What it looks like to run injured! He knows better now.
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Agony-Wordful & Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday 30 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Book Tour and Review: Bo’s Cafe
Tuesday 29 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Category: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
Publish Date: 9/25/2009
ISBN: 9781935170044
Pages: 256
Publisher: Hachette
Book Summery directly from Hachette’s website:
High-powered executive Steven Kerner is living the dream in southern California. But when his bottled pain ignites in anger one night, his wife kicks him out. Then an eccentric mystery man named Andy Monroe befriends Steven and begins unravelling his tightly wound world. Andy leads Steven through a series of frustrating and revealing encounters to repair his life through genuine friendship and the grace and love of a God who has been waiting for him to accept it. A story to challenge and encourage, BO’S CAFE is a model for all who struggle with unresolved problems and a performance-based life.
My review:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Bo’s Cafe and have already had my husband start reading it. I do believe many people walk around with a persona of who they want to be, or be perceived as, rather than being who they are. So many fear rejection and so avoid opening themselves up to others. Defense mechanisms can be put into place at an early age and by the time one realises they are there, it takes time, love, courage and a safe environment to let these defenses down. I know a lot of “Stevens” in the world and hope to discover more “Andys”. I believe every reader will take something different from this book and be positively influenced from what the reader takes away from Bo’s Cafe.
About the authors:
Bruce McNicol is president of Leadership Catalyst, Inc. and an international speaker and consultant. He holds a master’s in theology and a doctorate in organizational and leadership development. Previously he served for ten years as president of the international church planting organization Interest Associates.
Bill Thrall serves as vice-chair of Leadership Catalyst, mentor, and coauthor of the bestselling TrueFaced resources (www.truefaced.com), The Ascent of a Leader, and Beyond Your Best.
John Lynch is a national conference speaker and writer for LCI, holds a master’s of theology from Talbot Seminary, and has twenty years’ experience as a teaching pastor of Open Door Fellowship. He’s also cofounder and playwright of a theater troupe in Phoenix.
Visit Bo’s Cafe!
Thank you Miriam and Hachette for allowing me to take part in this book tour.
The Puzzle King: A Book Review
Monday 28 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Title: The Puzzle King
Author: Betsy Carter
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: August 25, 2009
Hardcover: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 1565125940
From the Publisher’s website :
On a gray morning in 1936, Flora Phelps stands in line at the American consulate in Stuttgart, Germany. She carries a gift for the consul, whom she will bribe in order to help her family get out of Hitler’s Germany. This is the story of unlikely heroes, the lively, beautiful Flora and her husband, the brooding, studious Simon, two Jewish immigrants who were each sent to America by their families to find better lives. An improbable match, they meet in New York City and fall in love. Simon—inventor of the jigsaw puzzle—eventually makes his fortune. Now wealthy, but still outsiders, Flora and Simon become obsessed with rescuing the loved ones they left behind in Europe whose fates are determined by growing anti-Semitism on both sides of the Atlantic.
Inspired by her family’s legends, Betsy Carter weaves a memorable tale. In the tradition of Suite Française or Amy Bloom’s Away, she explores a fascinating moment in history and creates a cast of characters who endure with dignity, grace, and hope for the future.
Copyright © 2009 by Betsy Carter
My Review:
I cannot adequately express how deeply The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter moved me. Her beautiful story grabbed me by the heart from the beginning and kept me engrossed until the very last typed word. I was unable to put this book down, so immersed was I in the lives of Simon Phelps, Flora and Seema Grossman, Margot and Fredrick Ehrlich, and their daughter Edith. The Puzzle King spans the years 1892-1936, which coincides with rising anti-Semitism following the decline of Germany after WWI, the stock market crash in the United States, and the rise of WWII. The Puzzle King begins with 9-year-old Simon Phelps traveling from Lithuania unaccompanied to America to start a new life. His goal, impressed upon him by his mother, is to find a job, earn enough money and make a home for his mother and six siblings. Intertwined with his story are the stories of Flora and Seema Grossman, two sisters who recently immigrated from Germany to America, as well as stories of their family members left behind in Germany. Beautifully mastered, Carter weaves together such an elegant and moving tale of humanity and ultimately, how one person’s faith in family saved hundreds of lives. This novel, so rich in detail, will grab the reader’s attention, if not the reader’s heart, from the start and stay with the reader long after the story has ended.
