To Love What Is: A Marriage Transformed by Alix Kates Shulman

     Second marriages can be such a blessing. There is not enough time in any lifetime to be with that special someone, but second marriages have even less time.  Scott and Alix have already lived through one serious heart episode that Scott suffered, but this time a fall from a loft causes lots more damage.  Alix has to struggle with caring for him 24/7, trying to help his brain heal and work better after severe head trauma.  Their daily life takes a huge change of direction for them both.  But he’s not aware of all they’ve lost as he lives in the moment, but she lives with the loss, trying to maintain their standard of living, keep contact with friends and family, and having to watch out for him every minute, even in the bathroom.  What happens to love when nothing else is the same?  A great book.  As we baby boomers gray and become the dreaded word, ‘elderly,’ it’s a whole new ballgame.  Highly recommended. 10/10.

What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

    

Nice vacation time read.  High school student Ryden’s sweetheart, Meg, dies when their daughter is born.  He needs the athletic scholarship for college, but a baby, work, practice and studying is overwhelming.  He is also consumed by a need to find some journals he thinks Meg left for him.  Nice story of young love and devotion. 8 out of 10. For more reviews: http://queenbeewritings.blogspot.com/

The Bedding Proposal by Tracy Anne Warren

Light romance with no angst.  1818 setting.  Wealthy young man chases young woman with a bad reputation.  At their first meeting she throws her drink all over him. It isn’t the last time she gets the best of him.  Of course she isn’t the tainted woman her reputation implies and he isn’t the rake his reputation implies.  Reading this from day to day is like returning the home of a favorite friend to see how things are going and be pleasantly entertained.  8/10

 

 

 

 

Once We Were Bothers by Ronald H. Balson

As Hitler restricted, contained, and murdered the citizens of Germany, young Otto’s parents leave him with Ben’s family.  But eventually Ben’s Jewish family is on the hit list and Ben’s father encourages Otto to go back with his parents who work for the Hitler regime.  Ben’s family's struggle to survive is the meat of the plot.  Ben survives against all odds, moves to the U. S. and lives a quiet life for many years.  But then he recognizes who he believes to be this "brother," living and wealthy beyond belief. Ben tries to expose Otto. But is this newly found ‘Elliot’ really long lost Otto?  Wealth buy silencers. What lawyer would touch this case and be threatened by the repercussions?  Great book.  9 out of 10.

Some Luck by Jane Smiley

Yawner.  Plodding.  No excitement. Narrative of an Iowa farm family from the 1920’s to 1953.  Walter and Rosanna raise five children. There are the neighborhood children, school teachers, neighbors, extended family; lots of characters but very few are well developed, although each of the five children get more print than the others. They are surviving through the depression, World War II, and the social changes of the post war era.  From plowing with horses to tractors.  It traces other farming changes. It’s bland.  5 out of 10 and five is just because it’s my Iowa and I recognize places mentioned and lived some of those same changes.

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

      Annie’s life hangs in the balance of an abductor’s imbalanced mind. One day a career, boyfriend and family fusses rule her life and the next she is abducted, drugged, and taken to an unknown location.  Her life becomes totally controlled by a mental freak who has built a special cabin just for her captivity, with no way out. He controls every aspect and every minute of her life, including when and if she can go to the bathroom; when, if and what she can eat; and schedules for every minute of every day filled with tasks he dictates.  And, he is violent.  And, he wants her to have his baby.  Some freaks seems to get everything they want.
    But not forever.  It is over but still controlling every aspect of her life as she tries to live past the horrors she endured.  Thus the title, still missing. Her story is told as she finally goes to a therapist and tries to put some kind of life back together.  She is not a cooperative patient.
    But the “holy cow” of the story is how the connections were made to enable the abductor to take her in the first place.  How could anyone be manipulative enough to start that ball to roll?  I didn’t see it coming and when it hit me in the face I still thought, “No, there has to be a different scenario that will unfold.”
    Rated 9/10.  Must read other books by this author.

Those Girls by Chevy Stevens

     Another block buster by this author.  Three sisters were trying to survive an abusive, usually absent father after their mother dies.  They have to escape after their father is so abusive it seems he is killing one of the girls.  They run into more horrible trouble when their escape truck breaks down along the highway.  They are able to escape again and get far enough away to find a safe place to live for many years.  But the past catches up with them and once more they have to fight to survive.  Get all the Chevy Stevens books!   9 out of 10.

