Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Nikki and Ruggiero Delemont are a young happily married couple.Ruggiero is a famous pastry chef. Nikki is a write for Chef de Cuisine. They live together in a beautiful beach house on the island of Maui. They love their life together. Then Nikki receives an assignment to cover in France for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, this is also a busy time for Ruggiero so he cannot travel with her.  Nikki travels alone and soon finds herself waking up in a French hospital with amnesia. She doesn't know who she is. But someone does. And that someone doesn't want Ruggiero to find her. Can he find Nikki? Can he figure out what is going on? Circumvent by S. K. Derban is a modern day mystery set in some beautiful places. Derban writes beautifully about the areas the characters are living and staying in. As a foodie, I also enjoyed her descriptions of the delicious food and desserts within the story. It was a mystery and I wasn't sure how Ruggiero was going to find her. Nor was I sure if Nikki ...

    Have you ever been in a flood? I have lived through one and it was rather scary as an adult, never mind a child. A Flood of Kindness by Ellen Leventhal would be a great resource for children who are living through a flooding situation or even another difficult situation. In A Flood of Kindness , Charlotte and her family lose many of their possessions in a flood and have to go to a shelter. There Ellen meets others who lost their possessions. Through the book, we see glimpses of hope through the kindness of others during a difficult situation. As Charlotte learns about loss and grief, she also learns to give and care for others. I thought A Flood of Kindness was a sweet story. In spite of loss and hardship, Charlotte feels loved and cared for through others and she learns how important it is to pass on the love and care. This book is written for children ages 4 to 8 but I think it could even be encouraging for those up to age 10 because of the subject matter. While it shows...

  Cleo Can Tie a Bow: A Rabbit and Fox Story by Sybrina Durant is a children's book designed to help children learn how to tie a bow.  Little Cleo loves bows. However, she doesn't know how to tie one. Through this story a fox teaches a rabbit how to tie a bow using the bunny's long ears to tie the bow.  Cleo is definitely a girly girl with a room full of bows and butterflies. I think this is a cute concept. My son had trouble tying bows so I really liked the idea of a book to help him learn how to do that. However, I think it would have helped to hold his interest more if the book hadn't been so girl-oriented. It would probably be a good book for girls to use, but it didn't seem to include boys at all in the story. I also wasn't too thrilled with the idea of the fox tying the rabbit's ears. The author includes a page reminding children not to do those things to real animals but I just felt it sent mixed messages. It may be just me but it didn't sit wel...

  If you need a dose of encouragement, Victoria Osteen offers that in her new book, Encouragement for an Exceptional Life .  This little book is a great size to carry in your purse or book bag as it measures about 4 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches. Encouragement for the Exceptional Life pulls uplifting stories and Bible teachings from Osteen's larger book, Exceptional You! This smaller book has 7 chapters, following the introduction: Know That You are Chosen, Set Your Eyes on the Promises, Align Yourself with God, Encourage Yourself, Travel Light, Love Well, and Power Up. At the end of each chapter, there are a few words of declaration to say to yourself to be help you put these things into practice. Osteen calls them all practices and encourages readers to keep doing them to help them reach for the exceptional in their own life. In the Introduction, Osteen says that they are all meant to be encouraging, empowering and inspiring. The other nice thing about Encouragement for an Exce...

  Molly McKenzie has what many women might see as a dream job: She is a major on-trend fashion and beauty social media influencer. It seems like she has everything she could ever need, great job, great clothes, great car and a catch of a talent manager boyfriend. Then her boyfriend suggests that she audition to host a makeover show for America's underprivileged youth. . .and in order to do that, he suggests she volunteer with underprivileged youth. Silas Whittaker is the director of a transitional program for aged-out foster kids. When Molly goes for an interview for a summer volunteer position, let's just say he doesn't follow social media and doesn't find her all that charming. How can Molly reach him to get involved with the youth? I was unprepared for how much All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese would touch my heart and emotions. I am struggling to write just how much this story impacted me. I liked Molly and Silas both so much. They were real and had real-worl...