As Waters Gone By–rescued lives
As Waters Gone By
by Cynthia Ruchti
Emmalyn has in many ways a tortured life. Her husband was sentenced to five years in prison, but she has built a prison for herself—captive to her desires to have a baby. Even before the car accident that resulted in his imprisonment, Emmalyn and her husband Max had exhausted their financial and emotional resources. Emmalyn had been a top chef, but having lost her job when the restaurant closed, she finds herself starting life again at a rustic hunting cabin that needs a lot of work to transform it into a livable cottage on Madeline, one of the Apostle Islands near Bayfield, Wisconsin. Max had cut off communication with Emmalyn so she doesn’t know if he will want to remain married when he is released from prison. With five months to go, Emmalyn and Max need to learn to communicate all over again.
When Emmalyn (M) arrives by ferry, she is quickly befriended by locals. She initially stays at The Wild Iris, a guest house and restaurant owned by the generous Boozie Unfortunate, a great cook and manager, who dispenses common sense and Christian wisdom and love, blessing all who encounter her. Another new friend, Cora, wears many hats, including roofer. Emmalyn desperately needs her help in closing a gaping hole in the roof. Cora has a team of workers, contacts to get building supplies at a discount, and a son with a tracking ankle bracelet who needs someone to take a chance on him. Reflecting on her husband’s future needs when he is released from prison, Emmalyn hires Nick to paint her house.
Just when renovations in the cottage are coming to a close, there is a major plot twist that turns Emmalyn’s world upside down, but also leads her on a journey of self-discovery as she realizes mistakes she made in her marriage and is drawn again into a relationship with God. This dramatic twist will remain a secret as this is a spoiler-free review, but it adds depth, despair, and delight to the plot.
Reading As Waters Gone By was a pleasure. It has quirky, lovable characters and a strong moral base. This book was a page turner for me. As I review M’s situation, I realize this character’s issues beckon the reader to exchange places with M and ponder her choices from a personal perspective, because all of us can suddenly find our world upended. Will we be able to stand the course as God reveals the plan behind the circumstances so that one day we can say too (Job 11:16 NIV) that “You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.” ?
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: As one of the members of my book club said, “Although this is a Christian book, there is nothing “preachy” about it.” Several members commented on the rich descriptions. I agree with both assessments. It also had many instances of gentle humor that were very enjoyable.
Publication: 2015—Abingdon Press
Memorable Lines:
Introvert? Extrovert? Boozie fit under the Tidal Wave category. But with a gentle touch that made people forget they were being carried someplace other than where they were headed.
“We brought bacon, too, if that helps your mood.”…The moment christened the cottage with tears and a laughter chaser. “Smoked meat,” Emmalyn said between gasps, “fixes everything.” “The food world’s duct tape,” Cora added.
Hope’s laughter floated through the cottage, lighting the shadowed corners. No matter what age, a child’s laughter changes things.
“That’s the thing about messes,”…”It doesn’t matter what caused the trouble. The answer’s always the same. Call out to God. Watch His rescue. Then thank Him.” Emmalyn doubted it was that simple. But she’d seen it at work on the island. Her exile. Her refuge.
Flop Dead Gorgeous–action, mystery, dogs, and fun
Flop Dead Gorgeous
by David Rosenfelt
There are lots of things reading can and should be, but in the case of Flop Dead Gorgeous, it is FUN! I enjoyed this legal mystery with a dollop of cozy and a heavy dose of humor. The dogs add animal charm, and now I’m addicted. That is okay because this book is the 27th book in the Andy Carpenter Mystery Series!
Out to dinner with a starlet, lawyer Andy and his retired cop wife Laurie experience some real life drama when Jenny’s demanding and irrational ex-boyfriend shows up. Thanks to Laurie’s reflexes, all seems well until Jenny discovers his body on the floor of her kitchen in the middle of the night. Andy, who dated Jenny a few times in high school (as he humorously reminds the reader multiple times), is convinced Jenny did not kill Ryan, but the only way to persuade the jury of her innocence is to find out who did kill him. Sam, his cyber investigator who has a way of “entering” off limit computers is called upon to track phones, to find out what the authorities know, and to learn what those active in the dark web are up to. Andy also has his team safe guarding himself and Jenny—a smart move since some really nasty foreign mobsters may be involved.
I enjoyed Andy’s persistence and his straight-faced wise cracks in the face of a probably negative outcome for his lovely client. He has a number of loyal friends that include a police chief and a local newspaper editor. They are ethically sound, but they also will help when they can. Andy has an excellent record as an attorney, but he maintains a fairly rundown office above a fruit stand that successfully throws some off guard.
