A few minis - Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans, Defining Moments in Black History by Dick Gregory

There are a few books I've been thinking about not reviewing (and one I loved but don't want to give full review treatment) so I've decided to do a few mini reviews. Most of these were read some time ago, at least long enough that plenty of the details will probably escape me.

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson is a beautifully written story about a young girl and her family after their move to New York. Told in reflection after she meets an old friend on the train and refuses to speak to her, the story describes the fiction she told herself about her mother and how eventually the missing mother would show up, the friendships that she formed after she was finally allowed to roam outside her apartment, and the horror when one of her friends was raped. I read Another Brooklyn in July and that's about all I can remember, apart from how it made me feel.

And, here is where the surprise comes. Most everyone seems to love this book but it simply did not resonate for me. Jacqueline Woodson's writing is impressive, evocative, a little dreamy and very honest. It wasn't so much that I couldn't relate because that doesn't necessarily matter to me. It was that I couldn't always follow; in other words, sometimes the book was a little too lyrical or metaphorical and I wasn't entirely certain what she was trying to say or what had just happened. And, in the end, I was left with questions. I no longer recall what those questions were, but I definitely would have loved to talk to someone about it when I closed the book. Maybe that would have made it a better read for me, having someone to discuss with. But, I found it just an above-average read because of the confusion. Apparently, it was just me. The book gets rave reviews. All of my friends have given it either 4 or 5 stars at Goodreads and I love Woodson's writing so I still recommend it. I may even reread Another Brooklyn, someday; it's very likely I missed something.

Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans is a book that's been on my radar since Andi of Estella's Revenge talked about it. Till then, I was unfamiliar with the author or her blog (where she appears to now seldom write an entry) and her heartfelt posts about her struggle between the Christian beliefs that have taken a sharp direction away from those of the evangelical church in which she was raised and her yearning to be a part of a church community. Subtitled, "Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church," the book tells about Evans' childhood in a Southern Baptist church, her devotion to learning about the Bible and saving people, her Bible-scholar father's calm explanations, and then . . . the questions, the creation of a new church with friends, and the gradual changes in her beliefs that led her to search for a new church home.

With the exception of having a Bible scholar as a father (mine was an accountant) there were some striking similarities between Evans' church history and mine. I grew up in the Southern Baptist Church (a cheerful, small-town church where I always felt happy and loved). I was an eager student of the Bible, although maybe not a very good one, and I wanted everyone to feel the kind of acceptance and love I felt at church so I was constantly trying to convert people. I can only hope I wasn't too much of a prig, but it all boiled down to the fact that my home church was a joyful place. Like Evans, I also went through a stage when I finally began to seriously question the church's stance on particular modern issues, although I had long since moved to the Methodist church and my move away from the church was decidedly slower. Still, the similarities stunned me and I found Searching for Sunday an incredibly affirming and comforting read.

Highly recommended, especially to those who find themselves questioning the church but not their Christianity.

In the opposite vein, I'd really like to say as little as possible about Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies by Dick Gregory because I have such mixed feelings about it. It starts out great. Gregory, who recently passed away, lived quite an interesting life as an actor, comedian, and writer, and appeared to know just about every black person of fame that you can think of. He was around during the Civil Rights Movement and was knowledgeable about the events, the people, the movement itself and the many organizations working for change. At the beginning, he shares a great deal of history in fairly short chunks. They're not necessarily cohesive, but they're interesting and revealing. The audience he addresses is black; he talks as if he's talking to a young person, offering his knowledge as well as advice.

However, as the book progresses, Gregory begins to occasionally contradict himself and dig deeply into conspiracy theories. While I felt like some of them were absolutely plausible, there were many others (particularly involving the deaths of celebrities) that simply didn't make sense to me, even when I sat back and thought about them and twisted them around in my head.  He believed, for example, that Tiger Woods' downfall was not due to his infidelity but due to generic white supremacists who didn't want him to surpass the success of Jack Nicklaus. How he came to that conclusion in spite of Tiger's own confession and decided that Tiger's back surgery was a fiction forced upon Tiger by these unknown white supremacists is beyond me. That's simply one example. I'd like to give Gregory the benefit of the doubt and say that perhaps the contradictions and conspiracy theories were due to the fact that he was aging and died shortly before publication but I haven't read any of his other books so I can't compare to know if there's been any change.

At any rate, I liked parts of Defining Moments in Black History and found some of the history particularly fascinating (music, movies, movements, you name it - he spoke broadly). Iffy on recommendation but I wouldn't tell you not to give it a try. I'd love to hear other folks' thoughts about this book.


