Sorry Pastors but statistics say that most of you don’t listen to the needs of 60% of your congregation. Not really listen….
On Saturday I posted a link to CBD and a book being offered entitled, What Women Wish Their Pastors Knew. (She also has a book…What Pastors wish Church Members Knew) Over the next few days I will be posting several summarization’s offered and some comments from Pastors and theologians addressing this issue from a Pastors Perspective.
Pastors, before you click the X at the top of the page to close or delete, saying, what does this women know about being a Pastor? I ask for a small amount of grace. I freely admit the only thing I know about Pastoring comes from three sources: First and Foremost, The Word of God…. the authority on this issue, books and articles written on the subject and by experience and observation. Note that I am posting the excellent forward by Eugene Petersen who is more than qualified to address this issue from a Pastors persepctive.
Women, before you yell YES !!!!! too loud… I ask you to check your hearts. Though you may feel woronged by a pastor in the past, remember two wrongs do not make it right or as the apostle Paul states in Romans 12:17: “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.” If your heart is bitter please stop and confess this hard heartedness and ask the Lord to open your eyes to what He would have you learn.
The authoress, Denise George has done a wonderful job at articulating the hopes, hurts, needs and dreams of Women in the Church today. Too many excellent Pastors have placed the true needs of the women in their congregations on the back burner. Given the life of a pastor the back burner NEVER is reached. I have known some Pastors who simply make a decision NOT to engage the women of their church on any meaningful level. Too often the result is a group of women, affected by the fall and having no male leadership become manipulative, devisive and worse. THEN the pastor will get involved, the outcome? Christ is not honored, God is not glorified, and the body is scarred……and womens hearts harden like diamonds. Pastors PLEASE read the following by Eugene Peterson that forms the forward of this book.
Pastors do most of their work in congregations comprised of a bewildering diversity of souls. We commonly use labels to introduce at least a modicum of order into the diversity: saints and sinners; children, elderly, and adolescents of all ages; rich, poor, and middle class; mature, immature, and neurotic; saved, unsaved, and backsliders; married unmarried and divorced. And Men and Women!
The french use an expression that I like very much, deformation professional — a liability, a tendency to defect, this is inherent in the role one has assumed, as say, a physician, a lawyer, a pastor. I have come to think that if there is a deformation that pastors are particularly liable to, it is our habit of presorting people into categories. Once we have a category to place them in, we have provided ourselves with a grid for “dealing” with them. We have reduced them by labeling them. Now we know where we stand and have a pretty good idea what we will do. The difficulty is that the label, before we even know his or her name, depersonalizes this intricately personal, one-of-a-kind, image of God SOUL into a some-THING (note, not some-ONE) that we as pastors are qualified by training and ordination to handle.
Labels have a certain usefulness, if used with caution and restraint. But when used habitaully and unthinkingly, stereotyping and “lumping” they are responsible for an enormous amount of damage in congregations. The damage is reciprocal: the pastor’s imagination is blunted and a souls uniqueness is violated.
The label”woman” is among the most damaging of labels used by pastors. The label depersonalizes the working identity of a large segment of any congregation into matters of gender and role. The label is then commonly subdivided into women with problems and women with gifts. If she is a problem, it is my job to “fix her”, find a solution and get her “functional”. If she is a gift, my job is to put her to work, to use her as a resource. “Functional” and “Resource” , note both are impersonal terms, furthering the depersonalization. The pastor is depersonalized into doing a church “job”; the woman is depersonalized into either a problem or resource.
The moment we do that, we are diverted from getting acquainted with what is most human in this person, child-of-God-human, an eternal soul with hungers and needs that are beyond our fixing and with gifts and abilities that cannot be slotted into a church “job”. But pastors are in an enviable, and maybe even unique, position to go against the depersonalizing, functionalizing habits of our culture and recognize woman as souls-in-formation, persons redefined primarily by their baptism and not by gender, thier debilitating problems, or their exhilirating jobs.
Denise George is doing a wonderful thing for we pastors. She brings the voices of hundreds of women from across this land and around the world onto the pages of this book, women whose pastors haven’t been listening to them. “Listen to us,” they say. “you’re our pastor!” My husband can tell you how many times I have cried as my soul screams out in need.
They of course have needs and gifts— don’t we all? But mostly what Denise accomplishes is a massive de-labeling, a de-categorizing, letting each and every voice be heard with all the dignity inherent in every daughter of Eve, making sure that we listen, really listen to who they are, not just what they represent, or where they are slotted in a file drawer. We hear these voices making common cause with all of us as souls to be respected and honored; and are reminded that we share the demanding work of growing up to the stature of Christ.
Eugene H. Peterson
Professor Emeritus of Sprirtual Theology
Regent College, Vancouver, BC
It has been said this book “has a darkness and a depth that pulls you in” (Fuse #8), a subtly ominous mood and perfect pacing (100 Scope Notes). It has been called LOST for the middle grade set (The Reading Zone).
SPOILER ALERT
However, I am reading this on the heels of The Time Traveler’s Wife, so I saw immediate comparisons between that and When You Reach me, not only in plot, but also in the philosophy and the theory of time travel. It is as if Stead read The Time Traveler’s Wife and decided to make a spin off story for middle schoolers.
When Henry time travels, he arrives naked. So does Marcus. There is no machine à la H. G. Wells. He arrives at a place that was important in his past (a place where he would have chased a boy to his death, had his older self not stepped in). Both books mention other works of literature. When You Reach Me leans heavily on A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. Sure, we can all remember reading one particular chapter book over and over again (for me, it was Matilda), but Stead invokes A Winkle in Time close to the point of annoyance.
So, was I blown away by this book as I thought I would be? No. Not at all. Maybe if I had read it prior to The Time Traveler’s Wife. Can I appreciate that is praise-worthy and all those things mentioned above: well-written, engaging, humorous, truthful with three dimensional characters? Absolutely.
This book stacks up with a book like Neil Armstong in My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me. Great characterization, solid story, but not quite award-worthy. It just doesn’t seem to stand up to the likes of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, which takes previously published stories and stereotypes (like vampires) used millions of time, and yet pulls it all together to make a fabulous story so deliciously all his own. Definitely booktalk worthy, despite its unfortunate cover.
Genre: Western, Series, Book 7 of the Rough Riders Series
Sub-genre: Erotic, D/s, wounded hero & heroine
My Grade: B- (3.75*)
Rating: X
Length: over 95,000 words – Full novel
Where Available: Samhain as an ebook
Lorelei James has been doing various stories in her tales of the McKay clan that have proved very popular. I like Miss Firecracker earlier this summer. Shoulda Been a Cowboy is a very different kind of a story and rather touching without wallowing in pathos and tears. Ms James also gives a far more realistic view of disabled Iraq war vets than did JoAnn Ross in Shattered where the ‘Bionic Man’ prosthesis makes the hero battle ready again. Here Deputy Cameron McKay is a special ops vet who came home after losing a leg in Iraq. He is a man used to using his body like a weapon, and now he has to work hard each day to keep himself independent and self-sufficient. Your basic brooding, wounded hero who, because of his perception of his disability sees himself as less than he was before. This is especially difficult for Cam because he’s a Dominant. So many little things he used to take for granted are now no longer possible. But he can’t help his attraction to Domini Katzinski, a Ukrainian immigrant who runs the local diner.
Domini has had more than her share of hard times in her life. Orphaned before her teens, she was left to the mercy of state orphan home. There were few ways out and signing on with an Evangelical church group got her away from the marriage brokers and to the US. After shifting her around every few months for 6 years, Domini got her citizenship and went out on her own to make a life. Part of that life is Nadia and her son Anton. Anton is like a nephew to her and she sits for him when Nadia goes out at night.
Domini hears breaking glass and the the sound of metal getting crushed as the building shakes. Afraid that someone of is breaking in, she calls Cam McKay for help. Even though Cam is off duty he comes over and finds someone was throwing old glass windows in the dumpster that shifted and crashed into her building. The two have been dancing around their mutual attraction for a long time and Can finally gives in and kisses her – then he runs. Domini is getting tired of waiting for Cam. She needs a man who can take control in the bedroom so her shyness and lack of confidence can be pushed aside and she knows Cam’s reputation as a sexual dominant. There is a single ménage scene and it was refreshing to have a heroine say once was enough.
Cam and Domini are both fighting a lot of emotional baggage. Cam’s issues might be more obvious, but it’s Domini hides her own wounds for a long time. Watching Cam cope with what comes into his life with Domini and all the unexpected tragedies for both transform into the ordinary joys of life is just really well done. Not great, but it felt so much more realistic than so many out there. It also gave a peek into the reality of how badly our vets are treated by VA system, it just made me cringe with shame. Ms James did a very good job with this one. It might be what I like, but had heart and soul.
He must pay his debts with all the promptness within his power, not purchasing that for which he is unable to pay.
He must have compassion upon those who are injured and smitten by misfortune and aid them within reasonable limits. He must do deeds of thoughfulness to those dear to him.
Men of action are favoured by the goddess of good luck.
The 5 laws of gold:
1) Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than 0.1 of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.
2) Gold laboureth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.
3) Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice ot men wise in its handling.
4) Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in business or purposes with which he is not familiary with or are not approved by those skined in its keep.
5) Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who truists it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.
