Spring Reading Thing 2012 Is Done

Today is the first day of summer which means the Spring Reading Thing is over for another year.  Katrina, our lovely host for this reading challenge, is having a wrap up party over at her blog.  I love going over there and checking out everyone's reads and what they thought of them and how they did.  Gives me great ideas for my Want to Read lists.  Which by the way, has grown exponentially over the years I've done this challenge.

So how did I do?  Well my original list is here.  I would say I didn't do too badly though some books didn't get read, some got added. Unfortunately the two that didn't get done was also the two I didn't finish on the fall reading challenge.  I have really got to quite going to the library once I decide on my list.  I finished 11 total which is awesome considering this spring was my Younger Girl's graduation and it was b.u.s.y.

I liked most of what I read this spring.   You want the general thoughts on each one you say?  Okey, dokey, I'll talk books anytime!  If you want a more detailed review you can visit my book blog here.  The Spring Reading Thing reviews are #13 - 23.

"God Loves Broken People" by Sheila Walsh.  Wasn't crazy about this book.  Had a hard time getting into it and finishing.  More of a finding "nuggets" book, for me, rather than an overall great book.

"Need You Now" by Beth Wiseman.  A review book.  All in all, I enjoyed this one.  Hoping there is a second installment to deal with some of the topics and issues that were only touched on in this book.

"Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maude Montgomery.  Love, love, loved it.  Am so going to purchase it for my book shelves.

"Possession" by Rene Gutteridge.  Sigh this is one that got bumped yet again.  I am determined to finish this one by fall.  It sounds so good.

"Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd.  The other one that got bumped.

"Broken Wings" by Carla Stewart.  Loved this story.  Drew out all sorts of emotions in me and I love when an author can do that.

"Mine is the Night" by Liz Curtis Higgs.  Enjoyed this story much better than the 1st installment to it.

"The Canary List" by Sigmund Brouwer.  Set this one aside.  I knew by the end of the first couple of chapters it is not a book I would like.  My daughter, on the other hand, would probably love it.

"Sarah's Key" by Tatiana deRosnay.  Moving and gut wrenching.  Fictional story based on a true historical event.

"One More Sunrise" by Michael Landon jr. & Tracie Peterson.  Enjoyed this one.  A bit of drama, a bit of an angel element,  happy ending.  Nice escape.

"the Accidental Bestseller" by Wendy Wax.  Mixed feelings on this one.  Interesting look into the publishing world.  Some parts didn't ring true for me.

"life, on the line" by Grant Achatz & Nick Kokonas.  Very interesting look into the life of a world class chef and his fight with stage IV tongue cancer.

"The Romonav Bride" by Robert Alexander.  Another great read by this author building a fictional story around a historical person and historical event.  Really liked this read.  But recommend it with a warning of some vulgarity and profanity in a couple of paragraphs.

"And the Angels Were Silent" by Max Lucado.   Added in for and Easter read.  Was great to set my heart and mind towards focusing on Jesus' last days.

"The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere.  Study group book finished.  Very good.  Very challenging.  Very life changing.

"Hope Springs" by Kim Cash Tate.  Added for a review book.  Just started it last week and haven't really been focused to get into it.

My favorite of the bunch?  Probably Anne of Green Gables and The Romanov Bride.  I'd read both again.  My least favorite?  God Loves Broken People, unfortunately, but other reviewers have loved it, so it's probably a matter of personal preference in writing style.

How did your spring reading go?  Did you get involved in a challenge or just fly with whatever struck you?  What were your favorite reads?

Thanks Katrina for hosting this each spring!

The Romanov Bride - Book Review (Spring Reading Thing #11)

The Grand Duchess Elisavyeta has always led a life of royalty.  She was born a princess of Germany and married the Grand Duke Sergei of Russia and because her sister married into the Romanov dynasty and is now the Tsaritsa of all Russia, Elisavyeta lives in the very rich and pampered courts of the royals of Russia.  Her husband lavishes the finest of jewels on her and she is renowned among the privileged for the these and her beauty.  But the teachings and example of her mother in caring for the people never leave her and as her husband gets harder and tougher in his ruling of Moscow, she finds herself struggling with the hard lives of the people.  When her husband is assassinated she sells all her jewels and possessions and builds a convent and hospital to help the poorest of the poor.  She devotes her life to serving the Lord and the people.

