The Holy Man

The Holy Man by Susan Trott

The Holy Man lives in a hermitage at the top of a mountain. He has monks or disciples that stay with him and help him keep things running during the summer months. People hear of the Holy Man and make a pilgrimage to see him. The line of people winds on and on all summer long. Many lasting relationships are formed by waiting in line. Sometimes people find their answers from the line before they even reach the Holy Man. Most of the time once one has made it to the front of the line, the door opens, the pilgrim asks to see the Holy Man. They are shown in by an unassuming monk. He leads then through the hermitage. They are shown out the back door and a path leading down the mountain. They are told to treat everyone they meet as if they are holy. Most are seriously disappointed until they consider what they have just been told.
There are also some stories of people the Holy Man does talk to for a little while. We hear about the Alcoholic, the next holy man, the Famous Man, the Angry Man also.
This was a tiny little book. It was a super fast read. I know it had great reviews by some other people. I liked the book okay and I can definitely see that we should treat other people as if they are holy, because everyone is, but I didn't LOVE this book. It didn't feel meaty enough for me.

Rating 3.5
Rating G

The Brethren

The Brethren by Beverly Lewis

Louisa has stayed in Denver and has started teaching art classes again. Michael wants to get back together. Louisa still talks with Julia, Annie's Mennonite cousin. Because of this Lou is beginning to believe in Christ. Her Amish love, Sam, has decided to leave the order. Nothing with Lou is ever resolved.

Ben comes back from Kentucky after finding out that he was adopted. He was found when he was four and no one ever claimed him. He only spoke Dutch and his family suspects that he came from an Amish community. Ben and Annie discover together that he is Isaac, Zeke's brother and the little boy that disappeared from their community years ago. The bones that were found by the preacher were not Isaac's. They were a little girl. Ben and Annie have a hard time convincing the community that Ben is Isaac.

Zeke is taken to a mental hospital. He is treated for depression and anxiety. He finds out that Esther is pregnant again. The Mennonites pray with him and he is convinced of a Savior. He returns home a better man. He will be banned or shunned for disobeying the laws of shunning and sleeping with his wife.

Annie decides that she will leave the Amish community and become fancy so that she can be with Ben. She cuts off her hair and buys fancy clothes.

As Annie makes this choice, Ben decides that he will be baptized and join the Amish community. His birth father returns and begs forgiveness of the community and is embraced by them. He identifies Ben as Isaac. He sees Zeke and Esther even though they are shunned.

Annie decides to also be baptized and give up her art so that she can marry Ben. After a year of marriage her father talks to the other brethren and Annie is allowed to paint and draw as long as she doesn't paint people.

Although I liked this book because it finally came out that Ben was Isaac.........which I already knew, I still think things never seemed to come full circle. Louisa just sort of left the picture and never came to any conclusions in her life. Esther and Zeke have Mennonite beliefs and are shunned from the Amish community, but instead of becoming Mennonites they just stay shunned Amish.

Rating 3
Rating G

So Much of Life Ahead

So Much of Life Ahead Hearts of the Children Vol. 5 by Dean Hughes

Hans and Elli are engaged. Then the Stasi demote him after Rainer is imprisoned and tells the lies about Hans that they want to hear. Hans feels like he can't ruin Elli's life by keeping her hanging on waiting for him. He also doesn't want to marry her because he won't be able to provide for her. He is the counselor in his branch presidency. But his faith is tested as everything he has hoped for is ripped away. His father comes to him and tries to talk him into having more faith and moving ahead but Hans feels like he has no hope. Finally in a last attempt to break him, the Stasi call him in and threaten him. Hans fears he will be taken back to prison. He can't stand it any longer and tells them exactly what he thinks of the way things are being run in the country. He waits and waits to be taken back to prison, but instead is promoted. He and Elli can finally marry. They do. His faith is restored and he realizes that he should have listened to Elli all of the times she told him that they needed to go forward in faith and that doors would be opened to them. By the end Elli is pregnant and a counselor in the Relief Society. I would have liked to find out what happened to them in the years later when a temple was built in East Germany........even before the Berlin Wall fell.

Gene is not the same Gene as before Vietnam. He is no longer self confident, upbeat and kind. Danny is afraid of him and although Emily loves him she is having a hard time living with him. He has finally gotten off of the pain killers but he is angry and depressed. He begins writing articles about Vietnam and then current politics which are picked up by magazines and newspapers. He decides to return to college for a degree in journalism. He reports on the Watergate proceedings. Finally Emily can take no more of his anger and bottled up emotion. She and Danny leave. Gene's father Alex and his uncles Wally and Richard try to get Gene to talk about his fear, anger and nightmares. They know this is the only way for him to heal. He refuses. Someone takes offense to an article written by Gene. When the man confronts him Gene goes crazy and tries to kill him. Gene is put in the VA hospital psyche ward. Emily comes to be supportive. She wants him to get better. She finally tells Gene that she is seven months pregnant. Gene wants to get better and begins therapy. By the end he and Emily have their second child and Gene is doing better. I didn't get the feeling that he had completely recovered though.