This novel, is one that will be with me for a long time and I hope others choose to read this beautiful novel and that it too will stay in the hearts and minds of its readers. The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter is indeed a novel I would recommend to everyone.
To learn the background behind the story, to view photos of the real Puzzle King and his family, visit Betsy Carter’s website.
My gratitude to Wonders & Marvels for allowing me to preview The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter.
What Are You Reading Monday?
Monday 28 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I am trying a new Meme created by J. Kaye at J. Kaye’s Book Blog saying what books I read last week and what books I plan to read this week.
Last Week I Read:
- Pendragon’s Banner by Helen Hollick (496 pages)- I read this for a review that will be posted in October. I truly enjoyed this book, the 2nd in the series and look forward to reading the others.
- Mama Dearest by E. Lynn Harris (387 pages) – I did not get too far into this book as the genre was not my style. However the writing was very descriptive and for those interested in romance and drama, give this book a look.
- The Ice Chorus by Sarah Stonich (328 pages) This novel was beautifully written and my review is here.
- The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter (344 pages) – for an upcoming review.
This Week I am hoping to read:
- The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter (344 pages) My review.
- Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson ( 373 pages) – for a review
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (640 pages)- Notice, I am really trying to keep my schedule light this week to finally sit down and read this novel. I already have the second one, so I had best get going.
Check back next Monday to see how well, or not so well, I accomplish my reading goals.
The Sunday Salon
Sunday 27 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I enjoy being able to take time on Sundays to curl up with a good book or two. Today I am going to begin reading two books for future review:
The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter (for a review), 344 pages.
Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson (for a review) 373 pages.
I am now into my third week of attempting to fit Outlander into my reading schedule. Wish me luck! Happy Reading and please feel free to leave comments or suggestions.
All are welcome to join The Sunday Salon.
Running-Quoatable Sunday
Sunday 27 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
All three of my sons are cross country runners and they chose the theme for today: Running.
“Jogging is very beneficial. It’s good for your legs and your feet. It’s also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed.”
~ Charles Schulz
“If God invented marathons to keep people from doing anything more stupid, the triathlon must have taken Him completely by surprise.”
~ P.Z. Pearce
“You don’t run against a bloody stop watch, do you hear? A runner runs against himself, against the best that’s in him. Not against a dead thing of wheels and pulleys. That’s the way to be great, running against yourself. Against all the rotten mess in the world. Against God, if you’re good enough.”
~ Bill Persons
“The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.”
~ Erma Bombeck
“Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring.”
~ Jimmy Carter
“I don’t think jogging is healthy, especially morning jogging. If morning joggers knew how tempting they looked to morning motorists, they would stay home and do sit-ups.”
~ Rita Rudner
“Runners just do it – they run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first.”
~ Unknown
The quote chosen by all three as a favourite quote:
“There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.”
~ George Sheehan
To join in the fun or to see what other topics are being quoted visit A Daily Dose of Toni
The Ice Chorus: A Review
Saturday 26 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Title: The Ice Chorus
Author: Sarah Stonich
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: February 23, 2005
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316815551
Edition: Hard Cover
Acquired: From the author for review
The Ice Chorus has been re-issued by Alma Books and the excerpt is from their website.
After a brief but life-changing holiday affair ends her eighteen-year marriage, Liselle Dupre moves from Toronto to a remote village on the west coast of Ireland. She gradually becomes acquainted with some of the locals, whose wholehearted charm and colourful stories revive her spirits and inspire her to make a documentary about their interwoven tales of romance.
While she explores her fascinating new surroundings, Liselle comes to confront her own tumultuous past and her feelings for Charlie, the Welsh painter who rekindled her passions in Mexico, realizing that to tell the stories of others, she must first reveal her own.
Subtly and beautifully written, The Ice Chorus is a vivid and compassionate investigation of love and memory.
