Reviews

A Long Way Gone

October 11, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

I am not going to tell you that A Long Way Gone is an easy read. It might be a necessary read, but it is not an easy read. The hard things these boys went through, and yet, and yet their resilience. They stayed together, they fought for each other, and came out on the other side hurt, but figuring out there is something better. Something more worth fighting for. That hope in the end… made this hard read worthwhile and that’s not a bad thing!

Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂

Basic Details for A Long Way Gone

Title: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a boy Soldier
Author: Ishmael Beal
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books; First Edition (August 5, 2008)
Pages: 229
Intended Audience: adult
Genre: Historical African Biographies, Boy Solider, African War, Biography, Black Biography
Available formats: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio, Paperback

My Thoughts

My mom I think gave me this book to read a while back. She told me it was interesting but a hard read.

I’d call that a fairly accurate description. Take some boys, going to school, enjoying their life and then throw them into a middle of a war. A war filled with brutality, complete loss of life, and families torn apart. Make them fight for survival. Have them do well, (well as well as can be expected), until they are captured and made to fight.

Not only were they taught to fight, they were drugged up and encouraged to be violent. Be violent and live, or die. Survival means living.

Life in that war-zone was so very hard. Not just for the boy soldiers but for anyone getting in the way of either side of the conflict. People died, villages literally disappearing overnight, people fleeing everywhere. Everyone just needing to survive.

Something beyond survival

Until one day it suddenly stops. And you have to learn a new way to be and it’s hard, just so hard to see beyond the now to the future.

So much was hard. I hated reading about the brutality and wondered why it needed to be included. Then I read about the end, about the need to change, and how sudden and difficult it was. And the hope offered once the boys figured it out things could be different. That hope at the end. It made all the pieces fit together.

So A Long Way Home, a hard read, but necessary if you want to understand the plight of the boy soldiers during the war in Africa. It is not one I would recommend for sensitive readers as it is not an easy read. But if you appreciate a hard book offering hope at the end, a book that speaks truth, this might work!

The Legacy of Longdale Manor

October 4, 2023 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product for The Legacy of Longdale Manor through Nuts about Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂

History mixed with romance with a faith-based element fill the pages of Carrie Turansky’s The Legacy of Longdale Manor. See God in action in the lives of two women from two different timelines. They discover love as God heals hearts and teaches that forgiveness matters. It’s so vital to see God at work in the lives of people isn’t it?

The Basic Details about The Legacy of Longdale Manor

Title: The Legacy of Longdale Manor
Author: Carrie Turansky
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Pages: 352
Intended Audience: adult
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Available formats: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio, Library Binding

About the book and author

Carrie Turansky is a prolific Christian Author. You can learn about the 20+ books she has written over on her website. Living in New Jersey, this Oregon raised lady lives with her author hubby Scott. She’s in the stage of life where she can enjoy the grandchildren born of her five offspring. They serve at Graceway Bible Church in Hamilton, New Jersey.

About Longdale Manor

A dual time line fills the pages of the Legacy of Longdale Manor. In current, 2012 perspective has us seeing the world through the eyes of art historian Gwen Monroe. After making a disastrous evaluation she’s desperate to prove her skills to her prestigious grandfather. A golden opportunity presents itself when a friend of her grandfather needs help raising funds to restore her manor. Her grandson is helping his grandmother do what is necessary to save her home. As Gwen is walked through the history of Longdale Manor a 100 year old journal links us to the past.

In 1912 Charlotte Harper has to deal with a painful family secret that she confesses in her journal. Through dealing with her wounds she is brought back into closer relationship with God. We learn the power of forgiveness.

My Thoughts

I love well-written historical fiction. Stories, that through lives of people, draw you into the past and teach you things that history books sometimes miss. Or if the history books didn’t miss them, put them into the lives of people so you get a broader picture of how people were impacted.

The Legacy of Longdale Manor had the feel of a historical novel, but it was lacking the educational aspect for me. 🙂 The setting wasn’t used well to make itself unique. I was intrigued by the restoration of historical buildings into functional hotels. I enjoyed seeing God at work in the lives of these two women. They learned to see forgiveness as a pivotal part of living life as believers.

A co-worker asked what I thought of it and I said “it was a good story until it turned into a sappy romance”. It just felt like the story stalled into “does he like me?” “can I make her see I love her?” This after just a month of knowing each other. In both time lines.

Now I did like how the varying timelines worked. They flowed seamlessly and you could clearly see the connections from one to the next.

Should you read it? Well… not if you are tired of Christian women’s fiction basically just being clean romances with some type of light story behind them. But if you like light christian romances, then this book will definitely intrigue you.

Stolen Sisters

September 27, 2023 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

There I was on vacation with a couple of books from the “Canada proud books” I won a couple of years ago that I simply haven’t gotten to. Stolen Sisters was the first one I grabbed up. It’s not a very large book and I thought it would be a quick read on a quiet afternoon when the lads were out kayaking. Two girls have gone missing and we’re drawn into the politics and ideology surrounding their disappearance.

