Undetected – A Book Review

Have you read any of Dee Henderon’s novels? Bethany House gave me the opportunity to read and review one of her latest books, titled Undetected.

From the back cover: Gina Gray would love to be married. She has always envisioned her life that way. A breakup she didn’t see coming, though, has her focusing all her attention on what she does best–ocean science research. She’s on the cusp of a major breakthrough, and she needs Mark Bishop’s perspective and help. Because what she told the Navy she’s figured out is only the beginning. If she’s right, submarine warfare is about to enter a new and dangerous chapter.

What I expected: A classic Dee Henderson novel with strong characters, a fast-paced plot, and the opportunity to learn something about ocean science research.

What I found: Fairly perfect characters with few flaws, a slow moving plot, and a ton of information about ocean science research.

I love reading Henderson’s early books about the O’Malley family. That series is about a family of cops, paramedics, firefighters, etc. The stories are very fast-paced as the characters face life-threatening situations while going about their jobs. The last couple of Henderson books I’ve read have been more character driven than plot driven. I miss the earlier stories, even as I recognize the strong writing that characterizes all of her novels.

This might not have been a favorite, but I did enjoy reading it. There was one particular paragraph that I loved:

I love listening to people. A book is someone taking time to develop a thought – create a hypothesis, present evidence, argue a point, draw a conclusion, make their case. Some do it primarily in mathematics, others in lecture format, while others present ideas and build reasons for their conclusion. Books are enjoyable hours of listening to experts on various subjects. I might not agree with everything, but that’s a minor point to why I read what they’ve written. I like the fact they make me think (213).

I especially loved this line – “Books are enjoyable hours of listening to experts on various subjects.” Yes! Books are enjoyable hours of listening!

If you like Dee Henderson or are interested in oceanography, this is an interesting read. Much thanks to Bethany House for a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Note – there is an Amazon affiliate link in this review. If you buy anything from Amazon after clicking on the link, all proceeds support our adoption. Thanks!

Woman of Courage – A Book Review

I am the type of person who finishes almost every single book I start. I’ve given myself permission over the past year or so to not force myself to finish reading books that I don’t like. Unfortunately for Barbour Publishing, Woman of Courage is a book that I just could not finish.

Woman of Courage is Wanda E. Brunstetter’s newest novel. The premise is interesting. A Quaker woman decides that she is going to move to the Wild, Wild West to minister to the Nez Perce Indians. On her trip out west, everything goes wrong. Will she reach the mission outpost and begin her ministry or will she find a ministry in witnessing to a “trapper and his intriguing half-Indian friend [who] want nothing to do with Christians” (back cover).

I tried to like it. Truly I did. Maybe there is a fantastic story here but I could not get past the writing style. The final sentences in each chapter drove me crazy and often made me roll my eyes.

Several examples:

“As clearly as the full moon beamed through the parlor window, she knew she would never fall in love again” (prologue).
“What she didn’t know was how she would go on without him” (chapter 1).”
“If he didn’t get help soon, she could die” (chapter 7).
“Did she dare ask?” (chapter 10).
“Amanda hoped that was the case, because there was no way she could help Mary deliver her baby!” (chapter 13).

And a couple of award-winning lines:
“Wa-a-a! Wa-a-a! Wa-a-a!” (baby crying)
“Woof! Woof!” (dog barking)
“What was more, it was a comfort to have Thunder along, because Jim knew the dog would alert him to any danger that might be out there, lurking, because in the wilderness most anything could happen” (pg 159).

Brunstetter’s book has another of my pet peeves, which is to use the title of the book several times in the story itself. I won’t quote any of the lines because they could be considered spoilers, but nothing yanks me out of a story as fast as running across the title in the dialog.

I’m not sure that I would label this a “bad book” but it’s definitely not to my taste. Hopefully someone else can enjoy it!

Many thanks to Barbour Publishing and Handlebar for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions. All thoughts are my own!

Just 18 Summers – A Book Review

Just 18 Summers is the next review book in my stack. I read this entire book while sitting in the Chicago airport, waiting for a huge storm to blow over so that I could fly home to Seattle. It definitely filled the time well and helped me to forget that my flight was delayed several hours.

From the Amazon description: After the tragic death of Butch Browning’s wife, Jenny, four families begin to realize how precious—and fleeting—their time together is. Each is at a different stage in life: Butch is facing single parenthood. The O’Reillys are expecting their first child. The Andersons are approaching an empty nest, and the Buckleys are so focused on providing their children with everything that they’ve forgotten what they truly need. With just eighteen summers before their children are grown, how do they make the most of that time when life so often gets in the way?

I laughed. I cried. I rolled my eyes. I completely blocked out all the chaos of the busy airport and soaked up a story about love and family and regret and redemption.

