Book Review: Among the Fair Magnolias

Among the Fair Magnolias is a compilation of short stories written by four different Christian fiction authors. I had been looking forward to reading this book long before it came out as it includes an entry from my personal favorite Tamera Alexander, and also at the time I won it from a Goodreads giveaway I was not familiar with any of the other authors and was eager to get to know them! The cover on this book is incredibly pretty and makes me want to grab it right up and set to some cozy reading!

With there being four novellas in this book I don’t want to take up too much space in detailing the entire plot of each story and my reactions so I will try and summarize things briefly and add a few thoughts from there.

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A Heart So True by Dorothy Love

In this story Abigail must choose between marrying the man her father has picked for her even though she knows he is unscrupulous and violent and the childhood friend and sweetheart she is truly in love with.

As I have mentioned before I really am tired out with the ‘tyrant father’ trope in writing and here in this book we find it in full force. It is overused and I think it shows bad precedent for teen readers that contributes to pulling down their own dads. Having said that however, in this story I found it equally annoying that ninety percent of the heroine’s problems stem from keeping a secret from her father that she should have immediately revealed when it occurred then none of this would have happened! Additionally, when she did talk to her father and have the chance to tell again she didn’t press the point and make him listen!

I didn’t feel like there was anything to praise in this story, I feel like the writers style is very blunt and lacks subtlety. It was not my favorite story in this collection.

To Mend A Dream by Tamera Alexander

In this story Savannah, a side character from the novel “To Win Her Favor” gets to tell her story!  Savannah is a seamstress in post-Civil War Nashville taking care of her younger siblings and taking on a redecorating job in her former family home! She knows her father left a treasure for her family- now this is her last chance to find it!  

I don’t know if being a Tamera Alexander fangirl makes me the best of worst candidate to review this story but I do know how much I enjoyed it! This story really makes me wish that Savannah had her own full length book! Every inch of what is backed into this story however is gold!  I really liked the hero Aiden and I would have loved to get more on his backstory! I appreciated that I didn’t feel like the way that his and Savannah’s relationship develops cheated or was at the expense of any other character. They were a great couple!

I love how on point Tamera always is with her Spiritual content! Her observations are always timely and her writing always ends up being my own personal reminder note for me from God!

Love Beyond Limits by Elizabeth Musser

In this story Emily teaches freed blacks, young and old, in her little schoolhouse and struggles to protect them against the growing threat of the Klan even as her family pressures her to marry.

I was really surprised by this story! It took me a lot of different directions that I wasn’t expecting and delivered on a satisfying ending! I found there to be good historical accuracy with the origins of the Klan and of the political environment of the day which is always refreshing to read! This is my first time reading a story by this author and I really liked it! I think I will have to check out more of her books in the future!

An Outlaw’s Heart by Shelley Grey

In this story Russell finds his way home after fleeing seven years ago as a mere boy of 15, now he must reconcile with his dying mother and see if his fleeting hopes of rekindling love with his former sweetheart is possible.

This story is set a bit west of the deep south as it slides on over to Texas- and really- I may have enjoyed this story a little too much! For many years I have been a huge fan of westerns and cowboy stories and have spent many hours reading that genre but those stories aren’t popular in the Christian market anymore and it’s a shame! This story was delightful and though short, explored some important themes of forgiveness and redemption- all with great cowboy stubbornness and humor! It was easily the best western story I’ve read since Stephen Bly’s passing and I can’t wait to read another! I very much hope the author continues to write in this genre!

~

In the end this was a great collection of novellas and it was a great pleasure to read! Though I didn’t personally enjoy one of the stories it was really nice to be able to have a ‘sampler’ of authors and if you haven’t read any- or some- of them before it will give you a great idea of whether you should try their other works! Among the Fair Magnolias is a definite recommend for me! I’m sure you will enjoy it! 

Final Rating: 4

I have been given a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.

Book Review: A Respectable Actress

I was intrigued by Dorothy Love’s A Respectable Actress when I first picked it up, the cover is attractive and the back cover reveals a detailed storyline and promises a good mystery set in post-Civil War Georgia. I wish the inside of the book had held up to that promise.

This story follows India Hartley, professional touring actress- and accused murderess. On the second night of her new show her leading man is shot dead on stage seemingly at her own hand- but she insists it is all a horrible mistake. Enter Philip Sinclair, her legal counsel and the man who whisks her away from the outrage of the city to the solitude of his country plantation. As Philip and India try to unwind the hidden details of her case India begins to find some mysteries lurking around the plantation as well and begins to fall for who will help determine her fate.