This is the most fundamental financial book every beginner must read like a bible. The concepts are applicable to everyone. Even though principles are simple to understand, putting all that into action is another matter. You can read a thousand books and not become a bit wiser simply by doing nothing. Inaction does not result in wealth. Discipline and determination is a must to act on what we have learned.
The Giver is a book about a boy who lives in a community where everything is the same. Jonas (the boy) gets a job as Reciver of Memory. It is the most important job in the community. He has to recall memories from his mentor, who got them from his mentor, and back and back and back. The memories are from before Sameness. He has to endure pain, and he learns many things that were hidden from him. Will Jonas be able to survive it? Learn this and more in The Giver by Lois Lowry. Here is an exerpt from the book. Please comment!
It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. No. Wrong word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice. He had seen it both times. Squinting toward the sky, he had seen the sleek jet, almost a blur at its high speed, go past, and a second later heard the blast of sound that followed. Then one more time, a moment later, from the opposite direction, the same plane.
At first, he had been only fascinated. He had never seen aircraft so close, for it was against the rules for Pilots to fly over the community. Occasionally, when supplies were delivered by cargo planes to the landing field across the river, the children rode their bicycles to the river bank and watched, intrigued, the unloading and then the takeoff directed to the west, always away from the community.
But the aircraft a year ago had been different. It was not a squat, fat-bellied cargo plane but a needle-nosed single-pilot jet. Jonas, looking around anxiously, had seen others — adults as well as children — stop what they were doing and wait, confused, for an explanation of the frightening event.
Then all of the citizens had been ordered to go into the nearest building and stay there. IMMEDIATELY, the rasping voice through the speakers had said. LEAVE YOUR BICYCLES WHERE THEY ARE.
Instantly, obediently, Jonas had dropped his bike on its side on the path behind his family’s dwelling. He had run indoors and stayed there, alone. His parents were both at work, and his littlesister, Lily, was at the Childcare Center where she spent her after-school hours.
Looking through the front window, he had seen no people: none of the busy afternoon crew of Street Cleaners, Landscape Workers, and Food Delivery people who usually populate the community at that time of day. He saw only the abandoned bikes here and there on their sides; an upturned wheel on one was still revolving slowly.
He had been frightened then. The sense of his own community silent, waiting, had made his stomach churn. He had trembled.
But it had been nothing. Within minutes the speakers had crackled again, and the voice, reassuring now and less urgent, had explained that a Pilot-in-Training had misread his navigational instructions and made a wrong turn. Desperately the Pilot had been trying to make his way back before his error was notice.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, HE WILL BE RELEASED, the voice had said, followed by silence. There was an ironic tone to that finally message, as if the Speaker found it amusing; and Jonas had smiled a little, though he knew what a grim statement it had been. For a contributing citizen to be released from the community was a final decision, a terrible punishment, an overwhelming statement of failure.
Even the children were scolded if they used the term lightly at play, jeering at a teammate who missed a catch or stumbled in a race. Jonas had done it once, had shouted at his best friend, “That’s it, Asher! You’re released!” when Asher’s clumsy error had lost a match for his team. He had been taken aside for a brief and serious talk by the coach, had hung his head with guilt and embarrassment, and apologized to Asher after the game.
Now, thinking about the feeling of fear as he pedaled home along the river path, he remembered that moment of palpable, stomach-sinking terror when the aircraft had streaked above. It was not what he was feeling now with December approaching. He searched for the right word to describe his own feeling.
Jonas was careful about language. Not like his friend, Asher, who talked too fast and mixed things up, scrambling words and phrases until they were barely recognizable and often very funny.
Jonas grinned, remembering the morning that Asher had dashed into the classroom, late as usual, arriving breathlessly in the middle of the chanting of the morning anthem. When the class took their seats at the conclusion of the patriotic hymn, Asher remained standing to make his public apology as was required.
“I apologize for inconveniencing my learning community.” Asher ran through the standard apology phrase rapidly, still caching his breath. The Instructor and class waited patiently for his explanation. The students had all been grinning, because they had listened to Asher’s explanations so many times before.
“I left home at the correct time but when I was riding along near the hatchery, the crew was separating some salmon. I guess I just got distraught, watching them.
“I apologize to my classmates,” Asher concluded. He smoothed his rumpled tunic and sat down.
“We accept your apology, Asher.” The class recited the standard response in unison. Many of the students were biting their lips to keep from laughing.
“I accept your apology, Asher,” the Instructor said. He was smiling. “And I thank you, because once again you have provided an opportunity for a lesson in language. ‘Distraught’ is too strong an adjective to describe salmon-viewing.” He turned and wrote “distraught” on the instructional board. Beside it he wrote “distracted.”
Jonas, nearing his home now, smiled at the recollection. Thinking, still, as he wheeled his bike into its narrow port beside the door, he realized that frightened was the wrong word to describe his feeling, now that December was almost here. It was too strong an adjective.
He had waited a long time for this special December. Now that it was almost upon him, he wasn’t frightened, but he was…eager, he decided. He was eager for it to come. And he was excited, certainly. All of the Elevens were excited about the event that would be coming so soon.
But there was a little shudder of nervousness when he thought about it, about what might happen.
Apprehensive, Jonas decided. That’s what I am.
“Who wants to be the first tonight, for feelings?” Jonas’s father asked, at the conclusion of their evening meal.
It was one of the rituals, the evening telling of feelings. Sometimes Jonas and his sister, Lily, argued over turns, over who would get to go first. Their parents, of course, were part of the ritual; they, too, told their feelings each evening. But like all parents — all adults — they didn’t fight and wheedle for their turn.
Nor did Jonas, tonight. His feelings were too complicated this evening. He wanted to share them, but he wasn’t eager to begin the process of sifting through his own complicated emotions, even with the help that he knew his parents could give.
“You go, Lily,” he said, seeing his sister, who was much younger — only a Seven — wiggling with impatience in her chair.
“I felt very angry this afternoon, “ Lily announced. “My Childcare group was at the play area, and we had a visiting group of Sevens, and they didn’t obey the rules at all. One of them — a male; I don’t know his name — kept going right to the front of the line for the slide, even though the rest of us were all waiting. I felt so angry at him. I made my hand into a fist, like this.” She held up a clenched fist and the rest of the family smiled at her small defiant gesture.
“Why do you think the visitors didn’t obey the rules?” mother asked.
Lily considered, and shook her head. “I don’t know. They acted like…like…”
“Animals?” Jonas suggested. He laughed.
“That’s right, “ Lily said, laughing too. “Like animals.” Neither child knew what the word meant, exactly, but it was often used to describe someone uneducated or clumsy, someone who didn’t fit in. “Where were the visitors from?” Father asked.
Lily frowned, trying to remember. “Our leader told us, when he make the welcome speech, but I can’t remember. I guess I wasn’t paying attention. It was from another community. They had to leave very early, and they had their midday meal on the bus.”
Mother nodded. “Do you think it’s possible that their rules may be different? And so they simply didn’t know what your play area rules were?”
Lily shrugged, and nodded. “I suppose.”
“You’ve visited other communities, haven’t you?” Jonas asked. “My group has, often.”
Lily nodded again. “When we were Sixes, we went and shared a whole school day with a group of Sixes in their community.”
“How did you feel when you were there?”
Lily frowned. “I felt strange. Because their methods were different. They were learning usages that my group hadn’t learned yet, so we felt stupid.”
Father was listening with interest. “I’m thinking, Lily,” he said, “about the boy who didn’t obey the rules today. Do you think it’s possible that he felt strange and stupid, being in a new place with rules that he didn’t know about?”
Lily pondered that. “Yes,” she said, finally.
“I feel a little sorry for him,” Jonas said, “even though I don’t even know him. I feel sorry for anyone who is in a place where he feels strange and stupid.”
“How do you feel now, Lily?” Father asked. “Still angry?”
“I guess not,” Lily decided. “I guess I feel a little sorry for him. And sorry I made a fist.” She grinned.
Jonas smiled back at his sister. Lily’s feelings were always straightforward, fairly simple, usually easy to resolve. He guessed that his own had been, too, when he was a Seven.
He listened politely, though not very attentively, while his father took his turn, describing a feeling of worry that he’d had that day at work: a concern about one of the new children who wasn’t doing well. Jonas’s father’s title was Nurturer. He and the other Nurturers were responsible for all the physical and emotional needs of every new child during its earliest life. It was a very important job, Jonas knew, but it wasn’t one that interested him much.
“What gender is it?” Lily asked.
“Male,” Father said. “He’s a sweet little male with a lovely disposition. But he isn’t growing as fast as he should, and he doesn’t sleep soundly. We have him in the extra care section for supplementary nurturing, but the committee’s beginning to talk about releasing him.”
“Oh, no,” Mother murmured sympathetically. “I know how sad that must make you feel.”
Jonas and Lily both nodded sympathetically as well. Release of newchilden was always sad, because they hadn’t had a chance to enjoy life within the community yet. And they hadn’t done anything wrong.
There were only two occasions of release which were not punishment. Release of the elderly, which was a time of celebration for a life well and fully lived; and release of a newchild, which always brought a sense of what-could-we-have-done. This was especially troubling for the Nurturers, like Father, who felt they had failed somehow. But it happened very rarely.
“Well,” Father said, “I’m going to keep trying. I may ask the committee for permission to bring him here at night, if you don’t mind. You know what the night-crew Nurturers are like. I think this little guy needs something extra.”
