I received "Pieces of Light" by Julie Cave (e-book) for free from http://www.familyfiction.com/. Pieces of Light is the third in the Dinah Harris Mysteries by Julie Cave. In this book Dinah is a fired former FBI agent who is working as a concultant with FBI agents in solving the church bomber case. There are really three stories running side by side in this book. There is also Isabella, an abused wife. She is the child of an alcoholic who abused her entire family on a daily basis. Thirdly, there is Sen. Winters, a crooked politician with his sights set on ruining the Christian faith and using that as a step stool to the presidency.
I have not read the previous two stories, so there are instances where I am not sure what they are talking about. For example, the Winters side story has a small connection to the church bomber story, but no real reason to be in the book. There is evidence that if I had read the other two I would have followed that storyline better. I also think there are too many "issues" going on. There is alcoholism, cutting, emotional abuse, physical abuse, separation of church and state, christianity, bombing, etc. However, the issues bring up many wonderful points and give the reader a great deal to think about. But it's almost as if she could not decide what to write about so she wrote about it all. The book is a good think piece, but maybe the Winters/church & state story line should have been a seperate book.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
a reluctant queen review
I received "A Reluctant Queen" by Joan Wolf (e-book) for free from booksneeze.com. You may have read Esther from the Holy Bible and this is her story with a few tweeks and historical data. Esther is a half Jew half Persian girl who is sent by her Jewish uncle to the king in attempts to become queen. Though she is nowhere near the ideal Persian queen she is accepted and serves as queen. Her destiny is to save the Jewish people.
The nuts and bolts of the biblical story are there and a lot of historical facts have been added to give background to the original story. However, in order to make a novel out of it and make it so that the modern American woman would want to read it, it was made into a love story. The original is not. For instance, the king is a nice guy. Even to women. This is the third historical book I have read as of late that was about the treatment and lives of women in various times of the past and might I say: we can all be thankful that we are living in the modern age. We can go where ever we chose in whatever clothing we wish and say what we want when we get there. Will we be respected by men when we arrive? Probably not, but we can go there in whatever fashion we choose. And that is a huge step up. This is a great love story. You will fall in love with the king and root for Esther every step of the way.
The nuts and bolts of the biblical story are there and a lot of historical facts have been added to give background to the original story. However, in order to make a novel out of it and make it so that the modern American woman would want to read it, it was made into a love story. The original is not. For instance, the king is a nice guy. Even to women. This is the third historical book I have read as of late that was about the treatment and lives of women in various times of the past and might I say: we can all be thankful that we are living in the modern age. We can go where ever we chose in whatever clothing we wish and say what we want when we get there. Will we be respected by men when we arrive? Probably not, but we can go there in whatever fashion we choose. And that is a huge step up. This is a great love story. You will fall in love with the king and root for Esther every step of the way.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
the daughters walk review
I received "The Daughter's Walk" by Jane Kirkpatrick for free from http://www.waterbrookmultnomah.com/. This book starts off with two women, a mother and daughter, walking across America for $10,000 in 1896. The legitimate reason to walk is to save the family farm, but in reality it is because mom wants to have some fun. The women end up not making it in time to please the sponsors and not receiving the money. They are then stuck in New York for several months. Meanwhile, their family back home is hit with diptheria. This causes the family to develope a deep anger towards the mother and Clara, the daughter. Clara then leaves home on her own to make her way in life completely seperated from her family. Most of the book is her journey through life with a surragate family.
This is a true story. Some of it has been expanded on fictionally. There is an author's note in the back saying which parts are true and which are embellished. I also looked up some original articles from when the walk took place in newspapers that are now online. This is a really good book. The characters are very well developed. Even the less mentioned characters have a very real quality about them. It also covers a lot of women's sufferage. This was a time of disregard for women and they had few if any choices. This is the story of some women who made choices. Some were not the best choices. Some were down right stupid. But at least it was their choice to make. Loved it. Suggest you read it. Men probably might not relate. It is a very "women's" book.
This is a true story. Some of it has been expanded on fictionally. There is an author's note in the back saying which parts are true and which are embellished. I also looked up some original articles from when the walk took place in newspapers that are now online. This is a really good book. The characters are very well developed. Even the less mentioned characters have a very real quality about them. It also covers a lot of women's sufferage. This was a time of disregard for women and they had few if any choices. This is the story of some women who made choices. Some were not the best choices. Some were down right stupid. But at least it was their choice to make. Loved it. Suggest you read it. Men probably might not relate. It is a very "women's" book.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
alone
by some accident or miracle I have found myself alone. four kids living here, a husband and employees but currently I am by myself. Feels quiet and weird. I accidently killed one our baby rabbits this morning and I am so guilty. I feel terrible about that poor little thing. Wish that dang mama would just take care of them already! Now we are down to one. Tonight is a VBS meeting. Which I am not prepared for. This working outside of the home thing has left me with less time. I just can't do what I did before. Others will have to start doing for themselves. Well, I am off to enjoy the quiet.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
never knowing review
Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens was given to me free from http://www.goodreads.com/ . This is a novel about a woman who decides to find her biological parents. Sara, mom of 6 year old Ally, was adopted at birth by a childless couple, who then as it ironicaly works, has two children naturally after the adoption. Sara was singled out by her adopted father as the "adopted" one. As an adult, Sara hires a private investigator to find her birth parents. Her mother is found and is known to be the only surviving victim of the Campsite Killer, a serial killer. Her mother was raped before escaping and in that act Sara was concived. With the wonders of the internet, the world finds out about Sara's parentage as does her father, the Campsite Killer.
Now, I gotta say I wasn't real impressed with this book. It sounds like a good story, probably make a good slasher movie. But I couldn't really like Sara, and I really didn't like her kid. I couldn't get real anxious or even really care if the killer was out to get them because I was so annoyed by them. It could have been terrifying or even taken in a different direction and been a wacky case of the serial killer father. But no, I was left annoyed. Not a bad book really, just not my thing.
Now, I gotta say I wasn't real impressed with this book. It sounds like a good story, probably make a good slasher movie. But I couldn't really like Sara, and I really didn't like her kid. I couldn't get real anxious or even really care if the killer was out to get them because I was so annoyed by them. It could have been terrifying or even taken in a different direction and been a wacky case of the serial killer father. But no, I was left annoyed. Not a bad book really, just not my thing.
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