Book Review: A Dream to Call My Own by Tracie Peterson
This was one of those fun family surviving together on the frontier books.There were lots of interesting characters – good guys and bad guys and those in between.The author did a good job of helping us keep them all straight and making them interesting.This story takes places when Montana was being settled and there are some interesting details that help the reader understand what life was like in that place and time.It was an interesting story and it kept moving along so it was an enjoyable book to read.It was obvious that it was the last of a series and while enjoyable, it didn’t make me want to go back and read the preceding books.If I had read them in order I might have wanted to, but reading the last of the series first, I feel like I have all the information I need.
This story of a Puritan girl in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1640s is rich in historical detail and provides the reader with a real feel of what was like back in that place and time.That alone makes the book worth the read, but the story itself is riveting and I found it difficult to lay the book down.This book is definitely worth your time and I highly recommend it.I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.
Book Review: "A Bride in the Bargain" by Deeanne Gist
You can never go wrong with a story from Deanne Gist!But don’t pick it up unless you have time to read it all in one sitting because you won’t want to put it down.I loved the story, the setting, the characters, and the historical detail.Most of all the book was just fun – like indulging in a banana split but not having to worry about the calories.I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone, but it involves a girl who was orphaned by the Civil War and a lumberjack and a scheme to bring brides to the many single men in the Washington Territory.Delightful!
Sometimes A Light Surprises by Jamie Langston Turner
This is my first time reading a book by this author and all I can say is Wow! It was low-key and not at all the norm, but riveting from start to finish. I couldn't put it down. The book is all about the healing process of a man who lost his wife and erected all kinds of emotional walls over the years in an attempt to cope with the situation. The wonderful way God put people and circumstances into his life that slowly demolished those walls is the essence of the story. In the process, the author gives us insight into several other peoples' lives and family synamics. I recommend this book if you are tired of the same ol' same ol' and want to try something fresh and new.
I began reading this book with great expectations, having read others’ glowing review of it.A short way into the book, however, I was getting very confused by the constant switch from one main character to another and separate, apparently unrelated stories.In addition, the author had the annoying habit of throwing a name in with no explanation of who the person was or why it mattered and not bringing it to light until much later in the book.I waded a good third of the way through the book before the characters started coming together and I was able to connect the dots a little.Then when all the “truth came out” I was a little let down that there was nothing more to it than that.Having said all that, amazingly I was captivated by the end of the book and glad that I read it.I felt like the characters were old friends by the end of the story.This author puts a lot of heart, soul and research into her work – no fluff here.I look forward to future offerings from Ms. Musser.
Here's the blurb on the back of the book: "When Deena Livingston moves into her grandfather's cabin in the mountains of North Carolina, she plans to keep to herself, start a cake-decorating business, and recover from the heartbreak she left behind in Atlanta. But a special request from Grandpa Ernest compels her to interact with the Bryson City locals, who have some surprising stories to share with the new girl in town. Can a Dr. Suess-quoting plumber who shows up at the most unexpected times, a handsome social worker who seems to know exactly what Deena is thinking, and a classroom full of mischievous middle-school students teach Deena to once again embrace the sweet things in life?" Who writes this stuff? It sounds like fluff and this story is much deeper than that. Anyway, here is my review:
Alice Wisler was an unknown author to me but I was drawn in by the premise of her book. The story started out a little dreary and I felt too bogged down in the main character’s misery for too long a time at the beginning of the story, I admit I was afraid it would be a long slog through the book. However, as life started to surprise Deena in her mountain retreat and interesting characters like Jonas and Zack and the kids at the Center appeared on the scene, the story became gripping and I found it hard to put down. She does a masterful job of character development and her cooking and baking references were fun. The only thing that made my eyes pop was the story about Deena’s grandfather stuffing plastic in his shoes. I was scratching my head and wondering what kind of plastic was available when he was a child. I was born in the 50s and plastic wasn’t a common thing till sometime after that as far as I know. I certainly never heard my mother or grandmother talking about using plastic for anything when they were younger. After all is said and done, I find myself curious about Ms. Wisler’s next book and ready to add her previous book to my
My granddaughter has an amazing grasp of the Bible and it has all come from what she listens to. A few years ago, when she was very small her mother started purchasing the Adventures in Odyssey CDs from Focus on the Family. She listens to them in the car, in her room when she is playing and at bedtime. Not a day goes by that she is not listening to these. Sometime later, her mother discovered the Dan and Louie CDs and they have really added to her Bible knowledge. She became so used to listening to these CDs all the time that recently she listened to the entire Bible on CD over a relatively short period of time. I can highly recommend Adventures in Odyssey and Dan and Louie and I can attest the the whole family loves to listen to these when we have to spend long periods of time in the car.
I love old books -- especially schoolbooks that are pre-1960. I try to incorporate them into my lesson plans as much as I can. I have tried to instill the love of books into my granddaughters and some of their favorites are ones that were my favorites when I was a little girl. Our schoolroom is full of books. We buy them at garage sales, thrift stores, library book sales -- you name it. Our favorite source of books the last couple of years, however, is Bookmooch. I want to tell you about it because it is a great way to get whatever book you're looking for. Here is the information about them from their webpage:
BookMooch is a community for exchanging used books.
BookMooch lets you give away books you no longer need in exchange for books you really want.
Give & receive: Every time you give someone a book, you earn a point and can get any book you want from anyone else at BookMooch. Once you've read a book, you can keep it forever or put it back into BookMooch for someone else, as you wish.
No cost: there is no cost to join or use this web site: your only cost is mailing your books to others.
Points for entering books: you receive a tenth-of-a-point for every book you type into our system, and one point each time you give a book away. In order to keep receiving books, you need to give away at least one book for every three you receive.
Help charities: you can also give your points to charities we work with, such as children's hospitals (so a sick kid can get a free book delivered to their bed), Library fund, African literacy, or to us to thank us for running this web site .
World wide: You can request books from other countries, in other languages. You receive 3 points when you send a book out of your country, to help compensate you for the greater mailing cost, but it only costs the moocher 2 points to get the book. John Buckman, who runs BookMooch, has lived in California, England, France and Germany, and was frustrated by the vast number of books that were printed in just one country and not available in the other countries (for example, many books are published in Britain and never made available in America).
Wishlist: you can keep a "book wish list" that will automatically arrive to you when you have the points and/or the book becomes available in our catalog.
Feedback score: each time you receive a book, you can leave feedback with the sender, just like how eBay does it. If you keep your feedback score up, people are most likely to help you out when you ask for a book.
How we pay our bills: We tap into Amazon's book database, and if you follow an Amazon link from our web site, we receive a commission from Amazon if you buy that book instead of getting it free from BookMooch.
So, if you'd like to try it, here's the link: http://www.bookmooch.com/
