September 15, 2011

Reluctant Enjoyment

American auhor Stephenie Meyer at the Twilight...

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I recently came to the end of my “Books to Review” stack, leaving me with nothing new to read.  That is not a situation that I like to be in.  Sure, I could use this free time to work on my own novel.  That would probably be the smart thing to do.  But when have I ever been known to do the smart thing?  So I looked for something else to read.  And I came across something I really never thought that I would ever read.  Even when I borrowed the books from my best friend, I didn’t really think that I would read them.  I just borrowed them because I was running out of excuses to not read them.  One friend has even told, more than once over the past few years, that “the vampire thing is just background noise—it’s really just a beautiful love story.”  She even told me that it really didn’t matter that there was a vampire in the story.  I couldn’t believe that.  Of course it matters!  I mean, if it didn’t matter, why in the world would one of the main characters be a vampire?

OK, so by now I am sure you have figured out what books I am talking about.  Yep, that’s right.  I’ve started reading Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series.

There are a few reasons that I put off reading this.  One is the whole “vampire thing.”  I have always equated vampires to gory horror flicks, the kind of stuff that would give me nightmares.  Plus so many vampire legends say that vampires change into bats.  I HATE bats.  Hate them.  Absolutely loathe the creatures.  I cannot stress this enough….  I…HATE…BATS!  Not that I ever actually asked anyone who has read the books or seen the films if these particular vampires turn into bats.  Probably would not have believed anyone who said no, anyway.  Just the possibility of reading about any bat that is not used in a ball game was more than enough to keep me away.

Then there is the young adult aspect of the book.  Meyer wrote this series for an audience younger than I am.  Not that it’s a bad thing.  Personally, I love that someone is writing books that kids love—even if they are on a topic that doesn’t appeal to me.  I was just never sure that I wanted to read another young adult book.  “Young Adult Novel” makes me think of the old Sweet Valley High series that I devoured  twenty years ago.  The idea of reading about Elizabeth or Jessica Wakefield (and something tells me it would be Jess, not Liz!) dating a vampire really, really did not appeal to me.

But, I was out of books to read.  And the three volumes of the series that I had borrowed from my friend were sitting on my bookshelf.  So, reluctantly, I began reading Twilight.

And it is with that same level of reluctance that I admit I could not put the first book down.  I was finished with it in just 2 days.  And now I am nearly halfway through New Moon.

To my great relief, no one in the book transformed into a bat (did I happen to mention how much I really despise those creatures?)  I can’t say, however, that I agree with the friend who said the vampire part was just background noise.  Edward being a vampire is a very integral part of the story.  Yes, the focus is on the romance.  But the romance is between a human and a vampire.  That makes it much more than just “background noise.”

Before reading this, I heard a lot of opinions on the book and on the way that Stephanie Meyer writes.  It was hard to tune all of those things out as I was reading.  While I couldn’t put the book down, I didn’t find it to be nearly as awesome as many people said.  At the same time, it was not nearly as horrible as I was afraid that it would be.  Even with the opinions of others in my mind, I was able to read it and draw my own conclusions.

 

I am going to say that I don’t think Stephanie Meyer is a particularly brilliant writer.  The book is, in many places, very simplistic.  Then again, it is a young adult book.  That so many, um, not so young adults like the book is interesting to me—she wasn’t targeting a mainstream audience.  It’s kind of hard not to admire the success that Meyer has had.  Is that success due to the writing ability of Ms. Meyer or due to the marketing ability of her agent?  I don’t think it really matters.  In either case, it is an awe inspiring accomplishment.

 

There are passages in the book that I think are quite dumb and in some places—many places actually—where I think Bella is quite foolish.  I mean, “it doesn’t matter that you are a vampire”???  For a supposedly intelligent person (the scenes in biology show that she is supposed to be quite smart), Bella sure acts dumb.

 

But the rush of first love as Bella and Edward get to know one another better—SIGH.  It was just about perfect!  In lots of ways, it reminded me of my high school days, when my husband and I were first building the foundation that has become our life together.  No, our love story is not exactly the same as Bella and Edward’s story; I don’t think any two romances can ever be exactly identical.  But Meyer did a great job of capturing those feelings.

