Book Review: Even When our Voice Shakes

 

Even When Your Voice Shakes

by Ruby Yayra Goka

Pub Date 15 Feb 2022 | Archive Date 31 Jan 2022

 W. W. Norton & Company,  Norton Young Readers

 OwnVoices  |  Teens & YA

I am reviewing a copy  Of Even When Your Voice Shakes through W.W Norton & Company, Norton Young Readers and Netgalley:

After Amerley is offered a job working for one of her mother’s old school friends, she knows she has to accept.  Her wages will be used to help feed her family as well as help her sisters at stay in school, and ensure that her mother won’t have to worry about them.   Amerley’s move to Accra isn’t easy, but she soon settles into her new life away from her small village—until she is raped by the son of her employer.  Between keeping quiet to keep her job and speaking up for herself and for justice, Amerley must decide how to live her truth, and the impact of her choice will be felt through her entire community.

Even When Your Voice Shakes exposes the damage wrought by institutionalized misogyny and poverty and reveals how even those who are most disadvantaged are never without their own power.  

I give Even When Your Voice Shakes five out of five stars!

Book Review: Unclutter Your Soul

Unclutter Your Soul

Overcome What Overwhelms You

by Trina McNeilly

Pub Date 15 Feb 2022 |

 Thomas Nelson--W Publishing,  Thomas Nelson

 Christian 

  

I am reviewing a copy of Unclutter Your Soul through Thomas Nelson and Netgalley:

Everyone wants our lives to change for the better so we can become a better version of ourselves in spirit, soul and body.   But we still struggle.  Author Trina McNeilly, looking for order in her own life, embarked on an inward journey to the home of her heart and soul to find healing and health from the inside out.

Unclutter Your Soul is for all who are cluttered and overwhelmed with loss, fear, chronic stress, unhealthy coping mechanisms, crippling depression, or anxiety. With the Holy Spirit as our guide, Trina says we can learn to

observe: acknowledge the clutter,own: make space for a healthy internal environment, and overcome: take action with tools for living clutter-free from the inside out.

Every chapter in these three sections are written as an essay and concludes with practical and soulful tips as well as prompts to put them into action. With discussion questions and a prayer guide.

I give Unclutter Your Soul five out of five stars

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Scarlet Pen

 

The Scarlet Pen

by Jennifer Uhlarik

Pub Date 01 Jul 2021 

 Barbour Publishing, Inc.,  Barbour Fiction

 Christian  |  Historical Fiction  |  True Crime

I am reviewing a copy of The Scarlet Pen through Barbour Publishing and Netgalley:

Enjoy a tale of a true but forgotten history of a 19th century serial killer whose silver-tongued ways almost trap a young woman into a nightmarish marriage.

This book takes us back to 1876 Emma Draycott is charmed into a quick engagement with childhood friend Stephen Dee Richards after reconnecting with him at a church event in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. But within the week, Stephen leaves to “make his fame and fortune.  

The heartbroken Emma gives him a special pen to write to her with, and he does with tales of grand adventures. Secret Service agent Clay Timmons arrives in Mount Pleasant to track purchases made with fake currency. Every trail leads back to Stephen and therefore, Emma. Can he convince the naive woman she is engaged to a charlatan who is being linked a string of deaths in Nebraska?

I give The Scarlet Pen five out of five stars!  

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Fight LikeJesus

 

Fight Like Jesus

How Jesus Waged Peace Throughout Holy Week

by Jason Porterfield

Pub Date 01 Feb 2022 |

 Herald Press 

 Christian  |  Nonfiction (Adult) 

I am reviewing a copy of Fight Like Jesus through Herald Press and  Netgalley:

Throughout Holy Week, two competing approaches to peacemaking collide. What if we have embraced the wrong one?

When Holy Week Started tears streamed down Jesus’s face as he cried out, “If only you knew the things that make for peace.  From that moment to a week later when he triumphantly declared, “Peace be with you,” Jesus spent each day confronting injustice, calling out oppressors and contending for peace.

Fight Like Jesus poses the question What if, despite all our familiarity with Holy Week we still don’t know how Jesus makes peace? And what if despite clinging to the cross of Christ for our salvation we’ve actually embraced a different approach to peacemaking? One that justifies killing enemies. One whose methods include nailing criminals to crosses.

We desperately need to recover the radical vision of peacemaking that Jesus embodied throughout Holy Week. And we urgently need to be trained in his way of making peace. So, come. Let’s journey together day-by-day through Jesus’ final week and discover anew why he is called the Prince of Peace.

