Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Grace Effect by Larry Alex Taunton

First of all, I thought it was a great book and I loved reading Sascha's story. I was drawn into the emotions of what it must have been like to go through the frustrations of dealing with such a corrupt country. I appreciated the history provided to better understand where Russia and the Ukraine are coming from and it truly is a sad story. I though Mr. Taunton did a great job showing us how grace can change people. At some points I was having trouble connecting the two but separately I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the interaction between him and Christopher Hitchens as well as the viewpoints of other athiests around the world. I think this story is well worth the read.

I received this book free from booksneeze.com in exchange for my review

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Mercy Come Morning

Mercy Come Morning is a tale of Krista who has always had a strained relationship with her mother. Now her mother is on her death bed and Krista comes to say her good byes and seek healing and forgiveness. It was a touching story and I certainly can see how this would be a great read for someone who has a parent suffering from Alzheimer's. There is a lot of pain and frustration for the person suffering the Alzheimers as well as the children who endure with the parents. Ms. Bergren does a great job describing these characters and you feel drawn to them. I was glad to see the healing and forgiveness in the end.
I received this book for free from blogging for books in exchange for my review.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

I so enjoy Lisa See's books I was quite excited her new book was out. This is the follow up to Shanghai girls which I read probably 2 years ago so as I was reading this book I had to stretch my memory quite a bit. I thought this book was so fascinating. I loved learning about life in the farming communes during the Great Leap Forward in China. The communes worked so well in the beginning. It's so sad to see how the corrupt leaders were hoarding food for themselves as the workers were just dying on the side of the road from starvation. If they would have let the farmers do their job the way they know how the great famine could have been prevented. I enjoyed reading from the perspective of both Joy and Pearl since they had such different upbringings. I highly recommend this book.

Restless in Carolina

This book is about Bridget who is a widow but also part of a formerly wealthy family. The older generations were believed to have received this wealth through dishonest measures and the Uncle now wants to make restitution to those the family had cheated in the past. Bridget is looking for a buyer for the family estate and quickly finds two buyers who seem not only interested in the estate but her as well. I liked the story well enough. It was an easy read however there were parts that were choppy and sentences that didn't make sense to me. There were so many characters to follow I had to think about which cousin is in the picture now. I did like the story line of Bridget and J.C. I thought he was a well developed character. All in all, I say this book is fine. I wouldn't rush out to read it but would be a good summer easy read.
I received this book free from blogging for books in exchange for my review.