 

So, even though I didn’t want to, I have to admit that I liked the book.  And I am enjoying the second book in the series as well (even though I think Bella is acting like a spoiled brat at the moment!)  I still have not seen the movies.  I have mixed feelings on that.  I think I want to watch, but I don’t see how a movie out of the book would work.  Guess there is only one way to find out!

 

Posted by on September 15, 2011 in Books, Reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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September 13, 2011

THE EDGE OF GRACE, My Review

An early morning call shatters Caryn Becker’s world.  Unable to cope with her brother’s news that he is gay, Caryn rejects him and disappears into her own turbulent like as a young widow and single mom.  But when David is attacked and nearly killed, Caryn is forced to make hard choices about family, faith and her own future; choices that take her to the very edge of grace.

To be totally honest, when I first heard that Christa Allan had a new book out, I didn’t care what the book was about.  She could have written 500 pages about watching paint dry or grass grow, and I would have wanted to read it.  OK, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration.  But I enjoyed her first book so much that I would have read The Edge of Grace no matter what topic it covered or how the plot twisted.  The first book was written in such a fluid, conversational style.  I had great hopes for the second.

And I was not disappointed.

The story really hit home for me (check out what I posted about it yesterday if you want to know why.)  Dealing with a gay family member can be very confusing, to say the least.  Caryn’s reaction to her brother’s was very real—“he’s doing something that I don’t approve of and can’t relate to, so I am just going to ignore him.”  Her attitude didn’t make the “problem” go away or turn back the clock to a time when she didn’t know that David was not happily in love with the woman he was planning to marry, but it did help Caryn to cope with the shock.  At least in the very beginning.  It was interesting to watch Caryn move from denial to acceptance, even though the metamorphosis meant changes in her own life and in her way of thinking.

The Edge of Grace was a very well-written story about a topic many Christians struggle with.  This book earns my highest recommendation.  I can’t say that I agree with all of the opinions expressed in this book, but that is OK.  At least reading it forced me to consider positions other than my own.

I think Caryn said it best herself in this speech to her brother near the end of the book: “And God is reaching me, maybe in very small steps, that He is the final judge, not me.  And that my job, for as long as I am here, is to reach out and love.”

That is something I think we all should keep in mind before we start hurling insults and accusations at one another.

Christa Allan is the author of Walking on Broken Glass and the mother of five.  Christa teaches high school English.  She and her husband, Ken, live in Abita Springs, Louisiana.  Visit Christa on the web at http://www.christaallan.com.

Posted by on September 13, 2011 in Authors, Books, Reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

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September 12, 2011

Much Needed Grace

Have you ever read something that you felt was written just for you?  In the past two years, it has happened to me twice with novels I have read.  I felt like the author was writing my life story.  OK, so there were a few twists and turns and plot points that did not accurately fit my life.  But the books dealt so closely with things that I was dealing with in my life that I felt like God had given both stories to the author with the intent of having me read the books.

Even more amazing is that both books were written by the same author.

Order at Amazon.com

The author I am talking about is Christa Allan.  I am not sure when I first met Christa online.  But when I read her novel Walking on Broken Glass in early 2010, I felt like she must have known me forever.  Though we had not (and still have not) met face-to-face, she captured my feelings of lose, hopelessness, and addiction so accurately in Leah Thornton, the main character of her debut novel.  Through that book, I was forced to face a truth about my life that I had been running from for years.  Facing that truth has led me to a healthier life today.  I won’t repeat my review of this book, but if you want to revisit it, you can find it here.

That first book affected my so deeply that I was more than anxious to read her second novel, the recently released The Edge of Grace.  I didn’t know what the book was about.  I didn’t really need to know—Christa had written it, and that was enough for me!  I requested a review copy of the book and waited for it to be delivered.  When it came, I immediately read the back of the book—and the book very nearly fell from my hands.

