The Forgiving Kind by Donna Everhart ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

Daddy never wanted to do nothing much other than grow cotton, and the way he’d gone at it, we figured that would be the thing to kill him, but it wasn’t. We got three hundred acres in Jones County, North Carolina, first-rate land he calls it. For a girl like me, meaning a girl who'd rather spend time outside more than anywhere else, there was no better place on earth. Some might think we're stuck out in the middle of nowhere, that what we have ain't no different than any other farm along Highway 58. I see things different - I see what he does. The way freshly plowed soil looks like that rich chocolate powder Mama uses for baking. How the leaves on a cotton plant are heart shaped, and how on a sunny day, their vivid green color gets so intense, you have to squint your eyes. There's these little buds on the cotton plants, called squares, and when they bloom, they turn pale yellow, like fresh cream. Within days they go to a light pink, and then darker pink, self-pollinating, Daddy says. When our fields turn those different colors, I can't imagine how nobody wouldn't think it wasn't the prettiest sight they'd ever laid eyes. on.

2019 in Review

Here we are at the end of 2019. This year has gone by faster than any other year, but it has been a great year. We have reviewed so many books and discussed some fun bookish topics. In case you missed it, here are some of the highlights from the year.

The Scroll by @KBHoyle_author ~ a Review #TheGatewayChronicles

by Donna Huber

I'm almost at the end of the re-read of this wonderful series. The Scroll is book 5 and there are only 6 books in the series. This is my 3rd time reading the series (which I have also bought 3 times as I've bought sets for my mom and niece) and still absolutely love it. I'm excited that two of my neighbors are reading it after meeting K.B. Hoyle last Saturday at our town's book festival.

The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

At the crossroads, Tom pointed to a sign tacked to a big oak tree, crudely painted with the words, SWALLOW HILL WORK CAMP and an arrow pointing right.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

The Moonshiner's Daughter by Donna Everhart ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

"The only memory I have of Mama, she was on fire."  (p 1)

Seekers of the Past by Amy Valentini ~ a Series Review

by MK French

Today I'm reviewing the four books in the Amy Valentini's time traveling romance series Seekers of the Past. It is a "journey to where the past meets the present and love lives forever".

Review: An Acre of Fools by Aden James

by Donna Huber

Do you ever pick up a book from your to read pile and wonder what attracted you to it? I kind of felt that way with An Acre of Fools by Aden James.

From the back cover,

After battling a long illness, Peter Stewart's daughter, Austin, finds herself in a nightmarish addiction that thrust her and her family into a world they never imagined.
As she buries herself deeper and deeper into the narcotics culture of shameless selfishness and deeply personal manipulation, Peter's unwavering hope for her drives a wedge between him and the less forgiving family members.
But when Austin finally chooses to embrace all that the life of addiction offers, Peter is forced to choose between his faith and a family too broken to hope.
He chooses poorly.

I guess I was drawn to the dysfunctional family and personal struggle. However, when I first started reading An Acre of Fools, I felt like I was reading a different book.

It starts off with a youngish couple from Chicago purchasing a vacation home on the Okatie River in South Carolina. Yes, it was a bit run down, but Mimi saw potential. She saw her dream life unfolding before her.

Almost the entire novel revolves around the one week a year they live in the house along the river. And in the beginning it seemed pretty idyllic.

Beginnings have a way about them that are so innocent, so pure. Endings can be so tragic and so corrupted, Somewhere in between is the mystery of life, the crooked journey that captures hearts and souls along the way. pg. 33.

But dreams have a way of not turning out quite as imagined and possibly even turning into a nightmare. While Mimi saw two boys playing along the riverbanks in her dream, her first born was a girl. But life was still good.

Then came along another child and instead of two little boys, Mimi would have two little girls playing along the river. But soon after Austin was born, it was evident that life wouldn't be as smooth sailing as before. Not because having a second child in tow causes that much more work, but because something was wrong with Austin. Something every wrong. Something that would take years for them to figure out and even longer to treat.

