Jackina Stark

304 pages

Audrey Eaton is a widow. She kisses her husband Tom goodnight and later awakens to find he has not come to bed. She gets up and finds that he has passed away quite unexpectedly in the middle of the night. Overcome by grief at the loss of her husband, Audrey shuts down. She basically disengages from her life and gives up participating in all the things she loves. She stops listening to music, reading, and really conversing with the people around her. In short, she is just going through the motions.

Fifteen months later, Audrey begins recording her thoughts in a journal and an idea begins to take root. She will take a road trip with no specific destination or time frame planned. After informing her children and their families what she is doing, Audrey packs her bags, her laptop, her husband Tom’s bible,and she takes off. When she begins reading Tom’s bible and comes across his notes in the book of John, she begins the true journey that will heal her heart.

Tender Grace is a story of the deepest pain we face in life and of the tender graces that God uses to show that we do not walk alone.  Audrey becomes a widow after having retired young to travel and spend time with her husband after their children are grown. She is at a complete loss and trapped in the desire to have her old life back. She has much of her life ahead yet ahead of her and she realizes that it has been so long since she has been grateful for what’s around her. Her need to come to grips with her loss and move on are beautifully written and Audrey seems real. I read this book almost entirely with a lump in my throat.

I highly recommend this one and will definitely look for more by Jackina Stark. (5/5)

Ivan Doig
352 pages

Oliver Milliron is a recently widowed farmer in Montana who responds to an advertisement that says “Can’t cook but doesn’t bite.” In need of a housekeeper, Oliver hires Rose Llewellyn who brings along her brother, Morris Morgan. When the town preacher elopes with the teacher and Morrie is pressed into service as the new teacher, he and Rose begin building a relationship with Oliver and the Milliron sons, Paul, Damon and Toby that will stand out in Paul’s memory years later when as Superintendent, he is reminiscing and deciding the fate of one room schools.

I found The Whistling Season to be a book that I could only read in small chunks. It was slightly wistful and nostalgic in places, making me wish it were possible that  way of life still existed so I could explore it, if only for one day.

On the other hand,  I often found myself wondering what the story was about: Paul, one room schools, Rose and Morrie, Montana, or the Milliron family? Yes

The Whistling Season is definitely not a page turner. Yet, I found that I always wanted to get back to the characters. The storyline didn’t develop at all like I expected which is good( I like that it wasn’t predictable) and bad(I felt lost at times.) I enjoyed the descriptions but found some other areas a bit plodding.  In the end, I felt it was worth reading but not one of my favorite Alex Award Winners. (3/5)

Glenn Beck

284 pages

Eddie is a 12 year-old boy whose father owns the city bakery. His father and mother have never been rich. In fact, Eddie goes to school with bread bags on his feet because his parents can’t afford boots. Still, Eddie has always been a part of a close-knit, warm and loving family. All of that changes when his father gets cancer and dies. Even though he still has the loving care of his mother and grandparents, Eddie struggles with his circumstances and the new, even deeper lack of material things that comes along with it.

In the back pages of this book there is a section that is written by the author that details the ways in which this story parallels his life. Because it is a personal story, I am reluctant to criticize it. However, I have to be honest and say that I did have trouble finishing this book.

I had a vague feeling that I had read this story before. Also, a certain portion of my problems stem from the fact that I have a different understanding of things pertaining to faith than the author defines in this book and I just couldn’t set that aside. Clearly, that isn’t his problem and I only mention it to say that it hindered my enjoyment of the story. Your mileage may vary. (2/5)

Michael Lee West
291 pages

Renata DeChavannes is going through a rough time. Her mother and stepfather recently died in a plane crash, her director-boyfriend is in Ireland directing a film when the tabloids report of his alleged affair with a young starlet, and her difficult relationship with her father isn’t getting better any time soon.

The relationship between her parents and the eventual end of their marriage has always been a mystery to Renata and she decides the time has come for answers. Fueled by a letter written by her mother and with her father unwilling to communicate, Renata heads to Point Clear, Alabama to talk with her paternal grandmother, Honora DeChavannes and her former nanny, Gladys Boudreaux. There, surrounded by the familiar, Renata begins to get the answers to her questions.