“Of course,” Mother said, and Jonas and Lily nodded. They had heard Father complain about the night crew before. It was a lesser job, night-crew nurturing, assigned to those who lacked the interest or skills or insight for the more vital jobs of the daytime hours. Most of the people on the night crew had not even been given spouses because they lacked, somehow, the essential capacity to connect to others, which was required for the creation of a family unit.
“Maybe be could even keep him,” Lily suggested sweetly, trying to look innocent. The look was fake, Jonas knew; they all knew.
“Lily,” Mother reminded her, smiling, “you know the rules.”
Two children — one male, one female — to each family unit. It was written very clearly in the rules.
Lily giggled. “Well,” she said, “I thought maybe just this once.”
Next, Mother, who held a prominent position at the Department of Justice, talked about her feelings. Today a repeat offender had been brought before her, someone who had broken the rules before. Someone who she hoped had been adequately and fairly punished, and who had been restored to his place: to his job, his home, his family unit. To see him brought before her a second time caused her overwhelming feeling of frustration and anger. And even guilt, that she hadn’t made a difference in his life.
“I feel frightened, too, for him,” she confessed. “You know that there’s no third chance. The rules say that if there’s a third transgression, he simply has to be released.” Jonas shivered. He knew it happened. There was even a boy in has group of Elevens whose father had been released years before. No one ever mentioned it; the disgrace was unspeakable. It was hard to imagine.
Lily stood up and went to her mother. She stroked her mother’s hair.
From his place at the table, Father reached over and took her hand. Jonas reached for the other.
One by one, they comforted her. Soon she smiled, thanked them, and murmured that she felt soothed.
The ritual continued. “Jonas?” Father asked. “You’re last, tonight.”
Jonas sighed. This evening he almost would have preferred to keep his feelings hidden. But it was, of course, against the rules.
“I’m feeling apprehensive,” he confessed, glad the appropriate descriptive word had finally come to him.
“Why is that, son?” His father looked concerned.
“I know there’s really nothing to worry about,” Jonas explained, “and that every adult has been through it. I know you have, Father, and you too, Mother. But it’s the Ceremony that I’m apprehensive about. It’s almost December.”
Lily looked up, her eyes wide. “The Ceremony of Twelve,” she whispered in an awed voice. Even the smallest children Lily’s age and younger -knew that it lay in the future for each of them.
“I’m glad you told us of your feelings,” Father said.
“Lily,” Mother said, beckoning to the little girl, “go on now and get into your nightclothes. Father and I are going to stay here and talk to Jonas for a while.”
Lily sighed, but obediently she got down from her chair. “Privately?” she asked.
Mother nodded. “Yes,” she said, “this talk will be a private one with Jonas.”
The People’s Act of Love, by James Meek. Canongate (2005), 391 pages.
This is a very strange book with a very tangled and complicated plot. It takes place in a small village in Siberia during the time of the Russian Revolution. One would think that this piece of information would get the reader started fairly well on having a sense of time and place and the sorts of things that might be likely to happen next. But one would be wrong. I started this book and put it down and started it again and put it down again, at least three times. Everyone I have recommended it to describes the same situation, in which every attempt to read it ends up in a frustrated confusion or irritation that leads to its eventual abandonment…until it is picked up again and finally a point is reached at which the confusion becomes more interesting than confusing. It then moves on to become so strangely compelling that one must call all of one’s friends to say “You must read this book! It won’t make any sense and it will take you at least four attempts before you actually finish it. But you must read it!”
Part of the problem is that the point of view shifts every chapter between completely incomprehensible groups of people. There is a group of marooned Czech soldiers who remain in the Siberian village even though the war is over, there is a mystical sect of Christian eunuchs, an escapee from a Russian prison camp, a shaman, a beautiful widowed woman who is not really a widow, and the Red Army making its way across the tundra to exact revenge upon the town for an act of brutality commited by the Czech soldiers. All of these lives are intertwined in ways too complicated to explain here. And everything takes place over just a few days.
Somehow this all works though, to create a story that is really about humanity—all that is beautiful and good and all that is horrifying. There is insanity and fanatacism, and love and compassion and murder and lust and sacrifice and honor. And did I mention cannibalism? Because there’s cannibalism too.
Furthermore, Meeks manages to put this whole deranged plot together in a way that is not only heartbreakingly beautiful, but also funny. There a moments of absurdist humor here that completely surprised me, seeming to come out of nowhere, yet fitting perfectly into the story as if it couldn’t have been any other way.
EXCERPT: “The lieutenant gave him twenty strokes of the knout and stuck him in a cage for a few days till the snow was ankle deep. He lost a couple of toes. They turned black and the surgeon cut them off like a cook trimming a potato. Tolik said it was nothing terrible, he still had eight left, and the doctor gave him a swig of spirit before each one, so he asked him to take them all off, slowly, in return for 100 grammes of alcohol for each one and he’d settle for the pain to wash it down with, but the doctor said he hardly had enough spirit left for himself till the thaw came, and what would he do with eight healthy toes now that the ground was hard and he couldn’t bury them, he’d have to burn them. He was afraid they’d come back to haunt him, eight ghostly Christian toes pattering up to his mattress in the moonlight.”
This review first appeared in February of 2007
By Cindy Blackett
Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer with Todd Hillard
Britt Beemer’s America’s Research Group was commissioned by Ken Ham to survey 1,000 former attendees of conservative Christian churches, who are now in their twenties, to discover why they left. Already Gone is a summary of the survey results, and a challenge to the church to heed the warning and make the radical changes required to remain relevant – not only to the younger generations, but to everyone.
Do you believe in the authority of Scripture? Does your life demonstrate it? Ken Ham poses these questions to young adult Christians both in and out of mainstream churches, to pastors, Christian teachers, to parents, churches, and educational institutions. The subject of Already Gone is the generation of Christians my age (20’s), many of whom have left the church. Of those who have left, there are two main groups: one whose worldview is mostly secular and skeptical of the Bible, and one that believes the Bible is true and applicable but has found the church irrelevant. How is the church failing to deliver a biblical worldview to the children and youth who faithfully attend Sunday school, church, and youth group? Of the twenty-something’s who remain in the church, are they submitted to the authority of Scripture, or is their search for a worship experience prevailing over God’s teachings about the Body of Christ?
What about the parents, pastors, youth pastors, and Sunday school teachers who make up the older generation, the church establishment? Have they sold out God’s teachings on the church for their beloved traditions? How much of what we think of when we hear “church” is actually biblical? Why is the most common accusation against the church that it is hypocritical? The church in America is losing members so drastically that we need to radically reevaluate our practices and teachings. Compromise cannot be tolerated.
As founder of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham must touch on his favorite subject: the foundational importance of Genesis, and how compromise on the historical and scientific truth of Genesis undermines all of Scripture, faith in God, and even the gospel. He calls the church back to teaching “earthly things,” the correspondence between the Bible and reality. Christians need to be equipped for apologetics from an early age, to guard against doubts and to answer inquiries from a godless culture. This, more than music or games or attractive activities, is the only way to be relevant to people living in the real world and desperate for answers.
Already Gone is a fair, factual, and interesting treatment of the systemic problems in the church today. Lest we become like post-Christian Europe, where church is a marginal pastime for a few elderly people clinging to vestiges of tradition in empty cathedrals, we must take action now. Several reactions to the problem are presented, with their disadvantages and perks, but ever a challenge to study for yourself what God says about church and training up children.
As a member of the generation under the microscope, on the edge of the traditional church and ready to flee, I was impressed by the willingness to take us seriously. Some of us are leaving because we see the problems and want a church that does what a church should, and loyalty isn’t strong enough to keep us from looking outside our experience. Ken Ham acknowledges, with some surprise, people in my situation. I appreciated this book. Even though I’m pushing for the more extreme reactions mentioned (abandoning Sunday school and traditional trappings: buildings, sermons, and orders of worship), I have a lot of respect for the way Already Gone ties the whole malady to the failure of Christians to teach and obey the authority of the Word of God. If a person is faithful to study and submit to that, he will be led to the mode of meeting and discipleship God intends, strongly equipped for the Christian call to evangelize our world.
This is a journey into golf; A story of Andrew’s recovery from his near death experience before setting out on a golfing odyssey which brings him back to himself as a golfer and as a human.
It is beautifully written in that you he makes the courses he plays tangible; smelling the slat water and seaweed, feeling the grass and sand beneath his feet..
We get to follow Andrew across Scotland, meeting old friends and playing courses from his youth, with all the images this conjures up.
Having played North Berwick (one of the courses) with a great bunch of guys I really get where he’s coming from!
I really enjoyed reading this and recommend it to any golfer who thinks golf is just a game of swing and technique
This book has many parallels with what I am doing in that Andrew discovers that golf is a labour of love and that as a game it should simply be played and loved and that, as in life, we should accept what comes along. He is also inspirational in a very human way and whilst we know about the illness he has had, it isn’t the dominant theme, as Andrew’s recovery and new beginnings are all found through the medium of golf and its surroundings.
This is an important part of my journey also and I’m looking forward to discovering how golf will affect me in the years to come.
You can buy this book by clicking on the link at the TGF Store.