Pavel is a young, newly married peasant come to Moscow to try to provide for his wife and soon to be child.  Living in squalor, sharing a basement corner with four other families he can barely afford to put bread on the table.  But he and his wife have the love for their Tsar and Tsaritsa that most Russians did and with optimism believe they will be heard if they just bring their petition and trials to the attention of the Tsar.  He is the "father" of the country after all, and they his "children".  How can he not listen to them and help them?  But when they join a peaceful march and things turn ugly, Pavel's life is changed forever and as his heart fills with hatred and bitterness he joins the revolutionaries.  As Russia is thrown into turmoil Pavel's and Elisavyeta's life will be thrown together.

I really liked this story.  As with "The Kitchen Boy", Robert Alexander has done a lot of research into Russian history so all the historical aspects of the Romanov family and the revolution and the events leading to it are woven so well with the fictional parts of his story.  The story is told in first person from two viewpoints that of Ella ( the real life Duchess turned nun) and Pavel (the fictional character, the revolutionary).  Their lives take very different directions, Ella's compassionate and caring, and Pavel's, brutal and obsessed.  I found it so interesting how each character dealt with the death and tragedy in their lives and chose very different paths in reaction to it.  The hope that Ella brings to the sickest, the downtrodden and outcasts of Russia is in strong contrast to the hate and violence of the revolutionaries.  Through the voice of Pavel, you gain an understanding of where Russia was at the time from viewpoint of the peasant and the poor and how bitterness creeping in can find hatred and will use any means to get change.   I found the change in Ella's life from extravagance and oppulence to chosen poverty and service was amazing and the fact that it is true even more miraculous.  

 In warning there is a few vulgar parts in the story.  When the revolutionaries speak of the Tsaritsa, it is in very vulgar and profane terms.  It is part of history, and how the revolutionaries spread hate for her amongst the people.  These parts are a few paragraphs and the book is not permeated with them but they are a nasty part.  Parts of the story are very violent as they deal with the real events in history of the revolution.

If interested, you can go here for the author's video of the story

Book Review ~ Sarah's Key (Spring Into Reading Thing #9)

Sarah is a young 10 year old girl living in occupied France during July 1942.  Raised in a loving Jewish family, Sarah is growing frustrated with the whispered conversations between her mom and dad feeling she is being left out.  When the French police knock on their door  in the middle of the night, Sarah hides and locks her 4 year old brother into a secret cupboard to keep him safe telling him she'll be back for him in a little while when they are released.  But Sarah and her family's life is about to change forever. 


Meanwhile 60 years later Julia Jarmond, who is an American journalist married to a French man and living in Paris, is assigned to write an article because of an upcoming commemoration of the Vel' d'Hiv', a round up of almost 10,000 Jewish people, over 4000 of which were children.  But in researching for her article Julia comes across connections between her husband's family and that of Sarah's family and changes their own lives forever as she unearths secrets deeply buried.


I was not prepared for the moving and gut wrenching story that this would be.   It is told from both Sarah and Julia's perspectives, alternating between chapters.  Sarah's voice totally gripped me and had my stomach in a ball the whole time I was reading it.  Her story while fictitious is based on the historical fact of the round up and arresting of the Jewish peoples around Paris in July 1942.  What is doubly horrific is that it was done, not by the Nazis, but by the French police under orders from their government who worked with the Nazis.  The containment of them in a major indoor sports arena for more than a week with no food, water or bathrooms was sickening to read as was the separating of mothers and children.  All were sent to Auschwitz to their deaths.  And the realization that this part of the war was so kept silent and only recently talked about is heartbreaking. 


Julia's part of the story although not as gripping was interesting in the fact that the history and personal connection of this event changed her own life sixty years later.   Very interesting to me was how the author delved into the different reactions to the event and the personal connection to them of different family members and the French people as a whole.  I did feel, however, like the last 25 pages of the story (the New York setting) or so seemed to drag on.  Once the climax of the story had been reached it seemed the story just wasn't wrapping up, almost like the author just couldn't let go of the characters.   Sarah's story had ended but a lot of Julia's story somehow seemed to not want to finish.  But in spite of that, it was a story that I am so glad the author told and well worth the read.  It definitely made me think and will make me remember that date and what happened.    I've got the movie on hold at the library in hopes that I'll be able to make myself watch it.

Book Review ~ The Accidental Bestseller (Spring Reading Thing #8)

Ten years ago Kendall, Mallory, Faye and Tanya were aspiring writers who met at a conference and formed a strong bond and friendship.  Mallory became a best-selling author pumping out book after book, Faye, married to an internationally known televangelist, found her niche in the inspirational fiction market, Tanya in the romance genre.  Kendall, in spite of all her efforts remained an author in the middle of the pack and has been experiencing failing sales.  