The author’s love of rescue dogs is reflected in this mystery in which he has three dogs living with him. Mamie, Jenny’s dog, adds to the pack when Jenny and Mamie live with his family during the trial to avoid the press. As a Basset hound aficionado, I particularly enjoyed these quotes about his Basset Sebastian:
“…Mamie runs around him, trying to get him to play. She doesn’t know it yet, but she has more chance of getting a response from a clothes hamper.”
and
“Ricky always holds Sebastian’s leash because there is no danger that Sebastian will pull free and run off. It’s like walking a barking turtle.”
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Legal Mystery, Humor
Notes: 1. #27 in the Andy Carpenter Mystery Series. This could definitely be read as a standalone. This is my first book by David Rosenfelt, and I had no problem with bouncing into this large series.
2. There is some inappropriate language which could have been left out, but not enough to keep me from reading another in the series.
Publication: July 4, 2023—St. Martin’s Press (Minotaur Books)
Memorable Lines:
“I’ve got water, flavored water, and flavored carbonated water.” “None of the above,” I say. Just because I’m in California, it doesn’t mean I am going to abandon my principles and start being health conscious.” …“You’re representing the person who killed Ryan.” “Apparently the innocent until proven guilty concept hasn’t worked its way west?” “It’s probably somewhere over Nebraska at this point,” he says.
…people who invest in movies are not usually the killer types. They certainly are not above stabbing people in the back, but they do it metaphorically.
He spit at Marcus Clark. As stupid maneuvers go, that ranks well above tugging on Superman’s cape and pulling the mask off that old Lone Ranger.
A Shadow in Moscow–Cold War spies
A Shadow in Moscow
by Katherine Reay
As you can guess from the title A Shadow in Moscow, this book is about spies—two women in particular—and is told in two timelines with a third included in an epilogue. I didn’t like the two timelines for a lot of the book, but by the end I understood why the author chose that style. She purposely does not reveal the connections between the two women operatives until late in the book. She, in fact, keeps a lot of clues from the reader. The whole book is interesting, but a little unsatisfying until the author reveals the relationships to the reader and to the characters themselves. At that point I was shaking my head at the courage, intelligence, and loyalty of these women.
Almost any summary of this work of historical fiction would include spoilers, so I will instead relate some of my impressions. I have read other books by Reay and appreciate her as a writer. She has researched her topic well and has shared information about the Cold War in a way that makes it understandable to the reader. It is hard to comprehend from our position in North America the length and depth of the spy organizations and culture that permeated the world during that era, especially as it involved the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great Britain. This is a story of intelligence agencies (CIA, MI6, and KGB) and counterintelligence agencies. We learn of the extent the KGB went to in their efforts to control the actions and even the thoughts of their people. We see this on an organizational level, but also a personal level as individuals and families are unable to express themselves or know who to trust. As Reay states in her notes to readers, “only in truly understanding our pasts will we be able to navigate—with empathy, humanity, and wisdom—our presents well.”
At two-thirds of the way through this book, I would have given it a moderate stamp of approval. At the end I was overwhelmed with the writer’s talent, with the way the various threads were drawn together, and with the motivations and resolutions for various characters. It will transport you to a difficult time in history when choices, whether based on ethics or on greed, led to life and death decisions.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Historical Fiction
Notes: Discussion questions are included in the back of the book and Reay references other resources on her web page. If this is chosen as a book club selection, I would advise that the members read the whole book before discussing it.
Publication: June 13, 2023—Harper Muse
Memorable Lines:
Jamison’s cramped and stuffy book-lined office is my favorite spot on campus. Something about its dusty, ink-and-paper smell takes me right back to my bedroom and my all-night read-a-thons—because at home you get the best books in secret and only for one night.
Our conformity gives an illusion of power and peace as we are raised to believe our way of life is superior and virtuous. Illusions are powerful things. If you believe them hard enough, they can become one’s reality.
“They’re Americans, Sasha. They have constitutional rights agains that kind of stuff.” The memory is bright and convicting, blinding me with truth. That’s the difference, I think. Forget the bedazzled clothes, the neon colors, the malls, the plentiful vegetables. Forget it all. It’s window dressing hiding the truth. None of that matters because only one thing counts. Rights.
Jayber Crow–Life Story
Jayber Crow
by Wendell Berry
Some books are hard to encapsulate in a book review. Jayber Crow is one of those books. I am grateful to have book club members willing to share their insights and perspectives and give me opportunities to reflect on my own.