“Thirty years; 10,000 days; 1,000 motel stays; 1,000 nights in an RV; countless tires; 1 million miles traveled;” 1,300 images and 21 essays published brings us to “Visions of America” by Joseph Sohm. Talk about an adventure!
Joseph Sohm set out on a mission to photography democracy and traveled across all 50 states to capture what makes America. Along the way he photographed every ‘Welcome To…’ sign into each state as well personalized license plates from many states. He found urban and country. Rich and poor. Black and white.
I read this book from two aspects: a budding photographer and an American. I was touched deeply from both angles. As a photographer, the images spoke to me from technical and emotional standpoints. The richness of the landscapes, the emotions of the people, the history behind the images. As an American, the people and places captured rang true from what I picture our country to be about.
People from every race have been captured. The impact of Native Americans and African Americans has been chronicled here. The dreams and aspirations of our founding fathers is explored as well as how politics has changed and shaped our country. Simple country images that make me long for a long ago way of life.
Joseph Sohm also shares essays about how he captured certain photos, his state of mind during the process, and some history to enrich his stories. Not only is he a great photographer but a great storyteller. At one point he speaks about photographing Mt. Rushmore and he sees a man on top of one of the presidents. He tells of yelling “Please get off Abraham Lincoln!” I laughed out loud but I could almost hear him yelling this plea.
“Visions of America” was awarded the Gold Medal (IPPY) for the 13th annual Independent Book Publishers Awards for best coffee tabletop book. Joseph Sohm has been published over 50,000 times in such places as the NY Times, National Geographic, and thousands of books.
This is a big book-showing the depth of committment Sohm had for his vision of America. It took awhile to really go through and enjoy but it is so worth the time. I highly recommend picking up this book. It is something that I feel will be a great addition to our tools of history for generations to come.
Visions of America: Photographing Democracy
Hardcover: 312 pages
Publisher: Visions of America, LLC; First edition (January 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0970795718
ISBN-13: 978-0970795717
It happened in Italy. What happened in Italy? Italian people treated Jews nicely during the holocaust. That pretty much ends this book by Elizabeth Bettina. The moment you have understood this and appreciated it, which happens within first few pages, there is nothing more in the book to keep you hooked.
I was very excited to read this book because I wanted to know more about this piece of the history as it is a great tale of humanity. I am quite surprised of my ignorance of this wonderful story of how Italians saved so many lives by risking their own. This book should have definitely been written and talked about so that world gets to know that there is always good amongst the evil. I am glad that I read this and could actually relate it to one of my own experience (When I was helped by a Muslim family during religious riots in India. I am a Hindu)
So as I said, this book should have been written. But it should have been written much more differently. While reading the book, I often kept feeling that I was reading someone’s blog about day-to-day happenings. It happened in Italy wastes a lot of time talking about operational parts of the story and thus leaves the reader high and dry when it comes to the actual story of holocaust. Also, the ‘Story’ that is being shared through different people comes across as pretty much the same.
I must say that you will be thrilled to know that this all actually happened and is thus a wonderful book to read, if you can ignore the fact that it’s been written badly. Thanks to Thomas Nelson for publishing this book and spreading the word…Maybe we all just need to Give Peace A Chance…
I have 2 consistent complaints about New Concepts Publishing – the editing sucks and the printed book quality is even worse, badly bound, not square, crappy print job. But the editing just makes me grit my teeth. Honestly, change the damn electronic file! What the hell is “imminently well qualified”? Good grief. Do your editors know what a dictionary is? You know – that big book with all the words in alphabetical order over on the dusty shelf? Just look up “imminently”. LOOK IT UP! Now go look up the word “eminently”. See the difference? And I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seem “sole” where the correct word was “soul”, so look them up while you’re there. Damn it, my spirit is not a freaking FISH! Or worse, the bottom of a shoe! Shoot your editors now and put them out of their misery – PLEASE.
Take the reviews below as a tribute to my willingness to endure the horrors of NCP’s editing to read two of my favorite authors while suffering the vagaries of their editing in hopes of finding a good story. Thankfully they were both worth the effort.
Title: Total Recall
Author: Kaitlyn O’Connor
Type: Futuristic Romance
Genre: Erotic, Cyborg Nation series
Sub-genre: Ménage
My Grade: B- (3.8*)
Rating: xxx
Length: Sold as Full Novel – Approx. 90,000 words
Where Available: New Concepts Publishing as ebook
This book is a prequel to the whole Cyborg series. It’s at the very beginning where Reuel and the other cyborgs are still in the process of evolving into full self awareness. While Reuel has rescue of the cyborgs from the recall, he hasn’t completed his own evolution yet either, so this puts this story in a timeline before Abiogenesis. Kaitlyn O’Connor does another interesting story with Total Recall.
Chloe Armstein is the young female captain of a space salvage ship. Since her father’s death, the only company on board are two cyborgs, Jared and Kane, that she ‘salvaged’, rescued really, from the notorious death planet, Xeno-12, and carefully nursed back to health. Now fully recovered, they are her friends – and she has to keep reminding herself they aren’t really human, because they sure seem like they are. Even though both are battle ‘droids, they keep acting more and more cranky men lately. They even cheat at games!
The total recall of the S-series of cyborgs has Chloe thinking about Damon, the sexdroid that initiated her in sex. Jared and Kane behave very oddly about her discussing it, rather like they’re jealous, and make it clear they too have the programming but haven’t used it – and then offer her sex. Chloe is a bit shocked – and secretly attracted. When the two cyborgs tell her the recall means they would be ‘disassembled’, Chloe immediately goes to save Damon, sparking what seems to be jealousy opposition from Kane and Jared, who are sulking a bit at being turned down for sex and seemed annoyed at her calling them her ‘best ‘buds’.
The rescue is messy, but thanks to Jared and Kane disobeying Chloe’s orders to stay on the ship, everyone make it back – with Damon and 3 more cyborgs, Thor, Sebastian and Lucien – much to the lasting disgust of Kane and Jared. Now Kane and Jared are really jealous, especially of Damon and his social programming that makes him seem more human to Chloe. Then the port authority boards with the owner of the brothel where Damon ‘worked’ and Chloe has to spend all of her credits to bribe him so he won’t tell the rangers the truth – the slimeball. Meanwhile, Jared and Kane have hidden the 4 cyborgs in the bilge – where they can stay as far as they’re concerned.
Barely escaping, the crew and their illicit ‘guests’ realize they were followed, but not by Rangers, by other cyborgs. The other ship holds Reuel and cyborgs he’s rescued. He has been seeking Chloe, hearing she might a friend to cyborgs and perhaps, with her experience in space, she might help them find a homeworld of their own. It’s Reuel who explains the cyborgs gaining self-awareness, which in turn triggered the total recall. She’s struck, too, by how all the cyborgs defer to him and automatically accept him as their natural leader. But then, even she has heard of Reuel.
Chloe realizes the reason Jared and Kane have been acting so strangely is they’ve achieved self-awareness. And with self-awareness comes desire – for her. But Damon, Thor, Sebastian, and Lucian feel like she’s theirs now as well – or maybe they’re hers. The tension among the males in the mingled crews of the two ships becomes dangerous until they institute sexual relations with the females – in an orderly fashion, of course. They also have to find food, fight off those who want the cyborgs destroyed before it is revealed the Robotics Corporation violated the law and, most importantly, find a planet where the cyborgs can live in peace away from the humans who would destroy them.
Chloe is in a very strange position of feeling an outsider on her own ship. Reuel’s natural air of command has even her deferring to him at times. And she’s taking them to the world where she thought to retire herself. Despite her youth, she’s tired of knocking around space. But now she’s giving the world to the cyborgs and she doesn’t feel there’s a place there for her – a human. She feels lonely, isolated, displaced and rather lost.
On the downside 6 cyborgs and 1 human female are really pushing it for even fringe credibility. Also, I was left with the feeling this was where Ms O’Connor really wanted to discuss pregnancy, which is hinted at toward the very end of the book, but that would thrown off early stories – which are actually later in the timeline. In Total Recall Ms O’Connor deftly weaves the tale of emerging self awareness, longing and desire to belong, with action and plenty of sexual tension. Chloe has her own personal journey of discovery to make, as do ‘her’ cyborgs – and a planet to find for the cyborg home world. As the cyborgs grow into their sense of self and community, Chloe loses her bearings – those things that gave her an identity. Now she is on the outside, not as strong or smart as the cyborgs. That alone makes this story worth reading. Total Recall is surprisingly interesting simply as a character study written with a real feel for the futuristic genre with an erotic bent.
Madelyn Montague wrote 2 of my all time favorite werewolf ménage books, Wolfen and Call of the Wolf. She favors certain common story elements – a woman in her 30’s, four younger men who are werewolves – actually wolfen, which are what most of us call werewolves, but that’s a different – lesser – breed here, but the stories surrounding them are very different. In Wolfen and Call of the Wild, her heroines were mature, self-sufficient, established women with an identity and profession. In Wolf, the heroine, Sylvie, is mature only in years, but not the self-sufficient or independent person that the other heroines were. Despite her age, Sylvie is just the pampered daughter of a well to do family who never had to work or fend for herself. She not adventurous or brave, but it’s fascinating to watch her grow stronger and more self assured thru the book.
