A Most Unsuitable Match by Stephanie Grace Whitson (a Bethany House Publishing Blogger Review)

**Bethany House Publishers provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for posting a review with my honest (positive or negative) opinion of it.**

This was a wonderful book.  Kind of a “coming of age” story.  Actually, when I think of the phrase “coming of age” I usually think of a younger person.  Perhaps the appropriate phrase for this book should be, “a rich 20-year-old getting a reality check.”  However, Miss Fannie Rousseau is such a likeable character that it’s more amusing to find she doesn’t even know how to use a broom than utterly contemptible.

The story clearly demonstrates that, in life, it doesn’t matter our social standing, our financial situation, our race, or whether or not we’re sighted, we’re all challenged in a number of ways throughout our lives.  Our response when facing these challenges determines our path, and we shouldn’t judge the way someone else faces (or has faced) his/her challenges in the road of life.

Except for Emma’s Mr./Major/Lieutenant/Whatever Johnny Chadwick, pretty much all of the characters were likeable in this book—even the son of a wallyhoo steamboat captain and sweet Mrs. Tatum.

Definitely worth the read, and I’ll be looking for other Stephanie Grace Whitson books!

Pattern of Wounds by J. Mark Bertrand (a Bethany House Publishing Blogger Review)

 

**Bethany House Publishers provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for posting a review with my honest (positive or negative) opinion of it.**

I hadn’t heard of J. Mark Bertrand and Roland March until receiving Pattern of Wounds for review. Thus, I haven’t read the first in this series.  There was a lot of underlying tension and agitation written into the March character, that I couldn’t understand the basis for, and perhaps had I read the first book in this series I would have understood.

I love a who-done-it, and was actually a little disappointed because I figured out who-done-it as soon as the do-er crossed the page (but than I got the satisfaction of “told ya so” at the end).

I know some people won’t look twice at this book just because it’s “Christian” fiction.  However, the Christian twist of the plot isn’t overbearing or preachy, and Roland March has some pretty good arguments against an all-loving God (the muscle-builder next door scenario, for example).

This was a good book, and I’m happy to recommend it to Christians and non-Christians alike, who like a good mystery mix of a serial killer, a couple of bloody mutilated bodies, and a partridge in a pear tree.

The Whole Bible Story by William H. Marty (a Bethany House Publishing Blogger Review)

**Bethany House Publishers provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for posting a review with my honest (positive or negative) opinion of it.**

This is the whole title of the book:  The Whole Bible Story:  Everything that happens in the Bible in plain English.

I scanned other reviewer’s “takes” on this book, and I have to say, I agree with most of the comments—however, most of what people wrote as being negative about the book, I actually consider a positive.

Perhaps people would lump me into their impression of a “new believer” because I haven’t read all of the Bible.  I’ve only read chunks of it; some entire books and only a few verses in other books.  But there’s nothing “new” about my faith.

I get stymied and bored with all the begats.  I don’t understand the crazy laws.  I get frustrated with how stupidly many of the people behave so I can’t imagine how God feels/felt about them!

So, yes, I, too, think Dr. Marty’s book is a kind of  “Cliff Notes” for the Bible. I really don’t know what other people were expecting out of a 300 page book?

So, no, within 300 pages, Dr. Marty didn’t include every single event found in the Bible; he shared the highlights he felt were most important.  If I knew the Bible as well as Dr. Marty, and I was able to write a book such as this, mine (as well as anyone else’s) would be very different because life experiences influence the importance of events and our interpretation of them. 

And, yes, a lot of what Dr. Marty wrote is totally random and disjointed—just like the stories he wrote about that are in the Bible.  Be honest, does everything in the Bible make sense to us?  No.  At least not to me.

As a matter of fact, I kind of compare some of the stuff that goes on in the Bible as being much like one of the odd-ball dreams I try to explain when I wake up where all kinds of weird things happened, and I have no idea how all of it fits together or why.

