by Susan Meissner
Carver County Library hardcover 386 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction
Another wonderful story by Meissner! She's one of my favorite authors we read for book club. This one follows Elise Sontag from her present day elderly situation into her past in 1940s America and Germany. Much of the book focuses on her unlikely friendship in a detention center with a Japanese American girl, Mariko. Elise's father and mother have lived in the United States for twenty years but have not applied for citizenship status when WWII and its fearfulness interrupt their lives in Davenport, Iowa.
I didn't tag any pages in the first half of the book . . . though there was much that I enjoyed. I especially liked the opening pages as Elise describes Alzheimer's as the thief Agnes who steals parts of her life and brain from her. Having seen the devastation that dementia can wreak in a loved-one's life . . . this was a very apt description!
Page 177 - "You know, I don't think it matters now what happened in the past . . . What's important is what happens now. Today." Words of wisdom from Rina, Mariko's adult daughter!
Page 199 - "I had never had a grandmother speak to me this way or look at me with the kind of love with which she was now gazing at me. . . . She loved me without having met me. . . It was so hard to know who I was in that moment, other than a teenage girl loved by her grandmother." Oma is the kind of grandmother I want to be! Loving so extravagantly that the child feels it and knows it thoroughly. (Though I would never want to go for 13 years without meeting a grandchild!) I think part of the reason I tagged this was simply because of that extravagant love . . . like God has for us.
Page 218 - "Love, when it's lavished on you after you've said ugly things, is almost too painful to bear." After the teenaged Elise had erupted at her parents and spewed all her unhappiness, her dad comforts her beautifully. His acceptance of her feelings and understanding of her expression of frustration . . . great parenting!
Page 234 - "We decide who and what we will love and who and what we will hate. We decide what we will do with the love and hate. Every day we decide. It was this that revealed who we were, not the color of our flesh or the shape of our eyes or the language we spoke." To me, this is the key point of the book. Powerful and true - our choices and decisions make us who we are.
Page 269 - "The rich have always been able to get what they want and do what they want. Money is power, Elise. It always has been." Ralph is so very right in terms of "how the world works" but his cynicism is still discouraging. Elise is so young and inexperienced in how the world works. He doesn't make things easy on her!
Page 281 - "The human brain, I have since read, is still ripening when we're seventeen. It's still growing, still forming thought patterns and avenues for arriving at logical conclusions, and it doesn't stop maturing until we reach age twenty-five." Amen! This is so true and yet 18 year olds are legal adults . . . brain development is fascinating.
Page 302 - "She nods in understanding. Mother-love transcends biology." When Elise and Mariko are talking about their lives, Elise explains Pamela and Teddy. This made me think of Katie of course!
Page 379 - "I wanted them to see that not everyone is lucky enough to have family around who love them, and I also wanted them to know that we are all on the road that leads to the edge of our mortality. Life is too brief to waste a minute of it chasing after things that don't matter." Elise brought Pamela and Teddy to nursing homes with her while they were young . . . life's lessons have power.
A reference on page 382 made me think of The Secret Language of Flowers . . . and then yesterday, I saw a copy of it on the library's "discard" cart. I almost bought it, but it's a large print edition and those tend to make me batty when I read them. I love that book and will probably re-read it! This title by Meissner was quite good, but there are others of hers that I like better. The Alzheimer's aspect most resonated with me . . . how awful to start losing parts of your memory and mind.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
The God Wink Effect: 7 Secrets to God's Signs, Wonders, and Answered Prayers
by SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt
Hennepin County Library hardcover 221 pages
genre: non-fiction, Christian faith
I'm really torn about this book . . . on the one hand, I thought the title was cheesy and since there's an entire SERIES of these Godwink books I figured it was a gimmick thing. On the other hand, I plastered a LOT of post-it notes in this skinny book and it was quite inspirational. At one point, I even put a copy in my Amazon cart so I could have my own copy and highlight it. In the end, I recognize that the power is in God's Word. I can highlight that and re-read it often! (And I do.) I'm not sure why I requested this book / how it came across my reading radar. I'm trying to be better about tracking that, but I missed the boat on this one.
Page X - My first post-it had to do with the title. As he explained what a God Wink is (". . . I introduced the term Godwinks in my first book . . . some fifteen years ago . . . if there's no coincidence to coincidence, what do you call it?"), I realized that I have my own cheesy term for that phenomenon: God-incidence (instead of "coincidence"). The term "Godwinks" still bugs me, though.
Page 2 - "When I pray, coincidences happen. When I don't, they don't!" Prayer truly does make all the difference in the world! People who are not believers will acknowledge coincidences in their lives, so this isn't really a profound statement. Rather, to me it's a reminder that if I want to see God at work in my life, I need to be persistent in prayer.
Page 3 - The first "secret" (another wording that bugs me) is Prayer. "Simply put, prayer is communication between you and God. You can talk to Him anytime from anywhere about anything." I think I post-it noted this because it's a good thing to share with people who do not already have a deep prayer life. Anytime. Anywhere. Anything.