Author Wendell Berry is a Kentuckian through and through as is demonstrated in his Port Williams series of 11 novels and additional short story collections with a Kentucky setting. A novelist, poet, agrarian, activist, essayist, and farmer, Berry tells the story of Port William through the lives of his characters. Not a lot “happens” in Port William, but individuals like Jayber Crow are on display for the reader to understand how their experiences determine their strength of character. Jayber Crow has a series of rough circumstances as a child and as a young man; but never viewing himself as a victim, he develops the mental, emotional, and even physical fortitude to become a strong and introspective person. As is often the way in small towns, he is still considered an outsider even after many years of residing in Port William. With the goal of never being under the control of “the man across the desk,” Jayber, who considers himself the town’s most “ineligible bachelor,” has his own business as the town’s barber with side jobs as grave digger and church sexton.
Jayber was born in 1914, so he and all of Port William were affected by both World Wars and the Depression. He was witness to the technological changes that some called progress and others perceived as movements away from self-sufficiency and a difficult, but very satisfying way of life. In the process, they replaced a slower existence powered by manual labor with a more stressful one with a never-ending cycle of debt.
Jayber’s spiritual life is explored in the novel as he was placed in an unloving church orphanage where he thought he was called by God into the ministry. He was given a college scholarship to that end, but had a change of heart as he progressed through his studies. Jayber’s story shows the hand of God working behind the scenes as events from his early days help him as an adult. He is quiet, doing a lot of listening as a barber. As you read this book, you will watch Jayber navigate literal and metaphysical floods. There is a lot of symbolism in the book as related to water and course of direction. His relationships with women are interesting as he finally comes out of his shell by visiting a neighboring town where he will be subject to less town gossip. His marriage covenant is a most unusual one and may leave the reader with more questions than answers.
There is so much to think about in Jayber Crow that it is not a quick or easy to read book. I did enjoy it and recommend it. It takes the reader on a journey across Jayber’s lifetime, but never far from Port William.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction
Notes: 1. #6 in the Port William Series, but works well as a standalone
2. Contains a map and a genealogy of the families of Port William featured in the series.
Publication: 2000—Counterpoint (Berkeley)
Memorable Lines:
Back there at the beginning, as I see now, my life was all time and almost no memory. Though I knew early of death, it still seemed to be something that happened only to other people, and I stood in an unending river of time that would go on making the same changes and the same returns forever. And now, nearing the end, I see that my life is almost entirely memory and very little time.
The talk went the way I love it, so quiet and unhurried I could hear the dampened fire fluttering in the stove.
Her hearing was as sharp as Miss Sigurnia’s was dull. Aunt Beulah could hear the dust motes collide in a sunbeam; she could hear spiders chewing on flies.
The Branches seemed uninterested in getting somewhere and making something of themselves. What they liked was making something of nearly nothing.
Why is hate so easy and love so difficult?
Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity
by Robert Whitlow
Connor Grantham, a graduate of Princeton Divinity School, is from a family of highly successful professionals. He loves reading, studying, and hiking. His job in Bryson, Georgia, allows him to do all three in the low stress environment of Rock Community Church. When Matt Thompson is killed in a hunting accident on the property where Connor is hiking, life becomes complicated. Matt and his second wife, Elena, had been consulting Connor for marital counseling. With her interest in her husband’s will and insurance policies, she hardly fits the profile of a grieving widow. There are, however, several other characters who could also benefit from Matt’s death. Complications arise when a video surfaces of Connor at the hunting lodge. Believing he is innocent is far from having evidence that he is innocent.
Liz Acosta is a young American lawyer of Cuban descent. She has been hired for her Spanish speaking abilities, but when she is assigned Elena as a client, she demonstrates skills far beyond translating. She is eager to learn and her boss encourages her talents.
The plot is complicated, and the characters are interesting. I had not read a legal novel in a while so I enjoyed returning to that genre. Even more, I saw what a legal mystery could be when told from a Christian perspective. Author Whitlow takes a character who has basic Christian beliefs, but not much actual experience in communicating with God, and places him in circumstances where he needs to do just that. He also positions him near a family that is suffering through extreme hardships but nevertheless can model prayer and faith to him in a way he has never experienced. Connor sets out to minister to Lyle and Sarah Hamilton and their son Josh. He does that, but he also receives blessings that help him through an ordeal that he never expected to endure.
