Thursday, January 28, 2016

The Secret of Hummingbird Cake by Celeste Fletcher McHale

This book is not what I expected.  It deals with unfaithfulness, death, friendships, forgiveness and healing.  It is a book about "growing up" in a marriage.  The main character learns to face herself, her weaknesses, her flaws instead of blaming her husband for all that she views as wrong in the marriage.  Along the way both husband and wife make mistakes that bear consequences that hurt their marriage.  At the same time the main character's friend discovers she has cancer.  This leads to more soul searching.  It was a hard read for me because I disagreed with so much of what the characters did to each other.  But I can see how this book could be helpful to couples in a similar situation.

I received this book free from the publisher for my honest review.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Hannah's Choice by Jan Drexler

If you think you've read all there is to know about Amish life - think again!  This book is rich is historical facts during the 1840s with a personal insight into an Amish family's dilemmas.  You'll learn about the Amish, Mennonite and Dunkards.  There is romantic intrigue as Hannah and her sister Liesbet fall in love with men outside of their faith and hide it from their parents.  The story contains the travails of their mother's deep grief over losing 3 young children and the consequences her troubled soul has on the rest of the family.  Their father staunch and very rigid in his religious beliefs battles the war between love for his children and keeping the faith.  The family is faced with many hard decisions including whether to leave the only home they've known or find a new Amish settlement further west.  Hannah faces personal decisions of settling with a safe, secure future with an Amish man or following her heart to love a Mennonite man who risks his life to aid runaway slaves.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Cats in Paris by Won-Sun Jang

This adult coloring book does have the flavor of Paris from it's charming cover to the "bonjour"back cover!  Inside you will find delightful kitties of all types.  Explore historical places with these cats.  Also visit cats lounging on cushions, wandering through butterfly gardens and surveying their domain atop a pile of suitcases.  Other cats proudly peruse book stores or bags of cat food.  You'll find cats on stamps, listed by types, playing with yarn, snuggling in a basket, wearing champion ribbons and leaving paw prints on the pages.  This book is perfect for a cat lover or lover of Paris or French culture.

I receive this book free from the publishers in exchange for my honest review.