Book Review-Beyond Tuesday Morning

I have now read several books by this author and I really do not know why, but they seem to not go very fast for me and it really takes a long time for me to read her books. Usually to me this would mean that I did not like the book, but that has not been the case with this author, I have loved all of her books! I read the first book, One Tuesday Morning and really enjoyed it. This is the sequel to that book, Beyond Tuesday Morning. I waited awhile before reading this book and after reading it, I wished I would not have waited. It was so good. The book continues the story of Jame Bryan after losing her firefighter husband on September 11 and losing the man who she thought was her husband, but had a mistaken identity, she decides to put her energy in helping as a volunteer at St Paul's a small chapel used to memorialize the victims of 9-11. By some weird events, she finds the love of her life but finds out that he is the brother of the guy who lived with her after the attacks that everyone thought was her husband. She decides to chose life and live. The story is really great about faith and healing. Another recommend read from me, but I really think that reading the first book before you read this one is important.

Book Review- A Sister's Secret

Most of you who know me, know I love to read books by Wanda Brunstetter. I have read just about everything I can find that she has written. So, when her new book came out(A Sister's Secret), I knew I had to read it. I really liked this book! It is about an Amish family. Grace had left the Amish faith before joining the church and did some things that she did not think her family would like to know about, so she decides not to tell anyone after returning back to her family, even her husband. Will he ever forgive her, will her family forgive her? Also, seems like so many pranks have been happening to her family, will they ever find out who is responsible for it? A lot of stuff I am leaving out because the book is full of twist and turns and surprises! A great book! I can't wait until November when the sequel comes out!

Book Review- When the Heart Cries

When the Heart Cries is by a new author, Cindy Smallwood. She write a lot like Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter who also write about the Amish. When the Heart Cries is to be a series. First off I want to say that this book was very well written, kept the readers interest and really showed a view of the Amish. That being said I hated how the main character, Hannah was treated in this book. I just hope that the rest in the series will be better for her. Hannah is a daughter in an old order Amish family. She has been working for a Mennonite neighbor and has fallen in love with her neighbors grandson. On his last day at his grandmothers for the summer, he asked Hannah to marry him. Hannah agrees, but they decide to wait until he gets out of school and is able to work for Hannah's father and win his approval. Hannah will not be shunned because she has not joined the church. However, on her way home after getting engaged, she is stopped by a vechile and raped. She runs home but her parents treat her like she has sinned and that nobody in the community will want her. The treatment of Hannah by the community is just so in just! Hannah has some other problems including getting pregnant from the rape and everyone else believing she got pregnant other ways and her brother and her best friend are in an accident. What will she do since her heart is crying so badly! I am awaiting the next book because I really want to see how Hannah goes on.

Book Review-Bygones

Bygones is a book by Kim Vogel Sawyer. I have read two of her previous novels, Waiting for Summer's Return and Where Willows Grow. All of her books have been wonderful, this one was no different. This book is suppose to be a trilogy and the next book comes out this fall and I already can not wait to read it. This book is about Marie a Mennonite woman who fell in love with a trucker who took her away from the Mennonite community and married her. Soon before she was suppose to have his baby, he got killed in a truck accident. Marie goes back home to get help from her parents to raise her 2 week old baby, but they shun her and she is excommunicated from the church. Twenty some odd years later, her old Mennonite boyfriend comes back to tell her that her aunt died and in her will, she left her daughter the house and cafe that she had run. Only there is one stipulation, Beth must go live in the community for three months to claim the stuff left to her in the will. So Beth and her mom Marie go back to the community where none of Marie's family accepts them. Marie ends up finding her faith again, but will she get all of her family back? Also, robberies have started since they came to the community and they get blamed for them. How will they prove there innocence? I really enjoyed this book!

Summer Reading Review-Where Willows Grow

I had read another book by this author, Kim Vogel Sawyer, and really wanted to try another one because her book Waiting on Summer's Return was really good. Where Willows Grow was a very different book than her previous one. It was still very good though. The book is about Harley and Anna Mae Phipps who own family land that they farm in Kansas. The farming year had been really bad because they were in a drought. Harley decides to go off and get a job working on a castle that is being build. He ask his neighbor, Jack to watch over his family while he is gone. Jack was a good friend of Anna Mae, he even had asked her to marry him but she had fallen in love with her father's hired man. Jack plans to get Anna Mae back while Harley is gone. He does this in a very bad way and Anna Mae and Harley never get each others letters. There are many more twist to the story. The title represents a Willow tree in there yard and how the roots of that tree run deep like faith. Finding faith is also a big part of this book with one of the characters. I enjoyed this book, but got really mad at some of the characters while reading.