©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Snow on the Tulips by Liz Tolsma

In the winter of 1945, 10 men are lined up and shot by Nazis for their part in the Dutch Resistance.  One of them survives and makes his way to a house nearby, where his wound is dressed and he is turned away.  Still bleeding, Gerrit stumbles to the home of widowed Cornelia and her brother, Johan.  Corrie doesn't know the first thing about how to treat a bullet wound, nor is she certain she can trust the local doctor, so she fetches her sister, Anki, a nurse (which leads to a secondary storyline I won't dive into).  

The Nazis have left their victims to die, but when they return to fetch the bodies and discover that one man is missing, Cornelia realizes she has put all of her family in danger.  And, when Gerrit asks her to send a message to his friends in the Resistance, her refusal will mean even more danger for Johan. But, Corrie can't bring herself to send Gerrit away; and, when she starts to feel attached to him, she fears the war will end up taking everyone she loves.

Snow on the Tulips is, at its heart, a Christian romance based on a true event.  There was a real-life Gerrit, a man who was lined up with other Dutch Resistance workers and shot, and a real-life Corrie who nursed him back to health.  But, the true story and WWII are backdrop.  Snow on the Tulips is a story about finding the courage to help others at risk of one's own life, a tale of romance, a story of faith.  

Snow on the Tulips was a "liked the idea more than the execution" read, particularly because I found the WWII scenes were often unconvincing.  There were some little oddities that didn't sit well with me.  For example, Johan is a 20-year-old guy who has managed to hide from the Nazis as they've slowly gathered all the men who are fit enough to put to work.  He's spent most of his adult life at war and he is often forced to hide beneath the house.  And, yet, he's silly and impulsive. He often acts more life a 5-year-old having a temper tantrum than a 20-year-old who has spent 25% of his life at war.  When Nazis are regularly raiding houses in his area, he is implausibly halfhearted about staying out of sight and sometimes even noisy and boisterous.  I had a little trouble both tolerating and believing in Johan. I also thought there were a few too many convenient escapes and near misses.

There were, however, a lot of realistically tense scenes and Snow on the Tulips is nicely paced, with clear writing and an excellent flow.  Writing-wise, it's good.  In spite of a little difficulty with suspension of disbelief, the pages flew.  As a WWII book, I  thought the story was weak but it was solid enough that I gave Snow on the Tulips a 3.5/5 rating at Goodreads. I would recommend Snow on the Tulips particularly to fans of romance.  

I got my copy of Snow on the Tulips via Litfuse Publicity and they're having a super giveaway. Click on the link in my sidebar to enter to win a copy of the book and a $50 Amazon gift card! 

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Stars Shine Bright by Sibella Giorello

The Stars Shine Bright by Sibella Giorello is a book I was supposed to review for a blog tour roughly two weeks ago. Boy, did I drop the ball on that one.

I requested The Stars Shine Bright because I am absolutely in love with the Raleigh Harmon mysteries -- very odd for me, since I burned out on mysteries around a decade ago. They are all beautifully written and the latest installment is no exception.

Book Description:

In The Stars Shine Bright, FBI agent Raleigh is sent to uncover a possible race-fixing scheme at a horse track called Emerald Meadows. But, not long after Raleigh arrives, horses begin dying and Raleigh's life is threatened. Are horses being killed to fix races, or is there more to what's going on at the race track than a mere attempt at improving betting advantages?

While Raleigh rushes to find the answers before her undercover assignment time runs out, she must also deal with the growing awareness that she might just be engaged to a good man for all the wrong reasons. At the same time, Raleigh must learn to live with the hard facts of her mother's mental illness.

I never seem to manage to mark quotes in Sibella Giorello's books because I get sucked into them like the U.S.S. Enterprise gets sucked into wormholes, but you can trust me when I say Giorello's writing is absolutely stunning. Her mysteries are complex enough to satisfy without being so twisty that you find yourself feeling like you must be missing significant brain matter and her conclusions are satisfying. The main character is always getting herself into trouble and she's always in an emotional tangle, which also makes you want to continue following her to see whether she'll get herself out of the latest bind. I just love Raleigh.

One caveat: Raleigh Harmon is a Christian and Thomas Nelson is a Christian publisher. If you don't like being in the head of a Christian and can't respect her opinions, you might feel like the books are a tad preachy. I'm a Christian, myself, and I did feel like there were times The Stars Shine Bright might briefly have turned off the average mystery reader. But, I also like to look at Christian books the way I do anything else. I get just as weary of atheist characters telling me why they don't believe in a higher power, at times; but, if it's just a part of their characterization and it makes sense, no big deal. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, whatever. I'll read anything if the story is good. And, the Raleigh Harmon series rocks.

