The Art of Thinking

In this short, entertaining book, Alan Jacobs gives us a course on how to think. First he dispels some of the myths about thinking. Thinking is more art than science. You can’t really think for yourself. You’re not as good at evaluating ideas as you’d like to think you are.

Perhaps for me the most important point he makes is the importance of listening. He talks about a debating society where instead of immediately refuting the argument made by the other side, they have to first restate what the other side is trying to say. If you can do this, you’re on your way to understanding what you opponent is saying.

Throughout the books he tells stories to illustrate his points. My favorite, and I think it’s his also, is about a woman whose church hated homosexuals to the point that she got a social media account to spread their views. In the course of this, she met a man who had different views. Through their discussions, she came to see him as an individual and it changed her outlook to the point where she couldn’t wholeheartedly embrace the views of her church.

At the end of the book he gives a useful list for how to improve your thinking. Taking five minutes to cool off in the heat of an argument is one of my favorites. I highly recommend this book. There is so much information today that it’s often hard to really think, but Jacobs book offers good suggestions for how to become a better thinker.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

 

A Muslim American Fights for America

Elnoury’s family immigrated to the US from Egypt when he was only four years old. He is a devout Muslim, but also a loyal American. From his early years, he wanted to be involved in police work and became an undercover agent in drug enforcement. From the stories early in the book, he must have been very good at it.

Then 911 came. The author couldn’t believe his fellow Muslims would do this. He offered his services to the FBI, but at the time they were unable to take advantage of him. Years later, he met another FBI agent and this time, as a Muslim fluent in Arabic, they wanted to use him. He became Tamer Elnoury. The FBI created this individual and backstopped his identity. Under this cover, he brought down a terrorist network.

If you enjoy police procedurals and spy stories, you’ll love this book. This is a real life thriller. The early chapters give insight into the undercover work in drug enforcement. The latter chapters are as exciting as a spy story, but they’re real. The writing is good and the action is non-stop.

This is an important book. It’s incontrovertible that Muslim radicals have done a great deal of harm in the world, but not all Muslims are radicals. The author is a devote Muslim who has risked his life to keep the rest of us safe. I recommend reading the epilogue. Elnoury makes a good case for why we should welcome Muslims into the country. All religions have adherents who use the sacred books to substantiate their own beliefs. That doesn’t equate to all members of a religious group being terrorists.

I highly recommend this book. It’s an entertaining read and makes an important point for today’s world.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

A Nightmare in France Brings Unexpected Blessings

Jessica, a thirty-four-year-old woman, is spending time in Paris with her roommates from Denver, Vonda and Patrick. Patrick is staying in France where he has been studying, but Vonda and Jessica are headed home. There’s a choice of what to do on the last night in Paris. Patrick has tickets to an art show, Vonda has tickets to a concert at the Bataclan Theater. Although she’d rather be with Patrick, Jessica accompanies the much younger Vonda to the Bataclan. It turns out to be a terrible decision.

Vonda and Jessica are caught in the massacre that night where gunmen rush into the theater and gun down the concert goers. Jessica escapes, but is wounded. She recovers but is terribly shaken by the event. Although her parents want her to come home, Patrick, who has been with her throughout her recovery, encourages her to stay and take the trip through southern France they had planned.

Patrick is a “picker.” He loves going to flea markets and out of the way antique stores to find valuable antiques. Once settled in their bed and breakfast, he and Jessica find a rundown antique store. It’s a paradise for Patrick, and Jessica finds a beautiful sewing box that once belonged to Adeline, a Huguenot girl in the 1700s. As Jessica continues to suffer from PTSD, the box becomes a way to deal with life again.

This story is told between two time periods, but unlike many novels with this pattern, the historical portion is limited to excerpts from Adeline’s diary that Jessica finds hidden in the false bottom of the sewing box. I prefer this way of telling a two time period story. It puts the focus sharply on one time or the other. In this case, the story is Jessica’s.

The descriptions of the massacre are horrific. Although very well written, I found them hard to read because the pictures are so immediate. I recommend this book. It’s filled with characters you come to admire and the plot twists keep you reading.

I received this book from BookLook Bloggers for this review.  

A Family Quarantined for Seven Days in an Old Manor House

It’s Christmas and a very special Christmas for the Birch Family. The oldest daughter, Olivia, is coming home from an assignment in Monrovia, Liberia taking care of victims of the highly contagious Haag Virus. Because of the contagious nature of the virus, Olivia and her family must be quarantined for seven days after she arrives.

As usual, they elect to spend Christmas at Weyfield Hall, the old Manor House passed down through Emma, the mother’s family. Each family member is dealing with secrets: love, a fraught engagement, a cancer diagnosis and the appearance of an illegitimate child. As the family members struggle with their demons, they begin to come together as a supportive family, gaining understanding of each other.

