Reading, Writing & Pondering

I was so happy with my first choice of a book to review for Thomas Nelson. Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson, with Susy Flory, is a riveting story of Hingson's escape of the Twin Towers on 9/11 with his guide dog, Roselle. Hingson has been blind since he was a baby but readers of this book soon learn that blindness doesn't hold him back. Throughout the story, Hingson flashes back to his adventurous and mischievous years as a boy growing up into an intelligent, articulate adult who could do most things people with sight can do. His parents defied the doctor's advice of their day and didn't put Hingson in a special school for blind children. Instead, they encouraged him to do all that he could do and he was mainstreamed into public school. Those early experiences helped him learn things that would ultimately prove helpful as he sought to escape the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Hingson shares what happened that day as he chose to trust his guid...

I picked up this book looking for a light read. . .it wasn't a light read but The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt was a good read. Three sisters in the South travel to St. Simons Island to empty their late grandmother's house. Ginger is the oldest sister. Penny is the middle sister and Rosemary is the youngest in the trio. All sisters come together for a "girls only" weekend that forces them to look at each other and look at themselves as they all face big life issues as they clean out Grandmother Lillian's belongings. I found this to be a quick read, but it wasn't light-hearted chick lit as I expected when I looked at the beach cover. There were some heavy issues dealt with in this book but Angela Hunt writes a book that leaves you wondering how it is going to go until the end. I thought the ending was good and I am glad I took the time to read it.

How many times have I looked at another woman and thought to myself, "Boy, does she have it all together. . .If only I could do things as well as she does. . .She makes it looks easy!" I bet you've had a time or two when you've had those same thoughts. But is everything really as wonderful as it appears for any of us? She Makes It Looks Easy by Mary Beth Whalen explores the thoughts and daily life of two neighbor women as they get to know each other. Ariel is the mom of 3 boys who struggles with staying on top of housework, moving and parenting her 3 boys while her husband travels with his job. Justine is the neighbor that Ariel moves next to in the neighborhood that Ariel thinks is "perfect." Ariel also thinks Justine is just about perfect. She can keep her house clean, care for 2 girls, volunteer at church, whip up gourmet meals and look perfect all the while she is doing it. . .But is everything what it appears to be? This book is well worth the time ...

Willa Muir is haunted by her past. She sees snippets of her young self and cannot fit them into the puzzle that fills her mind everyday. Willa's boyfriend, Hale Landon, places a ring on her finger and asks her to marry him. Willa takes the ring. . . and runs. . .Runs home to Rockwall, Texas, her childhood home, to untangle the mysteries that haunt her dreams at night and her memories during the day. Once she returns to The Muir House, Willa struggles to find the clues she needs to solve her mystery. Why is the caretaker of the house protecting someone? Does she still have feelings for an old flame? What about her mother who is on her deathbed in a nursing home--why does she keep saying the same words that make no sense to Willa? Willa is a young woman struggling to make sense of her past so that she can move forward into her future. This book is full of mystery, and I must say, I didn't guess some of the outcomes. . .which made the book that much more interesting to me. I...

It has been awhile since I've read a Francine Rivers book although her books have touched my life in the past and made her one of my favorite authers. This week I read both in the set about mother/daughter relationships. These books are long but so good that I didn't get much done at home this week as I was living in the lives of Marta, Hidebrand, Carolyn, and May Flower Dawn. . .These four generations of women in one family through the span of several years gave me a glimpse into what can cause misunderstandings in families as well as how historical events shape us in ways we don't realize as we relate to one another. The first book seemed to set the stage for the future generations. It is easy to see the sins of pride and the consequences of poor communication from the beginning but to see how those issues might be resolved, the reader must follow the series to conclusion. My only complaint I didn't really care for in the series was that Rivers was fairly descriptive ...

Angel Song by Sheila Walsh and Kathryn Cushman quickly drew me in. I finished the book within a couple of day and thoroughly enjoyed the characters. Ann Fletcher flies home to see her younger sister, Sarah, graduate with a master's degree in their hometown of Charleston. Unfortunately, Sarah is in a car accident before she graduates. Ann rides in the back of the accident with her--and hums a song Ann hasn't heard before. . .and much to her chagrin, Ann continues to hear this song in various places throughout the book, including her dreams. She also makes new friends in Sarah's neighbors. One of those friends is a young Down Syndrome boy named Keith. Keith claims to see and hear angels--and he claims they are watching over Ann too. Ann doesn't know what to think. I don't want to spoil the book but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Ann's Angels and her friends. I thought this book offered a good read. The ending was a little predictible but I felt good about gett...

    I finished reading The Incurables by Teri Speed with mixed feelings. It took me awhile to get though this book. I thought might be a quick read, but instead, I found myself often distracted by the author's writing style. Dr. Speed is a surgeon who has found that body, mind and soul work together to heal people from their physical ailments. That makes sense to me and is why I bought the book. She does seem like a compassionate doctor that takes time to listen to her patients and find healing. From that point of view, the book offers some guidance on how to work holisticly to heal our bodies or to help heal someone we know. At the end of each chapter, questions are included to help the reader draw conclusions and help their own situations to use this concept to work towards healing. At the same time, Dr. Speed continually tells the reader how she doesn't really want to listen to God up front and is a slow learner ...