Kathy is inspired by her Aunt LaRue coming home from the east and marrying a BYU professor and getting pregnant. She finally begins dating but can't stand anyone she goes out with. At long last she throws herself at her old high school boyfriend, Marshall, hoping to convince him she has changed. Marshall has some things of his own to figure out and Kathy thinks things between them will never work out. They eventually get together, marry and buy an old house in Heber. They decide the best way to change the world is to become involved in their community and the lives of their children.

Diane finally tells Greg she cannot ever see them together again. Greg's reaction only reinforces that decision. Diane finishes college and becomes a teacher. Her home teacher is in love with her and they begin spending a lot of time together. Finally she must tell him that she is not in love with him. She raises Jenny alone.

The patriarch of the family, Grandpa Thomas dies.

I didn't like this book as well as some of the previous ones. Maybe because I really want happy endings and all of the loose ends to be tied up.........which never happens in real life........but I like it in my literature.

Rating 4
Rating PG

Take Me Home

Take Me Home Hearts of the Children Vol. 4 by Dean Hughes

Hans is still being stalked by the Stasi. His old college roommate Rainer shows up at his door. Rainer says that he never ratted Hans out, but now he wants Hans' help getting out of the country. Hans turns him away. His life is improving little by little and he fears the government will come down on him for having any contact with Rainer.

Gene is in the jungles of Vietnam. It is a complete nightmare. He is shot in the leg during one recognisance mission. He is not injured enough to be sent home. Most of his team is injured or killed so when he returns to duty he is made a sergeant. Eventually just as his days of duty are counting down he is gut shot by the Viet Cong. He has surgery and returns to the States. He must undergo many more surgeries and has a colostomy bag until his final surgery when his intestines are reconnected. He has a hard time with anger and flash backs. He cannot connect with Emily and Danny.

Kathy joins the Peace Corp. and goes to the Philippines. She is depressed to find out that Filipino's are a layed back people and she feels like she has no hope of changing the families in her barrio. She tells everyone including the mayor and principal of the school she teaches at, what to do. It isn't until she begins going to church that she understands the only way she will see change is to love the people. She begins to regain her testimony and becomes the branch choir director.

Diane has Jenny, her baby. Greg is still mean and cutting. He beats Diane up. She leaves with Jenny but returns after Greg and their bishop convince her to try again. Diane finds an inappropriate letter from the female student in Greg's class. She brings it to Greg's attention. He freaks out. Eventually Greg hits Diane again and she leaves for good. She flies home to Utah and begins divorce proceedings. She lives with her parents. Greg doesn't pay child support. Greg's parent's come to visit Jenny. The do not know why Diane has filed for divorce. She tells them. Then she decides to try to improve her life and returns to college. She gets good grades. Greg tries to woo her back.

I really enjoyed this volume of Hearts of the Children. It was good to see Diane stand up for herself and protect her daughter. She realizes that there is more to life than looking cute. I'm glad that she didn't fall for Greg's manipulation for very long. I am finally beginning to like Kathy. She is starting to realize that anger and violence isn't the way to change. She regains her testimony and starts to love those around her instead of judging everyone. Gene just saddens me. It was an eye opener to find out what kind of hell the soldiers were going through in Vietnam only to come home and have their own country turn on them. Hans is finally beginning to see some light in his life and realize that he stayed in East Germany because that is what God wanted him to do. He becomes a leader in the church.

Rating 4.5
Rating PG for violence

The Heart of the Five Love Languages

The Heart of the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

This seems like a Cliff's Notes version of The Five Love Languages.........which is what I thought I was buying.........oops didn't see the itty bitty writing on the top that said The Heart of.

This book is a nipped down version of the five love languages. Gary Chapman says these are the ways we receive love. The five languages are; quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service and physical touch. The point is to find out what language of love you speak and which one your spouse speaks. Then you will be better able to show you love each other. (Also applicable to children I assume.......although there is another book for that one too.)Unfortunately I think my love language is quality time......................too bad for me.
I think the longer version of this book would be a great read. It was actually recommend to me by a friend and I have had a hard time finding it through the library. I guess I will have to try again since I am NOT going to buy it now......hmph.
Rating 3.5 I really liked it and I can see that it was more of a quick reminder to the original book. I can see that he is on to something though. I would recommend reading it........or at least the longer version.
Rating PG Obviously it says things about sex because it is mostly about marriage.