I don’t believe that my description of what happens in this novel is fair because it doesn’t convey the humor and warmth that is shared between Honora, Gladys, Renata, and Honora’s next-door neighbor and best friend Isabella D’Agostino McGeehee, which is truly the delight of this book. Honora is the matriarch of her family. She loves her son Louie but recognizes his faults and maintains a strong relationship with her former daughter-in-law, Shelby. Gladys is protective and loyal to Shelby, Renata, and Honora, and Isabella is the character who brings on the laugh out loud moments with her frank speech, man-chasing and randomly drugging food and drinks at the parties.

Another strength is the descriptions of Point Clear and the surrounding areas. They are very warm and inviting and felt familiar even though I have never been there.

Despite the fact that I enjoyed this book quite a bit, I did have few problems with it. There are a lot of different things going on and it can sometimes be a little hard to keep things straight. Also, while I felt the book had a satisfying conclusion, I felt like the ending was a bit rushed.

There is a bit of graphic content but it’s a fairly small amount and this book is truly fun and humorous. I recommend it if you enjoy reading southern fiction.  (3.5/5)

Wilkie Collins
Audiobook (Narrated by Peter Jeffrey)

The Moonstone begins with the title gem being stolen from the head of a Hindu idol by an English officer. Three brahmins set out to retrieve it and swear a curse on anyone who posseses it.  The jewel eventually winds up in the hands of the family of that officer after his death and this is where the heart of the story begins.

At her birthday party, Miss Rachel Verinder receives the moonstone as a birthday gift. The party is being held on the English country estate of Rachel’s widowed mother, Lady Verinder. As the party winds down, Rachel decides to retire to her room for the evening. Lady Verinder warns her that she should lock up the moonstone but Rachel considers this nonsense since she knows everyone at the party. Needless to say, the moonstone is stolen in the course of the evening. Not only is it missing but several people have begun to act very strangely. Is it the curse of the moonstone or is it a common theft?

The Moonstone is a mystery that reminded me very much of a Sherlock Holmes mystery. There is a twisty maze of clues and items that seem like clues which are enough to keep the reader guessing the whole way through. That in itself would be enough to make it a worthy read. However, the story really gets fun when the author starts rolling out the characters.

Here are just a few:

Gabriel Betteredge who has been a life-long faithful servant of Lady Verinder and her family. Gabriel is a quirky man who loves to talk and whose pen wanders as he is sharing his part of the narrative. His philosophy is that there is nothing in life that can’t be solved with a pipe filled with tobacco and a chapter of Robinson Crusoe. Gabriel was my favorite character.

Drusilla Clack - Rachel’s self-righteous cousin. Drusilla is a horrible woman who considers herself super spiritual. Her answer to life’s problems is to pat herself on the back and shove a tract in someone’s face. I hated this character and could not wait for her portion of the narrative to be over.

Ezra Jennings - A physician’s assistant who suffers from an undisclosed illness. He helps Mr. Blake and Rachel Verinder a great deal in solving some serious problems. He is a very self-sacrificing and sad character.

This book took me forever to finish. I feel like it could have been shorter and still worked well.  In spite of this, the characterizations almost took over the story for me and I forgot I was listening to a mystery. In fact, I would recommend this more based on the characters than the mystery even though the mystery was very good. I also highly recommend Peter Jeffrey as a narrator. He did a wonderful job.(4/5)

I look forward to listening to The Woman in White sometime soon.

Rebeca Seitz
311 pages

Joy Sinclair Lasky is one of four adopted daughters. She is the quiet list-maker of the bunch. Her sisters Meg, Kendra and Tandy have always been the standouts. Joy is the one who has everything planned out, in order and in control. When she and her husband, Scott, decide that they would like to start trying to conceive a child they find out that not everything falls under their control. Also, as an adopted child from China, Joy has the desire to visit the land of her birth and understand something of the culture where her biological mother lives.

There is also a lot more going on in Scrapping Plans.  The father of the girls, Jack Sinclair, has found a new lady love after having been a widower for ten years and all four daughters are struggling with how to adapt to the possibility of their father’s remarriage without dishonoring their mother’s memory.

Creative sister Kendra is about to get married and the family is deeply involved in helping her make her special day uniquely hers. Sisters Meg and Tandy are also struggling with a few issues of their own.