I give Fight Like Jesus five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: After Jesus Before Christianity

 

After Jesus Before Christianity

A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements

by Erin Vearncombe; Brandon Scott; Hal Taussig; Westar Institute, The

Pub Date 02 Nov 2021 | Archive Date 28 Dec 2021

 HarperOne 

 Christian  |  History  |  Nonfiction (Adult)

I am reviewing a copy of After Jesus Before Christianity through HarperOne and Netgalley:

For over two millennia  Christianity has endured and today it is practiced by billions worldwide today. Yet that longevity has created difficulties for scholars tracing the religion’s roots, distorting much of the historical investigation into the first two centuries of the Jesus movement.   But this book asks the questions what if Christianity died in the fourth or fifth centuries after it began? How would that change how historians see and understand its first two hundred years?

Through considering these questions three Bible scholars from the Westar Institute summarize the work of the Christianity Seminar and its efforts to offer a new way of thinking about Christianity and its roots.  Synthesizing the institute’s most recent scholarship—bringing together the many archaeological and textual discoveries over the last twenty years—they have found:

Before the fourth century there were several Jesus movements not a singular one, and there was nothing called Christianity until the third century.   There was much more flexibility and diversity within Jesus’s movement before it became centralized in Rome, not only regarding the Bible and religious doctrine, but also understandings of gender, sexuality and morality.

Exciting and revolutionary, After Jesus Before Christianity provides fresh insights into the real history behind how the Jesus movement became Christianity.

I give After Jesus Before Christianity Four out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: As Dawn Breaks

 

As Dawn Breaks

by Kate Breslin

Pub Date 02 Nov 2021 

 Bethany House,  Bethany House Publishers

 Christian  |  Historical Fiction  |  Romance 

I am reviewing a copy of As Dawn Breaks through Bethany House Publisher and Netgalley:

Rosalind Graham is desperate to escape the arranged marriage she is being forced on her by her ruthless guardian and instead follow her own course, Amidst the Great War in England where she is working as a munitions worker.  After the Chillwell factory explodes, killing hundreds of unidentified workers, Rose realizes the world believes she perished in the disaster. Seizing the chance to escape, she risks all and assumes a new identity, taking a supervisory position in Gretna, Scotland, as Miss Tilly Lockhart.

Alex Baird is an RAF captain whose returning home to Gretna on a secret mission to uncover the saboteur suspected in the Chilwell explosion, as Gretna's factory is likely next.   Afraid for his families safety, he also finds himself haunted by the guilt he feels for not being able to protect his little brother.  Alex is surprised to discover a young woman, Miss Lockhart, renting his boyhood room, but the two eventually bond over their mutual affection for his family--until Alex receives orders to surveil her.

Rose squirms beneath Alex's scrutiny while she is struggling to gain her workers' respect. But when her deception turns to danger, she and Alex must find a way to put their painful pasts behind them and together try to safeguard the future.

I give As Dawn Breaks five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Killer Words

 

Killer Words

by V.M. Burns

Pub Date 30 Nov 2021 

 Kensington Books,  Kensington

 Mystery & Thrillers 

I am reviewing a copy of Kensington Books and  Netgalley:

Samantha Washington is a bookstore owner and mystery writer. Samantha Washington comes to the aid of the cop who once arrested her own grandmother.

Sam and Nana Jo are are back in sleepy North Harbor, Michigan, where Samantha is excitedly awaiting the publication of her first book.  In search of more immediate excitement, Nana Jo hits the casino with her fellow Shady Acres Retirement Village gal pals.   But they end up getting more than they bargained for when they witness Detective Bradley Pitt decking mayoral candidate John Cloverton.

As Samantha is well aware of mystery novels are full of brilliant detectives, genius sleuths, and hero cops. Detective Bradley Pitt—aka “Stinky Pitt”—is another story.  In the past the dull witted detective has mistakenly accused members of Sam’s family for crimes they didn’t commit. Now, it’s his turn: when Cloverton turns up dead, he’s arrested. With his predilection for polyester, Pitt has been wanted by the fashion police for years, but Nana Jo knows her former elementary school math student would never commit murder—it doesn’t add up.   Detective Bradley Pitt was obviously framed and Sam and Nana Jo must step in to restore the reputation and good name of Detective Pitt.

I give Killer Words five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Deadly Target

 

Deadly Target

by Elizabeth Goddard

Pub Date 02 Nov 2021 

 Revell 

 Christian 

I am reviewing a copy of Deadly Target through Revell and Netgalley:

Erin Larson is a criminal psychologist whose dreams of a successful career come to a screeching halt when she nearly loses her own life in a boating accident on Puget Sound and then learns that her mother tried to commit suicide.   She ends up leaving her career as a criminal psychologist to care for her mother in Montana. At least she is able to produce her podcast, which focuses on solving missing persons cold cases.

