It's taken me a few days to finally get here, but I wanted to write about one of the books that I've recently finished reading: The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin. I'm not really sure what this is categorized under, but I'm not sure if it really is Christian fiction... but either way, it was a good book.
The story is mostly about two sisters, one who has dedicated her life to taking care of her 600 pound sister. Griselda doesn't mind taking care of her sister, Agnes, and has been doing so since her parents died. It was not clear (or I can't remember) how long since their parents have died, but both women are in their 40's and neither married.
The town is convinced that Agnes has been touched by God and is doing His work through prayer. According to the town, she has been able to heal cancer, stomach ulcers, help temperamental children calm down, to finding lost items - all through prayer. She even keeps a notebook with her with all of her notes so she knows what to pray for.
Of course, a story like this would be just a little too boring, so here comes a stranger to the town, Hezekiah, who had heard about Agnes and her miracles. Agnes prays for Hezekiah, like she does for anyone else in the town who asks for it, but the prayers go unanswered. Months go by with nothing and the town starts to doubt Agnes' ability to perform miracles.
The overall story was pretty good but some plots were not written as smooth as they could have. Of course, I have no idea how they could have been fixed, but it seems like some of these different sub-stories could have used a little more help. They felt like they were fixed or finished just a little too quickly. This made parts of the book a little choppy to me. It didn't stop me from enjoying the rest of the book though.
It's funny because my favorite character in this book was one of the main characters - the poor, long suffering Griselda. She almost seems too good to be true, but the author still wrote some humanity in her. Griselda loved being a librarian and found a type of peace when she was surrounded by books. She didn't mind taking care of her sister, which made it impossible for her to date, get married or have children. Even when she tried to go on her first date since high school, Griselda and her date get called away because Agnes was having a bad asthma attack.
It is shortly after this that Griselda starts questioning if giving up her life for her sister was worth it. It seems like she can't really do much because Agnes does not like being left at home by herself at night, and if she does go out to church or town meetings, she has to return right away. She starts to dream a little more about getting out of that small town to see what else there is beyond the mountains that she can see from her bedroom window... until Agnes calls her back to reality and downstairs so she can help her walk to the bathroom.
Despite all of the growing resentment that Griselda has for her sister, she still stands up for her and defends her to the town. When the town wanted to put up a sign with Anges' name on it, Griselda was the first to try to get that idea shot down - knowing that it was not what her sister wanted. When the town started to question Agnes' power in her prayers, Griselda is the only one that stands up and asks the town if anyone has been praying for Agnes while she's dedicated her life to praying for them.
If you can get past some of the bumpy parts in the writing, it is overall a good book. It hardly took any time at all to read it, even though I think it was twice as long as the last book. The characters are really neat to read about and some of the stories are really cute - re: Jesus pie (yes, you'll have to read the book to find this precious story). :-) :-) :-)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
This Fine Life: A Novel
I just finished reading yet another book - what a surprise - called This Fine Life: A Novel by Eva Marie Everson. I was really impressed with the book and author's way of pulling you into the story. I've read other books that started out this way but didn't have the same pull as this one did.
The story starts off in 1964 with a young woman in the early stages of labor. She gets her purse, gloves and is ready to go wherever she thinks she needs to go. At this point I gather that her husband's name is Thayne and that at one point she and her husband were living in her old room at her parent's home. So, the questions start up in my head... where is he? Why is she living with her parents but her husband isn't? What was he doing studying the bible at one point? Where is she going now? To the hospital?
So all of these questions make me curious as to what the story is for Mariette and totally drew me into the story. I don't know what it was - maybe the curiosity of her being pregnant and in early labor? What is it about women and their labor stories - I remember sitting at work gatherings (when most of the men found their ways back to their desks) when the mom's of the group starting comparing their stories of labor and childbirth. Not being a mom at that point, I remember being horrified at those stories and making a mental note that I didn't want to go there anytime soon. Now that I'm a mom, there must be something about being drawn into a book that starts off with a woman about to have a baby... maybe it's just a mom thing or me - or maybe this is exactly that the author intended or she was able to weave some magic spell into her words... well, whatever it was, I was mesmerized and had to find out what happened. :-) :-)
I really liked this book. The story was really cute, with some parts that were filled with pain - well, okay, there was a lot of parts that I found a bit sad and had me crying, but it was all written so well! :-) :-) :-) But more than anything, this story, even though it's a romance, seemed so much more realistic to me than so many of the other romance stories that I've read in the past. There are few writers that can do that. Sure, I love reading those "happily ever after" books every once in a while, but even the most avid romance novel fan can get tired of these kind of fairy tale type of stories. This one had so many of the typical challenges that as a married person, I can totally relate to and have experienced some of the same in my own marriage. It was nice to read about a newlywed couple having a few problems - just like so many of us that were married fairly young had to face.
