Reading, Writing & Pondering

  I have been looking forward to Robin Jones Gunn new book, Tea with Elephants so I was excited to have an advanced copy. I got it in the mail and started reading right away! I read and treasured every bit of this book. Fern and Lily have been friends ever since they met in Costa Rica while doing volunteer work. Together, as young girls, they dreamed of traveling the world and the good that they could do. Then life happened. Lily got married young and had two children. Fern took an internship that led to a job in publishing and has been working ever since. Then several years later, Fern's father and mother-in-law gave Fern and Lily tickets to Africa to go on safari. This is the story of their trip--as well as the challenges in their lives that they left behind. I read Tea with Elephants quickly as I could not put it down. I enjoyed The Sister Chicks series. This series is along those lines as the start of the Suitcase Sisters novels begins. I enjoyed the camaraderie of Lily and Fe...

  You'll Always Have a Friend: What to Do When the Lonelies Come by Emily Ley is a lovely book about friendship aimed at children ages four to eight. This book measures about 9 by 13 1/2 inches and is 32 pages long. It is a good size to read aloud as a family and for kids to read alone. You'll Always Have a Frien d has good rhythm and the rhyming verse is encouraging and uplifting to children--and the adults listening. I think the illustrations by Romina Galotta are lovely and compliment the text nicely. I especially love how they are inclusive and show people of all colors and of varying abilities. I also like how this book encourages children to like themselves and to be themselves so people like them for who they are. Oh, that we would all have that encouragement and inspiration.  I have enjoyed this author's adult books in the past. This is the first children's book that I have read by her and I think it clearly reflects her lovely heart and spirit. I would love to...

  The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck is one of my favorite books that I have read this year so far. This book is a dual time story set in 1977 and 1997 and tells the story of four good friends as they move into adulthood---and then as they move on and reflect back on that summer after graduation twenty years later.  The four friends in The Best Summer of Our Lives are Summer, Spring, Autumn and Winter. They call themselves the four season and have been friends since grade school. At the end of their senior year, they are part of a big prank that gets them community service. For their part, the judge agrees to let them be camp counselors for the summer with Summer's Mom supervising them. A lot happens that summer and there are some things the girls haven't really dealt with that happened in the past that also leave them raw and vulnerable.The book does flip back and forth some as readers also read some of what has been happening in their lives 20 years later in 1997...

  Heirlooms by Sandra Byrd is a split time story with both the modern-day story and the story from the late 1950s showing the value of friendship. Navy Widow Helen Devries received a call from Choi Eunhee, also a widow, who needed help after her husband passed away. Eunhee is a Korean woman who married an American. Together, they learn and grow through both life's challenges and everyday adventures.  Cassidy Quinn's mother passed away when she was a young girl. After she passed, Cassidy spent the summers with her grandmother, Helen, at her farmhouse and finds her passion for flowers and gardening. When Helen passes away, Cassidy inherits her home and garden--along with a task Helen asks her to do with Grace Kim, Eunhee's granddaughter and her friend. Together, the girls discover some of their grandmothers' secrets. Both women also have love interests and challenges in their own modern lives that they can help each other through. Heirlooms is a character-driven novel. ...

I have read that loneliness is epidemic in our society today. People are often mobile and moving more often. Then connection are often through social media and less often in person. But it doesn't have to be that way. Girls' Club by Sarah, Sally and Joy Clarkson tells how to make lasting friendships in our world today. Girls' Club is written by each of these women-- a mother and two daughter. Early on with her two daughters, Sally formed their Girls' Club. For this family, that meant that the girls got together on a regular basis and made a commitment to get to know each other better through talking, through time together and through special events that they attended together. In spite of some challenges through the years with moves, personality differences and occasional conflicts, the girls worked it out so they would be support system for each other. As an only child, I can't tell you how much this appeals to me. It sounds wonderful even with the challenges...