As I look over my notes I’m really not sure where to begin on all the ways I disliked this book. The ‘fake-out’ opening of the book was confusing to understand and a blur of sensationalized information that was simply repeated in more detail a few paragraphs later and it annoyed me from the first. I had a really difficult time connecting with India and found her whiny and clueless. Her romance with Philip was sadly lacking and frankly boiled down to ‘oh my, what a handsome man with such broad shoulders and look he rescued me, let me cling to him’. India was far more interested in assessing his physique and snooping around his home than she was in aiding her own defense. Where I was expecting the two of them to spend many long hours together talking and sleuthing methodically working over her case they only had a couple of minimal conversations and the remainder of the time she went around playing amateur Nancy Drew on his past while he was back and forth away on other business! It annoyed me that only minutes from her trial he gives her a few rushed instructions and coaching on being a defendant and how this was needed to be her role of a lifetime if she hoped to get off!

Aside from the story I did not enjoy the writing style either. I felt the pacing of the details of the stories- things like the conversations, and the how we get from here to there narration to be rushed and choppy. For example, at one point when India is found snooping and is questioned she offers an excuse and then suddenly is magic'ed back into her bed without any response from the other party or further discussion of any sort on the matter. It’s like the people around her are players, only meant to bounce her thoughts and feelings off of to her own ends and benefit and not individuals with autonomy, action, and feeling! Additionally, there is a great deal of unusually large words in this book that I had difficulty slogging through much less understanding, even from the context, what they were or meant.

Overall, I just didn’t like this book. I felt like the author tossed the reader from one implausible scenario to another racking up scenes but not developing the characters or plot. There was nothing about the characters or plot that I found engaging and all too often I found myself checking and gauging how much more was left in this book and how soon I could stop reading. In the end I couldn’t even give myself any good reason for India and Philip to be together- or even care about who the culprit in the shooting was. This is not a book I will be recommending to anyone anytime. 

Final Rating: 1

I have been given a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.

Book Review: The Golden Braid

Melanie Dickerson is another new author for me and though I have seen her around in the book catalogs I’ve never picked up any of her books until now. The Golden Braid is a retelling of the Rapunzel story and this book has an amazing and striking cover showcasing the heroine in vibrant rich colors! I was immediately drawn to it! Reading up on this book a little I also learned that it is a young adult (YA) story, it’s been a while since I reviewed one of those- and since the last YA I reviewed was set in this time period  I was eager to dig into this one and see how they compared.

The Rapunzel story has been told and retold many times but this retelling has been very thoughtfully and carefully told. In short an evil mother keeps her daughter locked away in a tower where no one will ever see her great beauty or hear her beautiful voice. She is rescued by a handsome prince who breaches her prison by climbing her long hair. In this story there are great twists on the story from beginning to end! The story begins long before Rapunzel is locked in the tower- Rapunzel is eager to learn how to read and has dreams for her future, her mother is legit paranoid insane, and the prince turns out to be a grumpy but handsome knight! The extra twist on Rapunzel’s story is a great one that I don’t want to spoil but I will say I was pleased with it and it set things up for a really cool and satisfying ending!

In the beginning part of this book things sometimes seemed to be repetitious with facts gone over again and again but I don’t know if a teen reader would necessarily notice that and as the book progresses it does get better and begins bringing in new details and storylines. I really liked how there were several morals that were woven throughout the story including that of healthy relationships between both parent and child and between guys and girls. Sir Gerek was a true hero who demonstrated his dedication to his vows and acted honorably towards Rapunzel. There is a romantic element to the story, and yes, even some kissing and unchaperoned travel but through it all nothing felt it was ‘off’ or inappropriate to the characters and their ages (Rapunzel is 19 and Sir Gerek 23). This was something that was really nice to see in a YA book and I was pleased that the author balanced romance and purity well. Other themes were forgiveness, patience, and timing, and these were all well woven through the story and never felt like the reader was being bombarded with a religious or moral message.

As a side note, some retellings of Rapunzel have been questionable to me as they have presented a picture of joyful consequence free teenage rebellion but I didn’t feel this was the case in this book. This Rapunzel is a young woman of legal age and she only leaves her mother’s side when her mother’s madness takes a turn from bad to worse and Rapunzel’s safety is threatened. I felt it marked an appropriate time for her to move on and taught the reader about taking the right kind of actions for personal safety.

In the end, The Golden Braid was a great novel and I enjoyed it as much as I think a YA reader would! I would recommend it to any of the teen girls that I know!

Final Rating: 4.5

I have been given a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.