Nathan Campbell's father was investigating such a case when he was shot, and now Nathan needs to enlist Erin's help to solve the case. She's good at what she does. The only problem with that is she is his ex.  

As the two dig deeper, it becomes clear that they are being targeted--and that the answers to their questions are buried deep within the past Erin struggles to explain and longs to forget.

I give Deadly Target five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Violinist of Auschwitz

 

The Violinist of Auschwitz

by Jean-Jacques Felstein

Pub Date 30 Nov 2021 

 Pen & Sword,  Pen & Sword History

 Biographies & Memoirs  |  History  |  Nonfiction (Adult)

I am reviewing a copy of The Violinist of Auschwitz through Pen and Sword History and Netgalley:

Elsa was arrested in 1943 and deported  to Auschwitz, Elsa survived because she joined the women's orchestra. But Elsa kept her story a secret, even from her own family. Indeed, her son would only discover what had happened to his mother many years later, after gradually unearthing her unbelievable story following her premature death, without ever having revealed her secret to anyone.

Jean-Jacques Felstein was determined to reconstruct Elsa's life in Birkenau, and would go in search of other orchestra survivors in Germany, Belgium, Poland, Israel and the United States.  In reconstructing his Mother’s life in Auschwitz the recollections of Hélène, first violin, Violette, third violin, Anita, a cellist, and other musicians, allowed him to rediscover his 20-year-old mother, lost in the heart of hell.

The story unfolds in two intersecting stages: one, contemporary, is that of the investigation, the other is that of Auschwitz and its unimaginable daily life, as told by the musicians. They describe the recitals on which their very survival depended, the incessant rehearsals, the departure in the mornings for the forced labourers to the rhythm of the instruments, the Sunday concerts, and how Mengele pointed out the pieces in the repertoire he wished to listen to in between 'selections.

The Violinist of Auschwitz is a powerful true story of survival against all odds.

I give the Violinist of Auschwitz five out of five stars!

Book Review: Little Sister

 

Little Sister

by Script & art by Johann G. LOUIS

Pub Date 20 Oct 2021 |

 Europe Comics 

 Biographies & Memoirs  |  Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga  |  Middle Grade 

I am reviewing a copy of Little Sister through Europe Comics and Netgalley:

Let me start by saying that I found this Graphic novel to be done very well, excellent in fact, I love that this deals with Antisemitism and bullying in a way that will engage Middle Grade readers.

Set in the 1950’s Little Sister is the story of Susie the youngest and her two older sisters the vivacious Effie, and the elegant Sandra.  When you are the youngest in the family life can be hard.  No one ever lets you do anything. No one ever pays any attention to you. Everyone makes fun of you.

Bestselling children’s author Susie Morgenstern takes readers back to 1950s Newark and all the everyday charms and heartbreaks of the year she turned ten: spelling bees, synagogue, Christmas lights, Halloween candy, nights out at the movies, sneaking fast food. In his joyous art, Johann G. Louis lovingly evokes the era and a young girl awakening to life.

I believe this would be a great way to bring a discussion into the classroom or to have a discussion with your middle grade child about bullying in all its form, in this case in particular antisemitism.  And to show them that we are really more alike than we are different.

I give Little Sister five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Where I Belong

 

Where I Belong

by Marcia Argueta Mickelson

Pub Date 07 Sep 2021 

 Lerner Publishing Group,  Carolrhoda Lab ®

 Multicultural Interest  |  OwnVoices  |  Teens & YA

I am reviewing a copy of Where I Belong through Lerner Publishing Group and Netgalley:

It’s the spring of  2018, Guatemalan American high school senior Milagros “Millie” Vargas knows her life is about to change.   She’s lived in Corpus Cristi since she came with her parents who were seeking asylum when she was an infant.  Now that she’s a citizen Millie devotes herself to school as well as caring for her younger siblings while her mom works as a housekeeper for the wealthy Wheeler family.  Now that College is on the horizon Millie is torn between attending her dream school and staying close to home, where she knows she’s needed. She’s disturbed by what’s happening to asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, but she doesn’t see herself as an activist or a change-maker. She’s just trying to take care of her own family.

After Mr Wheeler a U.S. Senate candidate, mentions Millie’s achievements in a campaign speech about “deserving” immigrants.It doesn’t take long for people to identify Millie’s family and place them at the center of a statewide immigration debate. Faced with journalists, trolls, anonymous threats, and the Wheelers' good intentions—especially those of Mr. Wheeler's son, Charlie—Millie must confront the complexity of her past, the uncertainty of her future, and her place in the country that she believed was home.

I give Where I Belong five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!