Sylvie managed to get herself talked into taking her father’s boat just outside Cuban waters so some people could get treatment for cancer not approved in the US. Her mom had gone through it and she knew her father would have done anything for her, so she feels this is the right thing to do, but it scares her to death. Suddenly, fast moving inflatables are heading her way – from Gitmo! Now she has men on board and she fears for her life.
Cole ‘Mac’ MacIntyre was a Special Forces sergeant on a mission to find a spy satellite that went down in the jungles of South America. He and his men, Maurice ‘Beau’ Beauregard, Remy Cavanaugh, and Gabriel ‘Hawk’ Hawkins do their job, pick up the pieces and head to the coast for their pick-up. As they reach the water with other SF forces, something happens to all of them – they are attacked by ‘things’ and changed – a lot. They aren’t kind or friendly, but Cole does make sure she’s safe from the other men on board.
Six months in that hellhole at Gitmo being treated like lab rats by the military scientists fascinated with their ability to heal, increased strength and speed, and the shifting, and the men learned they were about to be killed, so they escaped. But not all the men on board are as reliable as his 3 guys, so Mac wants to keep Sylvie out of sight.
They sail to the Yucatan and drop groups off at different spots. The last to leave are the 4 men and Sylvie. Once on shore they send her towards people as they head for the jungle. Only the men she runs to aren’t safe. They have different ideas – like rape. Screaming for help brings monsters – Chupacabra. She flees into the jungle where Mac and the others find her and reluctantly take her with them. Now they have to explain that they are the chupacabra – the werewolf of horror movies. In the long trek across the land, Ms Montague pays close attention to character development for both the men and Sylvie. Slowly, the men learn to cope and accept what they are and the wolf side of them gets stronger and eventually all four can change from human to wolf and back again. The group takes on the characteristics of a wolf pack and Sylvie becomes their alpha female.
I have to give Madelyn Montague credit for writing some fascinating werewolf tales and creating subspecies with the group. Despite the fairly consistent cast of one alpha with a second nearly equal strength beta and 2 lesser betas, she actually creates very different people. Mac fleshes out the best, but that’s true for all her books, the alpha gets the most depth to his character. Sylvie manages to mature and get self confident, though she isn’t kick-ass brave and basically stays a girly-girl. Getting out of Central America is really well told. All together, Wolf is a very good read.
Easily (if not slightly embarrassingly) Melinda Metz, someone I’m sure very few of you have even heard of. I have all ten Roswell High books (that would be the series the WB show was based off of), plus doubles of at least four of them, and all seven of the Fingerprints novels, her second and vastly better YA book series. If it were coming out now it’d probably be a hit, but it was sadly before it’s time.
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I really only have doubles of anything… Little Women, Little Men, and Jane Eyre, definitely. At one point I had something like four copies of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but I’m pretty sure I gave at least two of those away.
3) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Secretly? That strikes out quite a few, doesn’t it? Um… Anthony Fascinelli, from the aforementioned Fingerprints series. Expressively so. And then Dicken, from The Secret Garden, and probably Finn from The Books of Bayern, by Shannon Hale. Not so secretly – Mr. Rochester, Darcy, Gilbert Blythe, Captain Wentworth, Rhett Butler, and Ron Weasley. What?
4) What book have you read more than any other?
Jane Eyre. That book is like breathing clean air for me. I reread books a lot, but Jane Eyre takes the cake there. As you can see on my sidebar, I’m rereading it now.
5) What was your favorite book when you were 10-years-old?
The Secret Garden and The Little Princess. Frances Hodgson Burnett pretty much owned me at that age!
6) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
Probably I’d have to say The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum. But most of the books I’ve been reading this past year have been rereads of favorites or ones I’d been waiting some time for, so it didn’t have much of a chance.
7) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
Like I said, almost half of the books I’ve read this past year have been rereads. But of new books? Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull. I really cannot speak highly enough of this series. It’s the best high fantasy series of the “talking dragons and fairies” that I’ve ever read. Really. Not that I read a lot of them, because I have trouble taking them seriously. This has never been a problem with Fablehaven.
8 ) If you could tell everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?
I’m going to be predictable here and say I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg. It is just so much about triumph, and basically a true story. Fictionalized autobiography. One of the few books that I’ve ever read that literally makes me feel like a better person for having read it.
9) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Most difficult… possible Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I simply don’t care for books that are more about ideas than people. There have been a few others of similar cases in my college career, but the others are all fairly obscure, so I don’t actually remember their titles.
10) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
The Russians. I love reading Russian literature. Dostoevsky, Lermontov, Pushkin? Yes, please. I should read more French, though. I’m not half as familiar with them.
11) Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer?
That is not an effective question. It’s like asking whether you prefer water or oxygen—not in the life-or-death view of it, but in the fact that they’re three things that are essentially huge in the English language, and you can’t just pick between them, because they’re really not that similar. Milton is like… reading genius. You just know that he was one of the smartest men to have ever lived. Chaucer is similar, but I get bored with the bawdiness of it. I do not get bored of reading Middle English, though. The best thing to do with any of these authors is to just read them aloud, until you understand them. But on a day-to-day basis? Shakespeare, of course. There’s so much variety in his works, and just so many amazing characters.
12) Austen or Eliot?
Oh Austen, easily. But then I did read every single word of Middlemarch (which is almost the length of all six Austen novels combined) and was surprised at how much I loved it. Consequently, I’m surprised this question isn’t Austen or Brontë! That’s what you see most often, and it’s pretty unfair, considering how different the works are. Eliot is much closer to Austen’s feel, definitely.
13) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Oh almost anything contemporary that isn’t YA. I’m pretty awful in that I’m either stuck in the past or stuck in high school. Nonfiction, too. I almost never read nonfiction, though I think maybe I’m almost to the point where I’ll start seeking it out.
14) What is your favorite novel?
Jane Eyre, or Persuasion. Or possibly Little Women. But I haven’t read that last in ages, (it’s next in line to read after Jane Eyre!) so I’m interested in seeing how my view of it might have changed?
15) Play?
Oh… I’m going to cheat here and say The Oresteia. Which is actually three plays. But almost any Greek tragedy. I love Antigone, and Prometheus Bound, and just all of it. The Oresteia is just overwhelming, though. Clytemnestra is just terrifying and awesome and somehow still sympathetic, and Orestes is just trying so hard to be good! I have a flair for the dramatic, what?
16) Poem?
Oh impossible to pick just one. Emily Dickinson—oh just pick one, they’re all brilliant, and I really don’t want to point you to an overly-familiar one just because it’s the one I can remember off the top of my head. That woman was just so smart. And if you think she’s depressing you’ve probably only read the four poems they assign in high school lit, and you should really read more. She is just impeccably smart. I love Sharon Olds, too, though, and one that comes to mind is from Billy Collins—”Marginalia” is sweet, and just a perfect poem.
I didn’t really mean for both of those links to refer back to Emily Dickinson, but it’s just as well that they do. Don’t get distracted by the seemingly random capitalization and punctuation… focus on the words. She knew her words better than anyone else I have ever seen. There are so many gorgeous poets, though. Whitman, Elizabeth Barret Browning. Longfellow, my old favorite. Poetry is kind of a secret passion with me, one I forget about and then it flares up in sudden, unstoppable waves.
When Ellie Lerner gets a phone call changing her life forever, it doesn’t take long for her to hitch herself up and fly across the Atlantic — right to London, where her best friend’s eight-year-old daughter Sophie is now motherless.
Awash in a sea of grief over the death of Lucy, her effervescent and dynamic dearest friend since childhood, Ellie leaves husband Phillip to help Greg, Lucy’s husband, and Sophie. In the aftermath of her mother’s death Sophie has closed up, refusing at first to speak to anyone — even her beloved godmother. In desperation, Ellie opens a book that once meant so much to her as a child: Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. Before bed each night, the novel’s words are like a balm — and Ellie comes to rely upon them to help them, the bereaved, make it through the seemingly endless days and nights.
As Ellie spends more and more time in London and even less with her husband in Boston, Mass., she’s forced to confront the truth of why she simply cannot got home again — to decide where home really is, exactly, if it can be anywhere. And who? Can someone be home for us in a way that no one else ever could?
Julie Buxbaum is one of those writers I read and set aside in utter dismay, realizing with a jolt that I’m not sure I could ever write a bit of prose to even begin to capture joy or pain like she does. There’s an honesty in Ellie, Greg, Sophie and Phillip’s grief — a totally open, naked vulnerability to the words. Given the heavy subject matter, the book could easily have become maudlin or clunky . . . but there was absolutely nothing awkward about the writing, which was so gorgeous I could have sipped it like hot chocolate, so decadent and comforting.
It was also fantastic seeing so many literary references in After You — especially where The Secret Garden is concerned. Ellie and Sophie find solace in the magical world of Burnett’s creating, using the orphan’s story of returning to the land of the living as a makeshift and unintended guide to working through their grief.
I wonder how many times Lucy sat in this exact spot, on Sophie’s bed, with the weight of Sophie’s head against her shoulder. If she, too, felt that sharing her favorite book was the purest way to express love, like telling your secrets or saying a prayer out loud.
The plot is heavily character driven and introspective, though plenty of twists and secrets revealed keep the story very interesting. Ellie struggles to balance the Lucy she once knew with the person she’s revealed to have become — and to find a way to care for Sophie in the way she believes Lucy would have wanted. After an explosive back story is revealed, I sat shocked and numb to the news, just like Ellie. And then we must decide what it changes . . . or if it changes anything at all.
