and apparently she is some super mom at her kid's school organizing a huge fundraiser that will get them in the Guinness Book of World Records.  And who on earth is this "Gina" that everyone doesn't want to talk about?  This all is an Alice that she does not recognize at all and now she must figure out either how to go back or how to go forward.

This was a very interesting premise that really made you think how you would react if you lost the last ten years of your life.  As Alice tries to function in her daily life, she has many surprises arise as to what her life and she as a person has become and she is shocked and not happy about a lot of it.  But she can't remember what led her there and nobody seems to want to fill her in.  A paragraph that I thought perfectly described Alice's dilemma was on page 98 and is a quote from Alice herself:

""How long have you been married for?"  Alice interrupted.  The terror of not knowing the facts of her own life gripped her again.  She was on one of those amusement park rides that slammed you left, then right, then turned the whole world upside down, giving you unfamiliar glimpses of familiar things.  Alice hated amusement park rides."

I could actually feel her uncertainty and fear.

The story examines looking at the blessings of your life and what might be important and what isn't.  It explores the workings of family relationships and what interferes with them.  The story is told from 3 voices:  Alice, her sister Elizabeth who has desperately been trying to have a baby and can't, and that of her beloved grandmother.   The story was thought provoking, funny in a lot of places and also sad in some.  For the most part I enjoyed the story and really wanted to find out what happened to Alice and if she would settle within herself who she had become if her memory didn't return.  The author gave enough vague references to Alice's former life that kept you turning the pages to find it all out along with Alice though a few sections of the book did drag on a bit.   

I rated this an 8/10

Where Hope Begins by Catherine West ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:
Sometimes we’re allowed to glimpse the beauty within the brokenness . . . Savannah Barrington has always found solace at her parents’ lake house in the Berkshires, and it’s the place that she runs to when her husband of over twenty years leaves her. Though her world is shaken, and the future uncertain, she finds hope through an old woman’s wisdom, a little girl’s laughter, and a man who’s willing to risk his own heart to prove to Savannah that she is worthy of love. But soon Savannah is given a challenge she can’t run away from: Forgiving the unforgivable. Amidst the ancient gardens and musty bookstores of the small town she’s sought refuge in, she must reconcile with the grief that haunts her, the God pursuing her, and the wounds of the past that might be healed after all. Where Hope Begins is the story of grace in the midst of brokenness, pointing us to the miracles that await when we look beyond our own expectations.


My Thoughts:
Oh boy where do I begin.  I finished this book yesterday and my mind and heart are still mulling it over and dealing with all the emotions it evokes.  This story is so relevant to this day and age where so many families are devastated by the chaos that marital and family betrayal brings.  It dealt with some heavy duty topics:  adultery, marriage break up, loss of a child, suicide, guilt, worthiness, forgiveness.  The family in this story was facing some major issues.  Tragedy, that instead of drawing them closer, was driving them apart as they tried to cope.  There were some light moments, some heart breaking moments, some very, very difficult moments and yet the story was infused with hope.  I felt the reactions, emotions and struggles of the each of the characters was written very real.  I loved that the author didn't try to pretty up and skirt around the pain and not only showed the heartbreak and raw feelings of the parents but also of what the teenager and young adult child were going through.  I was the young adult  many years ago and this story resurfaced many, many feelings that I went through so I know they were written very honest and legitimate.  The characters and their reactions were very real and not perfect as they struggled to make sense of what happened and how to move forward and to face the grief that they had never really dealt with. I loved the symbolism of the broken down, seemingly dead green house and how that became a place of hope and looking beyond the obvious for Savannah.  In real life, I think the characters would have had to take much more time to work things through but for the sake of the story the timeline did move quickly.  (Otherwise you would end up with a very long tome).  There is some physical feelings  between husband and wife that are added for those who are sensitive to that in their reading material but I felt they were done tastefully and it is definitely part of what a couple experiencing this would go through.There is great questions in the back and this whole book would make for a great book club read, both Christian and non-believer, as there is so much that could be discussed.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for sending this book free of charge for my honest review.  All opinions and thoughts are my own and I am not required to give a positive review.