The Basic Details of Stolen Sisters

Title: Stolen Sisters: The Story of Two Missing Girls, Their Families, and How Canada Has Failed Indigenous Women
Author: Emmanuelle Walter
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pages: 240
Intended Audience: 8-12 years
Genre: Indigenous, Canada, Police, Missing Women, true crime,
Available formats: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio

About the story

Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander, indigenous teenagers from western Quebec, who have been missing since September 2008. Using personal testimonies, interviews, press clippings and official documents, Walter pieces together the disappearance and loss of these two young lives, revealing these young women to us through the voices of family members and witnesses.

My Thoughts

I expected a story about these girls and a working through of the mystery surrounding their disappearance. That’s how the excerpt read to me.

I was wrong. The disappearance of these two girls is a background to the politics and ideology surrounding the lack of action with the disappearance of indigenous women. We are introduced to cultural aspects (for instance: poor people, finding jobs, can’t afford a car, so need to hitchhike). The backdrop of indigenous children being taken from their homes and the breakup of entire families, and the resultant issues arising from that (such as: drunkenness, lack of involvement from the community). A variety of other issues were brought into play such as stereotypes, racism, and more.

I got about 1/2 way through and said “I’m done.” If I had wanted to read a treatise on all possibilities leading to indigenous women disappearing, or the maybes of why so many cases are left unsolved, and such like I would have continued. But I was more interested in reading about these girls in a real way, not in a clinically detached way.

I wanted to understand the viewpoint (and perhaps the frustrations) of the police or native law-keepers in trying to solve this mystery. Having all the “other stuff” interposed into that story would have made it more interesting and seem more relevant rather than like a bunch of guess work and supposition about why the solve rate of these disappearances is so low.

I may try to give it a go another time, but for a read on vacation, this simply wasn’t it. But honestly, now that I’m home for a bit, I still don’t want to finish it. That feeling persists EVEN THOUGH I hate leaving a book once started unfinished. 🙂

Potential Uses?

Homeschooling for high school students seeking to know about true crime and to understand the reasons why some crimes have low solve rates.

Good for helping with critical thinking. Could all the reasons the author listed by solved, or even be part of the problem? Are solutions possible?

Understanding the impact of history on a present population.

Seeking to understand how communities operate affect the lives of the youth living within them.

The Secret Keepers

September 20, 2023 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

This is one of the many books I read while on vacation Aug 26-Sept 2. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope I can inspire you to give it a boo. A little free library allowed me to pick up The Secret Keepers. I like to check them out and often find hidden reads. If I thought I could get my lad to listen to it, I’d pick it up from Audible for him! Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart

Basic Details for The Secret Keepers

Title: The Secret Keepers
Author: Trenton Lee Stewart
Illustrator: Diana Sudyka
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 512
Intended Audience: 8 – 11 years
Genre: fantasy, mystery, detective, spy, magic, action and adventure
Available formats: Hardcover, Kindle, paperback, audiobook, audio cd

My Thoughts

If you have read the mysterious benedict society novels the feel of The Secret Keepers won’t be unexpected. As soon as I started this novel I wondered if familiar characters would show up. 🙂 They didn’t, but it was kinda fun anticipating it!

Stewart takes young characters and bestows on them the ability to think and to be courageous when called upon. Reuben is no different. A child who grew up knowing his momma loves him and allows him to make of his days as he will. Encouraging him frequently to find friends to hang out with and playing games just for the two of them. A single mom, making a great effort to parent her boy well.

Reuben, wants to help his mom and a new treasure just might be the way to do it. BUT… there are troubles along the way. Reuben is forced to get other people to help him and ends up makes friends along the way.

I enjoyed The Secret Keepers from start to finish. Admittedly, I wasn’t surprised at who the bad guy was, or doubted how it would end up. The ending felt a bit too neat though, and potentially leading toward trouble in the future.

High Five

September 13, 2023 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Today we have another book that I recently finished an enjoyed so… here I am sharing it with you. 🙂 High Five is a murder mystery by Jane Evanovich. Reviewing just because I want to and yes, I’ll link to amazon so you can find it easily should you be so inclined.

This book showcases bounty hunter Stephanie Pluim and just takes in her life with her somewhat… unique family…and her love life (which doesn’t get overly personal), and the people that she interacts with in her daily life. Her family is odd…but what family isn’t a bit odd? They love each other dearly (at least her immediate family does) and at times have an interesting way of showing it. She’s a character who makes me laugh and sometimes… that’s just exactly what I need. 🙂

Talking about the Book

I can’t remember how long ago it was that I was introduced to the Stephanie Pluim series by Janet Evanovich. First you get a gal with all kinds of attitude and lots of get up and go but not a real financial whiz at all. Add in a quirky family and an interesting job as a bounty hunter… that often turns into a murder investigation… and you have a story that will intrigue and make you laugh.

High Five starts with Uncle Fred and a cancelled cheque. Shouldn’t be that hard to figure right? Well, before you know it, bodies are dropping in all sorts of unexpected places. The family gets involved and poor Stephanie has to deal with the fall-out.

