tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73393421945208560662024-02-21T07:44:15.322-08:00Bedside BooksSara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7339342194520856066.post-56867128497742578312011-09-08T15:31:00.000-07:002011-09-08T15:31:33.313-07:00A Beautifully Sculpted Story<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bedsbook-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1400073103&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indelible</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Kristen Heitzmann</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Pub. 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>322 pp.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As a long-time fan of Kristen Heitzmann’s books, I could not wait to crack open my copy of INDELIBLE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing that, within its pages, Heitzmann had no doubt crafted a world of intrigue and mystery that blended beautifully with romance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not disappointed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Returning to the small mountain town of Redford, which Heitzmann introduced her readers to in INDIVISIBLE, local business owner/search and rescue worker Trevor MacDaniel races after a mountain lion and rescues a young boy from its teeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole heroic display in only the first five pages!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little does Trevor know, however, that the rescue will end up changing his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first change comes when he finds out that the boy he rescued is the nephew of his new business neighbor, Natalie Reeve, a sculptor plagued with an eidetic memory which allows her to capture the faces of those she sees in vivid sculptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their lives twist together as Trevor attracts the attention of a grim admirer, who we catch glimpses of throughout the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Natalie and Trevor, both guarded from past life experiences, must learn to rely on, and trust, each other as they deal with Trevor’s “admirer” and the other obstacles thrown into their path.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Within the pages of INDELIBLE, Heitzmann weaves a story of redemption, acceptance, and perseverance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could not turn the pages fast enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was as if the words themselves demanded that you speed through them in eager anticipation of what was to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My one complaint about the book was the abrupt ending which felt anti-climatic after the urgency of the rest of the book, and left me feeling dissatisfied.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">All in all, however, Heitzmann proves her talent once again with a book that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and aching for more.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review</span>Sara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7339342194520856066.post-73036170008681165802011-08-08T13:39:00.000-07:002011-08-08T13:39:45.382-07:00A Less than Graceful Plot<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bedsbook-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1400073987&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Harvest of Grace</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Cindy Woodsmall</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Pub. 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>342pp.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Set admist the Amish, The Harvest of Grace centers around Sylvia Fisher, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a young Amish woman with a skill for dairy farming, and Aaron Blank, a man not yet entered into the Amish church who struggles with alcoholism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sylvia leaves her family, an act which is frowned upon for single women, and goes to work on the failing Blank farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Blanks take Sylvia in and treat her as their own daughter, much to the chagrin of their son who has just returned from rehab and is set on convincing his family to sell the farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first clashing with each other, Sylvia and Aaron soon discover a connection that serves as the saving grace for them both.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Harvest of Grace is the third book in a series by Cindy Woodsmall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have not read the previous two books, I highly recommend doing so as the characters from them are interwoven into the plot of this story (and not skillfully).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plot jumps are sporadic and I came away from the book feeling as if I had whiplash I was thrown from one plot to the next so abruptly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the book offers a list of characters in the back, there are far too many protagonists to make this story work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Harvest of Grace is about Sylvia and Aaron, their story only fills about half of the book, while the other half is used to tie up the loose ends Woodsmall left in her previous two books.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Harvest of Grace left me confused and a little annoyed with the lack of character development and the way that Woodsmall tried to weave three individual stories into one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Woodsmall wanted to give her readers whiplash and a feeling of frustration then she greatly succeeded.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I received a free copy of this book from <span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group </span>in exchange for this review</span>.</span></div>Sara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7339342194520856066.post-71330218765123800882011-07-10T11:40:00.000-07:002011-07-10T11:40:42.736-07:00A Convenient Story for a Rainy Day<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bedsbook-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0307444821&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Kathleen Y’Barbo</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">337 pp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Published 2011</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A light and fluffy book, The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck is the perfect read for a rainy day (which is when I cracked Kathleen Y’Barbo’s novel open).