Review: Mended

Mended: Pieces of a Life Made Whole

By Angie Smith 

B and H Publishing Group 2012

183 Pages

From Shelton Interactive

This devotional is a collection of popular posts from Angie Smith's blog Bring the Rain. Each chapter focuses on the ways God can use people who are broken, people who feel as if they have nothing to give. She gets the idea for the book from a project she undertakes after the death of her daughter Audrey. Angie can't shake an idea that she read in a book on grieving - that breaking a piece of pottery can help with the healing process. So Angie shatters a pitcher and begins to painstakingly glue it back together.

She realizes that "this pitcher was my life, and every piece was a part of the story that He had chosen to put together. I started crying, and remembering things I thought I had forgotten. It took a long time to finish, but it was time well spent. Every nook and cranny whispered to me, until at last it stood in all its imperfection.
Here you are, Angie. You are mended. You are filled with My Spirit, and I am asking you to pour yourself out.
The image of my life as a broken pitcher was beautiful to me, but at the same time, it was hard to look at all of the cracks. I ran my fingers along them and told Him I wished it had been different. I wished I had always loved Him, always obeyed Him, always sought Him the way I should. I was mad at the imperfections, years wasted, gaping holes where it should be smooth.
But God, my ever-gracious God, was gentle and yet convicting as He explained.
My dearest Angie. How do you think the world has seen Me? If it wasn't for the cracks, I couldn't seep out the way I do. I chose the pitcher. I chose you, just as you are." 

This book is written in a very conversational way. It's easy to imagine that Angie has invited you over for a cup of coffee and a chat or that you happen to be in the same Bible study group. She is a gracious writer, open to telling you her failures and her fears. She discusses the ways in which we feel we are unworthy of God and his grace in relation to Peter, she imagines how our lives would change if we challenge ourselves to do just one better, and she learns about the way God directs our lives as she imagines what her future might look like.

This is a good read, but perhaps it has more impact when it is savored. I read through the book in a few days and found myself engaged, but I didn't have the impulse to get through just a few more pages. If you are at a point in your life where you are truly doubting if God can love you in spite of your mistakes, this would be an excellent choice for insight from a woman who has been in that same dark place. 

My reviews of Angie Smith's I Will Carry You and What Women Fear can be found here. 

To the guys and gals of the FTC: I received this book from Shelton Interactive in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Andrea! 

Wednesdays with David: Time Train

Time Train

By Paul Fleischman

Illustrated by Claire Ewart

Harper Collins 1991

From the library

The story: Miss Pym is taking her class to the Dinosaur National Monument during spring vacation. When the ticket seller tells them to get on the Rocky Mountain Unlimited, they are transported back in time and get to meet the dinosaurs in person! 

Mama opines: I liked how the author and illustrator showed a gradual trip back through time. The children on the train get to see horse-drawn carriages and Civil War soldiers before they make it back to the prehistoric age. Fleischman has a lot of fun with the dinosaurs - the children camp in giant footprints and one industrious student takes some great pictures via pteranodon. The illustrations are gorgeous as well. 

Thoughts from David: I like it because it goes back through time and they see real dinosaurs! 

Favorite part: I liked when they go back through time. 

Happy Reading!

Review: The Adventures and the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures and the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sterling Publishing Co. 2004

563 pages

Borrowed from my sister

I picked up this collection of stories for two reasons. First, I was feeling some literary guilt for never going to the Sherlock Holmes party. Second, I really miss watching Sherlock. The BBC is so mean to leave us waiting like this...

Within this book, you will find some of the best-known Sherlock Holmes stories including A Scandal in Bohemia, The Speckled Band, The Red-Headed League, and the much despised The Final Problem. These stories were published serially in a magazine before Doyle gathered them together for The Adventures and The Memoirs. 

It's hard to say too much about these stories that hasn't already been mentioned. I found them a perfect pick for winter. It was easy for me to sit down with a blanket and immerse myself in the dark alleys of London or the mysterious country homes with dark secrets. The mysteries are well-written and the combination of Holmes and Watson has stood up to the test of time for good reasons. Watson makes the perfect every man narrator to show us the bizarre but compelling world of the reclusive Holmes. The good detective has, of course, become an archetype for detective stories everywhere. His mind seems to work on a different level than that of the average person, as he seamlessly uses his powers of observation and his vast knowledge of science, history, and psychology to solve case after case.

It was interesting for me to note that the Sherlock Holmes of Doyle's stories is a more multi-faceted character than the one we often see portrayed on TV and in the movies. He is a genius who is socially awkward and feels that he is superior to everyone he encounters. But the Holmes created by Doyle goes through many more emotions than we usually see portrayed - he is unsure of his decisions, he worries for his friend, and in rare moments he even worries for himself. This character has so much for the reader to uncover and it feels that you could spend a lifetime with him (as Watson does) and perhaps you will never really know him.

I'm glad I finally read some Sherlock Holmes. The mysteries are wonderful and I feel inspired to pick up some other classic mysteries (Agatha Christie, maybe?). Sherlock Holmes and Watson are an incredible duo  and I'm glad to have met them in their original incarnations.


Have you read Sherlock Holmes? What is your favorite story or novel?

It's Monday and it has been quite a week!