I remember when hubby and I were first married and our first little apartment and the money problems that we had. I remember how frustrated I felt when so many of the people that I considered family were so convinced that our marriage was not going to survive. I also remember how good it felt to have our little victories when we succeeded at something - graduating from college, getting our first "real" job with real pay, getting our first home... I think there is something that we can all relate to in this book which was more like reading a true life dairy than a fictional novel.
I'm sure that the writer had intended all of this but wanted to make the more important part of her story about the main characters relationship with God. Sure, it's a Christian fiction book so it's to be expected... but to tell you the truth, I really didn't pay much attention to this part. Sure, you'll have your fairy tale ending where Mariette find God and becomes the person she is intended to be, but I found more appealing how her husband had always accepted her and her little quirks... and the people in the town they lived in had also accepted that part of her eight years later - even though they really gave her a hard time about it when they first moved there.
To me, it makes no difference that this is considered a "Christian" or religious genre novel. It was written well and I had a fun time reading it. The whole religion part of stories like this will not change my personal way of thinking, nor will it all of the sudden make me want to take bible study classes or anything like that. To me, this was an impressive book and I look forward to getting more books by this author to add to my list of books to read. :-) :-)
The story starts off in 1964 with a young woman in the early stages of labor. She gets her purse, gloves and is ready to go wherever she thinks she needs to go. At this point I gather that her husband's name is Thayne and that at one point she and her husband were living in her old room at her parent's home. So, the questions start up in my head... where is he? Why is she living with her parents but her husband isn't? What was he doing studying the bible at one point? Where is she going now? To the hospital?
So all of these questions make me curious as to what the story is for Mariette and totally drew me into the story. I don't know what it was - maybe the curiosity of her being pregnant and in early labor? What is it about women and their labor stories - I remember sitting at work gatherings (when most of the men found their ways back to their desks) when the mom's of the group starting comparing their stories of labor and childbirth. Not being a mom at that point, I remember being horrified at those stories and making a mental note that I didn't want to go there anytime soon. Now that I'm a mom, there must be something about being drawn into a book that starts off with a woman about to have a baby... maybe it's just a mom thing or me - or maybe this is exactly that the author intended or she was able to weave some magic spell into her words... well, whatever it was, I was mesmerized and had to find out what happened. :-) :-)
I really liked this book. The story was really cute, with some parts that were filled with pain - well, okay, there was a lot of parts that I found a bit sad and had me crying, but it was all written so well! :-) :-) :-) But more than anything, this story, even though it's a romance, seemed so much more realistic to me than so many of the other romance stories that I've read in the past. There are few writers that can do that. Sure, I love reading those "happily ever after" books every once in a while, but even the most avid romance novel fan can get tired of these kind of fairy tale type of stories. This one had so many of the typical challenges that as a married person, I can totally relate to and have experienced some of the same in my own marriage. It was nice to read about a newlywed couple having a few problems - just like so many of us that were married fairly young had to face.
I remember when hubby and I were first married and our first little apartment and the money problems that we had. I remember how frustrated I felt when so many of the people that I considered family were so convinced that our marriage was not going to survive. I also remember how good it felt to have our little victories when we succeeded at something - graduating from college, getting our first "real" job with real pay, getting our first home... I think there is something that we can all relate to in this book which was more like reading a true life dairy than a fictional novel.
I'm sure that the writer had intended all of this but wanted to make the more important part of her story about the main characters relationship with God. Sure, it's a Christian fiction book so it's to be expected... but to tell you the truth, I really didn't pay much attention to this part. Sure, you'll have your fairy tale ending where Mariette find God and becomes the person she is intended to be, but I found more appealing how her husband had always accepted her and her little quirks... and the people in the town they lived in had also accepted that part of her eight years later - even though they really gave her a hard time about it when they first moved there.