Scrapping Plans is book number four in the Sisters, Ink series. The series is named after the sisters love of scrapbooking.  I haven’t read any of the first three and I am not a scrapbooker. I did feel like I was missing some of the back story. However, I didn’t feel like it was a real hindrance. I was able to get a lot of the cues from the current story line. I’m sure I would have gotten more out of it if I’d started with number one but this was an enjoyable read. If you enjoy scrapbooking or chick-lit then you will enjoy this book. (3/5)

Jack Riggs
300 pages

Cassie Johnson has been married for 15 years to Peck Johnson. After discovering she was pregnant at the end of her summer romance with Peck, Cassie is forced to give up her dreams of attending college, is disowned and cut off from her preacher father and her beloved mountain home, and she is left with little choice but to marry Peck and move to his home in the low country. Their marriage has been rocky and Cassie has never been able to get over the loss of her dreams or the fact that her father never let her back into his life and died without knowing his grandchild.

The book is set in the summer of 1970. Cassie is about to go to the mountains to spend time with her mother as she always does. However, this time she is unsure if she is coming back. Peck, the new fire chief of the Garden City Beach Fire Department, can’t really take the time off work to chase her. The area is in the midst of a drought and fires are threatening the area.  Besides, Peck knows he loves Cassie and that he needs to give her the time to figure things out.

The Fireman’s Wife is a beautiful story that is about shades of gray. It’s about hearing both sides of the story and being able to understand both points of view. Both Cassie and Peck are sympathethic characters so I didn’t really end up taking sides.

Cassie has mourned all of her losses for fifteen years and has never truly engaged in her life with Peck. Peck loves his wife and daughter tremendously. He just doesn’t know how to give Cassie whatever is missing from her life and feels he needs to let her go to figure it out.

The descriptions of the both of the landscapes in this story are beautiful. Whether describing Cassie’s beautiful and lush mountain home or Peck’s dry and drought-stricken low country marsh, the word pictures are vivid.

I loved this book. I thought it was poignant and gripping. In fact, I would have devoured it if I would’ve had the free time.

I would highly recommend this story to anyone who loves reading about relationships. Just make sure you have your tissues handy. (4.5/5)

Audiobook (Read by Michael Maloney)

Library Book

I knew only the basic premise of this book when I chose it for several challenges. I knew that it fit into the WWII category, that it is categorized as YA,  and that it was Jewish Literature about the Holocaust.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is the story of Bruno, a nine-year-old boy, who comes home one day to find that his family is moving due to his father’s job. Bruno is the son of a German officer who will be the Commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. From his bedroom window he has seen people in “striped pajamas” behind a fence. Curious about why they are there as well as lonely, Bruno sets out exploring.  He goes to the fence and he happens to meet a boy named Shmuel who is very similar to Bruno in many ways. They even share the same birthday. However, their lives are obviously very different.

As I was listening to this book, I kept thinking that I was really enjoying the fact that I was hearing this from the perspective of a German child. I have read about concentration camps from the perspective of a Jewish child. The horrors are unimaginable. But to gain some insight as to how it is possible that people stood by and allowed this to happen is definitely different.

Bruno is pretty naive. He is just a little boy who counts on his parents to take care of him. He figures they know best and doesn’t worry too much about the rest. In fact, I thought that Bruno’s cluelessness was a bit unrealistic until I listened to the author’s interview at the end of the book. He spoke about the fact that The Holocaust is hindsight for us. We look back with the perspective that we know this happened. It is part of the landscape of our past. However, during the time that this was going on and when the concentration camps were liberated, even adults believed that the stories of the atrocities were just rumors and that something this monstrous could not be happening. He also talks about complacency and the fact that victims of the concentration camps were marched through neighboring villages and people did nothing. That is something that I hadn’t considered and changed my opinion. I do think that Bruno was immature for a nine-year-old by today’s standards. I did have a hard time believing that he couldn’t catch on to the names of Auschwitz(Out With) and the Fuhrer(The Fury). However, I concede that it’s possible that without some of the outside influences we have today in the picture, nine-year-olds were much more innocent sixty or so years ago.

At any rate, those things were minor for me as was the fact that I figured out what was going to happen pretty early on it the book. There were no shocks and though the convergence of the events seems improbable, stranger things happen every day and ultimately, I was willing to suspend disbelief for the message that was conveyed.