The novel starts slowly with Olivia’s romance in Monrovia. At first I found the characters not likable. They were all steeped in their own problems. Andrew, the father, was rude; Emma, clingy; and the younger daughter, Phoebe, totally self centered. However, as the week progressed they began to come out of their isolated personas and become attuned to eachother’s needs.

By the end of the novel, I enjoyed the family’s interactions. I can’t say this is a humorous book. The problems and interactions are rather sad than amusing. However, the characters are well developed and the story line has twists. If you enjoy family dramas, you may like this book.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for the review.

 

Food, Adventure, Love, and Spirituality

Lia Huber has had an interesting life so far. It’s not a life that is carefully planned. Lia seems to leap from one thing to another. However, there are stable themes: her love of food, the companionship with her husband, Christopher, spirituality, and a love of adventure.

The book starts in Greece where as an eighteen-year-old, she’s engaged to a Greek man and is beginning to develop her love affair with food. The Greek romance didn’t work out, but Lia found the theme of her life in cooking and writing about good food. I found all the parts of the book discussing her culinary adventures excellent. The recipes included at the end of each chapter will have you heading for the kitchen.

I also enjoyed her travels. The trip through Mexico to spend time in Costa Rica made me want to visit the places she described. I hadn’t realized how delightful some on the interior towns in Mexico are.

Lia hasn’t had an easy time with Lupus and a hysterectomy. She does make impulsive decisions that get her and her husband into trouble, but it’s all interesting to read. I recommend this book if you’re up for an armchair adventure.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  

The Pluses and Minuses of Middle Age

Into your forties and approaching fifty, you’re in the throes of middle age. Significant events include: children leaving home for college, menopause, death of friends, and health concerns. Each essay in this book traces the author’s journey through this sometimes difficult period. Some of the vignettes are affecting, some try to be amusing, and some are sad.

I enjoyed the essays dealing with children going to college, particularly the one where the author celebrates the fact that her son is on his way to being independent. The essays on death, particularly the death of her sister, are affecting. It’s hard to see a sibling die and raises issues about our own mortality.

I didn’t find the book particularly humorous. The tone of some of the essays is light, but like the one about her concern that her bio wasn’t as good as her friends, it was rather sad. If you’re facing middle or already in it, this is an interesting book. It will tell you that what you’re experiencing is not all that unusual,

and there is an end in sight which may be much happier than where you are now.

I received this book from Handlebar for this review.   

A Missing Child, A Double Murder, and Gwen’s Past

Gwen Marcey has taken a job with the Interagency Major Crime Unit (IMCU). Although she was planning to spend time with Blake, her new love, the case of a missing child whose parents were murdered recalls her own tragic history. She grabs the case and head for Idaho and the Nez Pierce reservation

leaving Blake behind.

From the beginning, someone wants Gwen off the case. When checking out the murder scene, her car is stolen. Without transportation, she seeks help from her friend Beth, who does research for her on her cases. Beth arrives with Winston, Gwen’s huge dog, in tow. They manage to find a bed and breakfast that will take dogs. It seems an ideal situation, but the building brings back memories, and in addition to the case Gwen is immersed in the search for her own history.

The plot is well done. The threads of the missing child case meld with Gwen’s history. In solving one, she comes closer to understanding who she is. I enjoyed the setting in the Nez Pierce tribe. The background was unusual and very interesting.

I enjoy the Gwen Marcey books, but Gwen’s character in this one seemed rather strained. She makes poor decisions which put her and Beth in danger. She manages to get out of the situations, but the actions are more like a superhero than a lady with a double mastectomy.

If you enjoy mysteries in unusual locals, this is a good one.

I received this book from Booklook Bloggers for this review.

A Spree Killing and Finding Your Place in a Foster Family

Telly and Shalah Nash grew up in an abusive home. One night their drug addicted father stabbed their mother and took after the kids with a kitchen knife. Nine-year-old Telly managed to kill his father with a baseball bat, but in the process he broke Shalah’s arm. Because of the trauma, the siblings have been separated for eight years.

Each child has found a foster family they can begin to love. Shalah lives with Quincy and Rainie, FBI profilers, and a retired police dog, Luka. Shalah has gradually begun to love and trust her foster parents and they are ready to adopt her. Telly has also found a family he feels comfortable with. Frank and Sandra Duval, a science teacher and a homemaker, took Telly on as a project to get him ready to face the adult world when their own son, Henry, went off to college.

The security the siblings are finding is shattered when Sandra and Frank are found brutally murdered. Quincy and Rainie are recruited to help in the search for Telly who they believe is on a spree killing triggered by something that happened in the Duval family.

