Necessary Change

In the interest of better management and ease, I'm now doing all my book reviews at:
http://thesoundsofliving.blogspot.com/, until further notice.
There are several new ones not posted here.
Thanks for understanding.

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Finding Our Way Home

Finding Our Way Home by Charlene Baumbich, is a nice book to read, with one caveat.  I would classify this book as wholesome, or inspirational fiction, rather than Christian fiction.

The characters are very relatable and human. I especially enjoyed Evelyn and would love to find a friend like her. Evelyn is very outspoken and a little pushy, but she does it with love and concern-not in a mean spirited or hateful way.

Sasha, the main character, has her ballet career cut short by a fall causing too many injuries to be able to return to ballet. The book follows her struggles with therapy, a marriage she ran away from and her equally head strong assistant, Evelyn.

I was disturbed by the seeming "magical" quality of the snow globe and the fact that there was very little of a "Christian" nature in this book.  I've always felt a Christian book should have a clear message of salvation, bible verses or at the very least people that go to church.  Having said that, if you can overlook the magic, perhaps this book is better suited to the more mature Christian and not a new believer.

I got into a lively discussion with another book lover as to whether the book was actually Christian fiction. Some of the questions floated were:

1) if the book were set in another country, like Saudi Arabia, would it be termed "Muslim fiction"?

2) do Christian books have to have Bible verses or a plan of salvation? (as this book has neither),

3)are the minor glimpses into Sasha's marriage, especially the bedroom scenes, a mildly risqué part of the book, too much for Christian fiction?

I did enjoy the book, and as you can see it opened the way for quite a debate!  The characters came alive and you felt empathy for them.  The story reads as true to life. I would hesitate, however, in recommending it for everyone, young people in particular.

This book was provided to me free by Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Where Lilacs Still Bloom, by Jane Kirkpatrick, is a wonderful book of fiction based on the life of Hulda Klager.

Hulda was born in 1863 and came to America with her family when she was two.  With only an eighth grade education she was able to turn her love of hybridizing and lilacs into a rich legacy by creating over 250 new varieties of lilacs.

Her father encouraged her in her experiments and cautioned her that not everyone would think what she did was a respectable or moral thing.  Indeed Hulda, herself, sometimes felt guilt that was induced by others, at what some perceived as tampering with nature.

In her 96 years of living, Hulda faced many, many heartaches and losses and even overcame a bout of major depression to triumph over most of the hardships.

Jane Kirkpatrick does a masterful job of integrating composite characters with real people allowing the reader to get to know Hulda, her family and her hybridizing experiments even better.

The book is very inspirational and exciting. During the course of reading, I found that Hulda's gardens have been restored and are still available for viewing.  I've decided, because of my love for lilacs, that I want to visit her gardens sometime soon.

This book was provided for me by Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for an unbiased review.

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E-co-nom-ics: A Simple Twist on Normalcy by Kersten Kelly

I have always been fascinated by the study of economics, though not always motivated to learn and/or study the finer points. The book, E-co-nom-ics, by Kersten Kelly, allows the reader to get a more in-depth look without bogging down in classic "higher learning" rhetoric, while still maintaining a teaching and learning application.

By using the illustration of "The Prisoner's Dilemma," Ms. Kelly applies economics practically, i.e., Cold War, tobacco, soda and other advertising.  E-co-nom-ics  shows how economics involves and affects all aspects of life.

As the title would suggest, the book is not an economics textbook, but a way to introduce the average consumer to the how's, why's and wherefore's of our purchases and what helps to motivate one purchase over another.  Multiple aspects of life are examined to show how virtually everything is "economics" driven.

E-co-nom-ics is a  great book in easy to understand style that gives reader's insight into their consumer choices.  Reading this book is an ideal way to get your feet wet before plunging head first into economics.

This book was provided to me by BookRooster in exchange for an unbiased review.

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New review!

New review @ http://thesoundsofliving.blogspot.com/

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New review

New review @ http://thesoundsofliving.blogspot.com
See also:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AJM7V7K0O24VT/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview

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Happy Easter!

Hallelujah!

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Saving Grace Review

I was unaware Saving Grace by Annie Jones is a sequel to another book which really made some of the references harder to understand. For the most part though, the book could be a standalone book.

My only real complaint, if you will, is Saving Grace, really isn't so much about how Naomi, Rose, Lucy and Gayle save Grace as it is how these four friends each save themselves through God's grace.

The book styles itself as a book about the reclusive widow Grace Grayson-Wiley, but you find out next to nothing about Grace, until near the end of the book. Her eccentric yearly habit of dressing for the New Bethany Splendor Belle Gala and waiting for her "beau" is described in the first few chapters. Otherwise the book remains silent about Grace, and the four leading ladies' lives are examined..