An early morning call shatters Caryn Becker’s world.  Unable to cope with her brother’s news that he is gay, Caryn rejects him and disappears into her own turbulent like as a young widow and single mom.  But when David is attacked and nearly killed, Caryn is forced to make hard choices about family, faith and her own future; choices that take her to the very edge of grace.

In all honesty, I couldn’t decide if I should laugh or cry.  One thought kept running through my head: “She did it again!”  One again, without knowing it at all, Christa Allan had written a book similar to what I was experiencing in my life.  In that moment I knew that this book was going to change my life.

Just a few days before the book arrived in the mail, my husband received a phone call from his brother.  Not a big surprise.  My husband receives calls almost weekly from his brother.  The surprise was in the reason for the call.

It had been over ten years since we’d been shocked at the news that he was gay.  For the past four or five years, we had accepted his partner as a part of our family.  He came to birthday parties for our sons, and the two men hosted holiday dinners in their home.  Our sons even accepted the relationship between Uncle Mike and Dr. Erik—though at 4, 7, and 10, I am not sure they fully understood just what “gay” meant.  The news that Mike was gay had been so shocking, especially as it followed so closely the heels of the first in a series of strokes for their mother, that I didn’t think anything would shock me about him.

I found out how wrong I was about that when my husband said, “We’ve been invited to a wedding in New York.  Mike and Erik, later this fall.  Mike wants me to be his best man.”

OK, so the news really wasn’t all that shocking.  I already knew that Mike and Erik were very committed to each other.  My husband and I had talked in the past about how relieved we were that same sex marriage is not legal in Michigan, where we all live.  But Erik was raised in New York and still has family there.  Now that same sex marriage is legal there, he proposed to my brother-in-law.  Good for them.  Not so good for us.

My husband and I share very strong faith in Christ.  We both believe that the Bible is very clear on homosexuality as a sin.  We have never pushed Mike away or attempted to make him feel like his “gayness” makes him a bad person.  (Perhaps never is too strong.  I know that Mike and I had some blow-ups over it in the beginning.  I clearly remember Mike yelling at me, “Just once I’d like to find someone claiming to be a Christian show tolerance for a gay lifestyle!”  My response was to scream just as loudly, “Just once I’d like to find someone living a gay lifestyle show tolerance for the Christian faith!”)  It’s just part of who he is, and he is family.  We love him no matter what—even if we don’t agree with how he chooses to live his life.  That is what Christ wants from us, right?  That whole, “Love the sinner, hate the sin” thing.

But now we were faced with a  dilemma—would it be possible to love Mike and not disappoint God at the same time?

In many ways, attending their wedding (let alone being a part of it, as my husband had been asked to do), felt like it was condoning their lifestyle.  And if we are condoning that lifestyle, are we dishonoring God?  Is it all possible to show our love of Christ, to provide action to our faith, and still show love and support to a beloved member of our family?

These are the questions that I was dealing with when I began reading Christa Allan’s latest book.  I didn’t expect that her book would answer all of my questions.  Honestly, I didn’t know if it would answer any of them.  But I was hoping that reading the book would help me to at least find some perspective.  Another Christian woman, dealing with the same sort of issues that I was?  At the very least, I hoped that reading the book would help me to feel less alone.

Was I disappointed in the book?  Did the fictional experiences of these characters help me to deal with my own reality?  If you want to know, come back tomorrow to read my review of Christa Allan’s book The Edge of Grace.

Posted by on September 12, 2011 in Authors, Books, Life and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , .

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September 11, 2011

9-11, Ten Years Later

Like many across the country, I woke up this morning with thoughts of what happened ten years ago fresh in my mind.  I remember that Tuesday morning, the bright blue sky and warm temperatures.  I remember exactly what I was doing.  And I even started off this morning in a very similar way.

Ten years ago, after making breakfast, I spent much of the day sitting on the sofa with my oldest son, our eyes glued to the NBC news coverage on television.  Well, my eyes were glued to the TV; he was seven months old and didn’t really watch much TV at all yet.  This morning, I made sure there was breakfast for everyone and settled in to watch NBC again.  When my oldest sat beside me, I couldn’t help but thinking back to that morning.