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The story follows Charlotte Beck, a Colorado debutant, as she enters society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beginning in London, Charlotte’s story starts off on the wrong foot when she tries to sneak out of a stuffy party and falls – quite literally – into the arms of Alex Hambly, an English lord whose family is in financial straits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the very beginning Charlotte and Alex, both very stubborn characters, clash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After their first interaction, the two swear never to see each other again, but life has a way of throwing them together again and again, leading them, ultimately to the altar – under complete duress of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But can a marriage that started strictly as a means to an end lead to true love?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Y’Barbo’s characterization and dialogue sometimes borders on the ridiculous, but, in the end you can’t help but fall in love with the characters and their wacky ways.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck is the third book in a series and, while it can be read as a standalone novel, I highly recommend reading the first two books before reading this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t read the first two and, at times, I felt a little lost when characters would reference events from the other books.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">All in all, this is a great book if you are looking for something light and easy to read.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">*I <span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">received</span> </span>this book for free from </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for this review.</span></div>Sara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7339342194520856066.post-12481612270274818652011-06-23T10:09:00.000-07:002011-06-23T10:09:36.756-07:00A Story Well Sewn<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bedsbook-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=140007309X&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">INDIVISIBLE</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Kristen Heitzmann</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">325 pp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Published 2010</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As a long time fan of Kristen Heitzmann, I was anxious to see what awaited me within the pages of Indivisible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For anyone who has read Heitzmann’s earlier work be prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not your typical Heitzmann novel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Set in the small mountain town of Redford, Colorado, Indivisible’s story focuses on string of gruesome crimes (animals that have been surgically joined together) and the secrets that mingle in the town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chief of police Jonah Westfall has suffered more than his fair share of heartache and the horrific animal mutilations – along with his shared history with local shop keeper Tia Manning – begins to consume him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add in a mysterious new vet, a perky baker, a germ-a-phobic millionaire, a cantankerous and retired army sergeant, and housebroken coyote and you have a cast of characters that – while they sometimes fall flat – endear themselves to the reader.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Heitzmann’s storytelling kept me glued to the page, eager to find out the answer to the mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though it got frustrating at times that I felt I was walking in at the middle of a conversation –</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Tia leaned out far enough to see the person approaching….he looked as ragged as a night spent with Johnny Walker, thought she didn’t smell it on him, had not, in fact, for years….His features were edged, and in an instant she realized what day it was. (p. 5)</span></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">All in all, Heitzmann’s produced yet another classic that will keep readers interested until the very last word.</span></span>Sara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7339342194520856066.post-41127496228371473592011-06-19T11:41:00.000-07:002011-06-19T11:41:47.530-07:00A Delectable Story<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bedsbook-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0061735086&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Insatiable</span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Meg Cabot</span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">451 pp. Published 2010</span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Best known for her series “The Princess Diaries”, Meg Cabot has turned her sights from the Genovian government to the political world of vampires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Meena Harper, a dialogue writer for daytime soap opera <em>Insatiable</em>, loves her job and tolerates her co-workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fan of <em>Insatiable</em> since she was a little girl, Meena strives to make the show the best on air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But things turn ugly quickly when she is instructed to add vampires to the show. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sick of the wave of vampires – or “monster misogynists” as Meena calls them – that have flooded popular culture, Meena balks at ruining her precious soap opera with the bloodsucking creatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">What Meena doesn’t know, however, is vampires are very real and she’s dating the Prince of Darkness himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps this explains why her ability to know when and how people are going to die (did I forget to mention that part?) doesn’t work with her already dead boyfriend.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Add in a vampire hunter, a jealous undead brother, and a royal assassination attempt and you have a riveting novel on your hands.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Part parody, part romance, part mystery, and part thriller Cabot weaves a delectable tale that you will really want to sink your teeth into (pun intended).</span></div>Sara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7339342194520856066.post-50329402008704028842011-06-13T08:10:00.000-07:002011-06-13T08:10:34.563-07:00Far From a Captivating Story<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bedsbook-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0307729354&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Out of a Far Country</span></span> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">204 pp. Published 2011</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">When I first picked up this book I was hesitant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tagline on the frontcover read: “A gay son’s journey to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A broken mother’s search for hope” and this gave me pause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did I really want to read a book about a gay man and his mother?