Review: Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

I borrowed this one from a friend.



About the book:

Jodi Picoult earned rave notices for her debut novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale. Now this gifted young writer turns her considerable literary talents to the story of a young woman overcome by the demands of having a family.

Written with astonishing clarity and evocative detail, convincing in its depiction of emotional pain, love, and vulnerability, Harvesting the Heart recalls the writing of Alice Hoffman and Sue Miller. Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who left when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her own. But her mother's absence, and shameful memories of her past, make her doubt both her maternal ability and her sense of self worth. Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness, Jodi Picoult crafts an absorbing novel peopled by richly drawn characters and explores issues and emotions readers can relate to.

My Review:

I loved this book. It was such a touching story. I was so captivated by the characters that I just let myself get lost in the story. It only took me a few hours to read it.

The character development was great. I loved Paige and Nicholas. Even the secondary characters were great. I had great images of them all, and I could even hear the accents in their voices as I read. I think Nicholas comes off as being a bit superficial and at times a real jerk but I almost understood where he was coming from and felt that he was justified in his actions (sometimes).

The story was very good. Picoult did a great job with the narration changes, which I think can sometimes make a story seem choppy. The changes didn't affect the flow of the story at all.

The story spans quite a bit of time, and I found myself forgetting that so many years had passed but that didn't really take away from the story.

I really liked this one. It wasn't an excellent book, but it was pretty good. It was a quick read and it was easy to attach to the characters. If you like chick lit this is a good one to pick up. This was the first of Picoult's books that I've actually read, but I've added her to my list of favorite authors.

To learn more about Harvesting the Heart please visit Penguin.com

Review: Salem the Safety Seal by Otto Scamfer

I won this in a giveaway from LibraryThing. The author was giving them away in exchange for a review.



About the book:
Have fun and learn about water safety as you join Salem the Safety Seal in his bright and colorful underwater world. He and his friend Sierra will take you on an adventurous tale about the importance of wearing a life jacket when you're near the water. Children young and old will delight in this story. Enjoy!

My Review:
This was a really cute book. The illustrations were very bright and colorful, which I think keeps children's attention very well. I also liked how the book was "split" into two different stories. There are the captions that create a poem, for younger children (toddlers) and then the story is written for older children. I think this book would be a good book that can "grow" with your child.

The story itself has a really good message and it's presented in a way that children can actually pick up on the message. I've read books with my niece in the past and when you ask her what the book was about she had completely missed the "moral". I do not think that will be a problem with this book. While the story is good the message isn't hidden. It's pretty straight forward.

The writing is whimsical and I think it can really hold a child's attention.

Review: Tea With Hezbollah by Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.



About the Book:
Is it really possible to love one’s enemies?

That’s the question that sparked a fascinating and, at times, terrifying journey into the heart of the Middle East during the summer of 2008. It was a trip that began in Egypt, passed beneath the steel and glass high rises of Saudi Arabia, then wound through the bullet- pocked alleyways of Beirut and dusty streets of Damascus, before ending at the cradle of the world’s three major religions: Jerusalem.

Tea with Hezbollah combines nail-biting narrative with the texture of rich historical background, as readers join novelist Ted Dekker and his co-author and Middle East expert, Carl Medearis, on a hair-raising journey. They are with them in every rocky cab ride, late-night border crossing, and back-room conversation as they sit down one-on-one with some of the most notorious leaders of the Arab world. These candid discussions with leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, with muftis, sheikhs, and ayatollahs, with Osama bin Laden’s brothers, reveal these men to be real people with emotions, fears, and hopes of their own. Along the way, Dekker and Medearis discover surprising answers and even more surprising questions that they could not have anticipated—questions that lead straight to the heart of Middle Eastern conflict.

Through powerful narrative Tea With Hezbollah will draw the West into a completely fresh understanding of those we call our enemies and the teaching that dares us to love them. A must read for all who see the looming threat rising in the Middle East.