A lot of things have changed since then.  For one, the sofa was different.  So was the living room—larger now, located in a house we own, way across town from the rented apartment we used to call home.  This time, it wasn’t just the two of us watching TV.  We were the only ones sitting on the sofa, but my two other sons were playing with building blocks on the floor.  And my oldest boy—well, somehow he had morphed from an adorable, giggling seven-month-old to an occasionally sullen, often temperamental fifth grader.  One of my favorite changes, though, was in my son’s communication.  He was interested in what he was seeing on TV, and kept asking me questions about it.  Occasionally, his brothers would tear themselves away from building their own replicas of the Twin Towers to ask a few questions of their own.

In addition to watching the coverage of the memorial ceremonies on TV (which included comments  from my kids on how Matt Lauer once had hair while Al Roker once had much bigger clothing), we looked through a book I was given for Christmas in 2002 and a scrapbook I made from newspaper and internet clippings.  The book, a collection of pictures from the New York Daily News looking back on the attacks one year after, held their interest for just a little while.  The scrapbook, something that I made in the hope that my children would someday learn something about that terrible day from my memories, was a much bigger hit.  They boys liked seeing the pictures and stories, as well as my thoughts about what had happened in New York, D.C., and Shanksville.  I liked sharing it with them.

Never forget.  That is one thing that has been said over and over about the attacks.  I know it’s a day that I will never forget.  And now I am sure my children will understand—as well as anyone can—just what happened that day.

Posted by on September 11, 2011 in Life and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , .

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September 5, 2011

Review of TELLING LIES by Cathi Stoler

How many lies does it take to get away with murder? Magazine Editor Laurel Imperiole is vacationing in Florence, Italy, with Aaron Gerrard, Chief of Detectives of New York City’s 13th Precinct Identity Theft Squad. A chance encounter brings Laurel to a startling realization: she’s just bumped into a dead man: Jeff Sargasso, an art dealer and husband of a close friend who supposedly died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. When he vanished, Sargasso had been brokering the sale of a priceless masterpiece that was lost during World War II to CEO Alfred Hammersmith and billionaire Miayamu Moto. Hammersmith perished along with Sargasso on 9/11, and it is believed that the access codes to the $15 million deposit–ten percent of the asking price–died with them. Could Sargasso have faked his own death to steal the money? The painting’s whereabouts are unknown. Laurel enlists the help of private detective Helen McCorkendale, and together they follow the threads that lead from Florence, Italy, to New York. On the way, the women tangle with Israeli Mossad agent Lior Stern and several stop-at-nothing collectors. All are determined to have the painting for themselves. Ignoring Aaron’s advice, Laurel puts their volatile relationship in jeopardy. As Helen and Laurel search for Sargasso, the painting and the money, they find themselves enmeshed in a sinister skein of lies that could end in death.

 

After reading this description, I could hardly wait to read Telling Lies the first novel by author Cathi Stoler.  It’s a little different than what I normally read, but I thought it would be a fun change of pace.  The 9/11 connection really caught my interest.  I loaded the book on my Sony Reader, and settled in for a fast-paced, thrilling read.

Unfortunatly, the book did not live up to my expectations or the hype of the reviews that I had already read.

Reading this book, I couldn’t help feeling like I was witnessing a terrible car accident—like I was looking at a terrible sight that I didn’t want to see but couldn’t take my eyes off of.  There was this feeling that nothing good could out of watching (or in this case reading) any more, but I just couldn’t tear myself away.  I had to know how this was going to turn out.

My biggest concerns with the book were the characters.  They didn’t feel very real to me.  They didn’t act like the mature professionals that they were supposed to be.  Laurel especially acted like a bratty, impulsive teenager.

Beyond that, the relationships between the characters felt forced and coincidental.  Laurel, a magazine editor, was engaged to a police detective.  OK, that I can buy.  But the close friendship with a PI who has often worked with her fiancé and who happens to be dating Laurel’s father?  That didn’t feel right.  Of course, I don’t read a lot of suspense.  Maybe relationships like this are common in this genre.  To me, though, it just felt forced.

I also felt that there was too much told in flashback that could have told more effectively as it was happening.  It reminded me of the old saying, “show, don’t tell.”