This book is a wonderful peek into the Bible.  I have lots of questions and notes scribbled throughout—lot’s of “HUH?  Why???”s.  So, guess what?  Call me the Nancy Drew of the Bible, because now instead of feeling like reading the Bible is a chore, I want to know more details!  (And, I don’t mind sifting through the boring stuff to find them out!).

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen (a Bethany House Publishing Blogger Review)

**Bethany House Publishers provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for posting a review with my honest (good or bad) opinion of it.**

I have my own classification system for books: 

1.  suitable to pass on to my mother to read
2.  NOT suitable for my mother

This one definitely falls into category #1.  I loved it, and I know mom will, too.

I haven’t read other Julie Klassen books so I can’t compare this book with any of her others. 

The characters make up a many-layered plot with a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, and a peek into the social structure of the early 1800s.  

I don’t need to write another editorial review or spoiler about the book since there’s plenty of that already written. 

But I would like to offer this commentary:

Others have reviewed (both favorably and unfavorably) of the Christian theme running through the book.  I’m not seeing it.  Morals and proper etiquette and social appearances, definitely, but nothing so strongly Christian that I would have realized Ms. Klassen is known as a Christian author.

And, that’s not a complaint.  I enjoyed this book from start to finish. I’m a reader with a personal library filled with an eclectic mix of authors and genres.  I’m a Christian, but I’m not as easily offended as my mother.  A lot of the best sellers I have stacked by my bedside I would NEVER consider passing on for her to read.  They’re well beyond her PG-13 comfort level simply because they are littered with unnecessary vulgar language (not even to mention the way-too-explicitly detailed romance interactions).  (And, no, I don’t go searching for R-rated (or worse) books—I look for 4-star and higher Amazon reviews, and usually the first ones that pop up are from various best seller lists).

Anyway…  I’ve already recommended this book to several friends, and I’m happy to recommend it here to the rest of the world.  Ms. Klassen, you did good!

Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock (a Bethany House Publishing Blogger Review)

**Bethany House Publishers provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for posting a review with my honest (good or bad) opinion of it.**

Promises to Keep is a cute-on-the-surface story.  It’s a fast read.  Another reviewer thought the book was sad and depressing. I actually found the idea of Tillie quite amusing. (she's much like the girlfriend George Kastanza (from "Sienfield") had at one point who refused to let him break up with her).

Unfortunately, for mystery seekers, the plot is completely predictable from start to finish. And, I found Ms. Patchett's naive impression of 1960s race relations a joke. She tried a bit to hard to make Roz a likeable character by making her colorblind about a decade and a half too early for the effort to be anywhere close to believable. The culture was entirely too broken at that time for a single incidence of the "n word" to show up in the story. Further, in the early 1960s my black grandparents certainly would not have encouraged a friendship with a white child or allowed me to spend the night with a white family (no matter how well-meaning).

Actually, I was going to write I don't even know why Roz's friend Mara had to be black, but I really don't know what other fathers-and-daughters-with-secrets plot would really work for Roz to have a companion with whom to keep her promises.

A few spoilers:

Roz's secret is that she knows her father is stalking her mother, and she even “innocently” helps him as he plans to destroy her mother, all the while pretending ignorance as she overlooks the evilness that oozes from his character. (I guess that makes her crazy-obsessive-alcoholic-father-blind as well as colorblind). Hmmm... I'm not sure how believable that whole interaction is…

Mara's secret is that she has a white father she dreams of having a relationship with. She listens to his radio shows, which he signs off every time with "Good night, Bernice." (Mara's first name is Bernice). Interestingly, her white father's white family doesn't have a clue about is previous relationship with her black mother or that Mara even exists. Hmmm... Seriously???  If my husband ended his radio shows with "Good night, Bernice" and MY name wasn't Bernice, there'd definitely be a problem...

Meanwhile, it's no surprise that Tillie's gonna die in the house she and her husband built.

