Love in an Orthodox Jewish Community

Leah, formerly Lola, has had a difficult life. She’s only thirty-four, but her fiance died tragically, and she has found no one else to give her the secure home life and children she craves. In her search for meaning, she joins an Orthodox Jewish community in Boro Park, Brooklyn. Her mother, an atheist, finds the idea ridicules. Leah has a business degree, a good job, and good prospects, but Leah can’t let her mother run her life.

Yaakov Lehman, a widowed Talmudic scholar, is trying to raise his children, but they and he are not coping well. Leah volunteers to help the family and soon finds herself enjoying the children. Predictably, she and Yaakov find they have feelings for each other, but it’s not as simple as it seems.

This is a sensitively told story of people looking for meaning amid the problems of daily life: family dysfunction, economic reverses, bigotry, and hypocrisy. The setting in an Orthodox Jewish community will not be familiar to many people, but the problems facing the people are the same in many other places.

The characters are engaging. I enjoyed Leah, but she almost seemed to be too good to be true when she took on the problems of Yaakov’s family. The children are an excellent addition to the story. Seeing the reactions of children tells a lot about what is happening under the surface of relationships.

Although the plot is relatively predictable, the book is well worth reading for the character development.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

A Devotional Based on the Lord’s Prayer

This devotional invites you to immerse yourself in the Lord’s Prayer for 40 days. It’s a challenge worth taking. The book is structured so that each line of the Lord’s Prayer is accompanied by a meditation, often based on the author’s personal experiences. This is followed by a number of one line prayers and abstract illustrations.

The meditations cause you to think and evaluate you own life in relation to the Lord’s prayer. However, I think the best part is the single line prayers. Some like, “May I take joy in what it costs me to share my life with those I love.” stick with you. I think about that one frequently.

I’m not as sure about the pictures. They are representational, designed to enhance the prayer experience, but I found many of them difficult to understand and relate to. However, the rest of the book is excellent. I recommend it as another devotional to add to your collection.

I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for this review.

A Pastor Sees Poverty and Disease in the Himalayas

Pastor David Platt took a hiking journey through the Himalayas seeing poverty and disease first hand. His descriptions of the journey, which include passages from the Bible as well as excerpts from his journal, tell the story of his travels. He was tremendously moved by what he found. There was disease and poverty, but people were also willing to travel long distances on foot to hear the Christian message.

The book is well written and draws you into David’s adventure. It caused an awakening in him seeing all the problems he couldn’t cure and wondering how God could let these things happen. It will draw you in to David’s adventure and make you ask yourself the same questions.

While I very much enjoyed the book, I felt incomplete at the end. David had very moving experiences, but in the end, he went back to his well paid comfortable life in the United States. It certainly isn’t bad to see problems that challenge your faith and bring them to the attention of others, but the book felt as though he opened a window on problems that he walked away from.

I recommend this book. It highlights the problems of poverty and disease in the world and is an intriguing adventure.

I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for this review.

A Year’s Worth of Finding Jesus in the Bible

Jesus lives throughout the Bible although we, as Christians, often think primarily of the New Testament. In this devotional, Kaselonis shows in 365 devotions how Jesus appears in both the Old and New Testaments. There are many passages in the Old Testament where the text points to Jesus. Reading the passages in the order of the books of the Bible shows how the texts point to the Jesus of the New Testament.

If you’re looking for a devotional that leads you through the Bible in a year, this is an excellent choice. The devotional moves through the Bible day by day. Each page contains a verse of scripture at the top and a discussion. There is also a note from the author at the end of each day that brings the reading a personal, uplifting note.

The devotional is one of the best I’ve found for reading through the Bible in a year. I like the focus on Jesus. I found him in more places than I realized in the Old Testament. I highly recommend this book. It will give your Bible study a new focus for the year.

I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for this review.

Sibling Rivalry in the Depression Era

The sisters, Ruth and June, have very different lives. Ruth is struggling to raise her four daughters and keep the farm working while her husband, John, is incapacitated with sleeping sickness, a victim of the dread disease that has felled many people around the country. June is the golden girl, married to a wealthy doctor, she is also one of the Betty Crockers, women who work in the test kitchens and are the women behind the face of Betty Crocker.