I gave this book a 9/10 rating but for BookLook Blogger purposes they rate out of 5 and don't have 1/2 point ratings so I bumped it to the 5 on their site because of it's honest portrayal.

Summer of Joy by Ann H. Gabhart

This is the 3rd installment in the Hollyhill series.   It continues to follow the story of Jocie Brooke and her family.  Jocie is now 14 and looking forward to finishing school and enjoying summer.  Everything is going great for everyone in the family...her Dad and his girlfriend Leigh are becoming closer, her sister is doing well and still living with them along with her adorable little baby.  They are all enjoying doting on him and the community seems to have accepted his chocolate colored skin in spite of last year's racist upheaval.  Everything is fine except for the turmoil that one of Jocie's teacher's is causing her.  He is new, stepping in for the regular English teacher on leave.  And according to Jocie, he is just plain mean and has it in for her.  But as the end of the school year approaches Jocie will have more on her plate to deal with than a frustrating teacher as a shocking appearance by the one person she never wanted to see happens and another stranger comes to town who could just ruin one of her most cherished relationships.

I enjoyed this wrap up to the coming of age story of Jocie Brooks and the people of Holyhill.  It was a satisfying ending to their storylines and their character arc and growth throughout the series was very interesting to me.  The author continued in the vein of good storytelling though there was one phrase that I thought was used way too much throughout the story and I found myself sighing everytime it was brought in.   I thought the author was very skillful in treating the storylines of a stalker, a teacher who was picking on a student, and small town community attitudes with the 1960's feel.  She really was able to convey the attitudes and approaches to those kinds of things from that era's viewpoint.  We would definitely not approach things that way today.  Though this was my least favorite of the 3 books it wrapped everything up nicely.

The other two books are reviewed here and here.

I gave this one an 8/10

A Time To Stand by Robert Whitlow ~ Book Review

Adisa Johnson is an up and coming attorney at a huge law firm in Atlanta working in the corporate take over division.  She thrives on finding traps in multi-million dollar business mergers and purchases and putting together major corporate deals.  But when her aunt, who raised her and her sister, has a stroke and will need some help, Adisa heads home to small town Campbellton.  When she arrives she finds her home town embroiled in a huge controversial case that is pulling her town apart.  A white police officer has shot a popular and athletic black high school student.  The youth's life is hanging in the balance as all wait to see if the youth will survive and the officer will be charged.  He claims he had justifiable reason and that he heard a gun shot before he discharged his own weapon, that he is not a racist.  But the black community is not buying it and claims that he used his weapon simply because the youth was black.  Embroiled in the escalating controversy is a prominent black pastor who leads a very large church in the community.  When she comes to town, the pastor assumes which side she will take and wants her help in whatever way she can to prosecute the police officer to the full extent of the law.  Pulling her in the other direction is her old mentor who wants her to defend the officer.  Just when she has made up her mind and wants to get into the fray by helping prosecute, the young black youth's grandmother does something totally unexpected and Adisa finds herself challenged to look at the case with new eyes and with the town becoming more and more divided she finds herself being drawn to do the unthinkable at great cost to herself.

I really enjoyed this very timely story.  It drew me right in and made me think of these issues from other angles other than what might seem obvious.  It challenges perceptions about assumptions, consequences, justice, forgiveness and solutions to the seemingly insurmountable and unsolvable issues of race and profiling and policing.  I loved the character of Adisa who was a strong black woman but also felt the affects of racism in her life but was open enough to have her own perceptions and assumptions challenged.  I loved her bravery in doing what she thought she was being called to do.  With the lines drawn in the sand for the townspeople, I found the aspect of the story which had both sides believing God for victory very interesting, because that is what happens with life.   The story drew me to see how the author would handle that dilemma of which prayer God would answer and how.  Though once in awhile, I found some of the conversations a bit stilted I really enjoyed this book because of how it opened up my own thinking and would be excellent, I think, for a book club to discuss.

