I Predict . . .
March 31, 2008
It’s that wonderful time of year again, that personal national holiday of mine — opening day for my baseball team, the Chicago White Sox.
This year it feels a lot different. First of all, where’s spring? Second, we don’t live in Chi-town anymore. So I’ve heard almost zero about how good — or bad — my team is supposed to be. But we’ll have the DVR going tomorrow to tape the game. That’ll be a whole family thing in our house tonight.
Yesterday I caught Baseball Tonight on TV. That’s like the first robin for me, that night you happen to catch them doing one of their first shows, and you know winter’s almost over. Anyway, I soaked up the guys’ takes on who would win the divisions, and the baseball superfan in me just can’t resist giving you my predictions for the season.
Just remember you heard it here first.
AL — Red Sox, Indians, Angels; Wildcard — Tigers
NL — Mets, Scrubs (our pet name for the Cubs; my dad, who’s actually a Cubs fan, came up with that one), Diamondbacks; Wildcard — Braves
So there it is. May the White Sox prove me wrong.
Betrayed by Jeanette Windle, Reviewed
March 27, 2008
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As the child of missionary parents, award-winning author and journalist Jeanette Windle grew up in the rural villages, jungles, and mountains of Colombia, now guerrilla hot zones. Her detailed research and writing is so realistic that it has prompted government agencies to question her to determine if she has received classified information. Currently based in Lancaster, PA, Jeanette has lived in six countries and traveled in more than twenty. She has more than a dozen books in print, including political/suspense best-seller CrossFire and the Parker Twins series.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Fires smolder endlessly below the dangerous surface of Guatemala City’s municipal dump.
Deadlier fires seethe beneath the tenuous calm of a nation recovering from brutal civil war. Anthropologist Vicki Andrews is researching Guatemala’s “garbage people” when she stumbles across a human body. Curiosity turns to horror as she uncovers no stranger, but an American environmentalist—Vicki’s only sister, Holly.
With authorities dismissing the death as another street crime, Vicki begins tracing Holly’s last steps, a pilgrimage leading from slum squalor to the breathtaking and endangered cloud forests of the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere. But every unraveled thread raises more questions. What betrayal connects Holly’s murder, the recent massacre of a Mayan village, and the long-ago deaths of Vicki’s own parents?
Nor is Vicki the only one demanding answers. Before her search reaches its startling end, the conflagration has spilled across international borders to threaten an American administration and the current war on terror. With no one turning out to be who they’d seemed, who can Vicki trust and who should she fear?
A politically relevant tale of international intrigue and God’s redemptive beauty and hope.
Sally Says:
I just finished this book today. It’s one of those nice thick books, and I’ll say that if you buy it, you’ll get your money’s worth.
Jeanette does a good job of helping the reader see a country that he’s probably never been to. And she brought out the culture, the problems, and the history in a way that related to the story rather than as a history lesson. The middle of the story did lag a bit for me, but the beginning of the story was good enough to keep me going, and the book gave a satisfactory ending that hints at a sequel. (Is there one, Jeanette?)
Betrayed is a complex story and quite a ride. Like I said, I loved the ending, the adventure in the story, and the spiritual thread — very believable, very real. Will I read another book by Jeanette Windle?
You bet.
Welcome to the Camy and Sally Show
March 26, 2008
I’m coming out of hibernation (for reasons to be explained soon, I hope) for Camy Tang’s newest release Only Uni. I’ll get to the review in a minute, but first Camy was kind enough to answer some questions for me. It’s always fun to see how much (or little) you have in common with someone else so here goes.
Question 1: What was your best vacation?
Camy — Mine was a trip up north to Mendocino county for our first anniversary–we stayed at this delectable bed and breakfast with an oceanside view and a terrific restaurant, and we went wine tasting.
Sally — My husband and I took a trip to Denver about 6 months before our first child was born. We toured the whole area from Estes Park in the north down to the Royal Gorge and everything in between. I went horseback riding through the Garden of the Gods, took the train to the top of Pikes Peak (amazing), and freaked out at signs that read, “Beware of rattlers” at the Flying W Ranch. There were no rattler sightings so it was a good trip.
Question 2: What’s your favorite childhood book?
Camy — Mine was A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Something about Sara Crewe’s troubles and how she overcame them always made me feel so good.
Sally — I still love Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, and I’m slowly reading them now to my daughter. My favorite one is The Longest Winter. I think I’d read it a couple times before I realized how serious their situation was. Yikes.
Question 3: What was the last movie you watched?