Summer Reading- One Tuesday Morning Review

Here I go with another Christian Fiction writer! I think I really like those kind of books. I heard about this book because someone was giving away the sequel to this book and I knew I had to read this series. The book is One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kinsbury. I had read one other book by Karen and decided to give this book a try because I really liked the other one, Like Dandelion Dust .

This book is really powerful! The story is about two families. The Micheal's and The Bryan's. One father works as a business man and the other is a firefighter in New York. The Micheal's guy's life is all about his career and he leaves little time for family and God. The Bryan guy is a dedicated firefighter and family man and has a firm testimony of Jesus Christ. Mrs. Bryan has a hard time with believing in God. Anyways the Micheal's live in California while the Bryan's live in New York. Eric Michaels was on a business trip working at his firms office in one of the twins towers on September 11th. The funny thing is that these two men look so much alike that they could be twins. I knew all along that the two were going to get mixed up identities after the fall of the towers. That really is mostly what the book is about without giving too much away. After reading this book, I thought about what I learned from this book and many of the things that I thought of, the author stated in a letter at the end some of the same things I thought of. 1. That family should come first in life, NO job should ever become more important, it is the relationships that are so important in our lives. 2. The need for God in our lives and how important that is 3. The need for daily scripture study and the time needed for developing a relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.(I love how the character of Jake Bryan read scriptures each day and wrote in a journal about how the scriptures affected him!) 4. I felt this in the book, that you could learn this, but I feel like I already know this...death is coming to all of us we need not run from it but prepare for it by living our lives the way God would have us to do. I hate to say I learned things from fiction, many of these things I already knew! You know, my family might not have much money, but we are happy and spend time together. Sometimes, I admit that I get caught up in day to day life and do not live life like it is going to be my last with my family and friends. I am planning on reading the sequel to this book, but it might take awhile to get to it because I have a few books in front of that book. I had a list of about 10 books that I told the library I wanted to read and they ordered a lot of them. I do not know how I am going to get all of them read in two weeks, but we shall see. As, you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this book. The beginning is kind of hard because they go back and forth between the families talking about their lives but once the attacks hit, the book really gets moving. The evacuation of the building was really kind of hard to read because, I kept picturing all of the people in those stairs and trying so hard to get out of a shaking building! I liked the book as you can tell and would recommend it, highly!

Summer Reading Book 10

This is the 10th book that I have read this summer. This time I picked Waiting for Summer's Return by Kim Vogel Sawyer. This is the first book that I have read by this author and I really think I am leaning toward the christian authors. I have not read one that I have not liked. This book was so good. The book is about a woman named Summer. Summer and her husband and 4 children were traveling to live in Oklahoma in a covered wagon, along the way, her family gets real sick with typhoid. She loses all of her family and all her things are burned so the disease will not spread. Summer ends up in Kansas in a Mennonite community who fears outsiders. She has nobldy to go live with her parents are dead and her husbands parents disowed them after they decided to move to Oklahoma. Peter a widower in the community decides to ask the lady to move in with him and tutor his son who can not go to school because of an injury and Peter has a limited use of English so he can not help him. Summer fits in really well, not without problems from the community. The rest of the book talks about how Summer has to leave and everybody, especially Peter and his son wait for her return. This was an excellent book, so easy to read and get glued to! lol! I have however had nightmares about losing my family. That would be so hard, this woman really went through a lot! Overall a GREAT read! I plan to read some more of her works!

Summer Reading Review Book #9

The 9th book that I have read on my summer reading plan is Killer Blonde by Laura Levine and is the thord book in this series. Easy good reading murder mystery. This one will leave you guessing to the end. This time freelance writer Jaine takes a jo b working as a ghost writer for the rich SueEllen. Jaine thinks this will be so easy until she starts working for SueEllen who is mean to all, especially her step daughter, Heidi. Jaine decides to quit, ut instead goes in and finds SueEllen dead in her bath tub that has a hair dryer in it. The police suspet Heidi and Jaine decides once again to do some detective work to find the real murder. You will be left guessing until the end! I enjoyed it.

I have now made a new list because the only book left is Anne's House of Dreams and I can not find it.