Hey there, party people. How are things going? It's been quite a week around here. Do you remember in Angela's Ashes when they refer to the second story of their house as Italy because the downstairs is freezing and the upstairs is warm? My house was a visit to Italy this week. Our pipes froze sometime during Tuesday/Wednesday. Thankfully, it was only the ones that heated the downstairs so we were fine for sleeping. We lived upstairs for a few days, which had the uncomfortable effect of making us feel like we were sick even though everyone was healthy.

My husband and a friend valiantly worked to heat the pipes back up. And then the pipes started bursting. At which point I took David and escaped to my mom's house for the day. Thank you husband....I apologize for abandoning you, but sanity had to be maintained.

So our house is a mess, but we have heat again! Oh, and did I mention that I am singing in/organizing a benefit concert for this weekend? I'm a bit frazzled and trying to prioritize between the concert and sorting through all of the things that got a soaking when the pipes burst.

Enough about my crazy life. I'm moving on to the books. Unless of course you live in central NJ and you want to come to our concert - you can find all of the details here.


Read This Week:

Year of Wonders
By Geraldine Brooks


The Magician King
By Lev Grossman

Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Reading in 2013: Pen/Hemingway Winners
Wednesdays with David: The Cars Storybook Collection 
Reviews of The Lost Daughter and Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail

Reading Now:

Cult Insanity
By Irene Spencer

Up Next:

Open City
By Teju Cole

What are you reading this week?

Review: Wild

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

By Cheryl Strayed

Knopf 2012

315 pages

From my shelves 

Cheryl Strayed finds herself at a turning point in life. She has divorced her husband after the terrible death of her mother, and the rest of her family members are nowhere to be found. She decides to make a solo trip across the Pacific Crest Trail in spite of the fact that she has no experience as a hiker. This is Cheryl's story of her incredible trip and the realizations that she had about her past and what her future could be.

I've enjoyed reading Strayed's thoughts as Sugar on the website The Rumpus, but this is the first book of hers I have read. It lived up to all of hype. The tale of her journey by itself is interesting reading, even for those of us who have little desire to spend any time camping or hiking. You might think that this book would get repetitive or boring - it's just hiking day after day, right? But Strayed encounters many trials during her trip. She starts to lose her toenails because of ill fitting boots and finally loses the boots themselves; her supplies and money don't make it to the next stop in time for her to get them, and she meets some downright threatening characters, both of the human and animal kind. But her adventures and the long bouts of solitude give the young writer a lot of time to think - about her relationships, her choices, and where she wants to go from here in life (both literally and metaphorically). 

Some critics have decried the many terrible decisions that Strayed makes before and during her journey. She does drugs, has random sex, and oh yes, goes on a dangerous hike with no companions, no experience, the wrong boots, and a backpack she can hardly lift. But I think she is typical of a lot of people in their twenties and this trip is her turning point. It is the moment in her life when she discovers what she can do by herself - without the help or advice of a parent or a spouse. Who is she in her darkest moments when she is completely alone?

Cheryl Strayed is a beautiful writer. Her words have such grace and wisdom that I found myself pausing often to re-read passages. “Uncertain as I was as I pushed forward, I felt right in my pushing, as if the effort itself meant something. That perhaps being amidst the undesecrated beauty of the wilderness meant I too could be undesecrated, regardless of the regrettable things I'd done to others or myself or the regrettable things that had been done to me. Of all the things I'd been skeptical about, I didn't feel skeptical about this: the wilderness had a clarity that included me.” 

I'm don't usually love memoirs. Often, they are so personal that there is no connection for the reader or they are so saccharine in their conclusions that the author must have been watching Pollyanna continually while writing. But this is a book I will read again and again, to experience Cheryl's crazy adventures, to observe the way she effortlessly crafts a gorgeous and heartbreaking passage, and to glean all of the insights she gains along the way. 

Reading in 2013: PEN/Hemingway Award Nominees and Winners

I'm not big about reading the winners of book awards. I figured that the winners of honors like The Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award get plenty of attention and many readers. But as I thought about a book project for 2013, I decided to peruse the different awards and see if I could find one that was a bit under the radar.

I discovered the PEN/Hemingway Award, which is given for an author's first published novel or short story collection. In looking at the list, I realized that I had read only one of the books nominated. I decided during 2013, I would attempt to read one book each month that was a nominee or winner of this award. This will be a way for me to discover some new authors and hopefully add some new favorites to my bookshelves.

First up is the 2012 award winner - Open City by Teju Cole. Upcoming possibilities are The Madonnas of Echo Park, A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, Cutting for Stone, and The Silver Linings Playbook. If you want to find some PEN/Hemingway award winners for yourself, you can find the list here.

Wednesdays with David: The Cars Storybook Collection

Disney/Pixar Cars Storybook Collection

Disney Press 2011

The story: This collection of stories features the gang from Radiator Springs. Lightning McQueen races against new competitors, the cars become honorary deputies, and Guido is surprised by an Italian extravaganza!

Mama opines: The first few stories re-tell the plot of the movie, but most of them are new. David adores this book. This is the one he picks to bring with him in the car or look at while he is eating a snack. This actually was a library book. David was so excited to read it that he took it to the grocery store with him and it got snagged in the shopping cart. When we took the book back to the library and offered to pay for the repairs, they gave it to him to keep because he loved it so much and it was such a worn-out copy. He thinks it's the greatest thing ever that he gets to keep a library book!

Thoughts from David:I like the book because the characters can really move. They can race with Chick and Stinger and because Stanley was the first to move into the area, he decided to name the town Radiator Springs.
Favorite part: I like when they surprise Guido!

What book does your little one ask you to read again and again?