Peace of Time (Ros Rendle) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

25. Peace of Time by Ros Rendle

Synopsis:Jen and Mike Lucas are happily married, or so Jen thinks. Recently Mike has been short tempered and cranky, but Jen puts it all down to his stressful job at a finance company. Jen, on the other hand, loves her job as a teacher. She also makes more money than Mike, which he mentions at any given opportunity. As they drift further apart, Jen tries everything she can think of to save their marriage but all Mike wants to do is spend more and more time at the gym. When one of Jen’s students, young Charlie Mayhew, suffers a terrible fall from his bike, Jen lends a helping hand to his father, Christopher, a single parent who lost Charlie’s mother to cancer. Jen does her best to ignore the gossip that Mike was seen getting friendly with a red head at the gym, but a few days later, Jen discovers something that turns her world upside down. After Mike moves out, Jen realizes that she’s reached a crossroads in her life. Does she give Mike a second chance? Or does she take Christopher up on his offer of a date? As the summer draws to a close, Jen has some life changing decisions to make and what she decides will shock everyone, but most of all herself.

My Review:

This was a well written book that made the characters seem real and authentic. It brings up the issue of unfaithful marriages, as well as dealing with a friend's betrayal. Sometimes a couple just drifts apart for a number of reasons and they create a relationship or connection with someone else. Cheating is one thing, but what happens if a spouse cheats with a friend of their partner's? You'll find out during the story. Jen and Mike have to cope with what I just mentioned, but at the end of the day, they're still just husband and wife, well for some time anyway. Before any proceedings of a divorce can go through or even get started, Mike has no one else to turn to when he gets diagnosed with cancer. Sometimes you just need your spouse or significant other because there's a special bond there like no other and just because people may drift apart doesn't mean that they stop caring about each other.

While this book is about Jen and Mike, the main point of view comes from Jen. At the beginning, she's happy with her job as a teacher and her marriage. She has everything she could hope for. The struggles that she deals with, as I mentioned above, were brilliantly handled by the author. There were some surprises and an ending you don't see coming. It was an enjoyable read even if it goes against what I believe in, like adultery.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~

A Place Called Bliss (Ruth Glover) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

24. A Place Called Bliss by Ruth Glover

Synopsis:Sophia Galloway, a rich and pampered lady of Scotland's renowned house of Heatherstone, and Mary Morrison, a simple servant, share a dream of traveling to a new land of freedom, promise, and opportunity: Canada. On the tumultuous journey overseas, Sophia and Mary both give birth. Neither mother knows how closely their destinies will be intertwined by a secret with the power to shatter their lives.

My Review:
In most stories (and not just in books), you read or hear about people moving from other countries to the US for freedom and opportunity. In this book, it follows the same concept except that it involves two families immigrating to Canada. However, getting to either place wasn't easy; many had difficult and tumultuous journeys. And for Sophia and Mary, it was no exception, made even worse that they were both pregnant and subsequently gave birth on their travels over to Canada.

A Place Called Bliss started off slow, which was when the two families were traveling by boat to Canada to start over in a new land. Once reaching Canada, they went their separate ways to opposite sides of the country. Sophia and her family had an easier time adjusting to their new surroundings since they had relations already there. It was more of the frontier life for Mary and her husband. Each family had their difficulties and struggles and stayed in contact with each other from time to time by mail. It was during this that it became more interesting and enjoyable to read.

What Mary and Sophia didn't expect was to find out a secret that changes everything that they used to know. The particular secret goes back to when they gave birth on the boat, but things didn't go as expected for both of them. Sophia and Hugh had somewhat of a distant marriage, but it made sense once the secret is found out. And no, I can't say what happened because that would be giving it all away.

A Place Called Bliss is a book filled with rich vocabulary and historical significance. Some of that was part of the reason why it dragged at times - for me, it was mostly in the beginning. The descriptive and detailed writing was enlightening. It was good to get to know more about Canada and its history.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

23. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
      Prompt: book by a person of color

Synopsis:
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

My Review:

I've wanted to read this book for quite some time and I'm glad I finally got the chance to. Maya Angelou was a poignant and powerful woman in not only the US, but an inspiration for many around the world.

In this autobiography, Maya tells of her experiences of being a woman of color growing up as a child and adolescent in the South. Dealing with racial prejudice, abandonment, and getting sexually abused, she also told of her insecurities of being African American, as well as her image. For a female, it's quite common for us to question our image at some point in our lives no matter the color of our skin and it's very relatable when you're reading this book (obviously I can't relate to the African American side of it).

There are moments in life where we have to deal with the impact it leaves on us for the rest of our lives. For Maya, it was when she got sexually abused several times as a child. There's a pain and shame involved for victims that Maya had to start dealing with at such a young age. Writing of that time must have been freeing all the emotions of those experiences. In society to this very day, rape and sexual abuse are not really talked about because it's considered to be more or less a taboo topic for several reasons that I'm not going to get into at this time. But I don't think not talking about it really helps those victims to heal and realize that it wasn't their fault.