When Kendall's career and her personal life starts to unravel and she hits bottom, her four friends rush to her side at her mountain home to try to get her over the hump.  With unwavering support they come with an idea to help her ghost write her next book which is due in a few months.  Coming up with a story of four writers with an enduring friendship (based on their own) each woman puts more of their own personal lives into the story than they care to admit is true, especially when each has secrets they have told and unexpectedly the book hits the Best Seller List.  


I had mixed feelings about this book.   The good stuff was the story of friendship and support.  The insider's look into the world of publishing and novel writing was really, really interesting.   Kendall's reaction to her life falling apart by fixing things in her house was a relatable and at times humorous read.  The secrets they all carried that none knew about the other made for interesting thoughts on how close their friendship really could have been if they could hide those from each other for 10 years.   The mean, evil characters were exactly that.


  There were some things I didn't like about the story.  One, as with any story, I have definite lines that I don't like to cross when it comes to reading love making scenes.  This story crossed it a few times for me, which meant skipped paragraphs.  That is my choice.   And along with that, a story line in the book also really left me feeling uncomfortable.   Without giving anything away,  I will say the resolution of Faye, the televangelist's wife, secret was what bothered me.   While I could see the secret and situation could happen, and the justification and reasoning has been used before, it left me with an unease of how it was wrapped up and of it's believeableness that it would so easily be brushed aside and accepted and promoted as continuing on from a religious leader's wife.   There were comments made by the character, that while it sounds like it would make sense, if one knows the bible in any way, then the comments would immediately be recognized as false and not what God would be behind.  In fact I thought the character was quite bold in making her claims with no biblical backing for them.   It smacked to me of no biblical research being done on the subject therefore making the credibility of Faye's story line wrap up not ring true.   It made for an unsatisfying finish to the book for me.   I also found it a bit unbelievable that the characters would use names so similar to their own for their fictional characters in the book and then reveal their most deepest secrets about their lives.  It seems that at least one of the four of them would have thought through some possible consequences.

Book Tour ~ Need You Now (spring reading thing book #6)

"Need You Now" by Beth Wiseman


Publisher's Description:
 We all count on the support of those around us when times are tough, but what do we do when those we depend on the most are suddenly gone? How do we cope when life has pulled the rug out from under us and left us with nothing and no one to hold on to? To whom can we turn when it seems no one, not even God, is there? These are the questions best-selling author Beth Wiseman addresses in her first contemporary novel, Need You Now (Thomas Nelson).

 After the safety of one of their children is threatened,  Darlene Henderson and her husband Brad choose to move their family from Houston to the dot-in-the-road town of Round Top, Texas, moving into the old fixer-upper farm left to Darlene by her grandparents. Adjusting to the change is more difficult than any of them imagined, especially for the middle child, 15-year-old Grace, who becomes a cutter, using a dangerous and particularly self-damaging way of coping with stress. The move also begins to take a toll on the couple’s marriage when Darlene decides to take a job outside the home in an effort to make new friends in the community. As the domestic tension rises, both begin to wonder if the same shared faith that has carried them through difficult times in the past will be strong enough to help them now. To make matters worse, Darlene begins receiving inappropriate attention from the widowed father of the autistic young girl she is assigned to work with at the school for special needs children where she is employed. Unfortunately, this new attention comes just when she is most vulnerable. If there has ever been a time in her life when she needed God, it is now. But will she allow arising feelings of unworthiness to keep her from seeking Him?

My Thoughts:
This was my first Beth Wiseman book and I enjoyed it.  While up until now she has written Amish fiction, this book was a contemporary story about a family in crisis.  The base premise of the story was really good... who do you turn to when everything in your world is falling down around you?  When even God seems far away?  When confusion and fear starts to color all your perspective and decision making process?  There was lots of tough issues tackled in this book, some really well and some only touched upon.  Because it is a book about a family, there is five characters each dealing with something in their own individual lives and yet affecting the family unit as a whole.   Throw in a handful of secondary characters and that is a lot of issue and character juggling.  But I thought the author chose which of the issues should come to the forefront and carried it through to the end of the story.  I'm actually hoping that there is a second book in the works so that those issues and characters that were pushed to the background can be explored.

 I was very curious how the author would delve into the huge issue of teenage cutting as my daughter used to have a friend who was battling this.  And it is scary!  I was afraid that the issue would  be over simplified with simple, wrapped up in a bow solutions because in real life it is not.  The author, I thought, did as good a job as one can do within a novel of normal length. The story gave me a better understanding of the struggle faced by these kids who cut.

