Review: The World Needs More Love Letters

The World Needs More Love Letters
All-in-one stationary and envelopes

by Hannah Brencher

The World Needs More Love Letters is a stationary pad with forty pages of stationary that fold into envelopes. It also comes with wafer seals to close off the sides of the letter. It's a cute idea and I'm excited to use it to write some letters! It's sad how hardly anyone writes letters anymore, so this is a nice way to get people back into letter writing. It also has suggestions for what you could write if you're having trouble thinking of what to write yourself. I've always loved stationary, so of course I had to get this. My only complaint is that it said it came with forty "gorgeous" pages, so I thought the paper would be a bit prettier, but there are only five different designs and they are not what I would call "gorgeous", in dull shades of lime green, red, white and gray. But aside from that, a cute idea and neat little pad of stationary!

I received this book of stationary for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Where Treetops Glisten

Where Treetops Glisten

Three Stories of Heartwarming Courage and Christmas Romance During World War II

by Tricia Goyer, Cara Putman & Sarah Sundin

The crunch of newly fallen snow, the weight of wartime. Siblings forging new paths and finding love in three stories, filled with the wonders of Christmas.

Turn back the clock to a different time, listen to Bing Crosby sing of sleigh bells in the snow, as the realities of America's involvement in the Second World War change the lives of the Turner family in Lafayette, Indiana.

In Cara Putman's White Christmas, Abigail Turner is holding down the Home Front as a college student and a part-time employee at a one-of-a-kind candy shop. Loss of a beau to the war has Abigail skittish about romantic entanglements---until a hard-working young man with a serious problem needs her help.

Abigail's brother Pete is a fighter pilot here returned from the European Theatre in Sarah Sundin's I'll Be Home for Christmas, trying to recapture the hope and peace his time at war has eroded. But when he encounters a precocious little girl in need of Pete's friendship, can he convince her widowed mother that he's no longer the bully she once knew?

In Tricia Goyer's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Meredith Turner, "Merry" to those who know her best, is using her skills as a combat nurse on the frontline in the Netherlands. Halfway around the world from home, Merry never expects to face her deepest betrayal head on, but that's precisely what God has in mind to redeem her broken heart. 

The Turner family believes in God's providence during such a tumultuous time. Can they absorb the miracle of Christ's birth and His plan for the future?

I got this book hoping I could read it around Christmastime, but it didn't arrive until just a few days before Christmas, I believe. I started reading it right away but didn't have time to read all of it before Christmas, so I've slowly been making my way through it since. I did put it aside for a while to finish another book, and then picked it up again a month or so ago. It was good for what it is---three novellas centered around Christmas. I don't normally go for Christmas stories as they tend to be a bit cheesy in my opinion, but I thought this one might be good because of the time period it takes place. Each of the stories were short and sweet, but nothing too incredible. I found the first one to be a bit boring because it dealt mostly with this guy's money problems, but the second one I really liked. It was more interesting and I guess I liked that author's writing style the best out of the three. I thought I'd like the third story because it sounded like it'd have more action and be a bit more interesting... but it actually ended up being a bit boring as well, and seemed to repeat a lot of things and focused way too much on people talking and sitting around thinking about things rather than doing things, which is much more interesting in my opinion! So overall a quaint little read if you want something cozy to read around Christmas time, but certainly not something you HAVE to read.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Press in exchange for my honest review.

Book review: To Everything a Season

To Everything a Season 

by

Lauraine Snelling

Trygve Knuton is devoted  to his family and his community. With his job on the construction crew, he is helping to build a future for the North Dakota town of blessing. Though he loves his home, he sometimes dreams of other horizons--especially since meeting Miriam Hastings.

Miriam is in Blessing to get practical training to become an accredited nurse. She's been promised a position in the Chicago women's hospital that will enable her to support her siblings and her ailing mother. Although eager to return to her family, Miriam is surprised to find how much she enjoys the small town of Blessing. And her growing attachment to Trygve soon has her questioning a future she always considered set in stone.

When a family emergency calls Miriam home sooner than planned, will she find a way to return? If not, will it mean losing Trygve--and her chance at love--for good?

So that's what it says on the back of the book... from the sound of that this book is about Miriam and Trygve, right? Nope. Miriam doesn't even come into the story until chapter SIXTEEN! Going by the description, I thought this would be an interesting story, as I like most anything that has to do with doctors/nurses etc. But really, what it says up there is only a very small portion of the story. This book is supposed to be the first in the series, but there are already two other series about these same characters and town, so unless you've read those, you'll be lost! There are way too many characters that it follows and mentions, and all throughout it I was confused as to who this person was and how they were related to that person and so forth. Not to mention the fact that the book really didn't have much of a plot at all. It was mostly this huge family's day-to-day lives with random things suddenly thrown in to add a little excitement. The romance was very disappointing and short, and wasn't even resolved by the end of the book, leaving you no choice but to read the next one in the series if you want to find out how things end up between Miriam and Trygve.
Basically, this book felt like a big mess and the author has an odd style of explaining things. There were some things I liked in the book and found interesting, but overall it was just too many characters going about their days and I just didn't find that interesting. So, unless you've read other books by this author and positively love her stories, I wouldn't suggest reading this book.