Another reviewer referenced this as a Christian book. Tillie vaguely mentions "the Father" a handful of times, and Roz has a bit of an ah-ha at the end. But otherwise, I don't consider this book Christian fiction in the least.

Book Reviews for Bethany House Publishing

I asked to be a part of the Bethany House Publishing Blog Reviewers Program.  They e-mail the titles of books they’d like bloggers to review.  After reading I’m to give an honest opinion of the book, and post my review on my blog and on another reviewer source (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.).

These are the books I’ve requested to review:

Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock
Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen
The Whole Bible Story by William H. Marty
The Sweetest Thing by Elizabeth Musser

I’m quite a bit late in posting my review of these books for a couple of reasons. 

The first is totally lame:  I’ve been enjoying the warm weather and simply haven’t taken the time to write the reviews.

The second:  I’m not sure I know how to write an review! 

One hundred copies of each book were released through this blogger review program.  I checked out what other Bethany House blogger readers were writing (it’s easy to tell because each review has to provide a statement something to the effect of “Bethany House Publishing provided me a free copy of this book in exchange for a review with my honest opinion of it (good or bad).”

At least 99 reviews are out there, and most of them regurgitate the synopsis on the cover of the book (often in the same words)!  That’s more of a book report, and doesn’t necessarily give potential readers an opinion of the book—right???

Anyway…  my reviews are above.

My Book List

I have been reading like a mad woman for the last month or so. I made it through all of the books that Brian bought me for Christmas and had to buy another $100+ worth from Amazon. I only have four of those left so I’ll be ordering more soon. What I do is try to pick out 4-1/2 or 5 star books on Amazon or I read the reviews for Pulitzer Prize winners (or other kinds of prize winners). I’ve bought a few of Oprah’s books (but typically find them too depressing). And, a couple of years ago, I bought most of the Today Show book suggestions.

I still have a bunch of “mini reviews” I want to write, but here are several books I’ve read over the last couple of years:

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards: a good read with an interesting plot though it’s sad.

The Kite Runner by Kahlid Hussein: I put off reading this for two years because it takes place in Afghanistan, and I thought that would be too depressing. I finally picked it up, and (I hate to admit this, but…) it’s a really good book. It’s also very sad (WHY are they all sad?), violent, very disturbing, but worth checking out.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: this is another one I put off reading simply for the sheer volume of the stupid thing. It’s almost 1000 pages long! GREAT book! It’s a real page turner. I couldn’t wait to find out how that monster (Richard, I think–I forget his name) would meet his end! This has almost 1400 customer reviews on Amazon.com!

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Ugh. That’s all I can say about this AWFUL book. I managed to trudge through it, but I was NOT impressed. It’s a piece of garbage.

Foul Play by Janet Evonovich. Anything by this author is a fun, light read!

The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz: 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner. This is another sad one. It is laden with Spanish phrases. I sat in front of the computer with a translator website for some of it, but for most of it I was left in the dark. That said, though, it is a really good book.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Wonderful book. It takes place in 19-century China and is an interesting peek into the culture of China–the excrutiating practice of foot binding (“golden lillies”) where a 3″ foot was desired; nu shu; laotong; arranged marriages… great read!

The Road by Cormack McCarthy: OMG! What a very, very sad and freaky book. Really makes you think. Odd for sure. 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo: 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner. Enjoyable read! I’m surprised it won a Pulitzer, though, since it’s just a regular ol’ fiction book.

Cane River by Lalita Tademy. This is a really good book about four generations of black French-speaking slaves in 1800s Lousiana. It is a piece of fiction based on the author’s family. I liked that it has pictures of the real life characters. Slavery is very difficult for me to read about, but this is an excellent book.

The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living by Martin Clark. This is touted as being the “drinking man’s John Grisham” and got lots of rave reviews on Amazon.com and from book critics all over the place. After reading so many sad books, I wanted something funny! Well this is a piece of crap. There is NOTHING funny about it. The plot is stupid (what is up with the “white tears” part???) and the characters drink and drive. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Total waste of money.