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

     Imagine knowing everything people are saying, understanding what is going on and not being able to respond except in garbled noises that no one understands.  This gal is trapped with a brilliant brain and no way to communicate; forced to attend special education classes that teach the alphabet for 5 years, over and over; watching lessons and movies for toddlers when when she is an eleven year old brainiac.  Then there is a break through and she excels more than her peers in regular classes can understand; nor can one particular teacher treat her right at a crucial time.  Excellent way to make a reader rethink about the handicapped.  9 out of 10.

Go Away Home by Carol Bodensteiner

    This is a touching story of self-discovery, romance and loss.  Liddie, a young farm girl, dreams of the big city, and a career.  Keep in mind this means moving a few miles to the big city of  a few thousand people!  Being on her own there, meeting new people, improving her sewing skills when working for a seamstress, and meeting an eligible photographer is an immense change. It all seems like a dream, while the family on the farm continues to pull her home.  World War I creates new challenges between former friends and new friends.  Lots of loss and then the flu epidemic strikes.  A touching and warm novel with great touches of home for me because the setting is my home town of Maquoketa, IA, U.S.A..  9 out of 10.

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

     A romance, but quirky.  The miles of differences between the wealthy and the barely making it, proves to be a huge distance to cross.  “Free”  indiscriminate love proves expensive in one relationship.  Duh.  A lying jerk of an ex-husband proves one has to check out circumstances before taking a financial beating, in another relationship.  Add two children with totally different problems and the single mom, main character, has her hands full. 8 out of 10.  Ms. Moyes never lets a reader down.

My Mother's Secret by J. L. Witterick

     You can read the entire book in one evening. It moves quickly, and is simply written. Based on a true Holocaust story.  Times are hard in the 1930’s in Poland and Germany when Helena and her family are caught up in the intrigue and political upheaval.  They leave Germany and go to live in Poland where, over the war years, they are invaded by Nazi and Russian soldiers.  They eke out a living because they have a little land and can grow garden and orchard crops.  As the Jewish people are herded up for assassination, a family they remember on the outskirts of the village come to their tiny home begging to be hidden.  Eventually even a German soldier seeks to be hidden rather than being sent to the front to kill.  Helena’s home is only two rooms and one out building.  How long can they feed and hide eight extra people?  How long before they are found out and turned in?  Tanks are parked on their tiny property.  Helena’s mother serves German leaders dinners in this tiny home.  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?  Great story.  9 out of 10.  More reviews: http://queenbeewritings.blogspot.com/

Seeking Signs by Staci Angelina Mercado

   This was especially relevant to me because the whole story happened in communities in which I’d grown up. I can place exactly the street locations and where her home was in a nearby town.  Based on an actual event and written mostly from the viewpoint of a younger sister, Elsie, the plot centers around a town girl, Minnie, who has married a farmer in the early 1900‘s. Minne is learning to make the transition to being a farm wife.  Sadly, she is found hanging in a barn and little sister, Elsie, does not believe it was suicide as investigators decided. So she determinedly sets out to find answers and seek the signs to solve the mystery. Events, especially at the beginning, puzzled me because they seemed out of order.  Dated in April, two natives come through the area, leaving them a possible trouble later. Next was a telling about Minnie losing a baby. Then a few pages telling William had taught her to drive.  Next was the story of her driving, having an accident, and blood running down her leg indicating she was losing a baby. Dated a month later, May, she found ads in a magazine about women driving.  She left the ads for William to see to plant an idea in his head about women being able to drive, indicating he hadn’t already taught her to drive before the earlier story about her accident.  As the story continued it seemed easier to follow. There are many characters who could have been blamed.  But Winnie had problems, losing babies and a child, superstitions that made behaviors seem erratic, being alone out on the farm when she was used to a large family around her.  A good read.  8 out of 10.

The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison

     We are tipped off at the beginning that she will murder her husband.  Then there is the long journey to get to that point and worse, beyond it.  I kept thinking it would get better, that the characters would have some redeeming values. They didn’t.  So many pages to tell a stupid story, about stupid characters doing stupid things in their lives.  I could not relate to their values, their actions, or their interactions.  Disappointed that I kept reading it.  0 out of 10. Read summer of 2014.

The Auschwitz Escape by Joel C. Rosenberg

     We need to know what happened in the extermination camps. How could the German Army and leaders have allowed themselves to be sucked into the horror they supported? How did Hitler successfully push his twisted thinking into a country’s goal? Two young men from different countries end up in Auschwitz. These two young men survive and the years of their nightmare is told in minute detail.  How unlikely they would escape to let the world know what was reality at the ‘work camps.’  And how devastating that world powers moved so slowly to stem the murderous tide when they found out.  All was not lost when all was lost.  9 out of 10.