If you enjoy animals or no someone who does, then this is likely to be an enjoyable book for you. Better Together: Life is Best with a Friend Like You is a fun gift book with both great quotes and great animal pictures. Better Together has an introduction and is divided into 7 sections: Friendship, Unity and Togetherness, Love and Compassion, Respect, Peace and Harmony, Diversity, and Triumph and Strength. Each section has quotes from famous people related to the topic along with a cute photo of cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs and more. There are a whole lot of pictures to make you smile in this book--no need to scroll social media for them, a copy of this book has a whole bunch. I read Better Together fairly quickly but it is a good book to go through mindfully thinking about the quotes and the pictures. It would make a fun friendship gift. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes: *Wear a smile and have friends; Wear a scowl and have wrinkles. ~George Eliot *Great t...

In reading Becoming Gertrude by Janice Peterson, I felt like I was having lemonade with a dear lady who was sharing her life wisdom with me. Peterson, in this small book, offers gentle guidance to readers about building quality relationships with the people around you. Becoming Gertrude: How Our Friendships Shape Our Faith has a beautiful introduction about the way of spiritual friendship. Peterson starts out the book by explaining what she means by being spiritual friends with someone. She shares personal stories from the heart throughout the book about friendships she has made throughout her life, as well as lonely times without friends and how she went about building friendships. Peterson shares five elements that lead to quality relationships: caring, acceptance, service, hospitality, and encouragement. At the end of each chapter, there are questions and space to write the answers. At the conclusion of Becoming Gertrude, her husband and author Eugene Peterson write ...

I live in a university community with people coming in to our area from all over the world. More and more I see people from other countries living in my neighborhood. I want to reach out to them but honestly I don't know the best way. I wanted to read Once We Were Strangers by Shawn Smucker to give me some ideas of what it could look like to reach out to those from other parts of the world, whether they are refugees or students. Smucker tells this story along with Mahammad, the Syrian refugee that he met in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The story is told from both Smucker's point of view and with Mahammad's memories of the trip as he shares them with Smucker. There is a gentle back and forth motion to this story. It isn't a fast tale with high adventures, which Smucker thought he might be telling. However, it is a beautiful story of two human beings seeing past their differences and forging a friendship both with each other and with their families together. Mahammad has...

Sitting down to read my copy of Never Unfriended by Lisa-Jo Baker was like sitting down with a friend over a hot cup of tea/coffee and sharing heart-to-heart. This book was real, honest and it made me think about how I want to do friendship. Never Unfriended is divided into five sections: What Are We Afraid of? What Can't we Do About it? What Can We Do about it? and Where do we start? In the introduction, Baker shares that this book is your friend so you can start reading anywhere that you feel it well help you best. I started at the beginning because I just feel like I am so lost after a move I had to just go back to square one. And that was a good place for me because the first chapter starts with talking about Friendship PTSD. I am sure this mid-life woman could be a poster child for Friendship PTSD. I used to have many friends, and make friends easily, but these days it doesn't come as easy. After several moves and several friendship wounds, I have been limping alon...

(In)courage from Dayspring is one of my favorite groups of on-line writers. I have been following them for years. . .and starting my day with their readings. When Craving Connection came out from the (in)courage writers, I was anxious to get a copy. Craving Connection invites readers to commit to creatively and prayerfully connect with God, friends and community. This beautiful book (I love the cover!) contains 30 challenges for real-life engagement. Each of the challenges starts with a thought to consider, a Bible verse and a way to engage the theme, such as sending a quick note to a friend to let her know she is important to you. Each day also contains a reading for the day, questions to think about, a connection challenge and a prayer. Each reading is like having coffee with a friend. They are all down-to-earth and easy to relate to. I liked the questions and found those to be great to use with my journal to help me think things out. This book would also be quite good to do...

 What is a Heart sister? According to Natalie, A heart sister is someone who isn't related "by blood but instead by the sisterly bond entwined between our hearts." Natalie Snapp addresses issues faced by women today as they make friendships in our modern world. She shares stories, information and advice about making a good heart sister friendship, forming good boundaries in friendships, friendships and internet etiquette, dealing with conflict in friendships, and what things a heart sister does and does not do to make a good relationship. This book is full of good information and real life stories that I think most women can relate to. I found it down-to-earth and easy to relate to. Each chapter also ends with questions to either ask yourself or to ask in a group.  I couldn't rush through reading this book as I move to a new town in 2 weeks and look to make new friendships. I hope to make a heart sister friend too. I think this book has given me ...