Wednesdays with David: Little Boys Bible Storybook

Little Boys Bible Storybook

New Kids Media June 2009

359 pages

From our shelves

The story: Well, there are a lot of them. You probably know them, if you have spent any time in temple, Sunday School, or CCD. We have an ocean that parts to let the Israelites through, a man swallowed by a whale, and a boy who defeated a giant.

Mama opines: This children's bible is specially written with moms and little boys in mind. Each story is accompanied by adorable cartoon characters, including a little angel and lizard that take in everything that is happening. At the end of each story, there are questions for discussion, along with a verse and ways for mothers to encourage their sons.

Thoughts from David: I'm wondering how they made this book. It's so many books in one! I just can't wait to read it again. Oops! I didn't talk about that right. I was supposed to be talking about how I liked this book. I like this book because of the cool characters like God who knocked down the Tower of Babel and it would just crumble and fall down.


Do you have a favorite children's Bible?

Happy Reading!

Review: Unspoken

Unspoken

By Dee Henderson

Bethany House November 2013

441 pages

From my shelves

Charlotte Graham was kidnapped and held for four years before the police found and rescued her. Now she has a new identity and an unanticipated fortune after the death of her grandfather. When she decides to sell off a rare coin collection, she meets Bryce Bishop. Bryce is intrigued by Charlotte and her story, but she has decided to stay alone and keep quiet about her past in order to protect her family. When a reporter starts writing a book about the kidnapping, Charlotte will have to decide who she can trust and whether keeping silent will save her loved ones or put them into the path of danger all over again.

I've mentioned my adoration of Dee Henderson's O'Malley series, so I regret that this book didn't work for me on several levels. The first problem is that the story is bogged down in wealth, both in broad and specific ways. The two protagonists meet because Charlotte is looking to sell a massive collection of coins that her grandfather accumulated during his lifetime. Bryce is in the rare coins business (at least for the moment) and he takes on the job of evaluating and selling this treasure trove. If you want to read a novel that will simultaneously teach you about rare coins, this would be the one to choose. Otherwise, talking about the value of rare coins takes up a lot of space in this story. There is also some cognitive dissonance in this book, simply because Charlotte has come into so much money from her grandfather. Reading page after page about Charlotte and Bryce deciding to give away millions and millions of dollars is difficult to relate to, especially with the current economy looking the way that it does.

As the story progresses, Charlotte and Bryce have to make a major decision about their relationship. Without giving away too much of the plot, I will just say that the decision that they make never felt authentic to me. Instead of the ridiculous "love at first sight" plot that seems to mar many stories, Henderson's relationships seem to take too long to go anywhere. I certainly believe in relationships that put others first and being patient and gentle with the people that you love, but Bryce's actions take this concept to new, perhaps unbelievable, levels. It was even more difficult because despite almost 500 pages with him, I never really felt like I knew Bryce.  We just don't get much of his backstory among all of this coin talk.

Unspoken is a low tension story. While Charlotte's kidnapping is a constant shadow over her life, she is not in current danger from the kidnappers. This book shows readers the slow evolution of a friendship as Bryce and Charlotte get to know each other and decide how far to take their relationship. Dee Henderson will always be one of my favorite authors, but the characters in Unspoken are not among my favorites. 

It's Monday and sometimes, reading doesn't go the way you expect...

My friends, I fear I have committed the cardinal sin of book reviewers. I was all ready to read the next awesome book from Netgalley...and then I realized that it had been archived. So I didn't get the chance to read The Opposite of Loneliness, although I really wanted to. I ended up reading something off my shelf and then I read the next book on Netgalley, because a girl does not want that to happen more than once!  

Read This Week:

Unspoken
By Dee Henderson

The Here and Now
By Ann Brashares

Posts from this Past Week:

It's Monday

March Wrap-Up

Reviews of Found and The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress

Reading Now:

Orfeo
By Richard Powers

Up Next:

Attachments
By Rainbow Rowell


What are you reading this week?

Review: The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress

The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress

By Ariel Lawhon

Doubleday January 2014

304 pages

From the library

In 1930, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Carter disappeared without a trace. Three people in particular were impacted by this mystery - Carter's wife Stella; his mistress Ritzi, a Broadway chorus girl; and his maid Maria. Their lives are thrown into turmoil as Carter's disappearance brings his infidelities and connections with notorious gangsters into the light of day. Maria faces extra scrutiny from her husband, a NYPD detective who has been assigned to the case. What do the three women really know about Carter's shady dealings and his disappearance?