Ancillary characters like Ellie’s brother Mikey and Sophie’s teacher Claire add a warmth and depth to the plot, as do Ellie’s mother and father. Unable to commit to each other again following their divorce, Jane and Mr. Lerner’s obvious love for one another is both tender and heartbreaking to watch. You can tell their children think so, too.
Like Marisa de los Santos’ Belong To Me, another of my most favorite novels, Buxbaum’s After You examines our desire to be home. Through Ellie’s eyes we slowly come to see what it means to work through fear and failure to create a family. The book leaves no Big Issue untouched: death, grief, infidelity, parenthood, friendship, love, family, loss . . . but Buxbaum’s touch is so deft, you barely have a moment to dry your tears before you’re flipping the page to another tender scene with Sophie, wise beyond her years, and feeling your heart contract with joy.
A gorgeous, unforgettable novel I know I’ll return to again someday — not to be missed.
After You is out Aug. 25 from Dial Press. And Ms. Buxbaum absolutely owes me a pack of tissues!
5 out of 5!
ISBN: 0385341245 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website
Together is all that I want, “Ensemble, c’est tout”; (August 20, 2009)
It is 12:15 p.m. and I just finished reading the adorable “Ensemble, c’est tout”. In homage to the glorious moments I spent reading this novel I feel that I have to invest time summarizing and reviewing it.
It is about four main characters who ended up sharing a large apartment in Paris and caring for one another. Philibert Marquet de la Durbelliere, a 36 old bachelor raised in an aristocratic family and selling post cards; Franck Lestafier, a 33 years bachelor raised by his grandmother and a chef in a restaurant, third in command; Camille Fauque, a skinny girl and a painter of 27 years; and Paulette, the grand mother of Franck who was practically kidnapped from her retirement home to live with them.
Philibert accepted Franck to live with him in his temporary 300 square meters apartment, supposedly because the latter needed a bunk to take a siesta from his non-stop working condition.
Philibert is the eldest son among six other sisters and his mother did not want him when she was pregnant; she refused to be aborted in a hospital because of her class status of Marquise and her son was raised to keep his distance from the common people. He spent his childhood in a boarding school where he suffered all kinds of humiliations from his schoolmates. His father asked him every Saturday whether he was able to retain his rank and honor his valiant ancestors. Philibert stuttered and had many compulsive obsession troubles in front of the public; he was raised without TV, dailies, outings, or humor. He was now living temporarily in a large apartment pending inheritance judgment on its final status.
Franck was abandoned by his mother because his grandmother refused to help her abort. He lived with his grandparents in a very small town and not knowing who could be his genetic father. At a certain period, his mother returned for him and took him for less than a year before sending him back to his grand parents after screwing his mind with calumnies about his grand mother. Franck changed after his return and tried hard to punish and take vengeance on his grand mother and became a trouble maker. Finally, he graduated from a culinary institution and was working as cook six days a week ever since. Mondays were his free days which he spent visiting his grand mother living alone in her house, two hours drive by motorcycle from Paris. Franck was not cultured and never had time to read anything but motor magazines. His hobby was to buy the latest models of motorcycles; he cursed a lot because he lacked the vocabulary to express his feelings adequately.
Camille was the only child and her mother tried many times to commit suicide. Her father thus separated from her mother Catherine and visited his daughter on weekends. She loved her father and when he died falling from a building Camille stopped speaking for many months. Her drawing teacher understood her predicament; one day the teacher told Camille the story of the famous Chinese artist Chu Te who vowed silence for the remainder of his life after the Manchurians took power over the Ming dynasty and thus took to the mountains to avoid speaking to people who resigned themselves to the new power. At 18, Camille left home and enrolled in Fine Arts in Paris because she was gifted in drawing and painting. She got bored two years later and quit. She lived in a shack with a painter caring for his livelihood until he got addicted to drugs.
When Camille returned to live with her mother she kept to her room for two months out of depression. One day, a scoundrel selling false paintings hired her to imitate famous paintings and lodged her in the best hotels around Europe and bought her the best and most expensive dresses as long as she was slaving over her works. The business was busted and she lived three days and three nights penniless and homeless until she dropped at the door of a couple of her acquaintances. The rich couple sheltered her in a small room under the attic of the building. Her room was stuffy in summer and freezing in winter. She barely ate and looked too skinny for her stature of 173 cm. For a whole year she worked with a cleaning company. One day, she shaved her head because she could no longer suffer the humiliation of sneaking to the couple’s apartment to shampoo her long hair.
Paulette was living alone in her house and loved to garden. She was suffering from her hips and was constantly falling and bruising herself but was afraid to check to a hospital for fear of being sent to a retirement home. After a hip surgery and the requirements of staying in the hospital for several months for chiropractic training, Paulette ended up reluctantly in a retirement house. Her grandson Franck used to spend his Mondays on her sides; mostly sleeping on the couch because he was always tired. Paulette was his only relative and the one who raised him with love.
On a cold night Philibert decided to check on Camille at two in the morning in her attic in the building and found her sick with fever. He carried her to his apartment and took care of her. When Franck saw her three days later he sought she was a gay guy; he was upset because this new arrival is going to disturb his total freedom such as blasting his stereo and inviting his numerous girls overnight. It is a story about how people learn to accommodate themselves, listen to the miseries of their respective hard life, the tenuous and precariousness of their survival, how to live together and support each other to go living as best they can.
Camille resumed her interest in drawing and painting; she started with the design details of what the apartment contained of ancient furniture at the period of the beginning of the century and then sketching Philibert. One day, Franck was insensitive to her fatigue and kept his stereo blasting with techno music and laughing out loud with his loud mouthed girl; Camille entered Franck’s room and threw the stereo from the window and then locked herself in her room.
Franck took his revenge with very noisy love making exercises; Camille was unable to sleep all night from this impossible activity which she thought was total fake. The next day, Camille bought Franck new stereo equipment. Franck saw the drawing booklet of Camille and appreciated her talent with growing respect. Camille picked up a drug addict named Vincent and his dog Barres (found on Barres Street) and allowed him to live in her former attic room. Vincent got treatment for his addiction because he read a book that Camille forgot to take from her room. The book was a collection of letters that Van Gogh wrote to his brother and never dispatched them to him; these letters were found on Van Gogh when he committed suicide. Vincent confirmed that he felt that Van Gogh was writing his own predicament, pains, suffering, and confusion and read the book so many times that he memorized it.
Franck’s relationship with Camille improved and she started accepting a few of his invitations and Franck shared with her his childhood problems. Camille also shared with Franck her childhood emotional problems and what she went through. Then, Camille convinced Philibert to allow her to bring Paulette to the apartment to the total dismay of Franck who wept from joy.
Camille took control of caring for Paulette, taking her to walking trips every where in Paris, locating an affordable hair saloon to shampooing Paulette’s hair every Saturday, and acquiring a wheelchair so that they may bypass the long lines in museums and other shows. Every time Paulette succumbed to a lethargic state, the team would invent ways to resuscitate her excitement to life. One of the solutions was to start long weekend vacations, including visits to Paulette’s house and taking care of her garden under her supervision. Before Paulette died peacefully in her garden she wrote Franck her wishes to bequeath the garden to Camille.
The novel is packed with lively conversations, funny surprise situations, description of the minute details of kitchen preparations for a major “end of year festival”, stories about the lives and diaries of famous painters and artists such as Van Gogh, Albrecht Durer, Chu Te and others and about French history and Henry IV which were mostly new to me.
Franck ended up marrying Camille and opening their restaurant. Philibert got married and was working as maitre of reception at the restaurant. Camille located her sister from her father.
Dubner, Stephen J. Turbulent Souls: a Catholic Son’s Return to His Jewish Family. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1998.
In the beginning, Turbulent Souls started out slow for me. I’m not exactly sure why. I think, true to form, the background of any story is the least exciting. It’s the opening act, the warming up so to speak. This setting of the stage is vital to the story, though. Dubner needed to explain his Jewish parents conversion to Catholicism in order for the rest of his story to make sense.
Stephen Dubner was born into a large, upstate New York, Catholic family. Only, Stephen never really felt at home with his parents’ view on religion. Something just didn’t seem comfortable to him. As a young man in his 20’s he meets a Jewish actress who guides him to discover his family’s orginal faith. The more he learns of Jewish customs the easier it is for him to shed everything he memorized about Catholic customs. The more he practices Jewish customs the more it feels like a rediscovery, a return to a religion he left behind before birth. As a journalist Dubner begins to see his family has a story, an amazing one. He cannot ignore the fact that both his parents converted right around the time Jews were being murdered by the Nazis. He discovers Ethel Rosenberg was his mother’s first cousin. As he uncovers the secrets of his family he finds himself.
There were many, many great lines in this book. Here are a couple describing Dubner’s religious childhood: “The aberrant memory is of my father loading us all into the pink-and-gray Rambler for Sunday Mass…my father slamming his pinkie in the back door and yelling, “Shit!” I knew the word; I just didn’t know that my father did” (p 108). “The fires of Hell kept me from letting Dale Schaeffer cheat off my math test even though he offered me first a dollar and then a skull-bashing” (p 114).