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I almost put the book down as soon as I picked it up, believing that this book would be boring and irrelevant.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">My instincts were correct.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Angela Yuan struggles with accepting her son’s sexuality while, at the same time, tries to strengthen her marriage with her detatched husband, Leon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, Christopher deals with a drug addiction and, later on, prison life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While this memoir is heartouching at points it also lacks any depth.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Both authors skirt around the deeper issues of what brought them to Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Christopher’s recollections of his life prior to becoming a Christian are delivered in a simplistic and repetative manner: “…I became popular in the gay club scene….I started bartending for fun – and was quite successful at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My outgoing personality and good physqiue made a difference in that seetting, where bartenders often worked shirtless to show off their bodies” (11).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christohpher continually mentions his excellent physique and how outgoing he is and the acceptence he received from the gay community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After hearing this for the next twenty pages I was ready to shake the author and say “So what!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We get it already, move on!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As Christopher’s life progreses, his ability to write candidly does not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I’m sure that Christopher truly experienced God’s love, I don’t get any sense of that through his writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The writing is such that one day he is arguging with his parents about God and Christianity: “’I don’t want your stupid Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t even want you to think I might read it!’ Christopher yelled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘I don’t want your religion….And if you ever, ever bring up God or the Bible, you will never see me again’” (109).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, next thing you know, Christopher is reading the Bible himself: “I bent over and picked up a Gideon’s New Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was brandnew and not even opened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I carried it back to my cell and thought, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’ve got a ton of time on my hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I might as well have something to do”</i> (129).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In much the same way, Angela’s story does not delve into the deeper issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I understand that this book is about her struggles to accept her son’s sexuality and her journey to help him to Christ, I would have appreciated to hear more of her own story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angela continually laments the fact that both her sons rebelled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When both my sons rebelled against their upbringing and the things our family valued most, it was hard not to wonder whether Leon and I had failed them” (54).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, until she and her husband reconcile, Angela continually reflects on the fact that Leon is distant and unemotional: “No doubt Leon was headed to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t seem to care that I was still sitting in the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d be fast asleep before long” (41).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure what she was going through was difficult and extremely trying for a woman new to her faith, but it was getting extremely tedious to hear the same words over and over again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">While I am sure some readers might find Out of a Far Country to be a good book and one that really resinates with their own lifes, I found it to be tedious and, at times, very boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is an age-old adage in the writing world – “Show, don’t tell.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, Angela and Christopher Yuan have not learned this adage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their story is riddled with telling and no showing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The upside to this book, in my opinon, was the short and easily skimmed chapters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="faq-a" style="background: white; margin: auto 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: #3d281b;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.</span></span></span></div>Sara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7339342194520856066.post-82485503060480396702011-05-29T10:36:00.000-07:002011-06-13T06:59:30.530-07:00Lessons from the Kidd<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Learners-Book-After-Cheese-Monkeys/dp/B002SB8Q5A?ie=UTF8&tag=bedsbook-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Learners: The Book After "The Cheese Monkeys" (P.S.)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bedsbook-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002SB8Q5A" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpWm8ZP27dupSwO_TdKkZl8i4gaE9UoBWq8eWNySVJrXQ93g0QWh9ITcFRlV3LyWnW4AHTIAMCfpf-XHg0l3sqxlpP4r59HhTbDX-I6YU7UEDtAtwSwQrAmfL3iukIAx8dprzh9NZ/s1600/thelearners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpWm8ZP27dupSwO_TdKkZl8i4gaE9UoBWq8eWNySVJrXQ93g0QWh9ITcFRlV3LyWnW4AHTIAMCfpf-XHg0l3sqxlpP4r59HhTbDX-I6YU7UEDtAtwSwQrAmfL3iukIAx8dprzh9NZ/s200/thelearners.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></a></div><div class="nitf1" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-outline-level: 5;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"> Chip Kidd. </span></span></div><div class="summary10" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1.5pt 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"> 258 pp. Published 2008.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">There is a saying that goes: “don’t judge a book by the cover.