To me, it makes no difference that this is considered a "Christian" or religious genre novel. It was written well and I had a fun time reading it. The whole religion part of stories like this will not change my personal way of thinking, nor will it all of the sudden make me want to take bible study classes or anything like that. To me, this was an impressive book and I look forward to getting more books by this author to add to my list of books to read. :-) :-)
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal
Okay, so this was a book that was recommended to me a little while ago for a good mystery - The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal by Lilian Jackson Braun. Apparently, this is only 1 book of a whole series of mystery novels that start with "The Cat Who....". I downloaded the audio book and finished listening to it this afternoon.
This book was really cute. I didn't care for the reader very much, but that is just personal preference for me... I find it more soothing to have an audio book read by a female than have a male reader. I know, I know... I'm being silly about it, but I just think there are some female readers who do guy voices better than male readers that do female voices. It's just me, I know... nothing against the reader, he did a fine job, but I think I would have preferred a female reader. :-)
The story itself was really cute. Of course my favorite characters were the spoiled rotten cats that ate better in one week than I have in my whole lifetime! Can you imagine getting lobster tail as dinner on a regular basis? I've only had lobster tail once!!! But these cats were really cute and way smart - I'd almost want to say a little too smart, but I've know some crazy cats that almost can predict the future or read people so well that I had learned to trust the cats instincts over my own. :-) :-)
I can't wait to read a few more books of this series. Since the library only had one audio book (and since I wasn't too crazy over listening to it anyway), I know that I'll have to put the other books on hold. :-)
It's been a long time since I've really read mysteries. But I think this was a good re-introduction to the genre with it's fun story and characters. I love how the cats owner, Qwilleran, had the nervous habit of stroking his moustache while he was thinking. :-) I've seen my own husband do that a few times and loved how that little quirk was written into the character. :-) :-)
The overall skeleton of the story was just like a typical mystery - someone dies and the characters try to figure out what happened, and I was able to pretty much guess the ending about half way through the book. I know that it bothers some people to be able to guess the ending too easily (well, it was obvious to me, but that's just me), but I found it to be a lot of fun to see if I was right. :-) :-) But guessing the story was not the point of this book for me. I fell in love with those crazy cats so much that I just wanted to see what other antics they were up to. I have a feeling that it may be the case for any other book that I read in this series as well - I just love those cats! :-)
So, thanks to my friend, who I call Kitty Kat, that suggested this series for me. She knows that I love cats just as much as she does and I can see her attraction to this series - because I have a feeling that I loved this book for the same reason - those spoiled rotten cats. :-) :-)
This book was really cute. I didn't care for the reader very much, but that is just personal preference for me... I find it more soothing to have an audio book read by a female than have a male reader. I know, I know... I'm being silly about it, but I just think there are some female readers who do guy voices better than male readers that do female voices. It's just me, I know... nothing against the reader, he did a fine job, but I think I would have preferred a female reader. :-)
The story itself was really cute. Of course my favorite characters were the spoiled rotten cats that ate better in one week than I have in my whole lifetime! Can you imagine getting lobster tail as dinner on a regular basis? I've only had lobster tail once!!! But these cats were really cute and way smart - I'd almost want to say a little too smart, but I've know some crazy cats that almost can predict the future or read people so well that I had learned to trust the cats instincts over my own. :-) :-)
I can't wait to read a few more books of this series. Since the library only had one audio book (and since I wasn't too crazy over listening to it anyway), I know that I'll have to put the other books on hold. :-)
It's been a long time since I've really read mysteries. But I think this was a good re-introduction to the genre with it's fun story and characters. I love how the cats owner, Qwilleran, had the nervous habit of stroking his moustache while he was thinking. :-) I've seen my own husband do that a few times and loved how that little quirk was written into the character. :-) :-)
The overall skeleton of the story was just like a typical mystery - someone dies and the characters try to figure out what happened, and I was able to pretty much guess the ending about half way through the book. I know that it bothers some people to be able to guess the ending too easily (well, it was obvious to me, but that's just me), but I found it to be a lot of fun to see if I was right. :-) :-) But guessing the story was not the point of this book for me. I fell in love with those crazy cats so much that I just wanted to see what other antics they were up to. I have a feeling that it may be the case for any other book that I read in this series as well - I just love those cats! :-)
So, thanks to my friend, who I call Kitty Kat, that suggested this series for me. She knows that I love cats just as much as she does and I can see her attraction to this series - because I have a feeling that I loved this book for the same reason - those spoiled rotten cats. :-) :-)
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