Here’s one from Dubner’s college years that I particularly liked (reminded me of my house): “…but even the three of us were no match for the memories of the house. They overpowered us, sent us to bed early, made our supper conversation timid” (p 151).
And one from adulthood: “When I was an alter boy I would get nervous being alone with Father DiPace. He represented God; I represented human shortcoming” (p 201). There are many more fantastic lines, but I’ll stop there.
BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called, “Me, Me, Me: Autobiographies and Memoirs” (p 162).
A big, lumpy, ridiculous and embarrassing one — and it’s right on the edge of her face, there to greet each and every boy in Reno, Nevada who just may have paid an ounce of attention to her . . . if Super Schnozz wasn’t constantly there to ruin her chances at popularity and happiness.
And ruin it all, it does — Jory just can’t seem to muster up enough self-confidence to keep up with gorgeous and well-proportioned best friends Megan and Hannah as the summer before their senior year at Reno High stretches before them, long and inviting. Jory decides that this summer will be one of “passion” as she finds work delivering local cakes and flowers and begins saving for a nose job. As she works to set aside the $5,000 or so she’ll need, Jory fights to get of the shadows of her younger brother Finn, an Adonis-like soccer player and fiddler of girls’ hearts. She’s stuck, too, with her mother’s whacky dieting and constant commenting on Jory’s looks — especially how she doesn’t seem to resemble anyone else in their tanned, golden family. And then there’s the little issue of trying to grab the attention of Tyler Briggs, her longtime crush who encourages her affections just enough to keep her from giving up on him completely.
And so Sydney Salter’s My Big Nose And Other Natural Disasters goes: Jory laments Super Schnozz; Jory obsesses about not being as good-looking as her friends; Jory worries she’ll die alone, the “world’s oldest virgin” living in a hotel room and drinking herself to death. Jory crashes vans, trips over her own feet, breaks things and constantly drops things, usually in front of Gideon, the bewildering (and big-nosed) son of a cake shop client.
I felt like I’d fallen head-first into 350-ish pages of a teenage girl’s obsessively insecure ramblings . . . oh, wait — I did.
Now before you get the wrong idea about me, I’ll say this — I did like the book. Jory was a believable — if not entirely likeable — heroine, and I think many teen girls would appreciate and relate to her body image issues. And like our narrator, I’ve also felt I have my own Super Schnozz perched on the edge of my face — and I’ve been very self-conscious about it! That’s really what attracted me to the book: I’m always interested in the plights of girls with big noses (I’ve been told we have far more personality than others. Between that and my mess of curly hair, I choose to believe that).
The real “moral” of the story here became blatantly obvious as Jory eventually bonded with her mother enough to have a frank discussion of why Jory came to find herself in the office of a plastic surgeon: her own mother’s ridiculous dieting and constant discussion of her own looks made Jory grow up feeling insecure and judged. Though her mom swore she was only commenting on herself and not her daughter’s appearance, she was leading by example — and the example Jory observed was that beauty was the only gateway to happiness. And that belief, of course, made her ridiculously unhappy.
I really felt for Jory’s mom — I honestly don’t think she meant to do such a number on her kid’s confidence. But she did. And that was sad.
While Salter is definitely a good writer who had no trouble getting in the mind of teens, my fundamental issue with the book was this: it was whiny. Oh, so very, very whiny. While we had the neat framework of the summer laid out as the timeline of the novel, I felt like Jory in her work van: driving aimlessly for hours on end, no particular path in mind. I just didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere. Even as her friends pulled more and more ridiculous stunts to gain the attention of boys and Jory found herself in all sorts of awkward situations, they just weren’t as funny as I thought they would be. Most of them made feel . . . sad. And empty for her as she wound up snuggling up to boys who couldn’t have cared less about her, or worrying about the same set of issues that played like a record in her head.
Yes, Jory seemed real — but that’s what also made her really frustrating. I had a hard time catching any snippet of her personality beyond what she claimed to like in order to fit in and be accepted. This was all part of the “coming-of-age” story, yes — Jory’s lack of an individual identity, the fact that she invested too much of herself in others . . . but I just really wanted something more.
3 out of 5!
ISBN: 0152066438 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website
Someday I’ll get around to reading the rest of Christopher Moore’s books. But in the meantime, and with the full disclosure that Lamb is the only one of his works I’ve read, and could, therefore, conceivably be a fluke, I’ll go out on a limb and say that what Tom Stoppard did for Hamlet in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” Moore has done for the New Testament.
Okay, that’s quite a limb. Maybe it’s not that good, but it’s definitely worth a read. Especially if you, like me, are left a bit underwhelmed by the storytelling abilities of Mark, John, Luke and Matthew. This is where I shold probably mention Lamb’s subtitle: “The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal.” Basically, Moore has created a snarky, sarcastic, smart-ass named Biff and dropped him right in the middle of Nazareth circa, oh, the year 0.
Biff proceeds to tell us the “real” story of Jesus (or Joshua, as he’s known in the book): his childhood (playing with younger brother James by bringing dead lizards back to life), his adolescence (both boys love the lovely Maggie, but in very different ways), and his life up until age 30. The lost time is spent, according to Biff, traveling the known (and unknown) world– Afghanistan, China, and India– and learning things like zen Buddhism, explosives making, yoga, and kung fu.
Fun stuff, huh?
The best part, though, is that in the midst of these comedic delights, Moore manages to sneak a few real lessons. Oh, they’re not overt, and the book is by NO MEANS a moralistic one, but still. Things like the importance of the Golden Rule, the value of loyalty and friendship, and the hazards of living in a pit.
Seriously. Unless you’re a die-hard Bible-beater who reads the New Testament literally and is going to be vastly offended by the Son of God dropping an F-bomb, give this book a read.
Lamb by Christopher Moore
Plot: ****
Characters: *****
Vividness: ****
Readability: *****
Published August 4, 2009 by Knopf (a division of RandomHouse)
I’m having a hell of a time writing a concise summary of this phenomenal novel, so here’s one from the publisher:
Griffin has been tooling around for nearly a year with his father’s ashes in the trunk, but his mother is very much alive and not shy about calling on his cell phone. She does so as he drives down to Cape Cod, where he and his wife, Joy, will celebrate the marriage of their daughter Laura’s best friend. For Griffin this is akin to driving into the past, since he took his childhood summer vacations here, his parents’ respite from the hated Midwest. And the Cape is where he and Joy honeymooned, in the course of which they drafted the Great Truro Accord, a plan for their lives together that’s now thirty years old and has largely come true. He’d left screenwriting and Los Angeles behind for the sort of New England college his snobby academic parents had always aspired to in vain; they’d moved into an old house full of character; and they’d started a family. Check, check and check.
But be careful what you pray for, especially if you manage to achieve it. By the end of this perfectly lovely weekend, the past has so thoroughly swamped the present that the future suddenly hangs in the balance. And when, a year later, a far more important wedding takes place, their beloved Laura’s, on the coast of Maine, Griffin’s chauffeuring two urns of ashes as he contends once more with Joy and her large, unruly family, and both he and she have brought dates along. How in the world could this have happened?
I’ve loved all of Richard Russo’s novels, and That Old Cape Magic was no exception. Russo has an incredible way of plumbing the depths of marriage and family and exploring the ways in which we discover our selves through our relationships with others. As Griffin reflects on his childhood summers on the Cape, which were the only times he saw his parents—embittered academics stuck at a second-rate institution in the “mid-fucking-west”—appear anything close to happy, he begins to understand the ways in which he has reenacted their marriage in his own. And as he recalls his Cape honeymoon and the Great Truro Accord, he is forced to ask himself how well he and Joy have actually measured up to the course they charted thirty years ago.
Russo has said that in many ways That Old Cape Magic is about inheritance, about the things we absorb from our parents and the fact that we cannot escape becoming them, no matter how hard we try. Despite Griffin’s belief that the best motto is “a plague on both their houses” and his attempts to prevent his and Joy’s parents from influencing their lives, his trip to the Cape and the events that follow make it clear that that is an impossible task.
Like his parents, Griffin is cynical and unsatisfied, and he comes to understand that he actually resents his wife for her constant contentedness. Whether it matches up to the Great Truro Accord or not, Joy is happy with the life they’ve created, whereas Griffin—at least in his present state of mid-life-crisis–longs for something different and finds himself attempting to relive the past. But that’s the thing about memory: the joy is in remembering, and attempts to recreate even the most beautiful moments can never be fully realized.
Much of the Cape’s allure was its shimmering elusiveness, the magical way it receded before them year after year, the stuff of dreams.
As Griffin journeys to the Cape with his father’s ashes in tow, he must face the truth that despite his best efforts, he has become his parents, right down to recapitulating his father’s frequent fender benders.
Even as he rejected their values, he’d allowed many of their bedrock assumptions—that happiness was a place you could visit but never own, for instance—to burrow deep.
In That Old Cape Magic, Russo explores memory and disappointment and mid-life re-evaluation with sharp insight and gentle humor. He sees his characters’ flaws and isn’t afraid to expose them, but he does so with kindness and understanding. He illustrates the mundane intimacies of marriage and family life in heartbreaking detail, but he never fails to make us laugh along the way.
In many ways, That Old Cape Magic is classic Russo. The themes and character outlines—and the presentation of hilariously humorless academics—will be familiar to readers who have enjoyed his other work, but the scope of this book is smaller, cozier, than anything he’s written previously. And I thought it was a refreshing shift.