**POSSIBLE SPOILER HERE**  There is one part of the story dealing with the main character, mom Darlene, that did start to delve into uncomfortable territory for me.  With the distance widening between her and her husband, Darlene also had to face the temptation of succumbing to the attentions of another man.  The storyline culminated in a point that, for me, was a cringe worthy moment.  But as I thought about it for this review, I realized that isn't it like that in real life? Just when we are at our most vulnerable, satan attacks with all the forces of hell and throws every temptation he can to brings us to the bottom.  The character faced this and had to look deep into her heart to find what she really believed.  **END OF SPOILER**

All in all I enjoyed this modern story of the trials and struggles of a Christian mom who finds herself confronted with what she really believes.

Thanks to the B & B Media Group for providing the book free for my honest review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

"Need You Now" can be purchased here and here.

Spring Reading Thing '12 Book #5

 "life, on the line" is the story of Chef and co-founder of Alinea, a restaurant that is ranked in the top 10 of the world.  From his humble beginnings cracking eggs with his grandmother in the family owned diner at the age of 5 to his journey to becoming named Best New Chef, Rising Star Chef of America and Best Restaurant in America, this was an interesting read.  You follow Achatz through his strained childhood with an alcoholic father who came in and out of his life to his time at the Culinary Institute of America to his working for his mentor, Thomas Keller at the French Laundry, (another top restaurant), to his meeting with his friend and business partner Nick and the founding of Alinea.   It's a story of a very driven, very creative young man.   The reader is taken into a journey of his philosophy of food, that of food not only involving the sensory of taste but of evoking emotion as well,  of food as art, food as entertainment.  The storytelling was interesting and I never found it dry, not even when there was lots of pages of descriptions of the restaurant coming together.  In fact it was a story hard to put down.  Once Achatz meets his business partner, the story starts to go back and forth between the two of them and brings both of their perspectives into view. 


But this isn't just another story of another world class chef and the building of a world renown restaurant.  What was really unique about this story and what really brings a whole other meaning to the title of the book,  is that right when Achatz realizes his culinary dreams he starts to get sick.  He is diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma or tongue cancer.   Doctors don't give him much hope and the treatment of the day would radically alter his appearance, his speech, his life, his career and his quality of life as they would remove his tongue,  cut his jaw and into his neck.   Without this "treatment" he basically has a few painful months to live.  As he deals with the most horrendous news a chef and a person could receive by falling back onto the safety net of his work, his friend and business partner deals with the news by searching the internet constantly for alternative treatments.  He found one that involved very aggressive chemo with a different drug  and then a schedule of twice a day radiation that takes the patient as low as they can go and then removal of the lymph nodes of the neck.  Achatz decides to try for the alternative treatment but pays the price of losing his sense of taste.    But he kept at his life's work and has gone on to open yet another innovative restaurant and win the James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef in America Award.


I like autobiographies because I like to see what makes people tick.  I wouldn't call myself a foodie but I do love watching the food network.  And I do like to eat.  Too much apparently, but that is for another post, or not.    I've always wondered what makes these chefs so driven, so willing to work so hard at their craft with what sounds like not much pay,  and why sometimes they are so egotistical.   When I saw the book at the library I was drawn right to it.  It's not just a story of a very creative person or of food or the ego or the drive.  It's a story of surviving cancer and of friendship.  I really, really enjoyed the whole of this chef's story.   I do feel that I should warn there is some foul language scattered here and there.  There are several f-bombs dropped.  There is a couple instances of the Lord's name being taken in vain, which to me is the worst swear.   On the whole the swearing is much less than what I thought would appear in a book written by a chef considering the amount of swearing there is on some of the shows on the food network.  I was totally prepared to put the book down as I have done before when the swearing is pervasive, and though I would MUCH prefer that there be no swearing whatsoever, I know that is probably unrealistic in this day and age in a book of this sort.  

Spring Reading Thing Book #3 and #4

I seem to be zipping right along, staying on track with my reading for the Spring Reading Thing challenge.  I threw an extra book into the mix a couple of weeks before Easter because I really felt like my reading and my life should be focusing more on Jesus and the what He did for us.   The Max Lucado book "And The Angels Were Silent"  was well worth it.  I finished it right before Easter and finished up with "Anne of Green Gables" during the holidays too.  Both reviews are here, scroll down to numbers 16 & 17.   I must admit they are, to my shame, done very, very simply.  But I have a good reason for that and that is because my girl is here and I'm not using "her" time to be on the computer.  Which is also why I'm directing you to the book blog to read the reviews.  I don't want to take the time to post them twice.  And on that note, I'm off to go spend the last few hours before she leaves once more with her.  See you tomorrow for Friday's Fave Five.