With each chapter comes a new year in the life of the Stewarts along the banks of the Okatie. Sometimes a year or two would have passed sometimes several. The reader is definitely treated to snap shots of the family's life. And like most pictures, they try to show the best of times.

And while there is definitely something special about the place along the Okatie, real life begins to encroach. By the time Austin is a teenager, she is addicted to the Oxycotin that she was prescribed for her serious illness. Life for the Stewarts would never be idyllic, innocent or pure again.

I really enjoyed James's writing style. While the story is about a family dealing with drug addiction, it is also so much more than that. So much so that at times I didn't think the story was really about this family's situation, but more about the internal battle of good versus evil. Some of James's best writing was when Peter was struggling with his faith. For Peter so desired to be the love of Christ to the world, yet he recognized the evil, the hatred, he held deep within his heart. The dialogue that Peter had with himself and others spoke so richly of the human condition that this story could have been anyone's story.

I really found this passage between Peter and his eldest daughter Gracie to be quite poignant.

They paddled in silence enjoying the scenery for a while, until Gracie asked her father, "Dad what do you believe?"
"Believe? About what?"
"About life. About God. About what's happened to our family."
"That's a very deep question for such a lazy day. Fo you really want to go there?"
"I do. With Austin out of our lives, I've been able to relax a bit, but now I miss our family, our whole family. The way we used to be. When we were young, I don't understand why God tore us apart."
"Do you want the complex Peter answer, or the quick and easy Dad answer?"
"We have time. I'd really like to know."
"Okay, then. For starters, I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. Through His grace we are saved. Not because of what we do, but because of what He did."
"Igot that. I know that. But that all sounds very churchy. Why are you so on-fire for Him given how hard our life has been?"
Peter thought for a moment. "Some people think that life is the easy stuff and the hard stuff gets in the way. The hatd stuff is part of life, it's part of the journey. The Bible says that we're going to have difficulties. But we should be of good cheer anyway."
"Why? why should we be cheerful with all we have to put up with, knowing what Austin's entire life has meant to both her and to us?"
"Let's look at it this way. I can sit in my chair at home and read about loving unconditionally, even loving my enemies. And I can gree with that from the comfort of my cozy room. But then put me with someone who is a pain to be around, or someone who is actually trying to hurt me and I'm probably not going to respond in a loving way. So, then I ask you, do I agree with the Word of God, or not?"
"Probably not."
"Exactly, You don't know what you believe in until you're given the opportunity to act upon it. So difficulties are actually oppportuniities to show you what you really believe, not just what you say you believe. It's God's way of helping you see things about yourself that you could never know when life is moving along easily.
"I believe in Jesus and His Word, in part, because, in the face of horrible persecution, He forgave those who were hurting HIm. He chose not to look at the persecution. He chose to look at how His actions would impact a man like me. So for Him, the difficulty was an opportunity to demonstrate love.
"A belief is nothing until you claim it through your own experience, until you hold firm to it through suffering. I can observe someone else's suffering and contemplate how I'd respond in the same sistuation. But until I actually suffer, I don't really know who I am.
"So both the good and bad are life, and how we responss determines what that life will be like in our experience of it. Two people can go  through the exact some trouble and have two very different views of life and two very different life experience. I choose to respond as Jesus both commanded me, and as He did Himself."
"What about a man like Jack? Do you forgive him?"
The question slugged Peter in the guy. It stopped him cold. Gracie could see how it visibily upset her father. pg 179-181

The conversation continues a bit about all sin being the same to God and how the Bible tells Peter that he must love Jack, though Peter sees him as the enemy.

"But, Dad, he almost killed you daughter. And now there are other men just like him who are also killing your daughter. How can you love people like that?"
"And now come the harder answer, my real answer to your question." Peter hung his head and hesitated to go on. But then he picked up his head and spoke with a viciousness that Gracie had never, ever seen in her father.
"I want to kill them all." pg. 181-182

I usually lean towards fluff reads in the summer, but I like to read at least one book that has some meat to it. And as you can see from the above passage, An Acre of Fools definitely gives the reader a lot to think about.

