Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Meredith Harper has not really living life very well since her husband and two children died in a car crash four years earlier. This year, she has decided she is going to make her life count and start really living once again. With that in mind, she travels to Colorado Springs and spends a week considering an investment property there. Harlan Holcombe is an actor on a break who is also staying at the same resort in Colorado Springs. When he meets Meredith there, there are some sparks.  Soon, Meredith and Harlan are spending some time together. Can Meredith move on with her life? Can Harlan handle the hard stuff with Meredith? What about his struggles with his Ex and his little girl, Alex? I was so excited to read Even After This by Deborah Clack from Haven Publishing. Haven is a new clean reads imprint from Baker Publishing House. Sometimes I just want a clean read without spice and cussing so I am excited about the new imprint.  Even After This is also written by a n...

  I found myself back in Sheet Cake, Texas as I listened to the audiobook of The Bluff by Emma St. Clair. James is the typical grumpy boss character. . .I really didn't like him too much at first, but. . . I was surprised at how much I warmed up to this guy by the middle of the book.  Winnie sets out to be a good employee, even though she is temporary, for James Graham as he gets ready to open Dark Horse Brewery in Sheet Cake. I truly enjoyed getting to know both of these layered characters. There was definitely more than meets the eye to both of them. I was pulling for them more and more as the book went on. I also like the other characters in Sheet Cake. It was nice to catch up with all the characters from the first book. The narration in the audio book was well done and I found myself looking forward to listening whenever I could. Now, I am definitely looking forward to moving on to the next book as this one ends, so I can see how everything unfolds between Chevy and Val. ...

I am a white middle-aged woman. I don't have a brown son. HOWEVER, I have friends with brown children and I want to support them and all the brown people My Brown Boy is well-written. I also love the gorgeous full-color illustrations. This book shows how brown boys can be whoever they want to be. The author's brown son was followed by a policeman at a young teen even though he did nothing. I don't know what it is to be profiled based on my skin color but my heart goes out to this child. Also, I have son that is neurodivergent. He does things his own way and his skills unique to him. I like how the author shares how her son is unique with his own skill set. I also appreciate how she shares that he sometimes gets scared. I think this book does a good job of sharing how we sometimes judge by skin color when we need to look at everyone's heart.   I received a copy of this book from the publisher through the Amazon Vine Program. All opinions are my own.

  I have followed Jessica Turner for several years so I wanted to read her story in I Thought It Would Be Better Than This .  Jessica tells her story of her 16-year marriage that ended when her husband came out as gay in 2020. This book is full of heart and hope for anyone who is in that situation. That isn't me. However, I did find a lot of helpful information in this book anyway. I would also add that I have a relative that came out as gay so I could relate to that issue in some other ways than as a spouse.  I especially like how Jessica goes through all of the areas of her life that were affected and changed as a result of going through this experience. It touched her life in many ways. I can understand that too. She shares how she had to grieve her marriage and learn to forgive others and herself. She shares how she held on to friendships and made new friendships. She shares how she learned to take care of herself on her own through exercise, eating healthy alone, mak...

  I Do Today by Chelsea Smith is a 52-week marriage guide. This book is full of practical information that I think would most certainly be helpful for those who are newly married. But as someone who has been married for several years, I also see found information in the book for refreshing our own marriage with practical helps. This book has ideas on dating your spouse, fighting fair, dealing with digital devices, making time to play together, spicing up your sex life, the benifit of serving others and a while lot more. Each chapter of I Do Today starts with 2 or 3 pages of information on that chapter’s topic, followed by a Think About it section for yourself, then a Talk About It section to use  as a couple, and it ends with some action to do related to the chapter’s topic. I think this will be a great book to go through this year for my husband and I. I Do Today would also make a good wedding or shower gift for a newly married couple . There is talk of God an...

  One of the new genre's that I tried last year was magical realism. I found I enjoyed it quite a bit. The Time Hop Coffee Shop by Phaedra Patrick is my latest read in this genre. Greta Perks and her husband, Jim, along with their daughter, Lottie, were stars for about a decade in Maple Gold coffee commercials. When the company replaced them with another family, they all felt lost and their family changed. In fact, Jim and Greta decided to separate for awhile and figure out how to go on--either together or separate. Greta also had the passing of her mother to grieve, along with her job loss. Now she doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere. Jim has a different set of struggles. Lottie is now a teenager and trying to figure life out from that angle. Then, Greta stumbles on a mysterious coffee shop that serves up magical brews. When Greta drinks the brew she wakes up in the town of Mapleville from the Maple Gold commercials. When she is there, life feels perfect. Her body is perfe...