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House publishing company in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Anomaly

And here is my first book review for this year!

Anomaly 

by 

Krista McGee

Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds left 

to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is

invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.

Decades before Thalli's birth, the world was decimated by a nuclear war. But life continued deep underground, thanks to a handful of scientists known as The Ten. There they created genetically engineered human beings who are free of emotions in the hope that war won't threaten the

world again.

Thalli is an anomaly, born with the ability to feel emotions and a sense of curiosity she can

barely contain. She has survived so far by hiding her differences. But then her secret is 

discovered when she's overwhelmed by the emotion of an ancient piece of music.

The Ten quickly schedule her annihilation, but her childhood friend, Berk--a scientist being

groomed by The Ten--convinces them to postpone her death and study her instead. While in

the Scientist's Pod, Thalli and Berk form a dangerous alliance, one strictly forbidden by the 

constant surveillance. 

As her life ticks away, she hears rumors of someone called the Designer--someone even more 

powerful than The Ten. What's more, the parts of her that have always been an anomaly could in

fact be part of a much larger plan. And the parts of her that she has always guarded could be the answer she's been looking for all along.

Thalli must sort out what to believe and who to trust, before her time runs out . . .

Overall, I liked this book quite a bit! Not so much at first, but then it got really interesting and I read a whole chunk of it in one night, then it seemed to get a little boring toward the end and I finished it up a little more slowly. At first I thought it was just another one of those "Hunger Games" and "Divergent" type books, which it kind of is, but this one is actually Christian, which was a refreshing touch! (and sadly, probably why they haven't made a movie out of it.) 

So I did like it quite a bit aside from a few things, and would recommend it to anyone who likes this sort of story. Also, it doesn't have anything bad in it, so that's nice! 

I will say, though, it ends in the middle of things and now I need to read the next one!

Books I read in 2014

So it's a bit late, but here's a collage I made of all of the books I read in 2014.

I haven't been reading much so far this year, but I hope to get back into reading soon and just maybe read more than I did last year!

Book Review: When Mercy Rains

When Mercy Rains 

by 

Kim Vogel Sawyer

She left, heavily weighted with secrets.

But God reveals all things, in His timing.

And He redeems them.

Suzanne Zimmerman was only seventeen and pregnant when her shamed mother quietly sent her away from their Old Order Mennonite community in Kansas. With her old home, family, and first love firmly behind her, Suzanne moved to Indiana, became a nurse, and raised a daughter, Alexa, on her own. 

Now, nearly twenty years later, an unexpected letter arrives from Kansas. Her brother asks her to bring her nursing abilities home and care for their ailing mother. His request requires that Suzanne face a strict faith community and a family that may not have forgiven her. It also means seeing Paul Aldrich, her first love.

Paul, widowed with an eight-year-old son, is relieved to see Suzanne again and to have the chance to beg her forgiveness for his past indiscretion. But when he meets Alexa, his guilt flickers in the glare of Suzanne's prolonged secret---one that changes everything.

Suzanne had let go of any expectation for forgiveness long ago. Does she dare hope in mercy---and how will her uncovered past affect the people she loves the most?

I thought this book would be a romance, but surprisingly, it wasn't. It was a story of forgiveness and healing amongst a family torn apart. I read it very slowly, but it wasn't so much that I lost interest in it or found it boring, it was just that it was so day-to-day life that it was a book I could just pick up here and there and read a little bit at a time. It wasn't super adventurous or thrilling, but it was a good story of restoration amongst family. There were a few unexpected twists thrown in, and that made it more interesting. It wasn't my favorite read by Kim, but it wasn't bad. I guess it was more touching than anything, a few parts made my eyes water. So anyway, overall a good book! 

I received this book for free from Water Brook Multnomah publishers in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: With Every Breath

With Every Breath

by 

Elizabeth Camden

In the shadow of the nation's capitol, Kate Livingston's respectable life as a government worker is disrupted by an encounter with the insufferable Trevor McDonough, the one man she'd hoped never to see again. A Harvard-trained physician, Trevor never showed the tiniest flicker of interest in Kate, and business is the only reason he has sought her out now.

Despite her misgivings, Kate agrees to Trevor's risky proposal to join him in his work to find a cure for tuberculosis. As Kate begins to unlock the mysteries of Trevor's past, his hidden depths fascinate her. However, a shadowy enemy lies in wait, and Trevor's closely guarded secrets are darker than she suspected.

As revelations from the past threaten to destroy their careers, their dreams, and even their lives, Trevor and Kate find themselves in a painfully impossible situation. With everything to lose, they must find the strength to trust that hope and love can prevail over all.

This book was, for the most part, superb! It was fast paced, well-written and had likeable, realistic characters. It was a romance as well as a mystery, and I found the medical parts fascinating! One of the best Christian books I've read. It was the first book I've read by this author and I will surely read more by her. I highly recommend "With Every Breath". (Also, I adore the cover!)

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.