Page 11 - The stories that they include to demonstrate the points of the "secrets" are well-chosen. I loved the story of the woman who was able to travel to her son's wedding. "God, I know that if You want me to go to this wedding, You'll make the way." I love her prayer of faith and trust in God!
Page 12 - "This experience reaffirmed for her that prayer works . . . and that when you are faithful to God every day of your life, when you remain in conversation with Him, He is right there beside you and faithful to you!"
Page 34 - ". . . they were astonished to discover - as most people do - that praying consistently with another person expands the power of your prayer and divinely aligns your paths with Godwinks He wants to bless you with." I love when Louie and I take time to pray together, especially for our kids and grandson.
Page 37 - He mentions his book The 40-Day Prayer Challenge. I may or may not get that from the library . . . But I wanted to "pin it" here.
Page 46-47 - Love this!!! He listed Scriptures about "ask" . . . wow! God's Word tells us to ask. (Matthew 18:19, Matthew 21:22, 1 John 5:14, John 14:13, John 15:7, John 16:23, Mark 11:24) And those are just SOME of the Scriptures like that! Praise God!
Page 98 - "When you see absolutely no evidence that your prayers are being answered, it's difficult to keep your faith strong. But later, when we look back, we can always see that God was getting people and events into proper alignment."
Page 100 - From James 1:5-6: "If you don't ask in faith, don't expect the Lord to give you any solid answer." My Bible has it like this: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." Again, as much as I enjoyed reading this book, I already have the Book I need.
Page 125 - "There are countless stories of people who averted car accidents because of a sudden nudge to pull over to the side of the road. When we acknowledge God's presence in our lives and talk with Him daily, we will be able to hear and feel those little tugs. Don't ignore them. God is talking to you." I'm not very good at listening! I'm so glad that God's not finished with me yet. I get so focused on my to-do list and my plan that I forget to spend time in prayer asking Him for His plan!
Page 131 - "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)
Page 134 - "Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything." (Hebrews 3:4)
Page 200 - Psalm 31:21-22 Really, God's Word is more than enough!
Page 215 - Deuteronomy 31:8 - this is the key part of the story about the woman who donated a kidney for a little girl. It's an amazing, powerful story about the power of God's love and faithfulness. I also liked the story about Karen Kingsbury running into Rod Stewart in a park. The stories really fit the points the authors were making.
One last thing: Why does he spell his unusual first name with capital s, capital q, lower case u-i-r-e?
"Secrets":
1. Pray
2. Ask
3. Believe
4. Expect
5. Signs
6. Wonders
7. Divine Alignment
Hennepin County Library hardcover 221 pages
genre: non-fiction, Christian faith
I'm really torn about this book . . . on the one hand, I thought the title was cheesy and since there's an entire SERIES of these Godwink books I figured it was a gimmick thing. On the other hand, I plastered a LOT of post-it notes in this skinny book and it was quite inspirational. At one point, I even put a copy in my Amazon cart so I could have my own copy and highlight it. In the end, I recognize that the power is in God's Word. I can highlight that and re-read it often! (And I do.) I'm not sure why I requested this book / how it came across my reading radar. I'm trying to be better about tracking that, but I missed the boat on this one.
Page X - My first post-it had to do with the title. As he explained what a God Wink is (". . . I introduced the term Godwinks in my first book . . . some fifteen years ago . . . if there's no coincidence to coincidence, what do you call it?"), I realized that I have my own cheesy term for that phenomenon: God-incidence (instead of "coincidence"). The term "Godwinks" still bugs me, though.
Page 2 - "When I pray, coincidences happen. When I don't, they don't!" Prayer truly does make all the difference in the world! People who are not believers will acknowledge coincidences in their lives, so this isn't really a profound statement. Rather, to me it's a reminder that if I want to see God at work in my life, I need to be persistent in prayer.
Page 3 - The first "secret" (another wording that bugs me) is Prayer. "Simply put, prayer is communication between you and God. You can talk to Him anytime from anywhere about anything." I think I post-it noted this because it's a good thing to share with people who do not already have a deep prayer life. Anytime. Anywhere. Anything.
Page 11 - The stories that they include to demonstrate the points of the "secrets" are well-chosen. I loved the story of the woman who was able to travel to her son's wedding. "God, I know that if You want me to go to this wedding, You'll make the way." I love her prayer of faith and trust in God!
Page 12 - "This experience reaffirmed for her that prayer works . . . and that when you are faithful to God every day of your life, when you remain in conversation with Him, He is right there beside you and faithful to you!"
Page 34 - ". . . they were astonished to discover - as most people do - that praying consistently with another person expands the power of your prayer and divinely aligns your paths with Godwinks He wants to bless you with." I love when Louie and I take time to pray together, especially for our kids and grandson.
Page 37 - He mentions his book The 40-Day Prayer Challenge. I may or may not get that from the library . . . But I wanted to "pin it" here.
