Spiritual Warfare for Your Family, by Leighann McCoy

I'm really not sure what to think of this book.  I think that the cover is a bit of a scare tactic - "What you need to know to protect your children."  It doesn't really accurately describe what's in the book.  

Basically, the book is about strengthening your relationship with God through prayer.  I agree with the author's theology.  She doesn't offer a magic wand, nor does she promise that God will make all your problems go away if you just <fill in your own blank.>  She doesn't pay into the prosperity gospel that's become so popular lately, and that alone is enough to make me feel this book is worthwhile.   You're getting actual Bible-based information here, and that's an incredibly valuable component of modern Christian writing.

That said, the first part of the book was very difficult to get through.  It seemed to wander from topic to topic quite a bit.  The last half of the book was better, in my opinion.  Although I will say that much of the advice given in this book is very general.  It's probably better suited for a group book study so that you can discuss these ideas with others and delve deeper into these concepts than this book does.  I think that the book tries to cover too much, and ends up not covering much very well.

Disclaimer:  I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.  

Three out of Five Stars

The Girl From the Train, by Irma Joubert

     The Girl From the Train is a delightful journey that I simply did not want to end.  It is a must read for anyone who likes historical fiction from the 1940s and 1950s

     Gretl is a little German girl who escapes a train bound for Auschwitz.  Jakob is a young Polish man who rescues her and takes her into his home.  She lives with his family for a few years, but circumstances force her to leave.  She ends up being taken in by a South African family.  This story is about the growth and self-discovery both of these characters make through an interesting time in history for both Eastern Europe and South Africa.

     Joubert writes with such elegance, and her characters are so real you feel as though you've known them forever.  A former teacher, Joubert's research into these times and places is quite evident in the book.  Jakob's love of Polish traditions and his involvement in Polish politics of the time are fascinating.  Gretl's story is equally as captivating.  She's a girl with multiple experiences which she must learn to reconcile - her German, Polish, and South African roots conflict with each other almost as much as her Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic backgrounds do.  And through all of this is woven a very compelling and innocent love story.

     In a word, this novel is breathtaking.  It's one of my new favorites, which I plan on rereading many times.  I highly recommend it to anyone who knows how to read.  Seriously.

Disclaimer:  I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Five out of Five Stars, in case you couldn't tell.   =)

   

The Paris Wife, by Paula McClain

     The Paris Wife is a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway's first marriage to Hadley Richardson.  I'm not a fan of Hemingway or his work, but the writer's life in 1920s Paris has always intrigued me.  The idea of Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and so many others in the same social circles is romanticized by so many.  And the story of the wife of Hemingway's youth, the first of four wives, piqued my interest.

     The writing style is plain.  It's a quick, easy beach read.  It's largely told from Hadley's perspective, with a few insightful passages from Hemingway's point of view.  Hadley is the woman who supported Hemingway both emotionally and financially while he started his career.  Their marriage lasted a little more than five years - hardly surprising for a man who was so troubled after the Great War.  But aside from the glitterati of the 1920s Paris writers' community, the story becomes about Hadley's ability to find her own strength.  In her childhood, she was encouraged to be weak, and a lot of that continued into her marriage up to a certain point.  Watching her growth  is very empowering for a woman.

     The book, while fictional, is very well researched.  It's a good summer read, and I can definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the time period or in Hemingway himself.  

Four out of Five Stars

I Shall Be Near To You, by Erin Lindsay McCabe

     The idea behind this book is an intriguing one.  It's inspired by the women (estimated by some to be between 400 and 750) who disguised themselves as men in order to fight in the American Civil War.

     Newlywed Rosetta Wakefield can't handle staying behind while her husband goes off to war.  She decides to enlist partly to be near him, partly to help earn enough money to buy the farm they've been hoping to start.  While encamped with her husband's regiment, she encounters the usual issues one might expect from a situation like this.  How does a woman hide herself, and how difficult would it be?