This book reminded me of the importance of holding my daughter close, of treasuring each day with her and loving her to the best of my abilities. I pray for her daily, that God will keep her safe until we can travel to bring her home. The parents in this book had 18 summers to love their children. I will have much less, as my future daughter is already 11 years old. But I hope to pack an incredible amount of love into the years we do have together.

Thank you so much to Tyndale Fiction for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

For Such a Time – A Book Review

Next up on my stack of review books is For Such a Time by the new author Kate Breslin. This story is a loose WWII retelling of the story of Esther. By “loose,” it is the story of a people who are threatened by a man who hates the Jewish race and a girl who hides her Jewishness and tries to save her people from annihilation.

This novel differs from the Esther story in several key ways. The novel includes a rather unbelievable romance between Hadassah and the man who is overseeing the local concentration camp. At first, Hadassah hates Aric simply because she is Jewish and he is a Nazi. However, she quickly discovers that he is human with strengths and flaws like the rest of the human race. She wavers in her hatred, trying to determine if he is worth loving despite being a Nazi. “Do I love him? Do I not love him? Do I love him…?”

At the beginning of each chapter was a verse from the book of Esther. That verse summed up the events in the upcoming chapter. I wish that the verses had not been left in the manuscript. It jerked me out of the narrative each time. Being told what events from Esther are coming up in the story left little room for surprises.

My favorite aspect of this novel was the actual writing itself. Breslin has a great command of English and uses words to describe the setting in such a way that you feel like you are sitting in the room, watching the action.

Overall, it was a well-written book with a modern day take on Esther. It didn’t quite meet my expectations, but most people seemed to really it. If you like the story of Esther and WWII novels, I would borrow it from the library and then buy it if you will read it more than once.

Thank you to Bethany House for providing a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Heaven – A Book Review

Being out of town and then flooded with adoption progress and trying to catch up with housework made me fall behind with my book reviews. I have been reading! I just haven’t had time to write and post reviews. This week I hope to catch up on my book reviews.

One of my recent reads was a book titled Heaven, by Stephen Elkins. This is classified as First Steps, one written to help introduce a Bible topic to a young child. I requested it for review because I hoped that it would be a good one to teach an adopted child about Christian topics. Being a First Steps book, I hoped that the idea of Heaven would be explained simply – both in simple English and simple concepts.

The book tackles the topic of heaven in two parts – what is heaven like? And how do we get there? It presents a beautiful picture of heaven, making it very appealing. The book goes way beyond the idea that heaven is a place to sit on a harp and sing and for that I am grateful! It also presents the idea of salvation in a factual but not overly detailed way, talking about how Adam sinned by disobeying God, that Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life, and then died on the cross. The book does not talk about why death is required to redeem us from sin, only that it was.

My first requirement for this book was fulfilled, that the idea of God, sin, salvation, and heaven are presented in simple, broken-down concepts.

However, Heaven does not use the simplest of English. I have a feeling my daughter will struggle for awhile with the words in this book.

“Joy is a blessing Jesus can give,
A blessing the Savior imparts.
It comes from knowing Jesus is Lord
And living inside of your heart!”

“In heaven we’re safe forever,
With peace that does astound us.
For God is there to keep us safe
His love is all around us.”

Impart. Astound. Not words you teach an English learner for awhile!

Still, it’s a beautiful book and I’m glad I requested it. I look forward to reading it with my daughter and talking about God and heaven. Thank you to Tyndale House for a free copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Smoothie time!

This morning I made the first smoothie of the season. Four bananas, a carton of strawberries, and a splash of water to make blending easier. It was delicious! A smoothie is not the best selection for a cold morning but the bananas were ripe and the strawberries were perfect. I split the smoothie with my husband and then toasted an English muffin. It was a great breakfast.

Today I finished a rather funny novel, The Homeschool Experiment by Charity Hawkins. It’s about a Christian woman who decides to homeschool her three young children and all the misadventures they have over the course of a school year. I wouldn’t classify it as Great Literature but it was a delightful read.

The Jesus Bible – A Book Review

I was really excited when I found The Jesus Bible available for review. I ordered it for my soon-to-be daughter. This Bible is recommended for ages 9-12. My daughter is 11 and will probably be 12 before she comes home, but as a new English learner, this Bible will be valuable to her for a few more years.

What I love about this version of the Bible –

I love that the devotionals are set up to point to Christ. Throughout the Bible, the devotionals discuss a verse or two and always tie it into the life or character or teachings of Christ.

I love that each book starts with a brief outline and answers the following questions: Where is Jesus in this book? Who wrote it? Why was it written? What happens? What do we learn about God in this book?