A Good Woman

A Good Woman by Danielle Steel

Nineteen year old Annabelle's life seems great. She is the daughter of a blue blood banker from New York. She has just made her debut into society.
Annabelle falls ill and isn't well enough to travel abroad with her family. On the way home from Europe they make their passage on the Titanic. Annabelle's father and brother go down with the ship. Her mother, Consuelo makes it home alive. Both mother and daughter go into mourning for a year. Consuelo is concerned what this will do for Annabelle's marriage prospects considering that everyone else that debuted at the same time is now engaged. The rules of mourning say that Annabelle cannot go out socially for a year.
Josiah worked for Annabelle's father at the bank. He is thirty eight. He begins a friendship with Consuelo and Annabelle. Both women think that he is interested in the other one. Finally Josiah asks Consuelo for permission to pursue marriage with Annabelle once the year of mourning is over. Consuelo is so happy for her daughter and gives her blessing. Annabelle and Josiah become best friends. He supports her keen interest in medicine even though it is considered unseemly because she is a woman and because of her blue blood status. At the end of the mourning period Josiah and Annabelle become engaged. They are married shortly thereafter.
Annabelle's best friend Hortie has just married and is pregnant. She gives birth to a huge baby boy. The labor was horrible and she nearly died.
Annabelle volunteers at Ellis Island. She helps care for the disease ridden immigrants. Josiah is supportive. He and Annabelle never consummate their marriage. He keeps saying they have time and he doesn't want to rush having children. She agrees for awhile after learning of the horror Hortie had to endure just for the fun of sex.
Consuelo takes ill and has no desire to keep living since her husband is dead. She dies.
After two years of marriage Josiah finally tells Annabelle that he wants a divorce because he is gay and has been in love with the man that has been the third wheel in their marriage........okay, Annabelle felt like he was a replacement brother to her so she let him hang around, having no idea what was going on. Josiah divorces Annabelle. The only way he can legally do that in New York is to claim their was adultery. Since Annabelle wants to remain in her sexless marriage because of her deep love for Josiah, he must be the one to file. Everyone finds out. But by this time Josiah and his lover have run away to Mexico to die of syphilis together. Annabelle doesn't want to sully his name so she lets everyone think she is an adulteress. She is shunned.
Annabelle flees the country and goes to France to help in the field hospitals of WWI. She is given the chance to become a doctor, something she has always wanted. After a short time working as a volunteer in a hospital she goes to med school in the South of France. She is there for a year before the war and the loss of lives is so intense that all medically trained are pressed to give their service in hospitals. Annabelle goes to a hospital fifteen miles from the front. She works as a medic on an ambulance. One night she is raped by a British soldier. Her virginity is stolen and she becomes pregnant. The soldier dies in combat. She stays at the hospital for as long as she can. Then rents a house, has a baby, gets a nanny and goes back to med school.
After five more years of med school, when she is thirty, she graduates. Annabelle buys a house where she can have her daughter Consuelo, nanny, and medical practice. Consuelo wonders about not having any grandmothers. Annabelle writes to the mother of the soldier that raped her. He was a lord before he died. The mother comes to visit and decides that Annabelle is a good woman and her son was a very bad man. The Lourdes gives Consuelo her last name because she is the only heir.
Annabelle meets a French doctor. They fall in love. They become engaged. She feels she must tell him the truth of her past. She has been leading everyone to believe that she was married to the soldier that raped her so that the public will think she is a widow instead of a divorcee that was raped as a virgin and then impregnated by a jerk. The new fiance is enraged. He doesn't believe Annabelle and accuses her of also having syphilis and putting his life in danger if they were ever intimate. He thinks she is a whore trying to cover up her ugly past.
Annabelle is heart broken. She takes Consuelo to America to visit her old home. They have a lovely summer and Annabelle realizes that she is a good woman and that anyone that doesn't think so isn't worth her time. On the ship home Annabelle meets a journalist. He is American but has been living overseas since the war. They get friendly. It seems like it might go somewhere. The end............

Not too shabby Steel. I usually can't say that because I think her characters are shallow and self consumed. I really liked Annabelle. Even Josiah, although he ruined her life, was a nice guy. There were a lot of token Steel markers such as 'discreet, perfection, enormous'. I just like to point those out because it gives me a kick. She always writes the same things.......just with new character names.

Rating 4 I liked that Annabelle was a good woman, caring, smart, kind and lovely. I loved that she became a doctor in the early 1900's.
Rating PG rape

Hunter's Heart

Hunter's Heart by Julia Green

Fourteen year old Simon is new to a small coastal British town. He has moved there with his mother and sister. Simon's father died in a motorcycle accident when Simon was younger. He is pubescent and angry. Simon is very interested in survival literature, living off of the land, hunting, sling shot and air rifles.
Simon and his mother don't communicate well. He is angry at her for being protective. She is protective yet spends little time with him. She begins dating Simon's art teacher from school. This makes Simon even more angry if possible.
Leah is Simon's sixteen year old neighbor. Her mother is an alcoholic and her father seems to be having an affair. She spends a lot of time laying out in the sun. She and Simon strike up a friendship. They swim and walk around together. They find an old burial mound/cave. Leah brings gin. She gets drunk. They have super quick sex.......no joke, he's fourteen.
Simon thinks that he is being followed by a war vet named Mad Ed. Mad Ed is mysterious and seems quite psychologically scarred by Desert Storm.
Leah likes Simon's art teacher.......the one his mother is dating. Matt, the art teacher, hires Leah to clean his house and studio. He has been doing drawing of Simon's mother in the buff. Then he begins drawing Leah this way also. Simon visits the studio and sees the drawings. He becomes jealous. He finally gets the air rifle that he has wanted. He follows Matt and Leah to the art studio. When he sees Leah without her shirt on and Matt drawing her, Simon snaps. He first begins shooting at the art. Then he hits Leah in the leg. Just then Mad Ed shows up.........he always seems to be around. Matt and Leah see Mad Ed, not Simon. Simon dashes home and hopes that no one will be the wiser. He feels awful. Mad Ed drowns himself. Simon's secret is safe.
Weird book. It seems the British drink a lot. Alcohol seemed the norm even for the youngsters.......wine and beer anyway. The book felt mysterious and I can't say it ever cleared up for me. I am disturbed that it is aimed at young teens. The book wasn't so bad, I just didn't like the sex with no consequence.
Rating 3 Not the best......not the worst. Entertaining.
Rating PG 13 Teen sex, drinking, violence.