The Book Theif by Markus Zusak. LOVED IT!!! Okay… this book takes place in Nazi-occupied Germany (which is also hard for me to read about), but is such a wonderful book I couldn’t put it down. The publisher is Knopf Books for Young Readers, and is recommended for grades 9 and up. Hmmm…??? I really don’t think of this is a book for high schoolers. It’s narrated by Death which is very interesting.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: this book takes place on the channel island of Guernsey after World War II. Guernsey was a strategic location for the Germans to overtake Europe, and the island was occupied for five years with no contact with the outside world. The islanders formed a book club during that time, and the main character of the book (Juliett Ashton) travels to Geurnsey to write a book about the occupation. This is a really good book.

The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring. Great book! Hmmm… I think of the 1950s as a bunch of prudes for some reason. Maybe because my mother always tells me that the 1950s were the “perfect” times which makes me think of innocence and, well…, PRUDES! Not the case in this book; Freeda’s got the mouth of a sailor and they don’t go to church on Sunday! Loved it!

Some Things that Stay by Sarah Willis: five star book with 51 reviewers on Amazon.com. Another great read, but (again) it has an air of sadness: the dad is an idiot, the mom has TB, the cow gets killed, and the family is moved to every year (because the dad is an idiot). It is a really, really good book, though.

What Comes After Crazy by Sandy Kahn Shelton: Okay… this one has a quote on the cover by People that says “Plenty of laughs here.” Again, after reading some many “heavy” books, I wanted a light read. I liked it, but I didn’t think it was funny at all. I thought the Madame Lucille character was flat out TRAGIC (why is everything SAD, SAD, SAD???) and Maz (the main character) is totally spineless. If somebody stole my kid, I would at least make SOME effort to get her back (call the police, you big idiot!!!).

Cold Rock River by J.L. Miles: This is just a great book. It’s a story-within-a-story; half about slavery, half about 1960s Georgia.

Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen: it’s about that bitch (!), Troo (funny I could think that about a 9-year-old, but I did!), and her sister, Sally (the narrator). Another good book. (P.S. I figured it out as soon as the bad guy was introduced!).

The Ballard of Frankie Silver by Sharon McCrumb: I got this book in the library on Johnston Island before I left. It’s a good book, but (once again) SAD! It’s about the first woman to be hanged in North Carolina.

The Old Fox Deceiv’d by Martha Grimes: Another one I got on JI, but didn’t get around to readying for 8 years! Okay, for once, NOT SAD! It’s a good little “who-done-it?” mystery.

A Traitor to Memory by Elizabeth George: Funny thing is: I read this once before, but I must have only made it partially through because I totally didn’t remember the ending. It’s not bad.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde: LOVED IT! LOVED IT! LOVED IT! How very, very original. The burbing, farting bookworms are just too clever. And best of all: NOT SAD!!!

The Dogs of Babel by Carlyn Parkhurst: Hmm… I read it… I’m not sure I liked it. The guy tries to teach his dog to talk–but “ruff” isn’t good enough; he wants human language. I know I’m supposed to use my imgination, but I just wasn’t that inspired. And, I thought the wife was a total nut-case. She made love to the husband while wearing a papier-mâché mask she made from a dead girl’s face. Too damn creepy!

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende: I really enjoyed this book. It takes place during the California Gold Rush of 1849 of which I know nothing. It’s a great story of an unlikely friendship. What I really want to know is how people could write letters back and forth across the country to each other, and the letters actually made it to intended recipient…??? NOT SAD!

That Quail, Robert by Margaret A. Stanger: Okay… out of all of the sad books I’ve read this year, this one absolutely takes the cake. Despite being a WONDERFUL book, this one made tears stream down my face.

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz: I guess if you like laughing at schizophrenics then you’d think this is funny, but otherwise, IT’S SAD! There were some really good philosphical-make-you-think parts, but as a whole, I had to trudge through this book because it didn’t really hold my attention.