Page 46-47 - Love this!!! He listed Scriptures about "ask" . . . wow! God's Word tells us to ask. (Matthew 18:19, Matthew 21:22, 1 John 5:14, John 14:13, John 15:7, John 16:23, Mark 11:24) And those are just SOME of the Scriptures like that! Praise God!
Page 98 - "When you see absolutely no evidence that your prayers are being answered, it's difficult to keep your faith strong. But later, when we look back, we can always see that God was getting people and events into proper alignment."
Page 100 - From James 1:5-6: "If you don't ask in faith, don't expect the Lord to give you any solid answer." My Bible has it like this: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." Again, as much as I enjoyed reading this book, I already have the Book I need.
Page 125 - "There are countless stories of people who averted car accidents because of a sudden nudge to pull over to the side of the road. When we acknowledge God's presence in our lives and talk with Him daily, we will be able to hear and feel those little tugs. Don't ignore them. God is talking to you." I'm not very good at listening! I'm so glad that God's not finished with me yet. I get so focused on my to-do list and my plan that I forget to spend time in prayer asking Him for His plan!
Page 131 - "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)
Page 134 - "Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything." (Hebrews 3:4)
Page 200 - Psalm 31:21-22 Really, God's Word is more than enough!
Page 215 - Deuteronomy 31:8 - this is the key part of the story about the woman who donated a kidney for a little girl. It's an amazing, powerful story about the power of God's love and faithfulness. I also liked the story about Karen Kingsbury running into Rod Stewart in a park. The stories really fit the points the authors were making.
One last thing: Why does he spell his unusual first name with capital s, capital q, lower case u-i-r-e?
"Secrets":
1. Pray
2. Ask
3. Believe
4. Expect
5. Signs
6. Wonders
7. Divine Alignment
Wednesday, June 05, 2019
Orbiting Jupiter
by Gary D. Schmidt
Hennepin County Library audiobook 3 CDs
read by Christopher Gebauer
genre: YA realistic fiction
Once again, Schmidt's amazing storytelling skill is on powerful display. This is the first of his books that hasn't been historical fiction! (Of those I've read. Though the mention of Coach Swieteck made me think of Okay For Now . . . ) Louie and I listened to this one together when we had a lot of driving to do.
Jack and his parents have taken in a 14-year-old foster child named Joseph. He got a 13-year-old pregnant when he was also 13 and he kept trying to see her, even after her parents got an injunction against him. This info comes later in the story, though.
The characters range from compassionate to cruel. Joseph's voice is at times silent and at other times, overpowering. The relationship between sixth grader Jack and eighth grader Joseph develops slowly and in classic guy terms. Jupiter is the baby girl that Joseph wants to see and take care of. He wants to be the loving father he himself does not have.
I cried. I'm listening to it over again. I think I'll get some other Schmidt stories on audio for our next road trip. I'd love to share the ones I've loved with Louie.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 3 CDs
read by Christopher Gebauer
genre: YA realistic fiction
Once again, Schmidt's amazing storytelling skill is on powerful display. This is the first of his books that hasn't been historical fiction! (Of those I've read. Though the mention of Coach Swieteck made me think of Okay For Now . . . ) Louie and I listened to this one together when we had a lot of driving to do.
Jack and his parents have taken in a 14-year-old foster child named Joseph. He got a 13-year-old pregnant when he was also 13 and he kept trying to see her, even after her parents got an injunction against him. This info comes later in the story, though.
The characters range from compassionate to cruel. Joseph's voice is at times silent and at other times, overpowering. The relationship between sixth grader Jack and eighth grader Joseph develops slowly and in classic guy terms. Jupiter is the baby girl that Joseph wants to see and take care of. He wants to be the loving father he himself does not have.
I cried. I'm listening to it over again. I think I'll get some other Schmidt stories on audio for our next road trip. I'd love to share the ones I've loved with Louie.
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia
by Susan Runholt
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 CDs
read by Krista Sutton
genre: YA mystery
I hadn't heard of this author before, but I found her story delightful! Two 14-year-old girls, Kari and Lucas, have an adventure involving art, a "new" Rembrandt, and a mysterious stranger in disguise.
Parts of it were irritating (as is the norm for middle school books) but the mystery kept my attention and the vocal work was solid.
Kari's mom is the kind of adult teenagers need. I'll need to see if this author has written other mystery stories for young adults. She did a great job with this one!
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 CDs
read by Krista Sutton
genre: YA mystery
I hadn't heard of this author before, but I found her story delightful! Two 14-year-old girls, Kari and Lucas, have an adventure involving art, a "new" Rembrandt, and a mysterious stranger in disguise.
Parts of it were irritating (as is the norm for middle school books) but the mystery kept my attention and the vocal work was solid.
Kari's mom is the kind of adult teenagers need. I'll need to see if this author has written other mystery stories for young adults. She did a great job with this one!
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