The characters in this book are all working on trust issues. The author has done an excellent job showing how difficult it is for foster parents and their children to deal with trust issues. The problems of teens coming from abusive homes are well portrayed. It’s worth reading this book because of the well developed characters.

The plot is good and has a number of twists. The author lays down enough clues that you can play the game along with the profilers. However, the beginning of the book is rather slow. As Quincy and Rainie try to discover what could have caused Telly to snap, they go over the same story numerous times. The action doesn’t really get going until after the middle of the book.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it. If you’re looking for violence and sex, this isn’t your book. However, it you like thrillers with well done psychological background, you’ll enjoy this one.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.  

What Does it Take to Lead a Meaningful Life?

Why do so many people in the happiest countries in the world take their own lives, while fewer people in poorer countries do? The surprising answer is meaning. Too many people in the richer countries don’t feel their lives are meaningful. I particularly enjoyed the incident where Will Durante was asked by a man why he should go on living. Durante had no easy answer, so the man walked away, but it inspired Durante to search for the answers for himself.

This book is organized around the four aspect of meaning: belonging, purpose, storytelling, and transcendence. In each of these sections, the author relies on psychology, sociology, philosophy, and theology to present information and look at the way, philosophers, poets, scientists, and others have answered the question, or looked for meaning.

The book is well researched. The author does a commendable job of presenting somewhat difficult material in a form that the average reader can enjoy. Her storytelling ability is one of the major reason for this. I recommend reading this book if you’re looking for a more fulfilling life. Reading the stories and questions can change your outlook and lead you to find more meaning in your own life.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

 

A Haunted Southern Mansion and Murder

The Ducote sisters, An’gel and Dickce, live in a lovely southern mansion that might have some ghosts. They’re experienced with old houses and strange occurrences. So when Mary Turner Catlin and her husband, Howard, ask for help because of the strange occurrences in the Natchez mansion they are fixing up as a bed and breakfast, the sisters can’t resist the adventure.

The bed and breakfast is supposedly closed during the time the sisters will be there. However, soon unexpected guests arrive. First a psychic comes saying she was called by the spirits inhabiting the house. Then distant cousins, Nathan and Serenity, arrive with Serenity’s lawyer in tow. Serenity wants to convince Nathan to give her some of her trust fund, while Nathan wants to look for papers that will give him title to some of the mansion’s valuable furniture housed in the French room.

Strange things happen almost immediately, but the action warms up considerably when Nathan is found dead in the French room with the furniture he’s trying to claim.

The Ducote sisters are delightful, proper ladies who can’t resist solving a mystery. The scenery was lovely and the descriptions of the mansion made me want to visit. The only criticism I have is that it took a long time for the murder to occur, nearly halfway through the book. However, the plot is full of twists. It’s hard to guess the murderer until the very end.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

 

A Community Torn Apart by Racial Tension

Officer Luke Nelson is feeling good. He loves his job with the Sheriff’s department. He loves his wife and baby girl. Life appears to be heading in the right direction until after a robbery in a convenience store, he shoots a black teenager running toward him. He thinks he hears a gun shot, assumes the teen is armed and pulls the trigger.

Adisa, a young black lawyer, loses her job with a prestigious law firm in Atlanta. At the same time her Aunt Josie suffers a stroke. Since Aunt Josie raised her and her sister, Adisa feels that she needs take care of her aunt. When a law firm in the small town where Aunt Josie lives offers her a job, it seems like the answer to a prayer, but it comes with strings attached. The partner who hires her wants her to help him defend Officer Nelson.

The is a novel fraught with racial tension. Adisa makes the unpopular decision to defend the young police officer. Neither the blacks nor the whites are happy about the decision. As tension mounts, families on both sides are torn apart and each character must face truths about themselves and what they believe.

This is a very timely book. It raises the issue that all of us must fact about what we truly believe and what we will do to live up to our beliefs. I highly recommend this book. It’s not an easy book to read. The characters struggle and have to come to grips with forgiveness and justice, as we all must.

I received this book from BookLook Bloggers for this review.

 

A Doomed Marriage in the South of WWII

It’s 1944. Tess DeMello is in love. She’s always been in love with Vincent. They grew up together and planned to wed. Vincent, a doctor, has finished his residency. Tess is finishing her nurses’ training when a polio epidemic strikes Chicago. Vincent feels he must go. At first Tess is understanding, but when weeks grow into months, she finds it hard to remain complacent.

Henry Kraft is visiting Washington DC. Tess is there with a girlfriend. They meet, and in one ill advised encounter, Tess becomes pregnant. She wants to marry Vincent, but she can’t tell him the truth. She turns to Henry, and he agrees to marry her, but when they arrive in Hickory, a traditional, segregated, southern town, Tess believes she may have made a mistake.