Ruth has always envied her older sister who she perceives as having everything, but she has one thing June wanted, her husband John. Now John is out of her reach and she feels lonely and rejected, but hasn’t her whole life been that way? She has no way of knowing how difficult June’s life is and how she still feels the loss of John.

When their mother, Dorothy, brings them together at Ruth’s farm, the stage is set for confrontation and old secrets emerge.

I found this book rather slow. It is a character driven story and for me, none of the characters was appealing. Ruth is angry and June, who appears to have everything, can’t seem to accept how lucky she is. I think the author did a good job describing how difficult life was for so many people during the depression. However, my favorite scenes were with the Betty Crockers. I found it fascinating how women were so drawn to them and the betrayal they suffered when they discovered the character was more than one woman.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

A Readable Look at How Economists Shaped the World

When the economy was booming after WWII, economists were found primarily in academia, but as the economy slowed and solutions were sought, the economists came out of hiding. Starting with Milton Friedman, economists entered the political arena, and their ideas began to shape the economy not just of the United States, but of the world.

The author tells the story of how these economists came to the forefront of political thought with their belief that the economy given the impetus of free markets would bring prosperity and did not need so much government intervention. The author tells the stories of Walter Oi, whose calculations persuaded President Nixon to end conscription, and Thomas Shelling who made value assessments of human life to underpin his suggested policies.

This book is very readable. It focuses on the stories of individual economists, their ideas, and how the ideas impacted the lives of people. I enjoyed the book very much. It tells you a lot about policy and economics, but isn’t preachy or dry. The author uses his focus on individuals and episodes in their lives to bring this rather deep discipline to life. I highly recommend it.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Wedding Plans, A Creepy Stalker, and Murder

Lindsay is finally getting married to Sully, but she’s finding wedding planning stressful An introvert, Lindsay hates being the center of attention as the bride-to-be. On top of the stress of wedding plans, the library attracts a new patron, Aaron Grady. He’s looking for books on gardening, but his main interest seems to be on Lindsay.

Aaron’s unwelcome attentions bring him into a conflict with Sully and leads to a fight. When Aaron’s body is discovered outside the library, Sully is a primary suspect. Lindsay can’t let Sully take the blame, so she begins sleuthing, but getting close to the killer can be dangerous.

The characters in this book are delightful. Lindsay is engaging in dealing with the library workers and patrons even though she prefers to be alone. Sully is attractive and so nice he’s almost unreal. Still, I like him. The other library workers are interesting characters and even Mrs. Cole, the lemon, becomes more likable.

The plot is interesting although it’s fairly easy to guess the murderer early in the book. However, the author does a good job with red herrings and twists to keep the reader interested. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, this is a good one.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

A Religious Cult, a Quiet Detective, and Murder

Detective Matthew Venn, standing outside the church at his father’s funeral, feels estranged from his past. His musing is interrupted by a call that a body has been found on the beach. The body is that of Simon Walden, an alcoholic homeless man who is a talented chef. He also volunteered at the Woodyard, a center for the care of disabled adults.

As the investigation proceeds, Mathew is drawn to the connection between the Woodyard and the murdered man. The director at the Woodyard is Jonathan Church, Mathew’s husband, which makes Mathew concerned about his objectivity in the case. Lucy Braddick, a young woman with Down’s Syndrome, was a special friend of Simon’s. Matthew thinks she may have critical information but he must tread carefully because of Jonathan and Lucy’s protective father.

I enjoyed the characters in this novel. Matthew is quite different from the typical hard driving detective. He has a quiet domestic life with Jonathan, which is delightfully described. The setting in Devon where two rivers come together, adds atmosphere to the story.

The plot is convoluted with many characters, all with possible connections to the murder. Altogether the book was a bit slow. Lucy was an engaging character, and I enjoyed Matthew and Jonathan, but felt the pace could have been better. In the end, the unraveling of the mystery is rather messy and left me feeling unsatisfied.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.