Camy — I saw Northanger Abbey (the Masterpiece movie that aired a few weeks ago, I saw it again on Tivo),but the last movie I saw with my husband was Zodiac, about the San Francisco Bay Area serial killer WHO WAS NEVER CAUGHT. Woooooooo
Sally — Good thing you don’t live anywhere near San — oh. Hmm.
The last movie I saw was Pride and Prejudice. Ironically, the movie I watched before that was also Pride & Prejudice, the 1995 version. I had to compare the two to see which one was better, and I shocked myself by preferring the 1995 BBC A&E version. Wonderfully done, much truer to the book, and allowed character emotions to fully develop.
Question 4: If you could eat only one more candy bar, what would it be?
Camy — I’d eat a Twix bar.
Sally — I so should not eat another candy bar. Ever. Really. Chocolate and I — not good.
Question 5: What are you reading right now?
Camy — I just finished PETTICOAT RANCH by Mary Connealy and I just started MISS MATCH by Erynn Mangum.
Sally — I’m working on BETRAYED by Jeanette Windle. It’s a big thick book, but it’s been good so far. In fact, I’ll be reviewing it before the week’s out.
And now for the book.
Flirty biologist Trish Sakai has alienated her best friends and her family because of her wild behavior with her artist ex-boyfriend, Kazuo. Then she finds her father kissing another woman, and her mom suffers a heart attack. Convinced God is punishing her for her sexual promiscuity, Trish comes up with three rules from First and Second Corinthians: 1) Stop looking at guys, 2) Only date Christians, and 3) Persevere in hardship by relying on God. If she follows them, God will restore her life to the way it was before her mistakes. If she can somehow regain her chastity, she won’t feel as dirty and unworthy as she does now. They’re only three rules. How hard can it be?
Handsome Spenser finds himself attracted to his coworker Trish, but his dinner invitation gets slammed down with a lame excuse about Corinthians and rules. That cools his ardor pretty quick. But then Spenser discover that his old enemy Kazuo needs Trish as the “muse” for his unfinished masterpiece painting due in a few months for a gallery show. Kazuo pursues Trish with everything he’s got, but Spenser decides to throw a wrench in Kazuo’s plans by pretending to pursue Trish himself.
Trish is going nuts trying to stand firm against two hunky guys. Her three simple rules aren’t so simple anymore . . .
Sally Says: Again, Camy Tang pulls out a fun yet surprising book. Her first book, Sushi for One?, started out with comedy, and so does Only Uni. Yes, there’s seriousness to Trish’s problems, but there’s a good deal included that makes you laugh.
And then suddenly you find yourself facing ginormously major decisions, problems, and issues that make you think and feel for the characters. Camy really has a way of taking what at first glance appears to be light, escapist fiction and turning it into some pretty deep thinking.
Only Uni is a fun story that has a satisfying ending. And don’t you all just love that cover? It’s amazing.
You can find Camy daily on her blog Camy’s Loft. If you’d like more information about the book, check out all the reviews listed here.
Thanks for stopping by, Camy. And lock those doors and windows tonight, okay?
The Perfect Life by Robin Lee Hatcher
March 11, 2008
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Whispers from Yesterday), the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance (Patterns of Love and The Shepherd’s Voice), two RT Career Achievement Awards (Americana Romance and Inspirational Fiction), and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over 50 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.
Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home outside of Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon.
She also likes to blog. Go leave her a comment at Write Thinking!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Katherine Clarkson has the perfect life. Married to Brad, a loving and handsome husband, respected in their church and the community. Two grown daughters on the verge of starting families of their own. A thriving ministry. Good friends. A comfortable life.
She has it all–until the day a reporter appears with shocking allegations. Splashed across the local news are accusations of Brad’s financial impropriety at his foundation and worse, an affair with a former employee. Without warning, Katherine’s marriage is shattered and her family torn apart. The reassuring words she’s spoken to many brokenhearted women over the years offer little comfort now.
Her world spinning, Katherine wonders if she can find the truth in the chaos that consumes her. How can she survive the loss of what she thought was the perfect life?
Sally Says: Ack! I’m reviewing about 4 books this month, and I got the order wrong. So I’m partway into The Perfect Life. So far I’ve felt it to be a little slow, but the story is starting to pick up, and I’m really curious to see how the story plays out.
If you haven’t read anything by Robin Lee Hatcher, you really should. Her books run the gamut between light and fun to serious tear jerkers that make you think. My favorite book of hers (so far) is Beyond the Shadows. The book is about a woman married to an alcoholic, but there’s so much in that story that speaks to so many different areas of a woman’s life. I loved it.
I’ll try to finish this one in the next day or two and give my final thoughts on The Perfect Life.