Happy Planning for a Happy Girl

Well ladies a few days ago I re-posted an article on Facebook that was giving a few short points about why to buy a Happy Planner. It got some interest and I had already been thinking about doing a review of it on the blog here so a few snapshots later here we are! Prepare yourselves for a flood of love for my favorite planner!

Welcome to the Happy Planner!

What is a Happy Planner you say? 

Well the Happy Planner is the relatively new planner (two years old, I think) put out by MAMBI, or if you were a scrapbooker back in the day, you might recognise them more readily as Me & My Big Ideas.  

Front and back of the planner

This is what the front and back of the planner look like. The cover is very sturdy and is laminated. The Happy Planner comes in many different styles and it's a lot of fun to head over to their website and check out each of them. MAMBI has done a great job of letting you get a thorough look through with a short video of each design!

The Happy Planner operates off of the disk-bound binding system. Each sheet of paper that goes into the planner is punched with a notch and easily pops on to the disk ring. At first I was really unsure about how this system would work and was worried that I would be loosing pages or that things wouldn't stay together but that hasn't been the case- every thing has stayed neatly in the binding without any problems- a delightful surprise! Let me tell you why: CUSTOMIZATION! With no 'permanent' binding each page goes in and comes out as you wish it. There are three reasons why this is a good thing.

1. Want to put in a sheet of notepaper or a list to write groceries on in it goes! 
2. Want to take out your pages- to write on them, decorate them, or just move stuff around- you can! And it's not a hassle either. 
3. Goodies. Accessories. Every variety of happiness that you can think of can be added in- but I'll get to that in a minute! :)   

Inside cover and added front folder

When you open the cover This is the inside page where you can add your contact info in case your planner should wander off without you. You will notice also that on the left is a pocket. That is one of our goodies and is an add in. The pockets are very sturdy and come in a multi-pack so you have several designs to choose from and can use multiple pockets if you want. In my planner I have one in the front and one in the back. The pockets are big enough to hold a half sheet of printer paper so I have easily stashed handouts, flyers, and class notes in these guys without a problem!

Monthly laminated-tabbed dividers 

Here's a quick look at the monthly dividers. Each Happy Planner has a different design theme on the inside. The planner I chose last year has a very graphic style topography that I love.  

Getting it Down

Monthly planning layout

Ok now here's where we start getting down to the nitty gritty of the actual planning. At  the end of every month there is this monthly review sheet. Happy planners have two different styles for this page and this is my favorite version. This is where as the month goes on I start prepping for the next month. There is spots for birthday's, goals, and for all the important stuff that I always forget. :) Overall I kinda use this spot for setting all my big vision goals for the month and it gives me a single spot to go to and check when I need to see what my month looks like.

The month view with side notes section

When you flip over into your month you have this great layout of a full month view. The boxes in this are roughly 1 1/2 inch square so you have lots of room to write! There is also a sidebar for notes.

The week view with side notes section

Okay, not here is probably my favorite part of the Happy Planner- BOXES. I love boxes. Usually it's a bad thing to be 'inside the box' but when it comes to planning it is a very good thing! This is what makes my head happy and my mind at rest because this is where clarity and ease of use come in. Each day is divided into morning/afternoon/evening sections so I can section off my day and know even if I don't accomplish certain tasks as certain hours that IT'S OKAY and I just need to do it within the block of time. This vertical style is a mental lifesaver for me. The HP is also now in a horizontal style layout so if you aren't a box girl they've got you covered too!  

NOW, something that you will start to notice here is that there are a lot of colors on that page! 

So I have a confession:

I am a colored pen junkie. 

I like them for a lot of reasons (one of which is that it helps me to like my handwriting) but in this context I like them because I am able to color code. At the beginning of the year I got me a stash of Paper-Mate Flair pens (which don't bleed through the pages) and assigned each area of my life/responsibility/job a different color so I could see different events from each other and to also see where I was spending/not spending my time. 

You may call this super over-organized. I prefer to think I'm super cool. ;)   

Puttin' on the Glitz

My entire 'planner stash'. It all fits into one small cookie tin and one small pen holder. 

As soon as you begin to look up planners online one of the main things that you will encounter is how to decorate your planner. Everybody has a style, and there are an endless list of opinions as to how to decorate. A lot of people choose to cover their boxes in the week view with stickers and/or scrapbooking paper. To be frank, I'm really not into this style as I feel it makes the whole planner unuseable. 

I am not, however, opposed to decoration in moderation! I love using MAMBI's quote sticker packs to add an inspirational note to the beginning of my week layout; or an extra motivational punch to special days! You can also utilize washi tape in doing simple border designs, and blocking off special days or events.