Speak Softly. She Can Hear

Speak Softly. She Can Hear by Pam Lewis

I can't even give this book a star. I usually never back down from a book but this was such trash that I couldn't spend any more time when there are such great things out there to read. The characters were disgusting, loser, manipulative, nasty freaks. The plot was sick. I thought it sounded intriguing from the blurb, but it didn't really give a good idea about what the book was about.

How Many Roads (Hearts of the Children Vol. 3)

How Many Roads by Dean Hughes

Gene and Emily are just getting married. Gene is still in college.
Diane and Greg are engaged and getting married. Diane is learning that Greg is manipulative.
Hans is in prison in East Germany. The government is trying to get him to confess to helping Bernt in his attempted escape and to tell of the other people that were involved.
Kathy is still at Smith College but is starting to become less angry and always wanting to fight.

Gene and Emily get pregnant on their honeymoon even though Emily is on the pill. She is not happy. She wanted to finish college and have time alone with Gene. She does not want him to go to Vietnam. She wants him to try to get a delay or have his father Alex try to get him out. Gene refuses to take the easy way even though he can't bear leaving his new family. Gene is drafted soon after his son Danny is born and he has graduated from the U. He goes to Vietnam and ends up being a LURP. His job is to go out and scout to tell the other troops where to go. His first mission, he is paralyzed with fear. One of the men with him is seriously injured. He drags the man to the helicopter.

Diane and Greg move to Seattle for law school. Diane gets a job selling clothes in a fashionable store. Greg is gone all of the time. He belittles Diane constantly. Diane is soon pregnant. She and Greg have a daughter Jenny. Greg spends a lot of time at school with his study group and alone with a woman from the study group. At one point he grabs Diane harshly and pushes her against a mirror. She wants to leave but doesn't have the guts. All Greg cares about is that she is ready for sex at bedtime. He keeps promising that he will spend more time with Diane but he never does. Diane stumbles upon 'The Feminine Mystique'. She really begins to wonder what her life will be like when she is no longer a trophy to Greg.

Hans is miserable in prison. No matter what he says he cannot convince the government that he never saw anyone but Bernt during the attempted escape. He is put in a cold dark prison room. They take his Bible. He cannot even lie down during the day. He cannot move around too much....no exercise. He is bribed with a visit from his family and the offer to be able to relocate to America. He does not break. He refuses to go to America and leave his family. He feels the Holy Ghost and knows that even though he is miserable, he made the right choice. Finally the man that has been questioning him begins to like him and believe that he tells the truth. Hans is given a small apartment and a job. Basically he is on probation.

Kathy finally graduates from Smith. One of her professors has a thing for her. They become close. He brings up existentialism. Kathy begins to wonder if this is the answer to her feeling like she cannot deal with being a Church member any longer. Her family pleads for her not to give up on the church. Finally she agrees to keep praying and reading her scriptures. She is able to feel the Spirit at times. She tells her professor that she cannot let go of God. He basically makes fun of her. They both decide to join the Peace Corps. They are sent to different areas. Kathy goes to the Philippines. She learns a lot. She realizes after a visit from some of her students that she has been asking the wrong questions all of her life. This seems like a real turning point for Kathy.

I am enjoying these books the more I come to know the characters. I suffer with Gene and Emily as he goes off to war. I want to strangle Diane when she doesn't leave Greg (well I wanted to strangle her for marrying him in the first place). I get disgusted as women's lib moves more to the forefront of their thoughts. I know that sounds wrong. I am so appreciative for that movement but the pendulum swung to far to the other side. That is the part that I don't agree with and I can see it coming for these women. I pray right along with Hans that he will someday be free and happy. And I am finally coming to appreciate Kathy a little more. I hope she finally comes around and realizes that she can do so much more without vicious anger.
Rating 4.5
Rating PG war violence, violence against women