While Stoler has a vast knowledge of Italy and writes fantastic descriptions of the countryside, that is really the only thing I enjoyed about the book.  The action was too predictable.  Perhaps the problem is that I don’t read enough in this genre.  I don’t know.  But I did not enjoy this book.

To learn more about Cathi Stoler and her work, visit her website at http://cathistoler.com.  Telling Lies can be purchased at http://www.amazon.com/Telling-Lies-Cathi-Stoler/dp/160381843X/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299692552&sr=1-16

Posted by on September 5, 2011 in Authors, Books, Reviews and tagged , , .

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August 25, 2011

Review of BUM MAGNET

It is not often that I don’t finish reading a book that I have started.  Never have I  attempted to write a review of a book I did not read from cover to cover.

Until today.

K.L. Brady’s Bum Magnet is the first.  I tried to read it.  Honest I did.  It sounded like a fun, easy read.  Here is what is printed on the back cover of the book–

She’s a savvy, successful real-estate agent blessed with a quick wit, a low tolerance for BS, a much better tolerance for designer vodka, and a gorgeous plus-size body.  She has a dream house, a luxury car, and an appetite for life’s best–like good food and great sex.  So why do all of her ex-lovers belong in the Losers Hall of Fame?  Why does Rissey seem to her own special talent as a bum magnet?

The cover goes on to talk about some of the men that Rissey has been involved with.  Looking back, I can see a lot of clues in this description that shows the book may not be for me.  Still, I wanted to give it a chance.  But no matter how hard I tried, I could not get beyond chapter 7.

Nothing against K.L. Brady or her writing style.  I actually found her voice very conversational and humorous.  The problem I had was with the type of conversation in the book.  It seemed like every time a mouth opened in the book it was to utter an expletive.  And Rissey—well, even though she made a “pact” with herself to not fall into bed with another unworthy man, she was unable to keep her clothes on for long at all.

I don’t believe that every conversation needs to be full of swearing or that dating a man means that you have to sleep with him.  Those beliefs make it very uncomfortable for me to read a book that doesn’t reflect those beliefs.

I did have a big problem with Rissey, too.  She is portrayed as some strong, independent woman.  Yet her actions make her seem much less than that.  To me, an independent woman is one who may want to have a man in her life but knows she does not need one.  Rissey is a career woman who has done very well for herself.  But she still seems to think that she needs a man to be complete.  I don’t know–it was too conflicting for me.

Over all, I would not recommend this book to others.  The language and sexual situations are too strong, too prevalent  for my tastes.  But if you don’t mind that and are looking for a quick beach read, you might want to check this one out.

You can purchase Bum Magnet at this link: http://www.amazon.com/Bum-Magnet-K-L-Brady/dp/1451613709/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314275721&sr=8-1

For more on this author, check out her website http://www.authorklbrady.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted by on August 25, 2011 in Authors, Books, Reviews and tagged , , , , , .

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August 23, 2011

Peter: Rock Star of Galilee

Ugh.  Bible study.  Is there anymore boring way to spend my time than that?

Does that sound at all familiar?  I know it’s a thought I have often had, especially when I was a teen.  Studying my Bible seemed like something I needed to do, but it was rarely something that I wanted to.  The Bible studies that were available weren’t much help, either.  Even the ones that said they were for teens felt like they were written for older people.  I couldn’t ever find anything that explained the Bible or God or Christianity in a way that made any sense to me.

Had Sherree G. Funk been writing Bible studies back then, I would not have had that problem.

Funk has written four Bible studies for teens.  Her latest, Peter: Rock Star from Galilee, is the only one I’ve read.  But if the others are anything like it, they are worth reading as well!

Peter: Rock Star from Galilee is a very “user-friendly” guided Bible study for teens.  It focuses on the life of Peter, one of the 12 Apostles.  Peter wasn’t perfect, but he loved Jesus.  There are lessons to be learned in both his imperfections and his love, lessons that apply to teen life (and adult life!) today.  This book teaches those lessons, without boring the reader.

