Title: Some Welcome Home

Author: Sharon Wildwind

Series: Elizabeth Pepperhawk/Avivah Rosen , #1

Genre: Traditional Mystery

Year Published: 2005

Rating: 5 Stars

Description (From Booklist):
Wildwind's amazing debut brings the Vietnam era to life--and in a remarkably captivating manner. An army nurse who served in Vietnam, Wildwind brings palpable authenticity to the setting and the characters. Captain Elizabeth "Pepper" Pepperhawk has returned from her tour in Vietnam to serve as head nurse at an army hospital in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Before she can report for duty, though, the dead body of a soldier appears in her hotel bed. Through the investigation, Pepper meets Avivah Rosen, a military police captain. Wildwind shifts point of view between the two women, adding another layer of interest to the story. Avivah and Pepper befriend Benny Kirkpatrick, a Green Beret with a heart of gold who readers get to know less deeply than the two women but who undoubtedly will figure in future stories. Wildwind evokes atmosphere beautifully--readers will feel the North Carolina heat and starched uniform collars--and she handles emotional nuance with equal aplomb. An original, heart-wrenching, brilliantly told story that will leave readers aching for the next installment.

My Thoughts:
I absolutely loved this book! The setting is Ft. Bragg, NC, during the Vietnam years - and rural NC also. There's so much depth to the characters and plot. Highly recommended.

Title: Hallie's Heart
Author: Shelly Beach
Series: Lake Michigan, #1
Genre: Christian Fiction
Year Published: 2007
Source: Library
Rating (1-10): 9


2008 Winner of Christy Award


Description:

As a single woman struggling to establish an antique shop in the sleepy town of Stewartville, Mona VandeMolen’s life is complicated enough. When she discovers her fifteen-year-old niece Hallie hiding in her abandoned beach house, consumed with guilt over her sister’s drowning death, Mona’s true battle begins.

My Thoughts:
I read lots of relationship-style dramas in the Christian fiction category, and thought Hallie's Heart would be another typical book in this genre. But Shelly Beach is an excellent writer and I quickly got caught up in this story that has depth and characters I care about. There's a tender romance also, although it's not the main focal point. I look forward to reading the sequel soon - Morningsong.

My first trip to Germany

My daughter, Beth, has lived in Tubingen, Germany for almost a year now, leading a newly-formed campus ministry. I was recently blessed with the incredible opportunity to spend two weeks with her. I haven't had time to download my pictures yet, so I'm going to post some Internet pictures of places we visited.

These pictures are of the Neckar River and the Old Town, which has been preserved since the 600's and survived World War II. There were crooked cobblestone lanes, hilly terrain, streets lined with canals, traditional half-timbered buildings, and market day. Incredibly beautiful!

Prelude and Cadence

Title: Prelude, Cadence
Author: B. J. Hoff
Series: American Anthem, #s 1 & 2
Genre: Christian Fiction, Historical
Year Published: 2003
Source: My Kindle
Rating (1-10): 10

Prelude:

B.J. Hoff, one of CBA's premier writers brings this riveting historical fiction series that meticulously depicts nineteenth century America. Prelude transports you to nineteenth-century New York and invites you to step into another time--a time that shaped a nation and defined her faith. This lively story carries you from immigrant ships to opulent estates, from skating-rink evangelistic crusades to star-studded concert halls, and introducing you to men and women you'll grow to love: a brooding blind musician, his suspicious but sympathetic sister-in-law, an unlikely pair of medical partners, and a struggling immigrant family. Pulsing with romance and intrigue, shining with artistry and faith, Prelude sounds the opening notes of a tale with a voice as big as America.

Cadence:

Cadence reunites us with Andrew Carmichael, an inner city physician, and his partner in practice, Bethany Cole, one of the first female physicians in America, who share a desire to serve the poor with their healing skills and with love. As the story continues, they discover that they share more than a professional passion--they share a love for each other. Set in late nineteenth century New York City and the surrounding Hudson River Valley, and incorporating the beginnings of American gospel music, Cadence continues the saga of the courageous immigrants who helped build our nation, the struggles they endured, and the music they created, lived and loved by.

My Comments:

This is a delightful historical with strong themes of romance, but so much more. A blind musical conductor, Hudson River Valley setting, Irish immigrants, Dwight L. Moody crusades, hymn writer Fanny Crosby, tender romance - all these elements and more combine to make a very enjoyable and moving read for me. As a pianist, I am obviously drawn to the prominent musical themes, which are portrayed in an excellent mannor. I look forward to the conclusion of this series, Jubilee.