The Englisher

The Englisher by Beverly Lewis

This is the second book in the Annie's People series. The Englisher picks up where The Preacher's Daughter left off. Lou is still living with the Plain people. Annie has just promised her father to stop painting. Esther is still living with the Mennonites. Zeke is just finding out about the murder of his little brother.
Lou has a fancy friend, Courtney visit. We soon find she was sent there by Lou's ex fiance to get Lou to come home to Denver. The visit doesn't go well, but it does make Lou think about when she should return to her old life.
Annie finally agrees to see Ben. They begin 'dating'. Annie even borrows some of Lou's clothes to go out with Ben to a theater performance. All the while she struggles with the knowledge that she and Ben shouldn't be dating.
Lou hooks up with Sam, an Amish boy. They begin to totally fall for each other. Lou doesn't think she could ever be Amish and doesn't know what to do about her feelings for Sam.
Esther is forced to return to Zeke. She is put under the ban. No one can speak to her. She can't eat at the same table as her family. She cannot sleep in the same bed as Zeke. But Zeke being Zeke sneaks into her bed........but still makes her eat at a separate table. He wants her to bow to his will.
Zeke befriends Ben and tries to get Ben to go to the police about the buried bones of Isaac. Ben refuses to bring the outside world into the Amish one. (Ben is not Amish.) Zeke calls the police himself. They take him to jail. We don't really find out why.
Lou up and leaves in the middle of the night and returns to Denver. I didn't see that one coming. It wasn't explained very well.
Annie's father catches her with Ben. He tells her they can never see each other again. Annie writes Ben a letter. He is heartbroken and decides to return to Kentucky. Annie leaves her family home and moves in with Esther to help her. This will be like Annie is shunned by the Amish also.
I was surprised to find out that the Amish, although Christian, don't seem to buy into the atonement or savior part of Christ. At least that is the picture painted by Lewis. Most of their preaching is in High German and is not understood by everyone listening. To think you are saved by Christ is prideful and that is why Esther is banned.....because she has accepted the Savior as her savior. Also having talents is prideful which is one reason Annie is in trouble with the people and her father. Her talent for art and beauty is frowned on. Also this society is very patriarchal, but not in a good way. The women seem like servants to their husbands and are expected to do the exact will of the husband. The Mennonites on the other hand are Christians that believe in being saved and having a relationship with Christ. Their marriages also seem more of partner marriages instead of a leader and followers.
I know Lewis has a big following and this book has received good ratings on other sites. I liked it because it was clean and I learned things I didn't know. On the other hand this particular book didn't seem to flow very well. I felt like better explanations about events were needed. Maybe she is trying to create mystery, but it felt like confusion instead.
Rating 3
Rating G

Ender's Shadow

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

This is a companion novel to Ender's Game.......meaning the story is retold from another character's perspective. I think I liked this one just as much as Ender's Game, if not more. I guess I could think that because it is the freshest in my mind.
This story is about Bean. Bean is a tiny little child without a home in the streets of Rotterdam just before the last Bugger war. He joins a 'family' of other children for protection and to stave off starvation. Bean is thought to be four years old yet he is a genius. He recalls being in a 'clean' room with other babies. The other babies disappeared. Somehow Bean knew there was danger, crawled from his crib and hid in a toilet tank. He was found by a janitor. He was near starvation. The janitor took him home but wasn't able to keep him. At this time Bean was less than a year old.
Bean has a super memory and can recall everything he sees. He hides out in the streets trying to stay alive. He finds a 'family' run by a sympathetic little girl.........Poke. He convinces her to get one of the bullies that steal the food from the little ones, to take over the family and give them protection. Poke chooses Achilles (Ah Sheel). Bean knows this boy, although crippled, is dangerous. Achilles, with the help of Bean, turns the streets of Rotterdam from harsh survival towards civilization. Achilles betrays Poke by killing her.
Bean and Achilles are being watched by the government. The government is always looking for genius children to send to battle school. They are building up an army to defeat the Buggers. Sister Carlotta is one of their recruiters. She finds Bean. She tests and teaches him. She realizes that is is inhumanly smart. Sister Carlotta learns from Bean about his impressive memory. She also learns that Achilles is a murderer. She gets Achilles off of the streets and into school in order to keep the government from sending him to Battle School.
When Bean turns five he is sent into space to Battle School. Eventually meeting the famous Ender Wiggin. Bean goes against all of the psychological games that the trainers have set up for all of the students. He is finally put on the new Dragon Army, with Ender as head. They win every war. Meanwhile Bean is a loner. He makes one friend, Nikolia.
On Earth Sister Carlotta finds out that Bean's embryo was stolen along with 22 others and made into tiny geniuses. He is the twin of the genetically undisturbed Nikolia. Bean is the only surviving child of the 23 kidnapped babies. His parents have no idea their embryos where stolen, or that they have another son.
Achilles has his leg reconstructed and is sent to Battle School against good counsel. He plans to kill Bean. The school finds out that Achilles is a serial killer. Bean decides to be proactive. He traps Achilles and gets him to confess to seven murders, including Poke and the doctor that preformed his reconstructive surgery. Achilles is iced.
Bean and Ender are sent to Command School. Bean is only seven. They learn to command ships so that someday they will be able to command the fleets that will kill the Buggers. Bean realizes that this is not 'pretend'. They are actually commanding the fleets. Ender does not know. Ender is the head commander. He and Bean along with other children are able to blow up the Bugger's world and their queens.........saving the Earth from destruction.
Bean seemed to think a lot in this book which was a turn off for some people, but I liked that part. I decided to read this after reading the Ender's Game series. Although I am not a sci-fi fan per say I did really like this. It didn't feel all that sci-fi to me. Much of the time was spent on Earth.
Bean was an amazing little character. I liked to follow his chain of thoughts.
Rating 4.5
Rating PG 13 Language, violence.

