Review and Giveaway! Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes

I want to thank Staci at Random House for letting me participate in another great Blog Tour!



Book Summary
When a mammogram result comes back abnormal, midlife mama Summer Finley makes a snap decision to relegate fear to the back burner and fulfill a lifelong dream. Summer heads for Holland where she meets up with tulips, wooden shoes, and her best friend, Noelle.

Pen pals since fourth grade, Summer and Noelle have never met face-to-face. Through decades of heart-level correspondence, they have sustained a deep friendship. A week of adventure helps both women trade anxiety for a renewed and deeper trust in God. When Summer confides in Noelle about the abnormal medical report, Noelle finds the freedom to share a long-held heartache, and both women discover they needed each other more than they realized.

Women ages 35 and up, readers of Christian Boomer Lit, and fans of books such as The Yada Yada Prayer Group will enjoy Robin Jones Gunn’s humorous and uplifting style. True-to-life characters and moments of poignancy bring a deeper understanding of the value of life and the gift of true friends. Readers guide and bonus material included.

My Review

This was a great book about finding yourself and spiritual growth.

I've never been in the position that Summer was placed in. Hearing that you have an abnormal test result is probably a very scary situation. I would imagine that all the things you've never done would seem to spread themselves out like a list of life's failures. But for Summer that seemed to be just the kick start that she needed.

The writing wasn't great but the characters, while a bit two-dimensional, were very real to me. The spiritual and introspective thoughts that Summer has were also very real. It is also very apparent the Robin Jones Gunn put a lot of research into the book. The places that Summer and Noelle visit are real places with real stories.

Through all of the inner turmoil Summer faces she's able to keep her head held high and just enjoy her visit. The humorous stories enter at just the right time, keeping what could have been a very serious and emotional story very light-hearted. This made the story touching and at the same time easy to read. I personally find most stories about a serious subject, such as serious illness, very hard to read emotionally. They just seem to drain me, and while the stories may be good they take a lot out of me. This story deals with a very serious topic in a way that makes it enjoyable. The story isn't so much about what Summer is going through, but rather it's just about her living her life and enjoying herself.

Overall it was a pretty good book. A bit of chick-lit mixed with a story of spirituality. It was a very fast read. It also made me want to read more of the Sisterchicks novels.

For more information about Sisterchicks please visit the Sisterchicks website
For more information about the Author Robin Jones Gunn please visit her website

Now the giveaway!

I'm going to do this giveaway a little different than I do my others. The 50th comment on this post will win a copy of Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes.

You can leave as many comments as you would like, you just can not leave two comments in a row, there has to be at least one comment from someone else in between.

In your first comment please leave me you email address so I can contact you if you win.

Because I am mailing this out myself please only US entrants. Also, for those of you that have allergies please be aware that I have pets and I smoke. The copy I'm giving away was never opened and I didn't let my dog roll around on it, but I understand that if you have allergies the dander and smoke in the air "seeps" into the pages. Just wanted to give you fair warning, and I don't want to be responsible for anyone's asthma attack!

I'll start a conversation in the comments, feel free to keep the conversation going!

Good Luck! Also, tell your friends to enter!

Congratulations to MJ for having the 50th post. Your book is in the mail :-)

Blog Tour: Saints in Limbo

I want to thenk Liz at Random House for allowing me to participate in this blog tour.



Ever since her husband Joe died, Velma True’s world has been limited to what she can see while clinging to one of the multicolored threads tied to the porch railing of her home outside Echo, Florida.

When a mysterious stranger appears at her door on her birthday and presents Velma with a special gift, she is rattled by the object’s ability to take her into her memories–a place where Joe still lives, her son Rudy is still young, unaffected by the world’s hardness, and the beginning is closer than the end. As secrets old and new come to light, Velma wonders if it’s possible to be unmoored from the past’s deep roots and find a reason to hope again.

For more information on Saints in Limbo please visit Random House's website

As I was sick for a few days this week I was only able to get about half-way through this one, but so far I am really liking it. The writing is calm (that's the only way I can think to describe it). As I'm reading I feel myself becoming very relaxed and it becomes easy to get lost in the story. I tend to throw myself into what I'm reading anyway, but River Jordan has a way with writing that makes that journey into the story that much easier for me. Even as Velma jumps back and fourth between the present and her memories I didn't feel like the story was jumppy. The pace is nice and slow and the writing is done so well it has a poetic feel to it.

I should have this one finished in the next few days and I'll post my review as soon as I'm done. But in the meantime I'll just say that this is a very good book!

Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Got this one from PaperbackSwap.com Join our book club and swap used books for FREE - PaperBackSwap.com



My Reivew

This book was great, I've read some good books lately but this on blows just about everything else out of the water.

The story is told from two perspectives, that of Mariam and Laila. The story follows these two as they grow up in Afghanistan during the 70s through 20002. Through their eyes we get to see how governmental changes in Afghanistan affect the people that live there. These two women deal with the changes forced upon them in different ways, even as their lives cross paths.

This was a very well written story. The characters were very well developed. Hosseini has a way with written word that just captivates you. Not only was the story captivating but it was very emotional. The strings that Hosseini ties around your heart get pulled at continually. I have to admit that I cried quite a few times during this story. I was almost sobbing near the end.

Not only does this story give us outsiders a view of what life is like in Afghanistan but it connects us with both women in a way that I became involved in what was happening to them.

Great book, I would recomend anyone who hasn't read it to read it.

To find out more about the book or the author visit Khaled Hosseini's website.

Update: Winners: The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

Thank you for everyone that entered this giveaway! There were 46 total entries from 28 different entrants!

The 5 Winners Are:
1) Heather
2) Renee G
3) Rebecca
4) Tutu
5) Lisa K

Note: Cheryl S. sent me a message that she already won, so I choose another winner!

I sent out emails to the winners. Winners have till 11:59pm June 4th to respond or I will pick a new winner.

I used Random.org's Random Sequence Generator to draw the winners.

Again thank you for entering and congratulations!

Don't forget to enter my contests for Obama's Blackberry and The Night Gardener!

Review: The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers

I have to thank Dorchester Publishing for letting me read this one, and Shelf Awareness for bringing this title to my attention.

My Review

This was a pretty good book. I've recently gotten into PR & UF books and I'm finding that I'm liking them.

The story is about Lizzie Brown, who recently found out she was a demon slayer. Lizzie has to travel to Vegas to stop a succubus with plans to unleash Armageddon on earth. Along to help her is a coven of biker witches, her griffin boyfriend, and her dog - Pirate. She meets many people, and creatures, while in Vegas that help her in her mission.

I really liked the writing in this one. The author is able to write conversations in a relevant way. The characters speech is very understandable. The things they talk about are current. The slang that is used isn't too out there.

The details aren't overdone. Fox gives us enough detail to paint a setting without giving so much detail that it takes away from the story.

This is the second in a series and after reading it I wished I'd started with the first. I think there was probably some insight that someone who's read the first book would have that I didn't. Although not having read the first one I don't think I really missed that much.

I will definitely be picking up the first one in this series, as well as keeping an eye out for more my Angie Fox.

For more information on The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, or to purchase a copy please visit Dorchester Publishing.