     While I think this book is worth the read for any female interested in the Civil War, it falls far short of what it could have been.  The narrative is simplistic, and I just didn't feel the spark from the main characters that the author intends.  There are aspects of the plot that are never really resolved, and the ending is almost eye-rollingly predictable.  I would have loved it had the plot been as refreshing as the idea behind it.

     In hindsight, I think this book works better as a YA read.  I just tend to expect more from adult historical fiction.

     Two out of Five Stars

The Secret Life of Violet Grant, by Beatriz Williams

Important Warning That The Book Jacket Doesn't Tell You:  Don't start reading this book on a Monday night of a busy work week.  Save it for a weekend when you'll be able to truly enjoy it.  And make sure you have meals ready to go in your freezer so your family doesn't starve while you're locked in your bedroom devouring this book.

The Premise:  Vivian Schuyler, an aspiring magazine writer in mid 1960s New York, takes delivery of a suitcase that was apparently lost by her aunt in 1914 Zurich.  The only trouble is, while the suitcase has been found, her aunt has been missing since 1914.  Family legend has it that dear Auntie Violet murdered her husband, ran off with her lover, and is either dead or doesn't want to be found.

But Vivian sees the potential career-launching story in this.  She starts delving into the mystery of her aunt's disappearance a la Letters to Juliet, although this story is much more fascinating.  Because Aunt Violet, as it turns out, was disowned by the family for denying her destiny of being a proper tea-pouring, corset-wearing lady.  Instead, she becomes educated enough to be accepted for a position at Oxford and later in Berlin as an atomic scientist.  The woman hobnobs with Einstein and his colleagues, and the research of the author allows us an interesting look at a very small part of this world.

The story alternates chapters between 1960s Vivian and pre-World War I Violet, and each story is just as riveting as the other.  And since two different stories are told in each chapter, this book truly is a page turner.  The lives of both women parallel each other as we learn of their struggles and triumphs.  We see how both women come into their own in the world, and the contrast between the two eras is accented.

The writing is witty and the plot is fast-paced.  In each section, you've got a proper villain and spunky heroines who are each fighting for their own place in their world.  With espionage and romance, to boot.  I was sorry to have to put this book down when I was finished.  I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for good historical fiction about strong women.

Five out of Five Stars

The Butterfly and the Violin, by Kristy Cambron

 

The Butterfly and the Violin surprised me with its beauty.  It is a poem in an otherwise prosaic world, a work of art that should not be missed.

The plot is wonderfully woven, telling two stories across time.  The first is that of Adele Von Bron, a Christian violinist who is sent to Auschwitz for the aide she gives to a Jewish family in hiding.  She becomes a member of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, forced to play during prisoner marches and arrivals.  The second story is of Sera James, a modern day art historian who is searching for a painting of Adele that was found among many other hidden pieces of art at Auschwitz.

The modern day story is sweet and reads more like a straightforward romance novel.  It is entertaining, and largely serves as relief for the more serious story of Adele.  It helps to advance the plot of the historical portion of the novel in a very appropriate way.

The beauty of this novel lies in Adele’s story.  Condemned by her own father, a general of the Third Reich, she loses the love of her family and is separated from the man she loves.  She is forced from her life of privilege into the brutal conditions of a Nazi death camp.  Within her story, we learn of perseverance, of hope for the future, and of resilient faith in God even under impossible circumstances.  “But worship in the midst of agony?  That is authentic adoration of our Creator,” is the line that best sums up the value of this novel.

Cambron gives us a well-researched story of the death camps.  I’ve always had an interest in this era from my own grandfather’s stories, and I found the book fascinating.  The existence of the Auschwitz orchestras was new to me, and I so appreciate the homage that Cambron has paid to the victims of the Holocaust.  This book is an emotional journey that is not to be missed.

Five out of Five Stars

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

Louis Zamperini, the subject of this book, piqued my interest for a couple of reasons - he was stationed in the Pacific Theater, like my grandfather.  He also attended USC, like myself and my father.  And as I also volunteer in the Rose Parade, his selection as Grand Marshal for the 2015 parade interested me further - although I'd already placed this book on my to-read list.