This study combines Bible reading, prayer, and music to really dig into the life of Peter.  Ms. Funk doesn’t gloss of the more negative aspects of Peter’s life.  Instead, she uses his so-called mistakes to teach teens the way they should live.

From the moment I received my copy of this book for review, my 10-year-old son has been begging me to finish with it.  He can’t wait to dig into this Bible study.  When he is done, the youth leader at my church has asked to look at it.  I am more than happy to pass it along.

If you are looking for a deeper understanding of how God can use ordinary people in daily life, this is a book that is worth checking out.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Well grounded in biblical Christianity, Sherree G. Funk is passionate about sharing her love and knowledge of God’s Word with the next generation.  She has earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degress and holds a Certificate in ChristianStudies from Asbury Theological Seminary.  Sherree leads small groups of teens at Ingomar UMC.  Her other teen Bible studies are available at www.servingonelord.com.

Peter: Rock Star from Galilee is available at Amazon.com at the following link http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Galilee-Guided-Bible-Study/dp/1414119836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310659799&sr=8-1

 

Posted by on August 23, 2011 in Books, Reviews, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , .

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August 12, 2011

Review of A SOUL LESS BROKEN

Synopsis (from the author’s website http://www.helenlaibach.com)

After being brutally attacked, Catherine Wilcox must discover her own strength and courage as she struggles to piece her life back together. She finds herself falling in love with the emergency room physician who treats her, but soon realizes the attack has left her so emotionally scarred that she is forced to turn away the only man who truly loves her. And at a time when she feels her life is finally beginning to heal, Catherine must then face the devastation of learning that her dearest friend has terminal cancer.  In  A Soul Less Broken we follow Catherine as she discovers the depth of true friendship, the healing power of love, and the stamina of the human spirit.

My Review  

In A Soul Less Broken, Helen Laibach has written a touching story about love, friendship, and healing.  In the opening moments of the book, we meet Catherine just moments after the death of someone close to her.  In thinking about how much she will miss this woman, Catherine looks back on their friendship and the events that brought them together.

I loved the idea of this story—following Catherine from a devasting attack, through her grief, into healing, and finally into realizing that she is worth loving and being loved.  What I didn’t love so much was the way the story was told.  Don’t get me wrong—Ms. Laibach has a strong voice and handled the story very well.  The story could have been much stronger if it had been written a little differently.  The way it was written felt like a biography.  Rather than seeing the story through the eyes of the main characters—Catherine, Madeline, and Alan—I felt as if it was being told by a third party who had heard the story through interviews with the main characters.  It was just kind of odd for me.  It kept the story from being as powerful as it could have been.

One of the best things about this book has very little to do with what is written between the covers of the book.  Ms. Laibach has generously announced that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of A Soul Less Broken will go to two charities—RAINN (Rape Abuse and Incest National Network) and the National Brain Tumor society.  To understand why she would choose those charities, I guess you will have to read the book!

Posted by on August 12, 2011 in Authors, Books, Reviews and tagged , , , .

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June 28, 2011

Beautiful Historical Romance

Young Anne Crofton must leave behind her girlhood fancies of love when her family sells her into marriage to a man she’s never met. In the home of Lord Wolverton, Master of the Wolf’s Aerie, she finds herself thrust into a mystery with danger, betrayal, and sword fighting in a castle with secret passageways. With courage, faith in God, and a personal resolve to be a good wife despite her heartache, she seeks Biblical wisdom in the pursuit of true love. You will become lost in another time and place and won’t want to put the books down.

–description on the back of In the Aerie of the Wolf

Every girl grows up with fantasies of being a beautiful princess, living in a castle, in love with a handsome prince, and enjoying his adoration and devotion. Living in the 21st Century, this dream can never become a reality (unless your name is Kate Middleton, but that is another story!) In 18th Century England, though, young girls had the chance of seeing this fairytale dream come true. Anne Crofton is one such girl. Only the fairytale didn’t happen exactly the way she had expected. Rather than meeting her handsome prince and falling in love, Anne was sold into marriage with a man she had not met, one she actually knew very little about. She is forced to leave behind the man she first loved in hopes of being a suitable wife for a wealthy stranger.