My review: The Ice Chorus by Sarah Stonich is a beautifully written novel about a woman, Lise, who has decided to leave her home in Toronto to move to a small town in Ireland to live near the ocean. To be more precise, an ocean depicted in one of Charlie’s paintings. In this novel, Sarah Stonich, masterfully and with almost a lyrical quality, weaves together fragments of Lise’s life in Toronto, her brief affair with Charlie in Mexico, and her current life in Ireland. As the reader moves from the cooler, slower paced life of Ireland to flashbacks of colourful Mexico, the reader learns more and more about Lise and the choices that have brought her to Ireland. Lise’s move transforms her, making her realise that she must first be true to herself, to tell her own story. It is through Lise’s passion for making documentaries of other people and the places they live that she learns not only whom she was, but also who she has become. The Ice Chorus is so masterfully written; the reader is immediately transported to Ireland and can almost smell the salt in the air or in a flashback, walking the hot sands of Mexico. This novel, so vivid in imagery and rich in detail, makes for a brilliant read of love, how one’s memory can distort what one remembers, and above all family and redemption.
A trailer, interview and an excerpt of The Ice Chorus can be found on Sarah Stonich’s website.
My gratitude to Sarah Stonich sending me a copy of her novel to review.
Book Tour and Review: The Great Christmas Bowl by Susan May Warren
Friday 25 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
From the website:
Marianne Wallace is focused on two things this holiday season:
planning the greatest family Christmas ever and cheering on her
youngest son’s team in their bid for the state championship.
Disaster strikes when the team loses their mascot-the Trout. Is it
going too far to ask her to don the costume? So what if her husband
has also volunteered her to organize the church Christmas tea.
When football playoffs start ramping up, the Christmas tea starts
falling apart. Then, one by one her children tell her they can’t come
home for Christmas.
As life starts to unravel, will Marianne remember the true meaning of the holidays?
My review: The Great Christmas Bowl by Susan May Warren is a heartwarming as well is hilarious novella of a woman trying to juggle many different hats through the holidays. Marianne Wallace brings a whole new meaning to the word enthusiastic. She is a force to be reckoned with and a neighbour I would dearly like to have. Her youngest of 5 children is a senior in High School and the last child living at home. Living in the small northern town of Big Lake, Minnesota, known for it’s strong Norwegian heritage and heavy snows, Marianne decides to shake up a few things this holiday season. It all begins innocently enough and snowballs into her helping out her son’s school football team, Go Trouts, in a way she never thought possible. Add to that her completely changing the course of the church’s historical and traditional Christmas Tea, Marianne Wallace is indeed placing her own mark on Christmas in the small snowy town of Big Lake. Marianne is not the only one. With an overall prevailing theme of love, and the motto, “It’ll work out”, The Great Christmas Bowl makes for a beautiful pre-Christmas read and definitely, for me, a new tradition.
Visit The Great Christmas Bowl website which features a note from the author, fun updates from Big Lake Gazette, info on how to host your own Great Christmas Bowl Tea to
benefit a local ministry or charity and a fun Recipe Exchange contest! Be a part of the Great Christmas Bowl recipe exchange! Susan loves getting recipes from friends, and sharing the delicious cookies, soups, breads and other fun fixings that go with celebrating
the Christmas season. More than that, she loves the crazy stories
about favorite Christmases – serious, touching, funny…whatever. Find
the recipe contest here!
Who is Susan May Warren?
Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of twenty-four
novels with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill. A four-time Christy
award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of
the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Book of the Year.
Her larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim
with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and
retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences
around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook:
From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!.
She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting
service that helps authors discover their voice. Susan makes her home
in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in
football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and
desperately missing her college-age son!) A full listing of her
titles, reviews and awards can be found at her website.
A copy of The Great Christmas Bowl may be purchased here.
Visit The Great Christmas Bowl Blog Tour for more reviews and fun!
My gratitude to Litfuse for including me in this blog tour.
Autumn-Aloha Friday
Friday 25 September, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The question for today: What is your favourite autumn candle scent?
My favourite autumn candle scents are spiced orange and mulled spices!
Visit An Island Life for more fun Aloha Fridays.
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