What I didn’t love –

The devotionals and commentary could have used a bit more proofreading; I found a typo in one of the devotionals in Proverbs. And I wish that the highlighted verse didn’t stand out of the text quite so much. It made the reading rather jarring.

Disclaimer –

Obviously I couldn’t read the entire Bible and devotionals before reviewing it. I flipped through parts of the Bible, read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in their entirety, and read part of Isaiah.

I’m glad I requested The Jesus Bible and hope that my daughter finds this version of the Bible useful in her journey toward God. Much thanks to BookLookBloggers for a free copy in exchange for my review. All thoughts are my own!

Library Monday

I visit the library once every week or two. Last Monday and this Monday, I started the week on a perfect note by spending some time reading in the library. I love our local library. Just walking in the front door inspires me to learn.

I was finally able to pick up this month’s Reading to Know book club selection. Would you believe that three library patrons had kept their copies at least two weeks past the due date? I had this book on hold for a month and was despairing that I would be able to read it in March. But someone finally returned their (overdue) copy last week.

I spent most of my library time reading The Little White Horse while curled up in a chair on the second floor. My morning was delightful.

The rest of my library time was spent reading the introduction and first chapter of this book:

I suspect that Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning will be my favorite of the TJEd books.

Happy reading!

What’s on my nightstand

I can’t believe I haven’t participated in the Nightstand link up since August! The fall and winter months have gotten away from me…

What's On Your Nightstand

This month I have already finished a variety of books, too many to post. I’ll just list the ones I’m currently reading and what’s coming up.

A Lady in the Making by Susan Page Davis – I’m almost done with this book, a Christian historical fiction set in the Old West. I really enjoyed the first two books in the series but this third book isn’t quite as good. It’s still a pleasurable read, though. Depending on the ending, it’ll earn a three star review.

The Woman Who Heard Color by Kelly Jones – I’m not uploading a cover as I think it’s a bit immodest. The historical aspect of this book is interesting but the modern section is boring. The book is supposed to be about an art detective but the modern sections mostly contain narrative of the events she is investigating. I don’t feel a vested interest in either of the two modern day characters and thus don’t understand why the book was written from two time periods. We’ll see how it ends.

Adopted for Life by Russell D. Moore – So far it’s a in-depth look at what adoption means for a believer in Christ. The parallels to adopting a child seem weak, but I’m only three chapters into the book. I have high hopes!

Toddler Adoption: The Weaver’s Craft by Mary Hopkins-Best – This book was on a number of adoption book recommendation lists and a friend personally recommended it, even though we’re adopting an 11 year old. I can see why people recommend it! It’s packed with information! I literally feel like I’m wading through it. I think it’s going to require a reread to really grasp everything that the author is sharing about adoption.

Up Next

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder – This book is for the Reading to Know Classic Book Club.

A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse – I have no idea where I first came across a mention of this one but I love books about books!

Happy Reading!!

Next Door Savior – A Book Review

I’ve been reading Max Lucado’s books for a long time. During my freshman year of college, I had a dog-eared copy of one of his books on the life of Christ. I don’t remember the title of the book, but I remember how powerful it was. The book would make me cry. Lucado has a way of portraying God that makes you realize just how great God really is.

Next Door Savior is just as good as the dog-eared book from college. It made me cry. It raised my awareness, once again, of how much God loves us. Each chapter in this book covers an aspect of Jesus’ life and character and talks about just how accessible God is.

One of my favorite passages:

Jesus has been there. He experienced “all the pain, all the testing” (Heb. 2:18 MSG). Jesus was angry enough to purge the temple, hungry enough to eat raw grain, distraught enough to weep in public, fun loving enough to be called a drunkard, winsome enough to attract kids, weary enough to sleep in a storm-bounced boat, poor enough to sleep on dirt and borrow a coin for a sermon illustration, radical enough to get kicked out of town, responsible enough to care for his mother, tempted enough to know the smell of Satan, and fearful enough to sweat blood.
But why? Why would heaven’s finest Son endure earth’s toughest pain? So you would know that “He is able . . . to run to the cry of . . . those who are being tempted and tested and tried” (Heb. 2:18 AMP) (Next Door Savior, page 24).

Why is this book encouraging? Because Jesus understands! However I feel, no matter what is going on in my life, Jesus gets it. He’s been there. I can rest assured that none of my feelings are foreign to Jesus. Because He understands me, He can help me. Jesus can carry me through life because He experienced it Himself.

If you haven’t read any of Lucado’s books, I’d encourage you to pick up any of them and read through it. It will encourage you in your walk with God. I think this book would make a great devotional by reading a chapter each morning and pondering the message throughout the day.

Thank you to Booksneeze for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts are my own!