But Laura Hillenbrand is such a fantastic author, you don't need to find connections with Louis Zamperini to appreciate his story.  The connections are already there.  Zamperini's humanity comes out in this book in a way that has you feeling that you're with him.  And Hillenbrand, with her carefully researched details, allows you to use all five of your senses as you become immersed in the story.

Zamperini, a miler in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, became an officer in the Army Air Forces during the war.  Stationed in Hawaii, he flew a number of missions until his plane went down.  He, his pilot, and a fellow crewman survived the crash, but drifted in a raft for over a month before they were picked up by the Japanese.  Hillenbrand recounts all of this, plus Zamperini's experiences as a POW.

As much as I value the prewar and war portions of this book, I greatly admire Zamperini for sharing his experiences with post-traumatic stress after the war.  Hillenbrand does an amazing job of painting the picture of a man who was tormented by his memories.  So often, I think, we don't hear about this of our World War II veterans.  I feel they were expected to just cowboy up and get over it because of the associated stigma.  But so many of them have struggled with their memories, even 70 years later.  And so, both Zamperini and Hillenbrand offer an important perspective that many war stories ignore.  Zamperini's tale is especially inspirational as he shares the spiritual awakening that finally led him out of his misery.

Hillenbrand's book is a biography that reads like a novel.  I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the time period in general, or for anyone who is looking for a truly moving book.

Five out of Five Stars

Daisies Are Forever, by Liz Tolsma

Daisies are Forever is a story of an American in Germany during World War II.  It is a story of survival, of a group of innocents trying to flee the Soviet occupation of Berlin in the final days of the war.  It is based on the lives of two women - Ruth Lippert, who led a group of ten people to safety; and Lillian Tolsma, who lived in Berlin during the Soviet occupation.

The book really does read like two different stories.  The first half lacks passion, particularly in the dialogue.  The author does an excellent job of description, and the landscape that she paints leaps off the page into the reader's mind.  However, the character development in the beginning is weak, most particularly with Kurt and Audra.  Kurt's motives are not explained enough to make his story plausible, and his story's end seems rushed and too good to be true.  I wasn't able to connect with Gisela and Mitch, the two main characters, as they tried to flee the German countryside to the safety of Berlin.

The second half of the book is a joy to read.  Small wonder, since it is based on the life of the author's grandmother.  The stories she must have told the author heavily influence this last half.  Here, we see characters finally spring to life with the zeal that was missing in the beginning.  We feel their fears, their determination, and their joy.  The love story becomes more believable.  And we get a very real sense of what it was like to live in Berlin just before and during the Soviet occupation in 1945.

The second half of the book is worth the first half.  I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in civilian life during World War II.

Three of Five Stars

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Devil Walks in Mattingly, by Billy Coffey

The Devil Walks in Mattingly is an exploration into the lives and regrets of a small town sheriff and his wife.  Both of them are dealing with guilt from their involvement in the twenty-year-old death of a high school classmate. The exact nature of their involvement remains a mystery almost until the end of the book.  It's a Christian book with a supernatural twist, which I find refreshing.

Coffey's writing style is beautiful, even lyrical at times.  I think I fell in love with his style more than I did the plot.  The characters are largely unlikable and lacking in any real emotion until the last quarter of the book.  However, anyone who is walking through such dark shadows as these is not going to be fun to read about.  And because of that, this book is more real than so many other books I've read that aren't in the fantasy genre.  Coffey doesn't write people as we want to see them - he writes people as they truly are, wrinkles and all.

It's all put in perspective by the last quarter of the book, which is one of the most riveting passages I've ever read.  The book ends with a powerful message about grace, forgiveness, and love.  It's a very good read for anyone who has ever felt that their sins can never be forgiven.  And as the devil walks in our world as much as he walks in Mattingly, it's a book that all of us can relate to.

Four out of Five Stars

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Daughters in Danger, by Elayne Bennett

Daughters in Danger, by Elayne Bennett, is purportedly about how we can protect our daughters from the threats of our culture.