No other writer writes about relationships and expectations the way Richard Russo does, and That Old Cape Magic is simply not to be missed. 5 out of 5.
For more information, read about my evening with Richard Russo, and check out this interview he did with fellow author Pat Conroy.
Many of the big bang explosions of 1960s were rooted in little bangs from the previous decade, notes Patricia Cohen in today’s NYT, making Fred Kaplan’s decision to cram as many of them as possible into 1959 problematical. “What becomes increasingly clear with every chapter, however, is that nearly any one of that decade’s other years could serve equally well, if not better, as a turning point,” she writes in her review of “1959: The Year Everything Changed.” “History rarely adheres to the Gregorian calendar, and the need to squish everything into the self-imposed 365-day timeline causes Mr. Kaplan at times to treat his argument like a gerrymandered district, stretching it beyond its natural shape.” Read the review
Kneece, Mark and Julie Collins-Rousseau. Trailers. NBM: New York, 2005.
Trailers is about, well, trailers. Also, murder, deception, love, drugs, family, and the fight of one teenage boy who would probably give anything to be from a “normal” family.
When Josh comes home to find his mother’s boyfriend murdered by her hand, he must try to hide the body from the police and his three younger siblings. Trailers mixes a strange blend of harsh life with that of a budding romance, as Josh’s friend Michelle tries to understand his reality, one filled with expletives, hard people, and a family trying to keep it all together.
I have a backlog of posts in mind to share, but for now, I’ll just share this great op-ed by Alison Gopnik on new research indicating that babies are smarter than we think. Gopnik is the co-author of a great book called The Scientist in the Crib, which I highly recommend. She has also just published a new book, called The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life.
This has been one of my favortie magazines for a while now ! The day I get it is always a happy day..
The slogan Computer Arts carries is Inspiration, Technique and Great Design. In this magazine, interviews, showcases and behind the scene stories are covered from many parts of the world. Also, every month a design studio is covered in terms of its environment, acheivement and its people and their roles.
Not only does this magazine gives you insight on what is going on in the graphic world, but it also provides inspirational tutorial guides and techniques to many of the graphic design softwares.
This weekend, I was poking around a thrift shop (as I’m wont to do) and picked up a handful of cheap paperbacks. They were all books I have read before, but since they are so good and so cheap, I decided to reread and then pass them on to some deserving friends.
One of them is a 1979 novel by Poul Anderson called “The Avatar”. It has been a long time since I’ve read any of Anderson’s work and this is a pleasant surprise. So much so, that I want to share a sample paragraph.
“…How could a bird get born?”
He hoisted himself to sit cross-legged beside her. “The same was an idea gets hatched,” he suggested.
“Aye,” she responded quickly. “see, Einstein brooded long over his – they had to bring him food and tobacco where he sat – until one fine day the egg went crack and a little principle of special relativity peeped forth, all wet and naked, and then the poor man must scurry to and fro fetching long wiggly equations to stuff down its beak, but at last it was grown to be a grand big cock of a general relativity theory and the quantum mechanics came to build a proper perch for it.”
Isn’t that just lovely?
There will be more to come of this review when I finish the tale.
Paris and her brother are victims of their mother’s alcoholism, cruel men and the foster care system. Beaten by her first Foster mother, Paris and Malcolm run away. Finally forced to separate by Child Services, Paris goes to live with the Lincoln’s, where she finds a family to love and a friend at school. When her mother calls, asking for Paris to return home, Paris must first define home.
I immediately drew association between The Road to Paris and Han Nolen’s Born Blue. Both: follow children after being abandoned by their mother, deal with racial tensions, deal with children being separated and with the concept of returning home to a mother, no matter how unworthy she may be. Of course, Paris is a juvenile book while Born Blue is for an older teen.
Both are excellent. Both drew me in to stories that couldn’t be further from my own experiences as a child, and yet made me feel as if I knew what is was like for these kids.
I am happy to say that our list of required readings for postulants inquiring into our Order and spiritual formation has been handed over to the Cathedral Book Store at St. Philip’s. They have agreed to have copies of the books on hand for those wishing to purchase them for our convenience. For our members and guests that will be choosing which book we discuss in the coming weeks, here again is our required reading list for postulants and early formation:
1) The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen – Henri Nouwen was one of the greatest contemplative writers of the 20th century, standing along side others like Thomas Merton and Joan Chittister. This very small book is his basic introduction into the purpose and practice of silence. Being Roman Catholic, his theology flavors a lot of his descriptions, but it is still a wonderful bite size morsel. Best when read, allowed to sit, and then reread slowly.
2) What Jesus Meant by Garry Wills – In a short and straight forward format, Wills shows how radical the really outward teachings of Jesus really were and what he was trying to accomplish within religious identity. He also shows where the Church has been trying to cover up, overshadow, and outright ignore a lot of his radically inclusive message while claiming to be the “embodiment of Christ on earth.” A good “back to the basics” book for any Christian contemplative.
3) Wisdom Jesus by Mother Cynthia Bourgeault – This is best read as a companion to What Jesus Meant. Where Wills shows the radical outward ministry of Jesus, Mother Cynthia shows the radical inward spiritual teachings of Jesus. Her grasp and explanation of ancient texts, including the Gospel of Thomas, is excellent and provides a far more internal view of Christian spirituality than is often found in traditional church teachings.
4) Through the Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong – For anyone interested in intentional religious community, these two books are a must. In the 1960s as a woman in her early 20s, Karen entered a convent to become a nun. She entered at a time when Religious life was being redefined by Vatican II and systems of tradition were giving way to much need innovation and restructuring…but the change was hardly easy for those that had lived under the old system for most of their lives. Karen is caught between two worlds as she enters into her novitiate, and struggles in her own religious identity as her own Religious Order struggles with theirs. The Spiral Staircase is the second half of her autobiography, picking up from where she left her convent and tried assimilate into the secular world while eventually coming to terms with her own faith and experience of God. Her transformation speaks to many who are searching, and her observations of Religious life can offer us numerous lessons as we move into community as modern contemplatives in our Church.
5) Meditation without Myth by Daniel Helminiak – Dr. Helminiak, a former Roman Catholic priest, is now a professor of psychology at West Georgia College. By initially “taking God out of the equation” for teaching centering/meditation, he offers a good introduction to the very basic practice while showing the benefits both physical and psychological. At the end of the book, he brings God back in, showing the greater depth one can achieve through the basic practice of being still. His simple instruction and medical explanation shows how all of us are wired for centering, and what to expect when we being doing it on a regular basis.
6) God is a Verb by Rabbi David A. Cooper – For anyone interested in the mystical aspects of Judaism (which figured into early Christian practice) this is a great and easy to read guide to the basics of Kabalah, the contemplative branch of Judaism. The concept of Ein Sof will resonate with anyone who has practice contemplative spirituality, regardless of tradition.
7) The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings of the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century by Thomas Merton—A concise collection and excellent introduction into the sayings of the early Christian hermits as compiled by one of the 20th century’s best known contemplatives. Each small reading offers a wealth of material for prayer and contemplation.
And why I should be sent a free hardcover copy of Eyes Like Stars!
TEN Reasons Why:
1. I am a faery (see above photo^) and all faeries deserve a chance to win fun and glittery prizes!
2. I do have an ARC, but like most paper back novels can wear out easily, and it would be nice to have a hardcover copy to read and re-read, and to share!
3. The cover is so gorgeous and I am sad to not have such a beautiful book in my collection.
4. Where I live has a lot of historical places that I’m sure ELS would like to visit and be photographed with. The downtown architecture is breath-taking and magical. And perhaps ELS can visit my college campus too!
5. I’m a big fan of the book and Lisa – obviously I’ve already been active to win the ARC and to be aware of this contest and the possibility of receiving a hardcover book for free.
6. I’m an avid reader and book collector and hardcover books are always better.
7. I will love, cherish, dance with, and take on adventures my hardcover copy of ELS should I be privileged enough to be sent one.
8. Did I mention that I too am a faery?
9. I am an aspiring writer and I love being able to support Lisa and her debut amazing book by being able to partake in the contests and events she holds, but will not be able to do so without a copy of ELS.
10. I’m a constantly broke college student. I live on my own and pay my own bills. With my puny paycheck I am lucky to buy things I need, let alone a book that I already technically own (ARC). And would LOVE LOVE LOVE a free copy.
I really appreciate this opportunity, it’s so much fun how active in the community Lisa is. So many authors I know of seem like phantom ghosts, that maybe don’t exist, but with Lisa I feel like we’re practically friends! It’s cool how passionate she is about her work and life and I can only hope to aspire to what she has accomplished with ELS.
Thank you!
Book Review: Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Synopsis from goodreads.com:
Enter Stage Right
All her world’s a stage.
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She is not an orphan, but she has no parents.
She knows every part, but has no lines of her own.
Until now.
Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every place ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.
Lisa Mantchev has written a debut novel that is dramatic, romantic, and witty, with an irresistible and irreverent cast of characters who are sure to enchant the audience.
Open Curtain
Girlchamploo’s Quick Review:
An enchanting novel that’s quirky cast of characters kept me laughing and left me hungry for more. It’s well written and such a unique take on the world of fantasy. Lisa is a certainly story teller to be reckoned with! Splendid.