Peter's faith plays an important role in his life and the plot of the story, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it to be Christian fiction. I think anyone who holds strong beliefs grounded in peace and love will be able to identify with the struggle Peter faces.

Besides faith, another overarching theme in this book is why bad things happen to good people. In the passage I quoted, we get a glimpse of Peter's answer, but in the novel we also get answers from a few of the other characters.

I struggled with a few things in the story. Mostly timeline issues. I kept losing track of the kids' ages and I wasn't really sure when the book was set. There are clues, but I found them frustrating more than help.I eventually had to sit down and work out the timeline for myself. Did you know the first living donor liver transplant was done on November 27, 1989? Austin had one when she was about 5, with Peter being the donor, when it was still experimental.

The biggest timeline problem for me though came when Austin went to college. Now, she was a very sick child in the early years; she nearly died when she was about 8 (I think). Yet, she graduates high school when is is 17. That's not too unusual, but she doesn't turn 18 until February-ish. That would have meant she entered first grade when she was 5 and I'm pretty sure all school's require children to be 6 by Sept. 1 to enter 1st grade. Plus this would have been when she was most ill. Would she really have kept up with her school work? I know the story line wouldn't have worked quite as well, but things like that irk me.

Even with this issue, the story kept me up past my bedtime more than once as it was very addictive once you got into the story. The whole story is not gloomy or filled with philosphocial discussion. There are quite a few fun family moments that will endear you to this family and make you wish you had a house on the river to go to with your family.

By Townofbluffton (Own work)
[CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

If you are looking for a book that will make you reflect on your own beliefs and life choices, then I highly recommend An Acre of Fools. 

Buy An Acre of Fools at Amazon

Donna Huber, founder & publisher. Donna is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. She reads most genres, but her favorite books are psychological thrillers and stories that highlight the survival of the human spirit against unbelievable circumstances.

Book info:
available formats: audio, ebook and print (338 pages)
published: May 2016 by Elevate Fiction
ISBN13: 9781943425365
genres: literary fiction, family life
source: publisher





Get even more book news in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/mHTVL. A free book was provided for this review. Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.

4 Books to Read Before Summer Ends #MondayBlogs

by Susan Roberts

Ahh...the long lovely days of summer when you can sit and relax at the beach or the pool and read a good book.  Here are some of my favorite beach reads so far this summer.

All Summer Long by Dorothea Benton Frank

Olivia is an interior designer in New York City. As a long time resident, this is the life that she knows and loves. When she married her husband Nicholas, a professor and historian, she promised that when he retired, they would relocate to Sullivan's Island near Charleston SC. That time has come and Olivia needs to make the move but the problem is that she has severe cash flow problems due to a down turn in her work and she hasn't shared that information with her husband. Add in some very rich and very crass people that they go on a yacht trip and you have an interesting look into the life of the rich and famous - and that life didn't look too great! The book is about the move and whether Olivia can make the transition and still keep her business and her husband happy.

I am a long time fan of Dorothea Benton Frank and have read all of her books. She writes lovingly of the South Carolina low country and you feel that you are sitting on the beach when you read her descriptions. The only thing that I didn't like about her new book All Summer Long is that more of it took place in NYC and on a yacht than in SC so there was little time to spend in SC. As a long time reader, I would have preferred more time in SC and lots less in NYC. Despite that, I enjoyed this book and thank the author for my first glimpse of the beach (though a short glimpse) this reading season.

Buy All Summer Long at Amazon

A free book was provided by LibraryThing for this review

Flight Patterns by Karen White

“That we need to ask for forgiveness even when we believe we’ve done nothing wrong.” She paused, as if wondering whether she should continue. “And to forgive ourselves. That’s usually the hardest kind of forgiveness.”
― Karen White, Flight Patterns

I have read all of Karen White's books and each time I read a new one, it becomes my favorite of all but Flight Patterns may just remain my favorite. I absolutely loved this book from page 1 until the end.