I gave it a 9/10.

The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner ~ Book Review

I picked this book out of my pile because my daughter has just booked her trip to Florence so I thought that was great timing. Meg has been in love with the idea of Florence since she was a small child and her beloved grandmother promised her a trip there. But when her Grandma died when Meg was 12 without being able to fulfill that promise her Dad promised he would step in and take her. As much as she loves him though, her Dad has never been good at doing what he promises. Not wanting to give up hope, Meg is surprised when her Dad sends her an airline ticket and cash card to take the trip. But it's under less than up front circumstances but Meg leaves anyway sure that he will meet her there. And while there she can meet with authors that deal with the publishing company she is working for and check out a new author they want to introduce her to. Sophia Borelli is only too happy to show Meg around the city of Florence and to show Meg more chapters from her book. Claiming to be an only survivor of the Medici family, Meg's bosses want her to find proof of Sophia's claim before they will do anything with the book. But when Sophia starts saying she can hear an old Medici princess Nora, speaking to her through statues and paintings, Meg starts to get caught up in Sophia's world of masterpieces and the Italian Renaissance.

 I gotta admit this started slow for me and never really did pick up or grab me. I found my mind wandering through out the story as I read, to the point where I could not even really remember all that much about the story to write the review, especially the historical parts about Nora and the Medici family and Sophia and her hearing things from Nora through the works of art. I found myself skipping some sentences and paragraphs and I didn't engage with the characters. This book does have great reviews on Amazon, however, so other readers did enjoy it. Though I did enjoy the descriptions of Florence, not sure what my thing was, but I just wasn't into this story.

 I gave this one a 5/10 not because it was a bad story or bad writing but because I just couldn't engage with it.

Send Down the Rain by Charles Martin ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Mountain Between Us comes a new, spellbinding story of buried secrets, lost love, and the promise of second chances.

 Allie is still recovering from the loss of her family’s beloved waterfront restaurant on Florida’s Gulf Coast when she loses her second husband to a terrifying highway accident. Devastated and losing hope, she shudders to contemplate the future—until a cherished person from her past returns. Joseph has been adrift for many years, wounded in both body and spirit and unable to come to terms with the trauma of his Vietnam War experiences. Just as he resolves to abandon his search for peace and live alone at a remote cabin in the Carolina mountains, he discovers a mother and her two small children lost in the forest. A man of character and strength, he instinctively steps in to help them get back to their home in Florida. There he will return to his own hometown—and witness the accident that launches a bittersweet reunion with his childhood sweetheart, Allie. When Joseph offers to help Allie rebuild her restaurant, it seems the flame may reignite—until a 45-year-old secret from the past begins to emerge, threatening to destroy all hope for their second chance at love.

 In Send Down the Rain, Charles Martin proves himself to be a storyteller of great wisdom and compassion who bears witness to the dreams we cherish, the struggles we face, and the courage we must summon when life seems to threaten what we hold most dear.


My Thoughts:
Once again Charles Martin has written a story that touched all my emotions and had me invested in the characters.  It's a beautiful story of lost dreams, great sacrifice, worthiness, PTSD, forgiveness, and the struggle of good and evil.  And as always there is a beautiful thread of redemption that all his stories carry.   And that is a lot to pack into one story but he managed to do it.   The story grabbed me in the very beginning and then kept hold of my interest and emotions right on through.  At first there is quite a few story lines being laid but it all starts to come together and presents the story of a Vietnam vet who despite everything he's seen and experienced and his longing to hide himself away, steps up when he comes across someone in need.  Charles Martin is my favorite author and once again he's proven why.  His stories just do something in my heart, make me really think and feel, his prose is lovely and I can't pick up another book for a few days while I mull over everything I just read.  The sentences and statements he makes throughout the book about forgiveness, good vs evil, and worthiness just took my breath away at times.  Highly recommend.