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many books, this is true, but Chip Kidd’s latest novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Learners</i>, is an exception to the rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kidd, a graphic artist by trade, has put his own unique style into every aspect of his second novel, especially the cover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eyes wide with fright stare back at you from above a cover jacket that is the same color as blood from a B-list horror film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sweat-dotted brow and haunted eyes are enough to make you wonder what terrors reside within the pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In a sequel to Kidd’s first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cheese Monkeys</i>, Happy has now graduated college and is eager to make his mark on the world of graphic design.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He begins working at an advertising agency in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">New Haven</city>, <state w:st="on">Connecticut</state></place>, the same place his favorite professor, Winter, got his start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spear, Rakoff, and Ware is an eccentric mom-and-pop shop whose “mom” is the queen bee of eccentricity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mimi Rakoff is more in love with her dog, a giant Mastiff named Hamlet whose cranium was “covered with dozens of Mimi’s lipstick stains,” than her late husband who was one of the agency’s owners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mimi is joined by a small staff which includes artist Milburne “Sketchy” Spears – a man who was a “most astonishing contradiction of components”; copywriter Tip Skikne, who is sardonic and loves word association games; and Preston Ware, who cofounded the agency and has been nothing more than a source of body heat for the past few decades.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Seeing life through rose colored glasses, Happy views his existence as a “life-long assignment that must be constantly analyzed, clarified, figured out, and responded to appropriately.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little does he realize what life has in store for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kidd presents Happy with the ultimate assignment, and it is up to the young graduate to figure out if he will pass or fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In 1961, Professor Stanley Milgram at <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Yale</placename> <placetype w:st="on">University</placetype></place> held a series of “obedience experiments.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using “teachers” and “learners,” Milgram attempted to prove that people will go so far as to inflict physical harm on another person all in the name of obedience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is into this experiment that Kidd throws Happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After designing the ad for the experiment, Happy is prompted to join the experiment by Himillsy, an old girlfriend he never truly got over despite her obvious need to control every situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wants to see why Himillsy finds brains so fascinating: “Brains are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">just </i>amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m crazy for them.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so Happy enters into Professor Milgram’s experiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he does not know what he is getting into.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a “teacher” in the experiment, Happy must administer a memory test to the “learner,” and if the “learner” gets a question wrong, he must give them an electric shock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What Happy does not know, though, is that he is the one being studied and that the “learner” is a scientist involved in the experiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The purpose?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To see if Happy will continue to administer the electric shocks despite the knowledge – or rather belief – that his learner is being physically harmed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Kidd deals well with the conflict between Form and Content: “The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">form</i> of your experiment – the memory test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It completely camouflages the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">content</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Creating cover art is no problem for Kidd, but designing an emotional landscape that does not bore the reader with its repetitive and cliché lines is where Kidd falls short.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Happy deals with the ramifications of the experiment, his emotions tend to mirror those of an emo teenager’s diary: “The world, the whole <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">world</i> needed to sit here in this tiny room with the two-way mirrors and get a good, raw look at itself.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What started out as a soul-searching experience has become a social rant: “Humanity deserved to see itself explained….When it received orders from On High it would automatically proceed to savage and slaughter human beings it had no connection to, not even for a cause it believed in, but because that’s what was on the official instruction sheet.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Despite its tendency to go into random diatribes about the evils of society and the flatness of its cast of characters, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Learners </i>is a shining example of Kidd’s ability to show precise detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in the visuals, the comedy of everyday office interactions, and the observations of life that Kidd shows his talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the Form of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Learners</i> that first catches the reader, and it is the Content that keeps them turning the pages.</div>Sara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7339342194520856066.post-78352724393265119492011-05-23T12:17:00.000-07:002011-05-23T12:17:23.652-07:00Book Mania<span style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>I am in love...with books. There is nothing better than the feel of a book in my hands and the smell of its pages. I love to share my passion about the written word with others, and so, I have started this blog to introduce people to the books and authors that I love most. </em></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>I hope to update bi-weekly so as to keep all you book lovers out there up to date on what I'm reading. While I will write about books I am reading, keep me posted on what you're reading and, who knows, it might show up in my blog.</em></span>Sara M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11645422923913063228noreply@blogger.com0