Each of the four ladies have their own real life crises to deal with.  Naomi is an older newlywed adjusting to her blended family.  She discovers shocking and seemingly unwelcome news making her yearn for her deceased mother.  Rose's boyfriend is suddenly secretive and petulant. At the same time her career daughter loses her job and moves back home with no intensions of moving out. Gayle's husband seems to be withdrawing and she fears he's having an affair.  She has no reason to doubt his fidelity and doesn't want to accept he could have a physical cause for his withdrawal. And Lucy is finally beginning to trust herself around the same time handsome bachelor Dr. Ben Martin moves into town, needing her day care services. His alternating hot and cold pursuit throws all her old insecurities into high gear.

I enjoyed the book despite the fact that Grace's story gets little mention until solved in the last chapter of the book. The book captures your attention and holds it with the stories of the four "real" leading ladies.

Saving Grace is a sweet Christian story illustrating our need for friends and most of all our need for God's grace.

I plan to check out the first book and meet my new "friends" again. I also want to check out other books by Annie Jones.

The e-copy of this book was provided to me by Waterbrook-Multnomah in exchange for an honest review.

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Sad Time

I just found out a little earlier that a cousin of mine passed away today.
2 days ago, I found out the brother of 2 friends of mine passed away after a long valiant fight with cancer.
I will be taking a short break for about a week.
I once read:
For we know the assurance of a spiritual life at death is not the end but a transformation.
To that I would add:
A transformation to eternal, everlasting life.
RIP ye valiant fighters!

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Post Updates

I'm going to start posting my musings on my other blog. If you want to follow my thoughts, musings and have a glimpse into a small slice of my life you can follow the link below.
I will post a link back here from the below link when I post book reviews.
This will make things cleaner and easier to mange overall.
The link is:
http://thesoundsofliving.blogspot.com/

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Another Gingerbread Adventure!

Hi all, today's post is a long one-so I decided to give the link to my other blog rather than post 3 variations. Enjoy.
Follow link to:
http://thesoundsofliving.blogspot.com/

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Life Changes!

Going through changes in our household!
Bill's now only working as a relief and fill in at work. As a result, he is spending many, many hours teaching the g'daughter. (As opposed to his just spending many hours).
The weather around here has been like a roller coaster lately. One day the highs are only in the 30's and nights in the teens then the next day in the 70's and nights in the 50's. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining-just saying!  We've had a pretty mild winter this year.

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Valentine's

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The Choice

Suzanne Woods Fisher's first book in the Lancaster County Secrets, The Choice, is a very enjoyable read.

The story centers around Carrie Weaver, an Amish girl, who through a series of unforeseen circumstances is unable to marry her true love, Sol Riehl. She settles instead for a marriage of convenience to Daniel Miller.

Carrie's marriage to Daniel is short-lived, however, when he's killed by an Englisher in an accident involving his buggy and a car. Carrie pulls her life together and carries on amidst numerous difficulties and hardships, comforted by her faith in God and best friend Mattie Zook.  

The Choice does not follow the normal formulaic story of most Amish books.  Multiple plots and storylines keep you on your toes wondering what's going to happen next.

A masterful blending of heartache, forgiveness and real life, The Choice leaves you eagerly anticipating the rest of the series and wanting to know more about everyone's lives.

This is one of many books on my Kindle. I will be reviewing others in days to come.

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Internet is Back to Normal!

Apparently the problem with the internet was a multifaceted one.
Originally, problems occurred because of storms, tornadoes touching down in surrounding areas and rain.  Then it  morphed into other problems, i.e. solar flares, etc. Because of these problems, the internet speed dropped to less than 1/4 of it's usual output.
Hopefully, all has been corrected and will stay that way.
One note-usually I won't give a movie endorsement (especially if it's a non-Christian one) but, we saw a movie a few days ago that has a terrible name considering how good the movie was. If you haven't already seen We Bought A Zoo, go see it. It will be worth the time.

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Internet Trouble!

Sorry, we're having trouble with our internet service--something to do with solar flares and bad weather.
Should be resolved soon and I'll be back online.

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Finally Back!

I'm back. I will update in the next several days.
I read a few good books while I was absent from my blog.
I'm excited to read the comments about books I review.

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A Short Break

I'll be taking a break for awhile and will be back around January 20th.
Hope everyone had a great New Year's and that this next year is all and more than you're praying for (with apologies to all English teachers for the bad sentence structure!).

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