About the Authors:
Ted Dekker is the author of many nationally bestselling novels, including Bone Man’s Daughters, The Circle Trilogy, Thr3e, and House, which was coauthored by Frank Peretti. His unique style of storytelling has captured the attention of millions worldwide. Visit him at TedDekker.com.
Carl Medearis is the founder and president of International Initiatives, LLC, an organization that promotes cultural, educational, and commercial exchange between the East and the West. He is an advisor on Arab affairs to the members of the U.S. Congress and leaders in international business.

My Review:
The first thing that comes to mind when trying to explain this book is that we really are all the same. We all laugh, we all cry, we all live. It doesn't matter what religion you follow, what beliefs you hold, how you choose to live your life, on a fundamental level we really are all the same.

In this book Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis travel to the Middle East to sit and talk with people that our enemies of America. They talk to everyone, from the taxi drivers to the heads of "terrorist" organizations. During these talks they ask everyone the same basic questions and even though the answers are as different as the people answering them they really go to show how similar we all are.

The interviews are so basic but yet they really make you think. They show people who we perceive as enemies and animals in a way that shows they're human just like the rest of us.

The idea for the book is amazing, and I think it was written superbly. The authors take great care to not skew what was being said in the interviews, and thus they are not adding their beliefs to the answers. The interviewees words are left for the reader to interpret without any bias.

There were a few themes that reappear throughout the book. These themes show how similar we all are and give the reader a way to connect with people we may think we have nothing in common with.

To get more information about Tea With Hezbollah or to find where to purchase a copy please visit the WaterBrook Multnomah website.

Review: Your Name Here by Michael Rosenbaum

I have to thank the author Michael Rosenbaum for sending me a review copy of this one,



About the book

Cops and psychologists, bureaucrats and salesmen, lion tamers and morticians…everybody’s got a story to tell and a life lesson we can take to heart. In the Your Name Here Guide to Life, you’ll meet all kinds of accidental teachers, from balloon boy to Mother Theresa and Mr. Totally Secure.

It’s all here, along with a few insights about how to be truly happy.

This is the book you’d write about your life and your wisdom, if we hadn’t done all the work for you. Author Michael Rosenbaum has been recording the insights of everyday people for decades, capturing our essential truths and documenting our follies. This collection of life lessons delivers an instructive and humorous tour of the human condition.

Warning: Intended solely for people with open minds and common sense. Contains no preaching, lecturing, threats or magic formulas. Do not read this book while operating heavy machinery or performing brain surgery.

My Review

This was a very interesting book. Just as the title suggests had I had the time I very well could have written this one. The book is full of some very common sense information that we all (me included) forget sometimes.

The book is broken up into very small chapters. That makes it great to read if you're short on time. You don't have to invest much time to get through a section, and as each sections isn't really tied to another section you don't have to "get back into the book" to keep up with it.

What I liked the most about the book is that it was pretty humorous. Each section has a witty title and each is ended with a quote or saying that relates to the section. I also liked that the author shows us, on many occasions, how he himself had fallen victim to some of the situations he describes.

This one was very easy to read, it was entertaining, and it kind of made me think "yeah, that's me..."

To find out more about Your Name Here, or to find out where to purchase a copy, please visit Barosum Books' website.

My 2010 Reads List

Here is the list of books that I have read in 2010:

1. The Male Factor by Shaunti Feldhahn
2. Your Name Here by Michael Rosenbaum
3. Tea With Hezbollah by Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis
4. Salem the Safety Seal by Otto Scamfer
5. Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
6. Donkeys Can't Sleep in Bathtubs by Susan Dach
7. Yesterday's Promise by Linda Lee Chaikin
8. Faithful Heart by Al Lacy
9. Raven's Ladder by Jeffrey Overstreet
10. Guest House by Barbara K. Richardson
11. Unfaithfully Yours by Anthony C. Patton
12. The Kwame Sutra
13. The Moon Looked Down By Dorothy Garlock
14. How to Never Look Fat Again by Charla Krupp
15. Sexaholics by PYNK
16. Alexandra, Gone by Anna McPartlin
17. How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly by Connie May Fowler
18. Thanksgiving: The Pilgrim's First Year in America by Glen Cheney
19. Frigate: November by Robert Wacster and Paul DeGeorge