I rated this a 9.5/10   (Because Booklook does their star rating out of 5 and does not have a half star I will round it up to a 5 on their rating system)

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for sending me a free copy for my honest opinion.  All thoughts are my own and I'm not required to write a positive review.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent ~ Book Review

Agnes grew up in poverty & neglect in Iceland in the early 1800's.  Abandoned at a young age by her unmarried mother and never knowing her father, she moved from farm to farm working to stay alive from the age of 8.  Growing up never learning what love was or even what a hug felt like, when she met single "healing doctor" Natan Kettilsson in her 30's, she agreed to move to his farm and become his housekeeper and given the hope that she might become his wife.  As Agnes tries to make a life for herself and finds herself falling in love with Natan events conspire and she finds herself, along with the other housekeeper and a 17 year old male on trial and convicted of the brutal murder and attempted cover-up of Natan and another man.  Put in jail, she endures great hardship and abuse until the authorities decide to put her with a lesser official's family in Northern Iceland until the king of Denmark's approval of her execution.  At first the family is horrified that this is required of them and that they have no choice in the matter.  Their reactions of distrust and anger dictate their ignoring of her and treating her as a servant so that she earns her keep but as time passes they come to see another side of the "murderess" and "convict".

I finished this book more than a week ago but have been dwelling on it since.  This is a fictionalized account inspired by the of the real life Agnes Magnusdottir who was the last woman to be publicly executed in Iceland.  The author has taken great care in her research, both of Agnes and the other main characters in the story and the events surrounding them  and also the way of life and what was happening in the country of Iceland at the time.  She calls her story a "speculative biography" because of course she had to fill in the blanks of conversations and the relationships within her story but was faithful to stick to her research surrounding the events that transpired.  Tradition sees Agnes as a witch of sorts, cold and brutal and uncaring but there is really no historical record of who she really was as Agnes was not really given a chance to tell her side of the story in court.  The author gives a voice to perhaps a different story of Agnes' life that led up to her execution. 

The telling of the Agnes' story goes back and for from 1st person as seen through the eyes of Agnes and what she is feeling and going through as she awaits her execution, and then 3rd person telling the story of the family and of the priest Agnes requested be her spiritual advisor.  The story was an interesting look into the power hungry officials, how the poor and classless servants were treated and given no voice,  how the church officials may have played their role.  It is also an interesting character study of both the family Agnes stayed with and Agnes herself exploring assumptions and preconceived ideas dictating reactions.    The story is definitely atomospheric as the landscape of Iceland, which the author loves, also almost became a character of it's own mirroring the bleakness, hopelessness and poverty  reflected in the story.  Even though one knows right from the beginning what is going to happen because it is history, the author did an amazing job in presenting a character that the reader wants to hope for as her story, as imagined by Hannah Kent,  is unfolded.  I will put a caution in to my reader's sensitive to it, that there is a couple instances of sexual content.

I rated this a 9.5/10

The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers ~ Book Review

Roman Velesco is a successful artist who has the world at his fingertips.  Living the high life he can have whatever he wants but avoids most relationships beyond how they can serve him at all costs.  His past keeps him a bitter loner with walls and secrets.  His art brings him money, fame and fortune but not satisfaction or joy.  When he hires a young single mother to be his new assistant he can't imagine how she will change his life.  Grace has some secrets of her own.  Taking the job for Roman was a desperate move to move beyond her self-doubt and guilt and try to make it on her own and build a life for her and her infant son.  Grace is a believer and has never tried to hide her faith, but as she starts to finally think her life is on track her faith starts to clash with Roman's lifestyle and his expectations.