Double Indemnity has many opportunities for character development. Which church members will rally around Connor and who will turn their backs on him? Connor has always been careful to be above reproach in meetings with female members of his congregation. Will tongues wag anyway when a meeting in a public place becomes a topic of gossip? Can Liz help Connor when her first obligation is to her client Elena? Why is the Georgia Bureau of Investigations so concerned about this case? What role does ex-wife Anne play? Matt claims to love both women! Matt’s company is in trouble. Could his business partner be trying to rescue the business through an insurance claim? Double Indemnity answers these questions and more while engaging the reader in a page-turning plot.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery, Christian, Fiction
Notes: References to Cuban cuisine give this book both culinary and multicultural appeal.
Publication: June 6, 2023—Thomas Nelson
Memorable Lines:
“What should the topic for my message be on Sunday?” he asked. Michelle raised her eyebrows. “Shouldn’t you be asking God, not me, about that?” “I did and didn’t get an answer.” “Maybe that’s your message: “What to Do When God is Silent.”
Sarah Hamilton prayed. The woman’s words reminded Connor of a freight train slowly pulling out of the station. They carried a weight and power that couldn’t be ignored. Something big and powerful was on the move. Sarah spoke as one who knew what she believed and expected God to listen.
“God knows the end from the beginning whether the path in between is long or short, complicated or simple, and how everything fits into the destiny and destination he has for each person’s life.”
If prayer is a weapon, Sarah’s words weren’t bullets, they were artillery shells.
The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse–charming
The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse
by Charlie Mackesy
A short book.
A quick read with much to ponder.
With delicate ink drawings, evocative watercolors and bold calligraphy type, it speaks of dreams and love and kindness, but mostly of kindness and its interplay with love.
This book is a gift—a gift to the reader and a gift the reader will want to share with loved ones.
The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse is a philosophy of life sprinkled with humor and told through simple words and graceful illustrations.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Fiction, Philosophy
Notes: A book to be savored and reread and reread.
Publication: 2019—Harper One
Memorable Lines:
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” “Kind” said the boy.
Two Stories for Children
The Quilt Story—love across generations
by Tony Johnston
illustrated by Tomie dePaola
Over the years I have enjoyed sharing legends as presented by Tomie dePaola with my Kindergarten and First Grade classes. Today I reread The Quilt Story written by children’s author Tony Johnston. Tomie dePaola illustrated this book as beautifully and as appropriately as he does his own texts.
The Quilt Story begins in the days of covered wagons as Abigail’s mother makes her a quilt that Abigail uses and enjoys in many ways. It becomes a special comfort to Abigail when her family leaves their old life behind to begin a new one in the woods where her father builds a log cabin. Many years later a descendent of Abigail discovers the quilt, having suffered varmint attacks and natural aging, in the attic. She takes it to her mother and asks her to fix it.
The story is sweet and touching. Ms. Johnston and Mr. dePaola share so much contextually. Abigail’s sadness is apparent and understandable when the rest of the family is happy. The passage of time is indicated by the types of transportation, the clothing, and the homes, but both mothers are kind and comforting. The Quilt Story is reassuring to children in our minimalist and disposable age indicating that some objects do hold emotional memories of times and people of the past.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Children’s Literature, Historical Fiction
Publication: 1985—Putnam Publishing Group
October 1990—Scholastic
Memorable Lines:
So her mother rocked her
as mothers do.
Then tucked her in.
And Abigail felt at home again
under the quilt.
The Cowboy and the Black-Eyed Pea
by Tony Johnston
illustrated by Warren Ludwig
What a delightful reimagining of “The Princess and the Pea!” Set on the “biggest spread in the great state of Texas,” there is humor all the way through. The main character, who is also the heroine of this tale, is Farethee Well, “a young woman of bodacious beauty.” She is also clever and devises a plan to execute her father’s final wishes to “Find a real cowboy who’ll love you for yourself, not just for your longhorn herd.”
Her plan involves hiding a black-eyed pea under a saddle blanket because only a real cowboy would be “sorely troubled” by it. Watching the various suitors as they ride out to unknowingly perform the test is very funny—both in text and in the illustrations. Harkening back to the original fairy tale, a young cowboy arrives in the rain without knowing about the contest for the young cowgirl’s hand. One stampede and a pile of saddle blankets later, the real cowboy is discovered.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Children’s Fiction, Humor
Notes: 1.Don’t look for realism in the cowgirl’s test. If she put a black-eyed pea under the saddle blanket, it would be the horse that felt it, not the cowboy. Just remember it is a remake of a fairy tale and have yourself a Texas-sized good time!
2. Contains humor on both an adult and children’s level so all readers will enjoy this!
Publication: 1992—Putnam & Grosset
Memorable Lines:
Sure enough, quick as you can say “set another place at table,” cowboys from hither and yon came seeking Farethee Well’s hand.
education pathways 