Highly recommended to mystery lovers, Christian or otherwise. The Stars Shine Bright is the 4th book in the Raleigh Harmon series. I have the first in e-book form but have not yet read it. I began with the 2nd in the series and didn't feel like I was missing anything but I do recommend reading the books in order, if possible.

Other books I've reviewed in this series:

• The Clouds Roll Away (#2 in the Raleigh Harmon series)
• The Mountains Bow Down (#3 in the series)

In other news:

I am going to try to knock out at least one review per day till I'm caught up. I have a couple children's books I haven't added to my sidebar, as well.

Cat pic of the day (pardon the moving mess):

Izzy says, "If the human doesn't bother to place all the toys in convenient locations, one must fend for herself."

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A Billion Reasons Why by Kristin Billerbeck

A Billion Reasons Why

By Kristin Billerbeck

Copyright 2011

Thomas Nelson - Christian Chick Lit/Romance

320 pages

I'm going to make this review a quickie because it sounds like the end of the world is happening outside my window, here (big storm -- no lightning or I'd be unplugged).

Katie McKenna is about to get engaged to her boyfriend, Dexter. Dexter is reliable and he wants the same things Katie wants. At least, that's what she thinks until her old boyfriend, multi-millionaire Luc DeForges, walks back into her life. 8 years ago, Luc humiliated Katie in public, back in their hometown, New Orleans. Since then, she's become a special ed teacher in Northern California. Katie's put the past behind her and she's perfectly happy. But, Luc wants her to sing and dance at his brother's wedding. Really, he's trying to lure her to New Orleans but I won't go into the details apart from the fact that she needs her grandmother's ring to get engaged and Luc has it.

Katie has a fascination with the 1940s and she finds herself just a little bit excited at the idea of returning to her old passions, even briefly. But, there are a billion reasons why she shouldn't have anything to do with Luc, again. So, why is she suddenly spotting all of Dexter's flaws and finding herself so magnetically drawn to Luc? What if God wants her to stop hiding her talents and avoiding her passion for the 1940s? Could it be that Luc offers what she's really wanted all along?

Well . . . obviously, this is a romance so you know going into the book just how it's going to end and who the heroine will choose. I've wanted to read a book by Kristin Billerbeck for quite some time because I've read a lot of raves about her Christian chick lit (that's definitely how I'd classify it, although the Christian element is, again, not very prevalent).

Unfortunately, there were a lot of things I didn't like about A Billion Reasons Why. I thought the writing was weak, in general. Conversations that should have been brief and to the point dragged on for pages and were a bit stilted. And, I thought the idea of being "about to be engaged" made no sense, whatsoever. A ring does not a commitment make. A woman's engaged the moment he asks and she says "yes", in my mind.

In spite of all those dislikes, I did like the characters and I loved Katie's obsession with the 1940s. During the first half of the book, it seemed like it was taking forever for the author to explain the past -- what Luc did to humiliate Katie, what happened to her father, why Luc had her grandmother's ring. But, once those answers were revealed, I did like how it came together.

Also, I've always found myself drawn to the 1940s, its movies and clothing, the way people spoke -- and especially the strength of people dealing with WWII. Nice suits and hats!! Why can't we bring back hats on every head?! Okay, yes, they mush your hair.

I did think the whole New Orleans thing was forced--meaning, it seemed like the author went out of her way to try to make it sound like she knew New Orleans when, in fact, I was almost immediately convinced she just thought it was a cool setting. I looked up the author's bio and found out she's a 4th-generation Californian. I guess that means I've been in the Deep South long enough to recognize someone trying to "write Southern," as opposed to writing by a genuine Southerner.

Anyway, I liked A Billion Reasons Why enough to read to the end because sometimes it's just nice to read something a little light and predictable. but, I won't go out of my way to read more books by Billerbeck because I didn't like the lengthy, repetitive dialogue. However, the fact that the book is dialogue-heavy did make it a quick read and it was definitely good timing for a breezy read. I've been a tiny bit slumpy in recent weeks.

Recommended for romance lovers, in particular. A clean, sweet romance.

You can read a free chapter of A Billion Reasons Why here.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Clouds Roll Away by Sibella Giorello

The Clouds Roll Away: A Raleigh Harmon Novel

by Sibella Giorello

Copyright 2010

Thomas Nelson - Suspense/Christian

322 pages

Whenever I thought I was right, I forgot to listen for the sibilant whisper. Hearing only my own counsel, my righteous insistence, I failed to hear the asp slithering through the grass. It was only later, in the messy aftermath, that I began to peel away the justifications and rationalizations, the false logic and shifting blame, until I was left with one small dark object, resting in the palm of my hand like an apple seed.

My hasty choice.