Sullivan's Island

Title: Sullivan's Island

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank

Series: Lowcountry Tales

Genre: Women's Fiction

Year Published: 2004

Source: Library

Rating (1-10): 9

Publishers Weekly:

Frank's debut novel is a story of redemption set in South Carolina's steamy low country. Susan Hamilton Hayes's comfortable Charleston existence is shattered when she finds her husband in bed with another woman. Faced with a failed marriage, a confused teenage daughter and a mediocre job, she sets about the business of healing. Slowly, supported by visits to her sister in their childhood home on sleepy Sullivan's Island, Susan becomes a successful newspaper columnist, regains her confidence as a woman (despite a hilariously deflating date) and finally explores the death of her complex, abusive father decades before.

Chapters alternate between the present and 1963, the year her father died, as Susan faces both the strength and the damaging effects of her family legacy. The ending - complete with a perfect suitor reemerging from Susan's youth - is almost too picture perfect to ring true, but both the setting and the characters are blazingly authentic. Frank evokes the eccentric Hamilton family and their feisty Gullah housekeeper with originality and conviction; Susan herself - smart, sarcastic, funny and endearingly flawed - makes a lively and memorable narrator. Thanks to these scrappily compelling portraits, this is a rich read.

My Comments:

One of my favorite settings is the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Family drama told with humor and depth of characters make this a very good read. And I fell in love with the Hamilton's Gullah housekeeper, Livvie. This was my first book by Ms. Frank and I hope to read more.

Signs in the Blood

Title: Signs in the Blood
Author: Vicki Lane
Series: Appalachian Mysteries
Genre: Cozy/Traditional Mystery
Year Published: 2005
Source: My Kindle
Rating (1-10): 10

Publishers Weekly Review:
Fundamentalist Christian snake handlers and liberal back-to-the-landers; a secretive white supremacist militia and undercover police agents; simple rural mountain dwellers and sophisticated urban artists—throw in a counterculture commune of allegedly extraterrestrial origin and that still wouldn't cover all the disparate types who populate the Appalachian community of Ridley Branch, N.C., the setting for this well-crafted, dramatic tale of murder, miracles and midlife romance.

Widow Elizabeth Goodweather, the 52-year-old proprietor of an herb and flower farm, becomes dangerously involved in a homegrown investigation when a housebound elderly neighbor refuses to accept the official verdict that her retarded yet woods-savvy son's death was accidental. Evocative detail brings the supporting characters vividly to life, as the plot moves between the mountain man's killing and an unsolved historical mystery that appears to eerily mirror the murderous modern scenario. Also admirable is the sensitivity with which Lane utilizes exotic religions to intensify the book's dark-toned suspense, while resisting oversimplification and insult.

My Comments: This is one of the best mysteries I've read in a long time, and I have my dear friend Kathryn to thank for recommending it to me. The Appalachian setting and local dialect really drew me in, as I could relate to a similar area and way of speaking from visiting my grandparents as a child. The characters are well developed and the plot won't let you go. Highly recommended.

The Envelope

I was listening to the news last night as the reporter talked about Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Super Saturday, the busiest shopping days of the year. Suddenly I just wished all that could be stripped away, leaving only the Christ child in a manger.

I came across a story about three years ago that changed the way my husband and I do our Christmas giving, and I'd like to share it. It's simply called "The Envelope."


"It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

"It all began because my husband, Mike, hated Christmas — oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it: overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute, the gifts given in desperation.

"Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties... I searched for something special just for Mike.

"Our son Kevin was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear.

"It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. We ended up walloping them. As each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.

"Mike shook his head sadly. 'I wish just one of them could have won,' he said. 'They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.' That's when the idea for his present came.

"That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed an envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas. Each Christmas, I followed the tradition — one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year giving a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas.

"The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the envelope never lost its allure.

"The story doesn't end there. We lost Mike due to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was so wrapped up in grief that I barely got the tree up. But on Christmas Eve I placed an envelope on the tree, and in the morning it was joined by three more.

"Each of our children had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelopes.

"Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us."

* * * * * * * * * *

I was moved by this story and started following its example in my gift giving for Dwight, and the next year he started doing the same for me. We can't afford to outfit a sports team, but we contribute in each other's honor to a mission that is dear to our hearts. Last year he gave to a juvenile prison ministry that I have volunteered with; I wonder what it will be this year.

The only thing I miss about Black Friday is hearing the Salvation Army bell ringers, and they're getting harder to find each year. "The Envelope" has truly made our Christmases memorable.