Henry is not affectionate. His mother is standoffish, and when his sister dies in a tragic accident, Tess doesn’t know what to do. When a polio epidemic strikes the town. She finds her place working in the hospital created by the townspeople.

History and romance combine to make this a good read. The South during WWII was a difficult place for a northern girl to understand. Mixed race marriages were forbidden and could lead to jail time. The town was stratified with the rich, the poor, and the blacks living in separate areas. The author has done a good job recreating this difficult era. The characters are true to life and the plot has twists that you can’t anticipate. I recommend this book. The difficulty of living in times when prejudice was accepted is well described.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

A Dark Scandinavian Mystery

Max, a private detective and former Norwegian police officer, learns of the suicide of his former colleague, Kurt. Although the men worked together thirty years ago, Max has trouble believing that his friend would commit suicide. When he arrives in Norway and learns more about the death, he decides to investigate.

People have a habit of disappearing around Midsummer Eve. Thirty years ago, a researcher disappeared. In the last year another researcher also disappeared. The disappearances seem to be related to pagan rituals. When Max is gathering material about the death and the history of the area, he meets a librarian, Tirill, who wants to be involved. She loves mysteries and has visions of being an investigator. As the pair come closer to the truth, someone or several people try to stop them.

If you like dark mysteries, you will enjoy this book. The characters, particularly Tirill, are engaging. The scenery is magnificent, and the dark aura of magic and occult rituals is creepy, but intriguing. I particularly enjoyed learning about the Stave Church, a relic from earlier times when pagan rituals were being replaced by enforced Christian worship.

The writing is good although sometimes the translation seemed awkward to me. However, I recommend this book once you start, it’s hard to put down.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

A Heartwarming Christmas Romance

It’s the Christmas season. Merry Knight is extremely busy. In addition to getting ready for Christmas and taking care of her family, which includes a mother with multiple sclerosis and a brother with Down’s Syndrome, her boss at the consulting firm where she works is increasingly difficult and demanding because of a big project that must be finished.

Christmas is also Merry’s birthday. Since she has no time for social life, her mother and brother decide that something must be done about it. They sign her up on an Internet dating site. Her little brother comes up with a clever idea for the picture. He posts a picture of their dog. Surprisingly this picture attracts a man. Soon Merry is chatting with this man and finding him very attractive.

This is a delightful Christmas story. Merry is a good character. You can’t help but respect her desire to take care of her family. However, it’s the family that steals the show, particularly her little brother. It was wonderful to see how charming a child with Downs Syndrome can be.

I recommend this story for Christmas or if you just love romance. The characters are well drawn. Their emotions are true to life and make you root for them to succeed. Although you know how the story must end, you want to keep reading because the characters are so likable.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.  

Being a Driven Person Verses Being a Called Person

Life is stressful and fast paced. Gordon MacDonald has been there. As a young pastor, he found himself running to meetings, counseling parishioners, writing sermons, trying to start big projects for the church, and he discovered that he was losing his family. His solid base was disintegrating.

Driven people are often running on empty. They are exhausted, but feel it’s what has to be because there are so many things to do, and they are the ones who have to do them. This leads to a terrible problem of being unable to let go. Too many people reach retirement not knowing what to do with time and often it leads to their death.

Called people are secure in themselves. MacDonald used John the Baptist as an example of a called person. He was secure in the knowledge that his job was to prepare the way for the Messiah. When Christ appeared he didn’t try to hang on to his followers. He relinquished his role to Jesus. If we’re secure in ourselves, we don’t have to constantly prove things, or work too hard to prove to the external world that we exist.

I highly recommend this book. If you see yourself in the example of a driven person, perhaps it’s time to take stock and find ways to get back your internal solidity. The first half of the book discusses the concept of the driven person versus the called person. The remaining chapters provide hints and ideas for how to begin to order your life to become less driven. In our fast paced society, I think all Christians should read this book.

I received this book from Handlebar Publishing for this review.

An Exceptional Devotional for Tween Girls

Girls are told to be brave and find themselves. This isn’t an easy task in today’s busy world. This devotional gives a girl a chance to take time to figure out who she is. The tone of the book is conversational. It’s like having an older friend to talk to.

The book is full of stories and insights from the author’s growing up years. These are stories a tween can relate to and make the book personal. There are also quizzes and space for the girls to respond to questions. The questions are designed to help her think about who she is and what she wants.

The book is divided into 100 chapters. If taken a day at a time, the devotionals cover about three months. However, they can be used more slowly. The content focuses on areas important to young girls, school, family, friends, and, of course, Jesus.

I highly recommend this book. A young girl would love it. The book itself is lovely, a pleasure to read. It also gives a chance for a mother or grandmother to read the book with the girl and talk about the content. The content could also be used in more formal situations. It could form the basis for discussions in a Sunday school class, for example.

I received this book from Handlebar Publishing for this review.