After several months working in the FBI's Seattle office (as punishment, possibly for insubordination but I never quite figured that out), Raleigh Harmon has barely settled into her home in Richmond, Virginia when a cross is burned on the lawn of a plantation owned by a celebrity rapper known as "RPM". Hate crimes are high-profile, high-priority cases and Raleigh, a forensic geologist, has a limited amount of time to solve the crime.

Raleigh's personal life is just as messy as her job. Her widowed mother, Nadine, suddenly wants to celebrate Christmas for the first time since her husband was murdered and she also seems determined to place Raleigh in the path of Raleigh's former boyfriend, DeMott. And Nadine's companion is suddenly angry and distant after he begins to work as a photographer for the targeted rapper.

As Raleigh digs deeper to solve the crime, she slowly uncovers a tangled web that leads in unexpected directions with interconnected crimes testing her skills and a boss and home life forcing her to rely heavily on her faith to guide her and provide clarity.

What I liked about The Clouds Roll Away:

I'm not much of a suspense/mystery reader, but this particular book sounded so fascinating that I signed up for a book tour. And, I have to say . . . wow. I was really impressed. Raleigh Harmon is a fascinating character and in The Clouds Roll Away, the author pretty much plunks her in the middle of a ring of fire with a cup of water (metaphorically speaking). The challenges she faces, both personally and professionally, are so overwhelming that you can't help but race through the book.

I was absolutely dying to know what would happen and surprised by how beautifully the author tied together seemingly diverse strands and then had her character solve the crime while dealing with a boss who obviously couldn't stand her, a mother who was either flipping out or suddenly improving (a conundrum that carried a startling ring of truth) and a shaken faith as her father's murder remained unsolved.

The Clouds Roll Away is the second in a series and it stands alone fine, but it's so well written that I want to read the first book, merely on the merits of the second -- although, I also wouldn't mind knowing what exactly Raleigh did to end up getting sent to Seattle. If that was described, it didn't stick with me. Raleigh is one tough cookie. I love the character.

What I disliked about The Clouds Roll Away:

Since The Clouds Roll Away is a Thomas Nelson publication, you have to expect some talk about God -- and, as a Christian, I like a "clean" (no sex, no bad language -- but this one does have some graphic description of crime scenes) read. I appreciated that about this book but I thought occasionally the segue into thoughts about faith was a little odd and didn't quite fit the tone.

Raleigh's thoughts about God and faith become less jarring the farther you get into the story, though, so I think it was really a case of not knowing the character and where she was coming from. Once I got to know Raleigh, her thoughts started to make a lot more sense and didn't seem to just come out of the blue. I did occasionally get tripped up by her writing style, which can be a little confusing at times, but there was never a point that I felt hopelessly lost.

A rather irrelevant side note:

There was one minor error that I thought was rather interesting. Raleigh refers to a record her mother is playing as an "RPM". I assume the author wasn't around in the days of vinyl because "RPM" stands for "revolutions per minute" and refers to the speed at which a vinyl album was played -- or would be, if you still had your old record player and you haven't gotten rid of your old vinyl. I think she meant an "LP" or long-playing album, as opposed to a single but that's just picky details. I can't believe I'm so old that the music I grew up with (some of which is still tucked in a cabinet) is now referred to as "antique". Eeks.

The bottom line:

Stunning writing, a complex and satisfying mystery and a kick-butt heroine make this book a page-turner. The book gets a family warning for graphic description of crime scenes but is otherwise clean -- no bad language, no sex, just lots of emotion and a rocking fine plot.

Cover thoughts:

The cover doesn't exactly scream, "Suspense! Mystery!" It looks placid, actually, and I think it's absolutely beautiful but it did surprise me that the crimes involved were so intense and even a bit on the gory side. And, yet, the book is as much about Raleigh returning to her hometown during a snowy Christmas and facing her own personal demons as it is about Raleigh Harmon solving a crime. After closing the book, I think the cover fits. It's got a pensive look, an image of the character that fits (before her haircut -- you have to read it to get the implications that come with the haircut) and the snowy Richmond setting. It's really perfect.

FTC notice:

I received a copy of The Clouds Roll Away for a book tour. My thanks to Thomas Nelson and LitFuse for the review copy.

Coming up:

I actually kept meticulous notes on the books that entered and left my house, this past week! I'll write about them in a separate post very soon; and, after I write my review of Why We Need Love, I'll also post a round-up of my November reads.

I've been holding off on the November list until I've managed to review everything I finished reading in November, so that I can provide links to all of my reviews. And, then I believe I have one or two more reviews and I'll take off a couple of weeks from blogging for Christmas break and ponder my reading and life resolutions for next year. Yes, I still do that -- Lord knows why. It's not like I'm good at keeping my resolutions, but I still plan to try. Are you making plans for 2011?

©2010 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.