In the Aerie of the Wolf is the third novel by author Leonora Pruner and the second that I have had the pleasure of reviewing. It started off slowly for me. The language used by Old Samson, a very central character to the story, was difficult to understand, though I understand it is right for the time period. Having to re-read passages of his dialogue made me consider giving up on the book before the third chapter. Now that I have finished the story, I am so glad that I didn’t give up.

Once again, Ms. Pruner has written a beautiful period romance. My favorite part of the book was watching how Anne’s idea of love evolved over time. She was thrust into a situation she never dreamed of, one that no woman ever would ever want to find herself in. She had every right to be cold and heartless about it and to resent Lord Wolverton—especially after learning shortly after her wedding that he had been lying to her from the very beginning. Yet she never was anything other than gracious. She accepted the situation and was determined to make the best out of it. She never closed her heart to the possibility that she could love her husband. Even in moments when she was unsure the God was really with her, Anne’s motto seemed to be, “Not my will but Yours, Lord.”

It’s an attitude that could serve many women today very well.

Despite what I considered a slow start, this book was worth every moment. It’s full of everything that is expected of a fairytale—beauty, beast, romance, love, betrayal, and even sword fighting. But this book goes one step further than the typical fairytale—it also has a deep message about faith. I loved the way that message of faith was woven into the story. It never seemed to be “preachy” at all, just another fact of what Anne’s life was all about. All in all, I was so pleased with this book that I have already loaned it out to a friend.

To order a copy of this book, please visit http://www.amazon.com/Aerie-Wolf-Leonora-Pruner/dp/0982707487/

Posted by on June 28, 2011 in Books, Reviews.

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June 10, 2011

World War II Thriller

Book Blurb—

The German War Machine is in retreat as the Russians advance. In Warsaw, Resistance fighters rise up against their Nazi occupiers, but the Germans retaliate, ruthlessly leveling the city. American Adam Nowak has been dropped into Poland by British intelligence as an assassin. During the Warsaw Rising he meets Natalia, a covert operative who has lost everything—just as he has. Amid the Allied power struggle left by Germany’s defeat, Adam and Natalia join in a desperate hunt for the 1940 Soviet order authorizing the murders of 20,000 Polish Army officers and civilians. If they can find the Katyn Order before the Russians do, they may change the fate of Poland.

My Review—

My dad loves movies about World War II. Growing up, it would annoy me to no end to have to sit through those movies. Was that really the best kind of entertainment that he could come up with? Something must have clicked with me somewhere, though, as out of my resentment for watching those old movies has grown a real love of history. I have a special fascination with Russian history. When I had the chance to read and review The Katyn Order, the latest novel by Douglas W. Jacobson, I jumped at it.

Set in Poland near the end of World War II, The Katyn Order is a gritty novel about survival and revenge. Polish-born American Adam Nowak has been operating as an assassin in Poland, seeking revenge for the arrest and presumed murders of his beloved Aunt and Uncle. Natalia, born and raised in a small Polish village, has joined the AK, an army of Polish citizens determined to fight the Germans and Russians for control of their country. Her hatred of the Russians runs deep, as she blames them for the death of her brother and the destruction of her home village.

Reading the book was much like watching one of my dad’s old movies. I could see the action in my mind, just as I would on a movie screen. Jacobson’s writing style she his passion for history and the great deal of research he did in order to write this book. My heart pounded from the first battle scene until the very last word of the book.

One thing I did not enjoy about this book was the language. I don’t care to watch movies full of foul language and I don’t care to read books full of cursing. However, taking into account the time period where this novel is set (the characters are, after, at war), I could tolerate it. While I did not particularly enjoyed reading some speeches in the book, the dialog would not ring true if written any other way.

Over all, The Katyn Order met and exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend it to any history buff, even my dad. Though I knows Dad’s response will be, “I’ll just wait for the movie.”

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For more about The Katyn Order, as well as other books my Douglas W. Jacobson, please visit the author’s website at http://douglaswjacobson.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by on June 10, 2011 in Authors, Reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

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