Winds of Hope

Winds of Hope by Anita Stansfield

This is the third book in the Jayson Wolfe series. The book opens with Jayson having just committed himself to drug rehab for the prescription med abuse. He became addicted after an injury to his hand left him in pain and unable to play the piano or guitar. He has been staying with his old love Elizabeth and her father Will after Elizabeth feels prompted to call Jayson one night. He is just about to take his own life.
Rehab is a struggle but Jayson learns that his addiction stems from the pain of many years of loss being stuffed into a 'box'. First he was able to dull the pain with his music. After suffering that loss he overcompensated with prescription meds. As Jayson pulls out the pain from his 'box' and faces it he is able to recover. The 'box' was made when Elizabeth left him. He has since put in the 'box'; the death of his band members, his cheating wife and their divorce, his runaway daughter Macy, the death of his mother, his brother Drew having to join another band when their band......Gray Wolf ended, the death of his alcoholic and abusive father that he had no association with for years, the loss of his band, the loss of the use of his hand. He also lost his best friend Derek (Elizabeth's brother) during high school, to a freak car accident. But he dealt with that loss enough that it didn't end up in the box.
While Jayson is in rehab, Elizabeth gets a call on Jayson's cell phone, which she is in charge of, from Macy. Macy is in California, seventeen and pregnant by an abusive boyfriend. She wants to come home but doesn't know where Jayson is. Elizabeth flies out and brings her back to Utah. Jayson is released from a successful rehab and finds his greatest desire.......having Macy home, has come true. As Jayson prayed for the return of Macy, he promised his life to Jesus Christ. He has always believed in Christ but has no use for organized religion.
Things settle down as Jayson and Macy decide to stay with Elizabeth until Macy can birth her baby and return to school in order to graduate. Macy has her baby right after Christmas. She decides to give it up for adoption because she knows she can't take care of it. Jayson is not happy at first because he has always wanted more children. He sees the wisdom in Macy's decision and supports her.
Macy begins high school. She also begins attending Young Women activities after a kind advisor seeks her out and engages her. Macy meets Aaron and they begin dating as Aaron prepares for a mission. Macy investigates the LDS church as she helps Aaron with his preparation. She does not admit this to her father. She fears his reaction because she knows he does not believe in religion. Macy decides to be baptized but not to wait for Aaron.
Jayson meanwhile begins reading the Book of Mormon after Elizabeth's son Trevin gives him one. Jayson keeps this from Elizabeth. He still loves her and wants to marry her but he doesn't want her to think that he is embracing her religion just to placate her. Jayson reads and studies for quite some time, also talking to other members in order to learn all that he can. He decides to be baptized.
Elizabeth is still in love with Jayson. She hopes someday she will marry him. She does however wonder if his refusal to have anything to do with the religion that is such a part of her, will come between them. Her father Will points out Jayson's many good qualities and the fact that they have belonged together for years. Elizabeth still prays for an eternal companion since her dead husband Robert never had anything to do with the LDS church. Elizabeth decides she wants to be with Jayson and she thinks he may come around. She plans to ask him out on a date and make it obvious she is ready to have a romantic relationship with him again. During this time of contemplation for she and Jayson, Elizbeth becomes violently ill. She is rushed to the hospital as she hemorrhages. The doctor wants to do an emergency hysterectomy. Elizabeth asks for a blessing from her bishop. She has felt since the death of her husband and child that she will still have other children. The blessing confirms this. Her body is commanded to heal. The bleeding stops. A benign tumor is removed from her uterus. She and Jayson both hope the children she was promised in the blessing will be theirs.
Jayson and Elizabeth come to each other at the same time to unload their new desires. Jayson schedules his baptism for the 20th anniversary of Derek's death to celebrate the way his life is changing. It doesn't take more than a little dating and some serious thought before they decide to get married. Elizabeth tells Jayson she feels great guilt over leaving him when they were young. She comes clean with the fact that she never stopped loving him even when she left him, she was just scared. She also reveals that she had planned to ask him to come back when she found out that he was married. They both lament the loss of years together and wonder how their lives would have been if they had been married all along. Then they realize that they are grateful for the struggles and events in their lives and even though they wish that they had married in their youth, they know the paths that their lives did take were the right ones despite all of the heartache.
Jayson and Elizabeth marry before Jayson is baptized. His baptism comes and goes. He decides to begin making another album. He has gradually regained the use of his hand and since his conversion and marriage he has had a burst of creativity. Jayson writes all new songs. He calls Drew to see if he will help record. Drew and his new wife Valerie come to live with Jayson and Elizabeth while the new album is created. Elizabeth and Valerie are pregnant. Will has found a wife and has married and moved not far away.
Jayson talks Elizabeth into singing with him on the album. She has some misgivings because she doesn't want to tour with him. She wants to stay home with their children. She prays about it and feels like the right thing to do would be to sing on the album.
The new songs are a hit. The family goes on tour.......including new baby Derek. Life is great.
Elizabeth gets a new church calling in genealogy. She feels inspired to find out if Jayson has any living relatives. He does.......his estranged father's mother and sister. They meet. Jayson feels complete. He and Elizabeth have another baby.
Aaron returns from his mission. He and Macy marry. Happy, happy, happy.
This series is supposed to have one more book. I can't imagine what it could be about. After all of this happiness, I hope it isn't all marred by tragedy!
I had a good time with this book. Stansfield really came around this time and did a great job. She didn't pull the old.........lets mull over our memories and psychological pain until no one understands what is even happening. The characters dealt quickly and thoroughly with any issue they had. I was glad to have Elizabeth and Jayson finally get together after all of the years they wanted to be.
Rating 5
Rating PG totally clean but dealing with drug addiction, teen pregnancy, date rape........this isn't for your eight year old.