Summer Reading 2007 Book # 8

This is the second book in the Jaine Austin series, Last Writes. In this book Jaine who is a freelance writer and works out of her home gets a job writing for a sitcom with her friend. Someone ends up getting poisioned during the final filming. Jaine's friend is accused of the murder and Jaine works to find the real killer. This book will keep you guessing to the end. There are just so many people who could have done it! I liked this book.

New Reading List

Well, I am reading the last book on my list and I am almost finished with it. There is one book on there that I can not find, so I need to make a list of some new books to read. Here are some on my list that I want to read.
~
Pat of Silver Bush- L.M. Montgomery
Clay's Quilt- Silas House
The Coal Tatto- Silas House
One Tuesday Morning- Karen Kingsbury (Finished August 6th)
Beyond Tuesday Morning- Karen Kingsbury
Hatchet- Gary Paulsen
Waiting for Summer's Return- Kim Vogel Sawyer (Finished July 26)
Death of a Garage Sale Newbie-Sharon Dunn
Bygones-Kim Vogel Sawyer (Finished August 12)
Where Willows Grow-Kim Vogel Sawyer (Finished August 9th)

Summer Reading Book #7 This Pen for Hire

This is the 7th book I have read on my summer reading plan. I wanted to read this book because I had read two others in the series, Shoes to Die For and The PMS Murders. I enjoy books that are series about a character and what some call comfort mysteries. This is a real light murder mystery with a woman sleuth, Jaine Austen. This is the first book in the series, This Pen for Hire. In this book, Jaine has been running a writing business from her house called, This Pen for Hire. She writes resumes, etc. She gets a client who wants her to write a love letter and the guy calls back to tell Jaine that it got him a date for Valentine's Day, even though they lied a little in the letter that was written. The guy ends up being accused of murder and Jaine works to find the real killer. I enjoyed the book, but this one had a little more sexual humor than I enjoy in my books. I really think it would have still been a good story without that kind of stuff. I will probably finish the series, since I started at the end, it has two more books.

Summer Reading Book #6

Well, most of you that know me, know I love to read. I like books that are easy to read and don't take a lot of thinking. I use reading as a stress reliever. Well, recently, I participated in the Spring Reading Thing and several christian authors donated books. I got a book from Angela Hunt, Uncharted. I had heard good things about this author and was excited to read this book. I had read some things about the book that scared me. Many said that this was really different from the writing she usually does, but I decided to read it anyways. And I am really glad that I did! Even though this book is deep, it really has a good meaning. The beginning of the book was really hard to understand because the author was trying to set up the story by telling you about the different characters, but once I got through that, I really enjoyed this book. The story is about 6 friends who met in college and were best friends, but life had taken them other places. One of the friends, David, tries to get the group together every year to do a service project, but their lives are always too busy. David is in a bad accident and dies. His funeral brings the group back together. They all decide to go on the trip that David had invited them on to honor his memory and on their way there, their ship wrecks and they get stranded in a very strange place. The rest of the book talks about their time on the island and the strange things that happen there. The author says this story is a parable about parables in the Bible, the parable of the sower and the parable of the unjust servant. So, if this is a parable, I think you are suppose to learn something from a parable. Here is what I learned from this book. I need to use the talents that my Heavenly Father has given me for the good of others. I kind of hear the word service coming next. I know that right now finding the time to serve others is hard as a mother of 4 especially with 3 ,two and under, but I need to do better to share my talents. The other thing that the book taught me is that I need to read my scriptures more! The characters in the book sold a book called Happily Ever After. The author describes the book as a small blue book, kind of brought to mind another book that I feel is important in my life. Anyways, this book gave the characters knowledge and even though they sold it, they did not live there lives by the teachings in that book. This story also taught me how precious our life here really is and makes me think about what the plan of our Heavenly Father is in sending us here. We are being tested and we are going to one day be judged. So, that is what I learned from this book, I am trying to not give away a whole lot of details of the book, but still tell you what the book meant to me. The meaning in this book is so great that I am going to participate in the Pay it Forward Book Exchange and host a giveaway for this book. This book as I said was given to me by the author and she even signed it. Still, I am willing to give it away so lots of other people can read it. I know I said that I don't like to read deep stuff, but I really enjoyed this book and plan to read some more of her stuff. I am putting The Elevator on my list to read soon. My library, actually there are two that I visit, does not have any of her books. Right now, I am not buying any books because our budget is so tight so I am going to see if they will order some of her books for me. I think Anglea Hunt is one of my new favorite authors!