One of my favorite add-ons for the planner are the snap-in tabs. These tabs are a sturdy plastic punched to fit into the rings of the planner and have a strip of adhesive along one side. This means that you can add in anything and everything you want to personalize your planner! In the picture I have attached it to a strip of HP sticky notes so I can keep them close at hand when I need to add a little reminder in somewhere! With these tabs you can add everything from a card with a Bible verse or quote, to a picture, to the ticket stubs from last week's special event with your family. Anything is possible! 

There are a lot of reasons that we buy a planner. 

We want to stay on track and organized with our time, we want to look forward to the future, we want to remember the past and look back on it in pleasure. I have a stack of old planners in my room, basic black, simple, flat, uninteresting, unremarkable. They indeed hold the details of my past days and show the kind of life that I have lived in starkly printed lines. The thing is that my life isn't stark, or routine, or basic. My life is vivid and full of action, color, and design! For me the Happy Planner reflects the creative part of me and how I want to remember both myself and my days. The Happy Planner helps me to grab hold of my days and plan them to the fullest- and that makes me one happy girl! 

Clockwise from top left: Martha Stewart Home Office note pad, HP magnetic bookmarks, homemade bookmark listing how I divide my color coding, weekly inspirational sticker on my weekly view. 

Where to Purchase

• MAMBI's site

• Hobby Lobby or Michael's- make use of that 40% coupon ladies! 

• scrapbook.com 

• Many Sam's and Cosco's are now carrying bundled kits! Check your local store! 

Book Review: Restore My Soul

With today being National Coloring Book Day I thought it was time to get this review up!

Well unless you have been living the life of a hermit I'm sure you have noticed that in the last two years the coloring book craze has majorly taken off! Books of every size and description are available everywhere from the supermarket check-out aisle, to the local craft store, and are seen in spades at the big box bookstores.

It's a craze that I don't think is going anywhere any time soon- and I think that's great news!

I have always been a fan of crafting for relaxation and coloring books for adults provide a great outlet for you to unwind and destress without needing a lot of fuss and muss.

Restore My Soul by Ann-Margret Hovsepian is the newest addition to the world of inspirational coloring and is a lovely one at that! This 10x10 inch book boasts about 80 pages of coloring delights. The unique thing about this book is that it's not just a coloring book but it's one that is paired with devotionals too! For every coloring page there is a devotional page opposite it for meditation and reflection.


The devotionals in this book are really nice with a verse at the beginning and a passage that you can read in a few minutes to give you a little bit to think about for the day.
The illustrations in this book are really nice too and have lots of different styles of drawing, enough to keep you busy picking and choosing for a while!

w/colored pencil 

w/colored pencil

w/Distress Crayons

w/Distress Crayons- after watercoloring 

For me I really like designs that have lots of open room like the above 'Celebrate Today' page or the 'Fruit of the Spirit' page and I had fun coloring those because I could finish a page in a reasonable amount of time. Many of the other pages though are much more detailed and even after spending hours on them I still have never finished them. Detailed pages aren't necessarily a bad thing, the problem with them for me was that continually coming back to the same devotional reading and that frustrated me. I think it would be better to have illustrations that were easier to accomplish in a shorter amount of time.

Overall I thought this was a good Christian coloring book and I feel like many people would enjoy working through it!

Final Rating: 4


I have been given a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.

Book Review: Whispers in the Reading Room

Hello Dear Readers! Today I am reviewing a fabulous looking new book from author Shelley Grey, Whispers in the Reading Room! I love the cover of this book, it drew me in right away and made me want to know what mystery I was going to uncover inside!

Our heroine is Lydia Bancroft, the librarian for a small reading room in Chicago after the World’s Fair. Lydia loves her little domain of books, helping others love reading, and reading about the faraway places and adventures that she will never experience in person. Having fallen drastically in fortune after her father’s death her mother is doing all in her power to make an advantageous society match for Lydia and restore their fortune and social standing, though willing to help her mother the only way she knows how Lydia would really love to be left to the solace of her books!

When the quiet and mysterious library patron Sebastian Marks comes to Lydia’s rescue one day the two of them begin a whirlwind friendship that knocks Lydia off her feet with his attentions and kindness- and finds her wishing that there might be more than friendship between them. When Lydia finds out that Sebastian is the owner of a notorious underground gambling saloon in the worst part of town she must decide who he really is, who she can trust, and how any relationship between them can survive.

From the first moments of opening this book I was sure I was going to love it- and I did! Whispers in the Reading Room is a zippy read with a smart and resourceful heroine in Lydia. She is someone who has curiosity about the world around her and dreams about what it would be like to be the heroine in one of the books she reads. She is someone who is both a compassionate dutiful daughter and someone who knows her own value. Sebastian is an interesting and different hero who comes from a rough-and-tumble background and has raised himself to prosperity and sophistication through his love of reading.