The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress is one of those books that seems to come to life right before your eyes. As you read, you can vividly picture the world that Lawhon has meticulously created. We travel from opulent parties at lush apartments to seedy bars and back again as we traverse the streets of New York City with the characters. While this book is categorized as fiction, it is based on real events. The storytelling is so fascinating and detailed that it takes no stretch of the imagination to think that the events went just like this.

This tale begins at the end. It is 39 years after Joe's disappearance and Stella Crater has come to a bar to toast her husband, just as she does every year. The difference this year is that she has invited a police detective to join her. She has decided to come clean about everything she knows. From there, we move back and forth in time and perspective as we learn what Stella, Ritzi, and Maria knew and what they experience in the wake of Joe's disappearance.

The three women who carry this story are very unique. All of them have things to fear because a woman's power in the 1930s was limited. Without the direction and protection of a man, things could become dangerous very quickly especially when each of them has a connection to mobster Owney Madden. Stella fears she will become destitute without a husband to support her. Ritzi worries that she knows too much about the fate of Joe Carter and that her fate may match his. Maria sees her personal and professional lives colliding as her husband investigates the disappearance of her boss. Each one is strong and determined in their own way and I loved reading about each of them.

The Wife. the Maid, and the Mistress has everything that fans of historical fiction could want. Lawhon easily transports readers into 1930s New York amid the heights of luxury and the back alleys of mobsters and chorus girls. Nuanced and fascinating characters guide the reader through the twists and turns of a mystery that will keep you turning pages late into the night until you get to the biggest twist of them all. 

11/52

A picture of each of the kids, once a week, every week in 2014. (Or the best I can do...)

Becca Grace - We have our first pair of shoes! And our first steps!

David - We are taking piano lessons with Grammy and having a blast.
"Lucky the mole (or boy) born into a musical family..." The Musical Life of Gustav Mole 

Review: Found

Found: A Story of Questions, Grace and Everyday Prayer

By Micha Boyett

Worthy Publishing April 2014

240 pages

Read via Netgalley

Micha Boyett thought that she knew about faith and prayer. She grew up going to church and even worked as a youth leader. But after the birth of her son, she found that her carefully ordered prayer life had fallen to shambles. The early mornings that she had previously spent with her Bible and prayer were now filled with feeding and rocking a baby. How could she talk to God when her prayers were mostly pleas for help in between loads of laundry and picking up toys? Did God really want to hear from her anyway?

Micha searches for inspiration in a fascinating place - among the teachings of Benedictine monks. She finds their time of quiet prayer compelling and realizes that their days mirror our own in many ways. Their days are broken into small sections, just like ours. So Micha begins to pray as they do - not all at once, but in small moments throughout her day. She prays when she wakes up and then later at the playground, while making dinner and before going to bed.

Found  identifies a problem for many of us - we were raised to admire and emulate people who did big things. We believed that God could call us to save orphans or tend to the sick. When we find ourselves in the midst of ordinary life, whether that is a 9 to 5 job or staying home with small children, we find ourselves unsure if God loves this life, if God can use us in these ordinary places. The heart of this story is Micha (and us) asking "can I believe the God loves the ordinary? That God loves the ordinary in me?"

The defining aspect of this memoir is gentleness. Micha is learning to give herself grace and find a way to pray that works for her time and situation. In doing so, she gives us permission to do the same. Somehow this book about the everyday joys and sorrows of life is utterly engaging. Most of the time, a book needs a breakneck plot with a big mystery to keep us feverishly turning the pages. But this writing is slow and gentle while always compelling you to read just a bit more. 

This is not just a book for mothers - it's a book for anyone who finds themselves in an unexpected season of life, in a job they didn't want, or a city they didn't want to live in. It's for the ones who are sure of God's love and those who doubt. Found is for each one of us as we listen for the voice of God saying that we are enough. 

March Wrap-Up

I didn't know until now that I had reviewed so few books during March. I didn't realize that my reading had slowed down that much! I also somehow managed to only read books by female authors, although I don't feel too bad about that one...


Books reviewed in March: 6
Pages read: 2,062
Fiction/Non-fiction: 4/2
Female authors/Male authors: 6/0
My books/Library books: 3/3
Most-read March review: Careless People: Murder. Mayhem, and the Invention of the Great Gatsby
Favorite book in March:  I Shall Be Near to You



Books reviewed by David: 3
Favorite book in March: Star Wars: The Enemy Within 

source 

What was your favorite March read?