Summer Reading Book #5

The next book that I have finished on my summer reading plan is the 4th and final book in the Brides of Lancaster County series by Wanda E. Brunstetter, The Hope Chest. This book is about Rebekah's family. Rebekah was the little girl who was hurt in book one and found love and her miracle in book two. Rebekah's daughters, Anna and Rachel, both fall in love with the same guy, Silas. Silas has many of the same interest as Rachel, but is closer to the age of Anna and he has loved Anna since they were children. Rachel hopes for the impossible, that Silas will pick her. Anna though has other love interest in Reuben, Silas' best friend. Anna leads her family to believe that she is courtin Silas but really she is running off with Reuben who has a job painting in the English world. Anna decides to join Reuben in the English world and they get married and leave the Amish ways. Anna is shunned by her family because she had joined the church. This leaves Rachel open to courtin the love of her life, Silas. However, Silas has a hard time getting over Anna and that makes it hard for them. The rest of the book goes into how they finally get together. There is also another romance in the book with Rebekah's son Joesph who falls in love with Pauline a character from book three. I liked this book, but I will have to say that it did not impress me as much as the other three books and therefore took me longer to read. The other books in this series goes places and I can just image and feel like I am really in those places as the reader. This book did not leave me with those feelings and it was much harder for me to get through. With that said, I would still read any of Wanda's books, just this story left me wanting a little bit more. As usual, here is a recipe from the book:

~

Rachel's Ribbon Salad

~

3-ounce box lime gelatin

3 cups boiling water, divided

3 cups cold water, divided

1 small can crushed pineapples

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3-ounce box of lemon gelatin

8-ounce package cream cheese

1/4 cup whipped cream

3-ounce box raspberry gelatin

~

Dissolve lime gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1 cup cold water, crushed pineapples, and nuts to the gelatin, then pour into an 8x8 pan to make first layer. Chill in the refrigerator until set. dissolve lemon gelatin in 1 cup boiling water, then add 1 cup cold water. When mixture becomes cool, add the cream cheese and whipped cream. Pour this mixture over the first layer of gelatin that has already set. Return to refrigerator and let set again. Dissolve raspberry gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1 cup cold water and mix well. Pour over the top of the first two layers, return to refrigerator, and chill until set.

Summer Reading Book #4

Plain and Fancy is the third book in the Brides of Lancaster series by Wanda Brunstetter and the fourth book I have read on my summer reading plan. Wanda usually picks a character from the books before to write about in the sequels and usually it is a woman. This time, she chooses to write about a male character from the last book. A son of Mary Ellen, the best friend of Rebekah in book 2, is one of the main characters in this book. The other main character is Laura Meade, who comes from a very wealthy family and is going to school for interior design in Lancaster. She is fascinated with the Amish and decides to go to the Farmer's market. At the farmers market, she meets the other main character, Eli. Eli is plain and she is fancy, hence the name of the book, Plain and Fancy. Eli becomes Laura's friend and they soon fall in love, but how will ever be together with him plain and her fancy? Laura really has never known God, and only went to church on Easter or Christmas, so she asked Eli to leave his faith and even though he has not joined the church, he can not leave his faith, so Laura does the only thing she knows to do, she decides to join his church, but she does not realize how much she will have to sacrifice as she makes this decision. The rest of the book goes into how she becomes Amish and how things work out for her and Eli. Really, I do not know how Wanda makes all of these books so different, but everyone of them sooo good! Yes, I loved this book as well and as I said before, would recommend any of her books. They have all been very faith lifting to me. I am so excited to get to read the final book in the series, The Hope Chest, but also sad because I have so enjoyed this series. As usual, Wanda includes a recipe at the end of the book here is the one from this book.

~

Laura's Pickled Beets

~

3 quarts small beets

3 cups cider vinegar

2 tablespoons salt

4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 cinnamon sticks

~

Cook the beets in a large pan until tender and put into clean, hot canning jars. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate pan and boil until it becomes a syrup. Pour the boiling syrup over the beets, then seal. Cold pack them for 10-15 minutes.