There can be no doubt that the girls of today face serious obstacles to their health and well-being.  When I picked this book up, I was hoping for a book that would address ways to help our daughters through these issues.  However, the author tries to tackle too many issues.  As a result, the book is disjointed and full of such generalized advice that it doesn't really add much about raising children that is not already widely known.

The first third of the book is full of cautionary tales and partisan rhetoric, despite the author's later claim that she does not see this as a political issue.  There were a few red flags for me - beginning with the statement that "California... educators have all but banished the Boy Scouts from public facilities."  As a California educator and a Boy Scout mother, I disagree with this, and it didn't set a good tone for the book.  The author also makes a broad generalization about young adults based on a limited survey of high schoolers in her foundation.  As an M.Ed. myself, this left me questioning the rest of her research.

The latter half of the book has some good advice, but it doesn't flow well because the author tries to cover too many topics.  The  good advice is interspersed far too often with more cautionary tales both from real life and from literature and movies.  The advice is also over-simplified, giving few details that a parent who is truly struggling would find useful.

I appreciate the author's attempt, but there are better books that cover the topic of how to raise Christian children in today's world.  Her writing style is good, and I'd love to see her write a book that doesn't try to cover quite so much ground.

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Two out of Five Stars

Jesus on Every Page - 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament, by David Murray

Jesus on Every Page - 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament is a thought-provoking book that links the New and Old Testaments in a way that is not often done in the modern church.

I will say, this is not the book I was expecting to read. When I first opened this book, I thought that it would be about specific Messianic verses in the Old Testament - those verses that specifically refer to Christ on earth. I am always interested when one of those verses pops up in my reading, and so I was looking forward to reading Jesus on Every Page.

However, the book turned out to be much more than a simple discourse on specific verses. Murray delves into the theology that links the Old Testament with the New. He discusses the New Testament writers and what they had to say about the Old Testament. The majority of the book is then spent on teaching the reader how to find Christ throughout the Old Testament. It is not just about specific verses, although many verses are given. It is about teaching the faithful how to read the Old Testament from a different perspective - with a mind toward finding Christ.

Is Jesus in the Old Testament? Absolutely. He didn't just pop up unexpectedly, and this book will help the Christian find Jesus, so to speak, in a new way.

The book tends toward the academic side, and be prepared to read passages from the Bible concurrently with this book. At times, I felt that the book would be better for a pastor or a seminary student, but I stayed with it and was rewarded for my time. The discussion questions at the end are suitable either for group or individual study. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an intellectual Biblical experience.

Disclaimer - I was provided a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.   

Five out of Five Stars

Saving Beauty From the Beast: How to Protect Your Daughter From an Unhealthy Relationship

           I found this book quite by accident, and I'm glad I did!  Saving Beauty from the Beast: How to Protect Your Daughter from an Unhealthy Relationship, by Vicki Crompton and Ellen Zelda Kessner, is a must-read for any parent.  Whether you have a daughter or a son, the information in this book is vital.  It was written from the perspective of a mother whose daughter was killed as a result of an abusive relationship.  She spent quite a bit of time researching unhealthy relationships in young adults and teens, and this book is a product of that.  I wish I'd read it as a teen.

          The authors identify the different kinds of abusive relationships - emotional, sexual, and physical - and discuss each one in great detail.  They give tips on how to tell if someone you know is being abused.  Even better than that, they help the reader understand what an unhealthy relationship looks like in the early stages, when it's still relatively easy to leave.  They also discuss what happens to a victim's mental state that allows her to continue in a relationship that's bad for her.  Contrary to popular belief, most victims don't remain in that situation by choice. 

          The authors also discuss how to help your child leave an abusive relationship.  They also give information on how to raise your child so that she is less likely to become involved in that relationship in the first place. 

          Out of the several books I've read on this subject, this one is one of the best.  I highly recommend it.

          And for those of you who think it can't happen to you or your child, think again.  You'd be surprised at the kinds of personalities that are likely to be in the victim's position.  If you've trained your daughter to be helpful toward others, or if your child is the strong, save-the-world type, then becoming informed about abusive relationships can be one of the best parenting decisions you can make.