Bad guys abound… and one bad guy really is a scary, mentally ill, sorta really bad. Didn’t much like him.

But the rest… just all murder mystery feel to it.

Recommendation

This is not the best Stephanie Pluim novel that I have read, but it made me laugh. Since I brought it to work with me… that laughter evoked conversations with co-workers, which made it all the better.

Is High Five worth reading? For sure. You’ll laugh, shake your head, and be glad that by the end, all the bad guys will have been stopped. And that my friend, is always a very good thing. 🙂

The Diamond Eye

September 6, 2023 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

So I’m reviewing this book Diamond Eye because I just liked listening to it. I listened through CloudLibrary which means I kinda borrowed it through my library? I’m not quite sure of the logistics of how the system works. Apparently if you borrow it through audible there’s a PDF you can get with it, I never looked into that though. Free is better than paid you know? Reviewing just because I want to and yes, I’ll link to amazon so you can find it easily should you be so inclined.

So why tell you about The Diamond Eye. I learned a facet of WW2 history that I wasn’t aware of before. Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Ukrainian woman with a young son she was raising on her own. The Germans attacked, wiping out entire families. Mila got angry, and her national pride kicked in, and before you know it, she was a sniper on the front lines of WW2.

Talking about The Diamond Eye

The Diamond Eye was written by Kate Quinn. Just recently published, this past March.

I found it to be a well-written story and the after story where the author talked about Mila and some of the changes she made, I found myself looking for more information on this formidable woman. Her life was a bit sad after she stopped being in the army… She suffered from PSTD which led to alcoholism and her eventual early death.

BUT she stopped 309 Germans from decimating her people. She served her people well by speaking to the need for American and Canadian troops to attack the Germans from the rear. And upon her return after her propaganda tour she again served her people well by teaching the next generation of snipers.

YES, Kate Quinn changed the story a bit to make it all fit the narrative, but the things that were pivotal in Mila’s life she kept the same.

Recommendation

If you like books about WW2, or just like learning a new piece of history, Kate Quinn’s The Diamond Eye will suit you. I had not known about Ukrainian snipers in WW2 before this, I also didn’t know about the wiping out of complete villages in Russia either. All I really knew prior to this story was Germany fighting a battle on two fronts was not the wisest decision on their part, but they really managed to hurt the Russians. (another fact I sorta knew but didn’t really know, if you know what I mean). 🙂

Good history, written as if it were Mila herself talking her way through her life. Seeing her friendship with Mrs. Roosevelt develop, and her growing confidence not only as a sniper, but then later as a public speaker. She did many hard things as a woman in the 1940’s and her history is worth knowing.

Squire & Knight

August 30, 2023 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product for Squire & Knight through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂

Squire & Knight brings us two very different heroes – one with lots of brawn who gets all the glory, and the other, a thoughtful, nerdy type that most people ignore. Can they solve a problem in a rather mysterious town? Will they conquer the enemy and solve the mystery?

Basic Details for Squire & Knight

Title: Squire & Knight
Author: Scott Chantler
Series: Squire and Knight, book 1
Publisher: First Second
Pages: 176
Intended Audience: grade 4-6
Genre: graphic novel, fantasy, folklore, medieval times, legends, fairy tales, comic, magie
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books
Available formats: Hardcover, Kindle, paperback
Received: paperback

About the Author and Book

The Author

Scott Chantler is a local boy! He works and lives out of Stratford, Ontario. Wow…he’s just a hop, skip and a jump from me. 🙂 A critically-acclaimed, Eisner-nominated cartoonist who spends time on Instagram.

The Book

Two protagonists: Squire a nerdy, rather under-appreciated under study to Sir Kelton, a brawny, inept knight. The two mismatched heroes find themselves coming to the rescue of a small town where things aren’t quite what they seem. Sir Kelton rides to the rescue while Squire stays behind to read and problem solve. Between the two of them, can they rescue the town?

Digging Deeper

Graphic novels can be fun ways to read a story, providing images to help tell the story, and breaking the story down into less words for people who struggle with too many words on a page.

First Second does a good job with their graphic novels making the text easy to read while moving the story along nicely. They provide good colour, show emotion and action well, and overall.. it’s a good read in bite sized pieces.

Don’t you just love the colour? So bright and one that draws you in. I love that not every page is filled with text, and sometimes the illustrations tell the story.

You’ll also enjoy the character and setting development. I can totally… if I believed in dragons and magic … see this world being plausible. People do foolish things sometimes when they are put into difficult situations and that’s precisely what happens here. The dragon who barters made me laugh!

My Recommendation

Such a classic story between good and bad, and brawn vs brain. Which is better? Who will win out in the end? You’ll meet a squire, a knight, a wizard, a dragon, an unusual dog, and lots of townspeople.

Everyone will have different ideas about just what the problem is…and how to solve it. You’ll have to read how creative solutions were found.

Do I think middle schoolers would enjoy Squire & Knight? Of course! Who doesn’t love a story with wizards and heroes? We all need to have some heroes in our lives!

Reviews

A Long Way Gone

Basic Details for A Long Way Gone