A Star in Winter

A Star in Winter by Anita Stansfield

Well, right in the middle of reading the first book in Ender's Shadow series I took a two day detour and read two Anita Stansfield novels. It was a nice break........you gotta have a little romance now and then.

Helen Starkey or Miss Star as she is known to her third grade class, is happy as a single girl. Helen is a healthy eater which I really like! I think I just made her sound like a fat single girl, but that isn't how I pictured her. Miss Star takes time each day to evaluate each of her students. She has been noticing a change in Scotty Brynner since the beginning of school. Her notes to his parents remain without response. One day Scotty is absent from school and Helen decides to pay a visit to his home. Helen discovers that the Brynner home has sold and Scotty's family has moved into a nearby apartment. Helen goes to the apartment and finds Scotty and his little sister Tamara home alone. The sitter canceled, Dad had to work and doesn't know the kids are home alone, and Mom has left to live with Grandma because of an illness. Miss Star comes in to the apartment and into their lives at just the right moment.
Since Mom is gone for an undetermined time. Dad has to work. Mom put the family in extreme credit card debt and Dad (Shayne) had to sell the house in order to pay the bills. Mom (Margie) left, feeling misunderstood and suffering from a minor heart problem which she wants serious attention from. She has let the heart condition get in the way of her taking care of her home and family. The only cure seemed to be shopping trips and staying out late with her friends. Helen asks if she can stay with the kids after school to help the family out. Shayne is happy to have a reliable sitter.
Helen quickly becomes an important part of the Brynner household. She takes over the shopping, cooking and childcare. There are even recipes of her best cooking at the end of every chapter.
Soon we find Margie's true intent all along when divorce papers are served to Shayne. Since he and Margie have been physically separated for sometime, the divorce goes through in days. And Ta-da!!! A serious second later..........Shayne and Helen are in love and planning a spring wedding. They get married and are happier than sin.
The romance happened super quick!! I could see it coming on Helen's part......hanging around Shayne and the kids all of the time, but I was surprised about the Shayne part. I guess he kept it well concealed until it was appropriate.
There were lots of Stansfield markers, which I point out every time just to humor myself........the word 'simple' was used CONTINUALLY!! Does anyone else pick up on this stuff? Simple recipe, simple puzzle, simple, simple, simple. Now the word sounds nutty.
Rating 4 There was cheese but I love cheese........just about every variety except Swiss. Super quick clean read. I picked it up because I knew it wasn't part of a series and I could zip through it. It was like a mini vacation.
Rating G

Cannery Row

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

This book takes place in Monterey California during the Great Depression. Cannery Row is a small patch of town where there are fish canneries, a whore house, a lab, a small grocer and a flop house for the vagabonds.
Mack and the boys from the Palace Flophouse want to do something nice for Doc. Doc lives at the lab and collects specimen mostly from the near by ocean, which he sends to other labs to study. Mack is the kind of guy that even when he tries, everything he does flops. He borrows a truck from Lee Chong, the grocer. He and the boys take the truck, which needs fixin', and still promptly breaks down, to catch frogs. They want to sell the frogs to Doc for money, which they will use to throw him a party. Instead of giving the frogs to Doc, the boys trade them for good's at Lee Chong's. The frogs get away. The town finds out about the party and everyone shows up. The party gets out of hand and the lab is left in ruins when Doc shows up from a specimen gathering trip.
Mack knows he is a loser. He know that everything he touches turns to mud. But he still decides he wants to try again to give Doc a party. Everyone from The Row gets involved again........and Doc figures out what is up. Doc hides his valuables and buys food for his own party. The whore house girls make Doc a new blanket. They are so excited for the party that they take shifts at the whore house so that each girl has a turn at the party. Mack and the boys catch a bunch of tom cats to give Doc as a gift.......cats he will be able to sell to labs. Everyone from The Row comes, including strangers and sailors. The party is a success.
The story was very simple and at points I wondered what the point really was. It meanders and there are little points of interest. It's kind of like a slow Sunday drive. I liked the book enough. It was surely not one of my favorite Steinbeck's though.
Rating 3
Rating PG for crude language