          Five out of Five Stars

Reclaiming Love: Radical Relationships in a Complex World, by Ajith Fernando

     Reclaiming Love is nothing short of an amazing book.  I so admire Ajith Fernando for the time and prayerful thought that he must have put into writing this book.  He takes the definition of love that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 13 and turns these few words into an in depth look at what it means to truly love your neighbor as yourself.

     1 Corinthians 13 places great conviction on so many of us to be more loving.  But we all know it's not as simple as that.  Patience, kindness, perseverance, never keeping a record of wrongs - all of these things are not easy to achieve 100% of the time.  Many of us don't even feel that giving of ourselves in this manner is safe for our own self-worth. 

     Much to my delight, Fernando delves into each of these definitions of love in a way that stems from his years as a pastor and counselor.  He analyses their meaning in a way that is both academic and easy to understand. He then discusses how we can apply each of them in our daily lives.  This isn't a piece of fluff, either - Fernando goes into great detail.  The examples he gives are highly relevant to a number of situations - from personal life to family to work.

     I was especially impressed with his ability to reach out to people who are in recovery - as well as the people who work with them.

     This book is a jewel.  I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in becoming more Christ-like.  It's not a dust-gatherer - it's a book that a reader can return to time and time again.

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Five out of Five Stars

Accidental Pharisees, by Larry Osborne

Accidental Pharisees is a pretty clever name for an important topic.  The premise of this book is a discussion of overzealous faith and how to avoid it.  By using the Pharisees and their lack of understanding about the spirit behind doctrinal laws, author Larry Osborne tries to show Christians that overzealous faith runs counter to what Christ calls us to do.  And he does this in an easy-to-read way that promotes further discussion or study if the reader so chooses.

The point that Osborne tries to make is a good one.  It's that whole "you're not the boss of me" mentality that we remember from childhood.  "Bossing" each other didn't work then, and it doesn't work now.  He identifies the major ways in which he feels Christians have this attitude:  pride, exclusivity, legalism, idolizing the past, uniformity, and gift projection onto others. 

I think that the fundamental message that we can take from this book is this - each individual Christian has his or her own legitimate calling from God.  Nothing another person can do should be able to reject or minimize that calling.  To that end, I feel that this book is successful.

There is a caveat that I attach to this review.  Osborne seems to be influenced by life experiences with exclusivity - and the book reflects that.  There is a negative attitude about several different kinds of churches, and Osborne tends to generalize.  He makes it seem as if almost any style of church other than his suffers from exclusivity.  I wish he had recognized that not every church with a given label behaves in an exclusive manner.  Sure, some do,  but many don't.  And that's not reflected in this book.  I would hate for someone to shy away from a church because of it.

I can recommend this book for solo reading or group discussion, but keep an open, prayerful mind.  I found it best to apply this book to my own individual circumstances, and ignore the comments that were made about church styles. 

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Three out of Five Stars

House of Mercy, by Erin Healy

House of Mercy, by Erin Healy, is a story of charity, forgiveness, and redemption.  Its main characters are members of a Rocky Mountain ranching family who are trying to succeed despite personal conflicts and pending financial ruin.

I was excited to read this book because I had read Healy's The Promises She Keeps.  Healy is a talented writer who examines Christian themes from a different perspective than your run-of-the-mill fare in this genre.  The plot of this book does not disappoint - nor does the author's gift for writing an intelligent story.  In House of Mercy, we follow a family undergoing serious financial issues.  They try to heal broken relationships throughout, and also try to keep their dream of providing a safe haven for the needy.  There is a touch of the supernatural, and also of horror.

Despite the intricacies of the plot, however, the characters never really came to life for me.  The storyline concerning the doctor was certainly the most interesting, in its terrifying way.  But this alone wasn't enough to make the story memorable for me, personally.

I do recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a well-written Christian book that explores serious themes.

Three out of Five Stars

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair review.