Spring Reading Thing Review #2

"Broken Wings" by Carla Stewart


Mitzi Steiner was once a celebrated half of a singing duo with her husband Gabe.  Now in her eighties, Mitzi divides her time in between volunteering at the local hospital and spending time and ministering to her now bed ridden and unaware Alzheimer's stricken beloved husband.


Brooke Woodson's life seems to be finally on track.  She has a great job as a paralegal and seems to have snagged the most wanted ambitious bachelor in town, a man who fulfills all her Mom's dreams for her.  But after their engagement, a side of her fiance starts to surface that Brooke never could have imagined.  As his anger spins out of control, Brooke is under pressure to hide the real man from her Mom, family and work colleagues, all at risk to herself.


When Mitzi and Brooke's paths cross in the hospital, Mitzi immediately recognizes what Brooke's accidents really are and takes a step of faith and offers Brooke shelter and a safe place to recover.  Not quite sure why she agrees to go with a stranger,  Brooke accepts and the beginnings of their unlikely friendship starts.  During her stay with Mitzi Brooke learns of Mitzi's own difficult past and understands why Mitzi so wants to help her.


The story telling talents of author, Carla Stewart, really shine through as she weaves the stories of Mitzi's past and present and Brooke's difficult life into a story that really pulls out every emotion in the reader.  I cried, I felt uplifted, I felt the pain and the anxiety the story tells.  I cheered on  Brooke as she admitted and faced what she had to, felt compassion for Mitzi as she tenderly cared for husband, was drawn into the story of Mitzi's past.  Each main character was well written and I really cared about the characters as the story made it's way to the end.   How the author wove such a great story together while dealing with such difficult issues as abuse and Alzheimer's  in a compassionate way and still maintaining a story that flowed and didn't get bogged down  gives credit to her wonderful story telling.   A wonderful read if you like a book that makes you care.

Book Review ~ God Loves Broken People

"God Loves Broken People (and those who pretend they're not) by Sheila Walsh 


Publisher's Description:

The other side of brokenness

"If I could write only one book in my lifetime, I would ask God to make it this one, the very book you now hold in your hands. . . ."―Sheila Walsh

God loves broken people. And when weary, wounded men and women find a way to open their bruised hearts and somehow welcome Him into their personal darkness, they will find a love beyond anything they have ever known.

When the glass house Sheila had lived in for so many years came crashing to the ground, she began a new life outside the safety of those walls. No, it didn't feel good, nor safe―not at all. But it felt true. Sheila saw herself as a broken lamb limping after the Shepherd, not knowing where He was going, but knowing that wherever He went, she wanted to go with Him.

In twelve stirring, insightful, and deeply revealing chapters, Sheila Walsh shows how personal brokenness can open doors of intimacy with Jesus Christ that might never open in any other way.

It's not that God loves broken people more than those who imagine themselves to be whole―it's simply that they know they are loved. They dare to believe it . . . and through such trust, a new wholeness emerges from yesterday's broken pieces.


My Thoughts:


I was looking forward to reading this book by Sheila Walsh.  I've known of  her background from singer to tv host to admittance to a psychiatric ward for severe depression to speaker at Women of Faith conferences.  So I knew she would be coming from a very personal place in writing this book.  And she does write honestly about her places of brokeness and the things  that she still struggles with today.  This was however, a book I found very hard to get into and to finish.  It felt disjointed to me and I had to really focus and plug away at it.  She tends to quote a lot of other people all through out the book which I don't like because to me personally, it breaks the flow of the author's voice.  And she tells a lot of other people's stories along with her own.  I also didn't quite know what to make of the chapter comparing some grace to what she calls "Halloween" grace.  I hated that term and comparison.   In glancing back through the book to write my review, I can see however, there were a couple chapters that I did get lots out of as evidenced by the heavy doses of underlining and writing in the edges in those chapters as compared to the other ones.  But all in all, this was a book that was, for me, more of a picking up nuggets type of a read.  There is an indepth study in the back but in all honesty, I only glanced at it.

Thanks to Booksneeze for providing this book at no cost to me in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

"God Loves Broken People" is available for purchase here and here.