Summer Reading Book Review #3

Looking for a Miracle is the second book in the Brides of Lancaster County series by Wanda Brunstetter and the third book I have read on my summer reading plan. I have read Wanda's Daughter's of Lancaster series and really enjoyed it and liked how she used characters from the previous book and went into their story. This series is doing the same thing. Rebekah, who is Miriam's niece from the first book is the main character in this story. Rebekah was hurt in a storm in the first book and she was left paralysed and in a wheelchair. Rebekah has a really hard time dealing with the expectations the Amish community puts on women and she wonders if she will every be able to take care of herself especially if her parents were to die. She really starts to doubt if she will make it or not after she loses someone close to her. Rebekah's biggest hope is for a miracle. She wants to be able to financially take care of herself and she also wants what her best friend has a husband and a baby. She prays for a miracle for those things. Rebekah opens a business and has a guy who really loves her, but she thinks he just wants her business and refuses to marry him. Will Rebekah get her miracles? Well, this is the BRIDES of Lancaster County so that should tell you something. I really liked this book, it is a quick read book for me, only took about 2 days. I think I would recommend anything she writes and I just learned that her first book in her new series, Holmes County, comes out this month! Here is a recipe from the book. I do not know if I would ever make this or not.

~

Andrew's Quick Homemade Root Beer

~

2 cups white sugar

1 gallon lukewarm water

3 tsp. root beer extract

1 tsp. dry yeast

~

Mix all ingredients well and pour into jars. Cover and set in the sun for 4 hours. Chill before serving the next day.

Summer Reading Review #2

Well, the second book that I have read this summer on my summer reading plan is A Merry Heart by Wanda E. Brunstetter. I first came upon this author when I was pregnant with my last child. The last week of my pregnancy, I read all three books in her daughters of Lancaster County series. That series was so good that I wanted to read other books by her. She writes about the Amish and she reminds me of the same style of writing as Beverly Lewis. A Merry Heart is the first book in her brides of Lancaster County series. The book is based on the scripture Proverbs 17:20, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." The book centers around a young woman who has become an old maid and the school teacher. She hardly ever smiles and is always unhappy and looks toward negative stuff. Her mom often repeats that scripture from Proverbs to her. She is so unhappy because the guy she was suppose to marry runs off and marries another woman and Miriam, the main character, has never gotten over it. A widowed man who has a young child, who unknown to Miriam has loved her since they were children, wants to court Miriam. But, Miriam wants nothing to do with men after her last experience. A lot of events end up happening, including her meeting an English man that she feels she is in love with and she has to decide if she wants to leave the Amish faith, that help Miriam see that that wise verse in Proverbs is really true as she becomes a new person. Wanda Brunstetter really weaves a tale in this book and she always introduces characters that will carry on her next book yet include old characters. So, I can not wait to read the next book in this series. I read this book in 2 days. Her stories are so good the story goes really fast for me. So, I guess you could say that I really enjoyed this book! Here is a recipe from the story:

~

Miriam's Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies( from A Merry Heart)

~

3/4 cup margarine

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (8 oz.) chocolate candy bar, chopped

~

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat margarine, sugars, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the chocolate pieces. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Makes four dozen cookies.

Summer Reading Review #1

Anne of Windy Populars by L.M. Montgomery is the first book that I have read this summer on my summer reading plan. This is the 4th book in the Anne of Green Gables series. Anne goes away from Green Gables to be a principal at a high school. The book was really hard for me to get into because most of it is just letters Anne writes to her fiance, Gilbert Blythe. She writes letters just like she did when she was little, very flowery. But after I finally got used to the book layout, I really enjoyed it. Anne has to go against one of the biggest families in her new town. She lives in an interesting place with three interesting ladies. All in all I liked the book, but Anne and Gilbert still did not get married, that is suppose to come in the next book.

My Summer Reading Plan

So, here is my list of books that I want to work on this summer. Do you have a summer reading list? Post it on your blog and leave a comment here so I can go and visit. I enjoy reading about what others are reading. I get GREAT reading ideas that way!
~
Anne of Windy Poplars-L.M. Montgomery-Finished June 27
Anne's House of Dreams- L.M. Montgomery
Uncharted- Angela Hunt -Finished July 14
This Pen for Hire-Laura Levine-Finished July 17
A Merry Heart-Wanda Brunstetter- Finished June 30
Looking For a Miracle- Wanda Brunstetter- Finished July 4th
Plain and Fancy- Wanda Brunstetter-Finished July 6th
The Hope Chest- Wanda Brunstetter -Finished July 11th
Last Writes-Laura Levine-Finished July 19th
Killer Blonde- Laura Levine-Finished July 23

I may add to this as the summer goes along! Happy Reading this summer to you all!