Georgia moved to New Orleans from her family home in the Florida panhandle ten years ago. A client at the auction house where she works needed information about a set of Limoges china that his grandmother had left him. When Georgia realized that she had seen a piece of China in the same pattern at her home, she was forced to go home and confront the reasons that she had vowed that she would never return. At home, she had to deal with her estranged sister, niece, grandfather and her mother who hadn't spoken in 10 years.

The characters are very well written and the plot has enough mystery to keep you rapidly turning the pages. Not only is it a good story but I also learned a lot about Limoges china and enjoyed all of the information about bee keeping. My husband has several bee hives so that made it even more interesting and I learned some facts that I wasn't aware of.

This is a fantastic book about family and love and most importantly about forgiving those that we love.

Buy Flight Patterns at Amazon

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

You can always depend on Jenny Colgan to write a book that's fun to read and very interesting. This is a book about books, so you just know that you're going to like it. Nina is a librarian who loses her job in Birmingham due to modernization. After trying to decide what she wants to do next, she realizes that her main love is books so she decides to open a book store. Realizing that she can't really pay for a building, she comes up with a plan to buy a big van and own a bookstore on wheels. The only van that she can find that fits her needs is in the highlands of Scotland. After buying the van and not being able to get permits in her home town, she decides to stay in Scotland. While there, she meets a variety of fun characters and several potential boyfriends.

I thought that this was a fun book to read -- I loved the main character and enjoyed all the problems that she had to solve to get books to the people who wanted to read. This would be a great book for the beach - I highly recommend it.

Buy The Bookshop on the Corner at Amazon

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs

Annie Rush is the producer of a very successful cooking show starring her husband. They are in love and deliriously happy. When she rushes to the set, to tell him that she's just found out she's pregnant, she finds out that their happy marriage was a sham. An accident on the set, puts her in a coma for over a year. When she wakes up, she has no idea of where she is or how she got back to Vermont. She doesn't remember her husband or her successful cooking show. As she begins to recover, she finds her life completely changed. Will the town she grew up in, her family and her high school boyfriend be able to help her heal? Or will she want to return to the life that she knew in California?

I have always enjoyed Susan Wiggs books and I thought that this was one of her best. This was a wonderful romance and a fantastic story of recovery from the physical and mental blows that life can deal. . I highly recommend this novel - it was a great story with real characters that the reader can really identify with. I really liked Annie but she was surrounded by some great secondary characters that made the book even better. If you're enjoyed Susan Wiggs in the past, you definitely need to read this book. If you haven't read her books, now is the time to start and this is the book to start with.

Buy Family Tree at Amazon

Susan Roberts, reviewer. Susan grew up in the Detroit area but after deciding that city life wasn't for her she moved to North Carolina after college. She and her husband have several acres of land and they enjoy gardening and canning vegetables in the summer. They travel extensively. Susan reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook or Twitter.

Get even more book news in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/mHTVL. Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.

8 Thrillers to Keep You Up Too Late

by Susan Roberts

I love to read a good thriller that keeps me guessing until the end. Here are 8 novels with roller-coaster plots that may keep you up past your bedtime.

Sue's 2019 Reading Results and 2020 Plans

by Susan Roberts

I started 2020 in the hospital with pneumonia so I'm way behind with my view back at 2019 and my reading plans for 2020.

Principles of Emotion by Sara Read ~ a Review

by MK French

Math prodigy Dr. Meg Brightwood solved the Impossible Theorem. She's been a recluse and plagued with anxiety for years and was dismissed by academia. The field is sexist and often full of plagiarism, so Meg plans to publicly prove that she solved it. When a panic attack derails her plans, she locks away her proof. Carpenter Isaac Wells is on the run and once was the love of Meg’s life. While they reconnect, Meg's answer to the Impossible Theorem is missing. Proving her authorship will test her as well as the burgeoning relationship.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.