River Secrets

River Secrets ( 3rd Book of Bayern) by Shannon Hale

This is the third book in the Bayern series, the first two being Goose Girl and Enna Burning. This book focuses on Razo, the forest born turned soldier. The land of Tira wants to wage war against Bayern. King Geric and Queen Isi send their best friends......Finn, Enna and Razo as ambassadors and soldiers to quell the blood thirst of Tira.
Razo is small and not a great soldier. He can't understand why he was chosen by the army leader to be one of the select of Bayern's Own to travel to the southern city. Not long after the arrival of the Bayern newcomers, Razo begins finding charred bodies. He realizes his talent for detail and begins a search to find the murderer before Bayern is blamed for harboring a fire-witch and a bloody war begins. Meanwhile Razo meets Dasha. Dasha is the daughter of an ambassador sent to Bayern from Tira. She acts as a liason between Bayern's Own and Thousand Years, the center of the city.
Finally we find out that Dasha is a water speaker, just as Enna is a fire speaker and Isi speaks with the wind. Dasha needs help from another element before the power of the water alone overtakes her. Enna could help but doesn't trust Dasha because she is from Tira.
Enna and Finn are falling in love but Enna will not accept the proposals that Finn throws out all of the time. She finds him good at everything and always in control. She wants Finn to put himself out there in order to show his true feelings for her.
The three friends; Razo, Enna and Finn are able to come together with Dasha and find out where the burned bodies are coming from. Just in the nick of time they are able to thwart the war.
The beginning of the book was terribly slow at times..........if I remember correctly the other two were also. But then you find things picking up and by the end you forget that you didn't love the beginning. This is a great clean read..........even for the very young good readers that you are struggling to find appropriate reading material for. I found myself really enjoying the balance between the elements.....fire, wind, water, although not as pronounced as in Enna Burning. Also the mystery was intriguing.
Rating 4........I have to take some off for the slow start.
Rating G

Troubled Waters

Troubled Waters by Dean Hughes Hearts of the Children Vol. 2

Troubled Waters picks up right where book 1 left off. Gene is still on his mission in West Germany. Hans is stuck in East Germany and going to church, hoping to be allowed into university. Kathy is just starting Smith college in the east. Diane is starting at the Y and sending her boyfriend Ken off on his mission.

Gene finds out that there is more to a mission than climbing the ladder when he is not made the AP. He finally starts doing the Lord's work instead of vying for leadership positions. After serving his two and a half years he returns to the states at Christmas. He lives in his parents home as they are living in Virginia and his father is in Congress. Gene returns to his studies at the U. He works for his uncle Wally selling cars. This is where he meets Emily. We eventually find out that Emily knew him from an opposing high school and scoped him out. They fall in love and Gene frets about marrying her or taking some time to cool off. The Vietnam war is raging and even though things don't look good Gene still wants to serve America if he is called up. He doesn't want to leave Emily to go to war and die. Finally he realizes that they can be sealed forever if they are to marry and he decides to tentatively propose marriage........which Emily accepts.

Hans goes to a youth conference where he and his crush Greta almost drown. He is convinced that Greta is the girl for him and that they will someday end up together even though he is younger that she. As Hans is accepted to University and moves away from home, he finds out that Greta is engaged to another man. He is seriously depressed. Hans also still has the Stasi on his case because he decided to help a friend escape from West Germany. Hans saw his friend murdered by police but escaped. Even though he wasn't fleeing the country himself, the government is sure that he aided the escape and they are slowly building a case against him. Hans visits Greta to make one last attempt at what he thinks is the love of his life, only to find that she will never feel the same about him. Upon his return to University he is picked up by the Stasi and put in prison. He is sentenced to three years. He will probably now never have a professional job (an engineer) with the government. Life will be even harder.

Kathy heads out east to Smith college. She meets her roommate.......whom she feel they have nothing in common with each other. She joins an SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) group and devotes most of her time to rallies instead of studying. She and LaRue, her aunt don't see eye to eye anymore about politics and the church. Kathy pulls back from her religion feeling like she has nothing in common with the other members. When she is home she fights with her family because they are so uniformed about real life. Martin Luther King Junior is murdered. Kathy begins to see that blacks are no longer wanting to change things peacefully. The radicals begin preaching violence. Kathy walks away from a flag burning. She joins a hippie movement in San Fransisco but his mauled by a free love, nasty hippie and returns to Salt Lake City. The country is in turmoil over Vietnam.

Diane semi promises to wait for Ken, or at least not to get married until she graduates from college. Then she is practically stalked by the smooth talking Greg. He paints a nice picture of their life together.........he will be beyond successful and give her the kind of life she dreams of. Nice home, kids, great clothes and the right kind of people to associate with. Diane lamely tries to hold out for Ken. Her roommates even try to stage an intervention because they don't like some things about Greg. Finally it is time for Greg to graduate and go away to grad school. He proposes marriage in a Greg sort of way and Diane can't help but fall for it. She agrees to marry him and follow him to grad school.

Gene seems more mature in this book, hence much more likable. He loses some of his politician slickness. He evolves into a character that I finally care about. The budding romance helps.

Hans has grown spiritually but his life seems destined for bleakness.

Kathy is almost more than I can handle in this book. I know that she is evolving like a real person so I try to understand. But I did not like Kathy in this book. She is ANGRY and she knows more than anyone else. She's hard to swallow. She does stick by her beliefs though, despite not feeling part of her religious community.

Diane just continues being pretty and dressing cute. I can see her heading for trouble. She doesn't take college very seriously unless it has to do with socializing. Greg gives her the old ' I prayed and God revealed to me you should be my wife!' and she totally is suckered in. He's an icky guy. I don't foresee a happy marriage.

Rating 4.25

Rating G