I am not sure if the author interview is available in the regular book. However, listening to John Boyne explain why he did what he did with his characters made a huge difference to me. The book and the writing are excellent. The thought process behind them make this book superior.

This is a must-read for anyone who is breathing so that we don’t become complacent again. (5/5)

Kirk Curnutt
329 pages

What had being the parent of a murdered child taught her? Nothing-nothing except the inexhaustiblility of her own anger, anger at constantly being reminded of what she’d lived through, what she’d always be living through, and most of all anger at the presumption that she should be over it, that she should have proved that life goes on, if not for her sake then for the sake of those around her. That was never the hard part, Sis thought. Life went on anyway, whether you wanted it to or not. The hard part was being left behind to breathe out the ghost of the one who’d gone on. - Breathing Out the Ghost, pg 49

A young boy named A.J. St. Claire has gone missing and his father, Colin, is on a self-destructive trek up and down the interstate searching for his son.

Robert Heim is a private investigator who has become too involved. So involved that he has lost his investigator’s license and is near losing his family. Still, he lays it all on the line one final time to help rescue Colin from the inevitable train wreck that is coming.

Sis Pruitt is the pillar of her family. She’s a farmer’s wife and mother of two small children. She also lost her daughter to a murderer several years ago. She heads up a support group for the parents of murdered children and she sits with others who are dealing with loss even at great cost to herself emotionally. She has tried to help others and move on but her grief remains raw

These three paths converge in a small town in Indiana. Another young boy is missing and his disappearance sparks a cascade of events that opens old wounds and leaves them all grappling with emotions and struggling for answers.

Breathing Out the Ghost is not a light or easy read. It’s a complex story that deals some very dark issues: the death of a child, missing children, grief, anger, mental illness, suicide, drug abuse, sexual perversion, marital problems, and abandonment. It deals with them in a very frank way and it doesn’t pull any punches.

However, Kirk Curnutt’s writing is clear and beautiful. Colin’s desperation to do something in the face of the loss of his son is palpable. Heim’s inability to prevent himself from jumping in to the fire with Colin again, even in the face of what it could cost him, is both admirable and frustrating. Sis Pruitt’s struggle over the loss of her daughter and to keep her memory alive, even so many years later, is heart-wrenching.

An added bonus of this book for me is that I am very familiar with several areas where the story takes place and I could envision them as I read.

This is a dark and emotional story and it’s never a comfortable read but I highly recommend it. (4.5/5)

James Howard Kunstler
317 pages

I picked up World Made by Hand because I saw it mentioned somewhere (can’t remember where, sorry) and it sounded interesting.  I was vaguely aware that it involves some social commentary but I didn’t want to get involved in it too much and risk learning so much that I spoiled the book for myself. The main reason it grabbed my interest is because it’s post-apocalyptic/speculative fiction.

In a former life Robert Earle was a software developer. Then one summer life changed. Bombs hit L.A. and Washington D.C., the electricity only comes on sporadically. Oil, gas and other supplies are unavailable. Epidemic illness sweeps the country, millions die and the population is drastically reduced. Trade and news from overseas becomes non-existent. It’s difficult to find out what’s going on in the next town, never mind the next state. The weather has also gone gone wacky either from environmental causes or from the bombs. No one is sure which.

Throw in a strange religious sect and a group of thugs who choose to live in a trailer park outside of town rather than work cooperatively with the townspeople and you have an interesting story.

I didn’t think that this book was heavy-handed. I noticed a lot of common sense stuff like:

1. Oil is a finite resource.
2. If bombs went off near large metropolis, people living nearby would be devastated
3. It’s a good idea to have the skills necessary to take care of your family. Gardening, baking, canning.
4. Epidemics can still happen even in this modern age of medicine.

I liked this book okay. Not as much as I thought I would but I still enjoyed reading it. There was a really weird section involving the religious sect that left me scratching my head. I just didn’t understand what was going on. Still, there are some interesting thoughts on how different segments of society might react to a lack of judicial system, limited supplies etc. that are worth pondering.

Think The Road by Cormac McCarthy only lighter and with a little of the Little House on the Prairie pioneering spirit thrown in and you have an idea of who would enjoy this book. (3/5)