I found the word play between the two book lovers a delicious treat for a fellow bibliophile and I liked the language banter between them. I even found myself laughing out loud at their discussion of Austen’s Emma as I too would agree with Sebastian’s opinion! J  I really loved the author’s writing style too and I as a read through I found myself delighted as I haven’t enjoyed a turn of phrase so much in ages!  Shelley Grey is a new author to me and this is the first of her books that I have read but I can’t wait to go and pick up the other two books she’s written under the “A Chicago World’s Fair Mystery” banner!

Overall, this book is a fast paced fun read. Sometimes the relationship between Lydia and Sebastian moves quickly in this novel but I didn’t find it out of place, it just reflected the fast pace of the swinging city. I didn’t find any big red flags in this content wise, many of the scenes take place in Sebastian’s world, which is far from propriety, but nothing was overdone or gratuitous. Whispers reminded me of any number of old black and white films. In fact, though the settings are a bit different, this book really reminded me of the Judy Garland movie The Harvey Girls! Whispers in the Reading Room will be a great weekend read for anyone! In fact, I dare you to try and put it down! 

Final Rating: 4.5 

I have been given a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.

Book Review: The Girl From the Train

Well dear readers, I have to admit that it took a little getting into to begin this book but now that I dedicated some time to beginning afresh I have to tell you that I wizzed through this book in a day’s time! I simply couldn’t put it down!

The Girl From the Train by Irma Joubert is a book with a bit of an unusual history. Originally published in South Africa, and then the Netherlands, it became a best seller in both countries! Now it has again been translated, into English this time, and is being published through Thomas Nelson.

Beginning in Poland during the height of the Second World War we meet little six year old German-Jewish Gertl Schmidt and are drawn along into her life story. Gertl is orphaned, family-less, homeless, and hopeless- until she comes into the life of Jakob Kowalski who fights for Poland with the Home Army and against all forces- German or Russian- that want to destroy his beloved homeland. Gertl and Jakob form a strong bond- the kind that can only be forged in the intensity of bombs, and blood, and the pain of relentless nightmares.

In time Jakob and his family can no longer safely care for Gertl in the politically turbulent Poland so he is forced to send her where she can be better cared for, and eventually have a chance at a new life as an adopted war orphan in South Africa.

I was really kind of blown away by this book! Through reading it I realized even on a subject I thought I had thoroughly covered there is still so much about WWII that I do not know and so much I need to learn. Many times historical fiction that is written on this era is told from the point of view of an American or a Brit, having this story told from the eyes of a person who is in the very center of the conflict packs a huge emotional punch. For example, there is a moment early on in the book where knowledge and book hungry Gertl has been studying an atlas and is trying to identify nearby markers and towns but the thing she searched for, Auschwitz, wasn’t on the map. I have to tell you that one small line, one small detail, was like being doused in cold water.

The beauty of this book is in the small details. The storytelling style reminded me (from what I remember) of the Little House series. The style is not elaborate or embellished but is simply related in honestly told truths. In Gertl’s younger years many of her personal observations come off as stark or abrupt but it is simply the nature of a child who has seen and experienced things beyond her years. In time this matures into a special kind of warmth and magnetism as Gertl, now Afrikkans Grietjie Neethling, becomes a young woman.

I am known for loving books that have well drawn detailed descriptions- for a girl who grew up on George MacDonald it’s no wonder really. It’s the quality of those descriptions and what they end up conveying however that are the important part. So often writing can go from in-depth to long-winded in the space of a few words, but that is not the case here. In The Girl From the Train so much is said in so few words- and the effect is very powerfully touching. 

On the ‘warnings’ side of things readers should be aware that there maybe a few instances of objectionable material depending on their comfort level with wartime violence or romantic scenes. There is two times that profanity occurs and while I don’t condone that it’s not gratuitous or out of place for the context of the setting. This book also explores the two faiths of Catholicism and Protestantism and does a good job of relating why those faiths are different even while respecting the sincerely held beliefs of both. One little nitpick was that I very much wished the publisher had included some type of glossary at the end for help in pronouncing some of the eastern-European and Afrikkans names and places. I confess I felt rather stupid bumbling through them and wished I could say them properly!

I would highly recommend this book as being the next thing you should read! I was taken in from cover to cover and feel as if I read something worthwhile for my time. It is a book that I know will be driving me to dive back into world history- and left me very satisfied with Grietjie’s new beginnings in the end.

Final Rating: 5

I have been given a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.