Maya was a survivor. The way she wrote about her experiences was interesting and poignant. Some parts of her story are relatable to every female. I did appreciate reading about how people of color see things in life. Too often, we see things one-sided when there are two sides to every story. Maya exhibited an incredible strength to write about some of horrific moments in her childhood. But she also wrote about times when she was able to celebrate little things, such as getting a new dress for Church, and you could celebrate those moments with her.

While Maya was going through these experiences and other hard times, she found an escape and comfort in reading (and food as well). I really enjoyed her sharing and describing her favorite books and authors she was reading (like Shakespeare), as I have always loved reading as well. Books have a way of taking you somewhere you can only imagine going to.

Maya exhibited that you can survive and be a role model for others going through similar experiences. I might create another post of some of my favorite quotes from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~

From the Wreckage (Michele G Miller) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

22. From the Wreckage by Michele G Miller

Synopsis:

“In a matter of minutes on a Friday night, I lost my school, my identity, the security of my first love, the personality of my sweet fearless brother, my best friend, my town, everything as I knew it. Everything changed.”

"Minutes - that’s all it takes to change your entire life. How do you deal with that?”

For high school senior Jules Blacklin surviving the storm is only the beginning. Faced with the new reality of her life, she must find a way to rise From The Wreckage and answer the question - how do you get back to normal, when everything that was normal is gone?

My Review:

For most high school students, Friday nights means going to football games, cheering on their respective schools, and then going out to eat/celebrate/hang out at a local pizza place, or wherever it might be, after the game. And for Jules and her friends, that Friday night was no exception. Like any other teen, they didn't think anything bad would happen, except for maybe the occasional fight with their rivals.

Jules and her friends were celebrating their football team's win when they heard something that no one wants to hear: a tornado siren. Unfortunately for them, there was not much time to run for cover and before they knew it, a tornado ripped through the town. Afterwards, while the teens are taken to the hospital for treatment, their parents have to navigate through the devastation to see if their children made it out alive.

From the Wreckage is told in a video format as Jules tells her story of survival in front of a camera for a college admissions project. As she takes us through her experience, we also experience it right along with her. It provides an accurate depiction of what it's like to go through a traumatic event, no matter what it may be. Jules tells of her grief and the healing process of not only herself, but her family, friends, and town as well. She goes on her own personal journey of discovery, growth, love, etc, as anyone would when they go through something like this. It's through the hard times that we learn the most about ourselves.

While From the Wreckage was well-written and told of the many emotions one experiences in tragedy, there were only a couple things that bothered me. It went back and forth between the past, as she was telling her story of that fateful night, and the present, as she struggles to move forward and accept the new normal. It was hard to differentiate between the two at times, but it also kept you wanting to keep reading. And even though her friends were also experiencing the same things as she was, there were times where it felt like only she was going through it. She acted like no one understood, when in fact, there were her classmates who did in fact understand, as well.

How do we move on from tragedy or loss or any rough time in our life? How do we accept having a new normal when everything that we know changed forever? From the Wreckage does a good job at trying to explain and show that. The answer is that there is no easy answer. It becomes a day by day process, taking things one step at a time. While time may make things easier, better, and more acceptable as everyday life starts returning back to "normal", the fear, grief, anger, and any other emotion doesn't ever truly go away; we just don't deal with those emotions as much as when it first happened. Nothing stays the same forever and change is hard for anyone to overcome, but it is possible. And it's important to remember that the grieving process can take any length of time; while it might take a month or so for one for example, it could take a year for another. We all grieve differently, in our own time and place and no matter how long it takes, it's okay. There is no definitive answer as to when it is acceptable to move on.

While I am writing this, our country is once again dealing with a mass shooting tragedy with the school shooting in Parkland, FL. While things need to change, like banning assault weapons, I can only offer prayers to those dealing with loss and fear. I know it's not enough, but I think about it like this. Right now, they're dealing with grief of losing friends, children, teachers, etc, and even if there would be a gun control change, those seventeen people still lost their lives and their friends and loved ones will still have to deal with their loss.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~

Set Change (T'Gracie and Joe Reese) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

21. Set Change by T'Gracie and Joe Reese

Synopsis:

The residents of sleepy little Bay St. Lucy are thrilled to learn that a world class production of Shakespeare's Hamlet is to be done in their town. They are shocked, on the other hand, to experience the leading actor's vicious personality.
Murder will out--and it takes all of Nina Bannister's sleuthing ability to put it back in again.

My Review:

First off, I got this book because I like theatre and have acted in shows before. I am also familiar with Hamlet. 

Set in a small town, everyone is excited that there will be a professional production of Hamlet done in their community. After the production, the lead actor and celebrity is murdered and it's up to amateur sleuth Nina to figure out the case.

It was interesting to see a small community get recognition for once because they are often overlooked by big cities. Unfortunately, it got off to a slow start and I was still left unimpressed throughout the course of the book. There were several times in which I wanted to stop reading it altogether, but I like to finish what I start.

Nina definitely knew her Hamlet and a lot of the lines were used throughout the story. Honestly, I think that was overdone a little bit. I felt it took away from the premise. What I did like about this book was the ending. And not just because it meant I didn't have to read the book anymore. The pace picked up near the end of the story and it became an unexpected finish.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~