First of all, the cover...it is beautiful!  I loved this book.  In fact, I think it might be my favorite from this author.  She has taken a story of two broken people who had traumatic childhoods and wove a beautiful story of  sin and it's consequences, mercy and redemption and love.  Both Grace and Roman had very traumatic childhoods and rejection that scarred them deeply.  The way they handled it as they grew up could not have been more different and it went on to reflect in their adult lives.  I loved how the author explored how childhood trauma follows you into adulthood and affects all your decisions.  The main characters really drew me and made me think about how we as adults are shaped by what might have happened to us as children.  The paths Grace and Roman chose and the reactions and feelings they had were real and raw and it was easy to cheer them on and to hope for the best for them.   I really liked the secondary characters too and loved the stories that connected them to the main characters.  The story has been criticized by some as not being biblically truthful to some events that happened within the story.  Yes, it might not have been 100% biblically accurate.  But my personal take on that is that I  like to take stories at face value and I am not necessarily reading a fiction novel to get a theological dissertation to be within the story.  As long as it doesn't overtly and purposefully cross the foundations of the Word I am ok with an author taking a few liberties in trying to get a point across.   This story just sucked me in with real characters who make mistakes, who are trying to survive their pain, their reactions were honest, raw and real.  It re-opened my eyes to the fight of good and evil over a soul and it made me re-realize the love of God and how He reaches out to us where we are at throughout our lives and in ways that we as individuals with different backgrounds and experiences can relate to even though it might not sense to others. 

And for that I gave it a 10/10

Hurricane Season by Lauren K. Denton ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:
From the author of the USA TODAY bestseller "The Hideaway" comes a new story about families and mending the past. Betsy and Ty Franklin, owners of Franklin Dairy Farm in southern Alabama, have long since buried their desire for children of their own. While Ty manages their herd of dairy cows, Betsy busies herself with the farm’s day-to-day operations and tries to forget her dream of motherhood. But when her free-spirited sister, Jenna, drops off her two young daughters for “just two weeks,” Betsy’s carefully constructed wall of self-protection begins to crumble. As the two weeks stretch deeper into the Alabama summer, Betsy and Ty learn to navigate the new additions in their world—and revel in the laughter that now fills their home. Meanwhile, record temperatures promise to usher in the most active hurricane season in decades. Attending an art retreat four hundred miles away, Jenna is fighting her own battles. She finally has time and energy to focus on her photography, a lifelong ambition. But she wonders how her rediscovered passion can fit in with the life she’s made back home as a single mom. When Hurricane Ingrid aims a steady eye at the Alabama coast, Jenna must make a decision that will change her family’s future, even as Betsy and Ty try to protect their beloved farm and their hearts. Hurricane Season is the story of one family’s unconventional journey to healing—and the relationships that must be mended along the way.


My Thoughts:
The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover, it's just gorgeous.  The second was that it is a story of sisters.  I'm always up for a good sister story.  There are many dynamics that come into play in the relationships that sisters have and this story touched on so many of them.  The deep bond of not only being sisters but also being the only two siblings within a family,  the perceived or not favortism of the parents, the responsible older sister compared with the wild child younger sister all play into where they are in their lives.  Betsy was a character who I could relate to, being the older sister.  Both sisters have some issues from their past that affects how they relate to one another and to the world around them.   I thought that their characters were quite realistic in that they both had good qualities and yet had flaws arising from the hurt in their lives that caused some questionable decision making.  The author was able to  involve my emotions toward them in one way or another.  The corresponding story of the building hurricane and the swirling events happening in their lives really kept me engaged as I wondered if it all would just blow over or whether there would be devastation, either on land or in hearts. I liked the character development of all the main characters in this story and really liked the how the supporting characters were written.   Though there was not a big element of faith to the story it was a nice, clean, touching contemporary story of the relationship of sisters and overcoming shattered hopes and dreams that I really enjoyed.  I would recommend it if you like a contemporary story about sisters, lost dreams, or hope.

I gave this a 9/10.

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