Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

Let me thank Picador Publishing for sending me a copy of this book.




About the Book:
Beginning on August 9, 1945, in Nagasaki, and ending in a prison cell in the US in 2002, as a man is waiting to be sent to Guantanamo Bay, Burnt Shadows is an epic narrative of love and betrayal.

Hiroko Tanaka is twenty-one and in love with the man she is to marry, Konrad Weiss. As she steps onto her veranda, wrapped in a kimono with three black cranes swooping across the back, her world is suddenly and irrevocably altered. In the numbing aftermath of the atomic bomb that obliterates everything she has known, all that remains are the bird-shaped burns on her back, an indelible reminder of the world she has lost. In search of new beginnings, two years later, Hiroko travels to Delhi. It is there that her life will become intertwined with that of Konrad's half sister, Elizabeth, her husband, James Burton, and their employee Sajjad Ashraf, from whom she starts to learn Urdu.

With the partition of India, and the creation of Pakistan, Hiroko will find herself displaced once again, in a world where old wars are replaced by new conflicts. But the shadows of history--personal and political--are cast over the interrelated worlds of the Burtons, the Ashrafs, and the Tanakas as they are transported from Pakistan to New York and, in the novel's astonishing climax, to Afghanistan in the immediate wake of 9/11. The ties that have bound these families together over decades and generations are tested to the extreme, with unforeseeable consequences.

My Review
This story follows Hiroko through her life. The story starts in Japan during WWII and ends in 2002. We follow Hiroko as she loves, loses, and ages. While the events in history play second to the story there are many things that Hiroko deals with: the bombing in Nagasaki, the split of India and Pakistan, 9/11. The characters are well rounded, and as the story jumps from one to the other we really get a sense of who these people are and what emotions they are dealing with. I became connected to just about all of the characters.

The story is well written, the descriptions were a bit much in some places, but the pictures that Shamsie is able to paint with words are breathtaking. Her use of reacurring themes makes the story really go full circle. Her ability to take monumental events in history and make them the basis of Hiroko's life, without making the story simply about the history is a feat.

A good read. There were parts that read a little slow, but there weren't many and the story is compelling enough to pull you through them.

For more information on Burnt Shadows please visit Picador's website.

Faith and Fangs Blog Tour

Let me start by thanking Liz at Waterbrook Mulnomah for sending me these to read and for allowing me to participate in the blog tour!

Two books in this one!

Thirsty by Tracey Bateman

About the Book:
There's no place like home, they say.
"Hello, I'm Nina Parker…and I'm an alcoholic."
For Nina, it's not the weighty admission but the first steps toward recovery that prove most difficult. She must face her ex-husband, Hunt, with little hope of making amends, and try to rebuild a relationship with her angry teenage daughter, Meagan. Hardest of all, she is forced to return to Abbey Hills, Missouri, the hometown she abruptly abandoned nearly two decades earlier–and her unexpected arrival in the sleepy Ozark town catches the attention of someone–or something–igniting a two-hundred-fifty-year-old desire that rages like a wildfire.

Unaware of the darkness stalking her, Nina is confronted with a series of events that threaten to unhinge her sobriety. Her daughter wants to spend time with the parents Nina left behind. A terrifying event that has haunted Nina for almost twenty years begins to surface. And an alluring neighbor initiates an unusual friendship with Nina, but is Markus truly a kindred spirit or a man guarding dangerous secrets?

As everything she loves hangs in the balance, will Nina's feeble grasp on her demons be broken, leaving her powerless against the thirst? The battle between redemption and obsession unfold to its startling, unforgettable end.

My Review:
I really liked this book. Not only was it a vampire story (which I'm really starting to love those) but it was an adult vampire story with a great story line! It kept my attention and I got really pulled into the story. Nina, the main character, is an alcoholic who's all but lost her family. I've never really known an alcoholic, but I'm sure that the struggles Nina faced are all too common. I really liked Nina, she'd made some mistakes in her life but she was really working on turning things around. Trying to regain trust in relationships that her drinking had all but shattered, and realizing that just because she was sober didn't mean everyone just forgave her. While it is a vampire story it's so much more than that.

The writing was great. For those of you familiar with my reviews you know descriptions and I don't always get along... This had the perfect balance of description, enough to show you what was going on but not so much that it covered the story up. Great Job! Also the writing was realistic, the reactions and dialogs were actually plausible, and it didn't feel fake. If I had to give any criticism it would be that it was easy to figure out what was going to happen. Granted I didn't know the means by which the ending would come, but I had a pretty good grasp. Although there was one major thing that I didn't expect and since I don't want to give it away I'll just leave it at that!

Find out more about Thirsty by visiting Waterbrook's Website.

Now to the second book.

Touched by a Vampire by Beth Felker Jones

About the Book:
EXAMINING TWILIGHT THROUGH A BIBLICAL LENS

People around the world are asking the same question, enraptured with Edward and Bella’s forbidden romance in the Twilight Saga, a four-book serial phenomenon written by Stephenie Meyer. The bestsellers tell the story of a regular girl’s relationship with a vampire who has chosen to follow his “good” side. But the Saga isn’t just another fantasy–it’s teaching girls about love, sex, and purpose. With 48 million copies in print and a succession of upcoming blockbuster films, now is the time to ask the important question: Can vampires teach us about God’s plan for love?

Touched by a Vampire is the first book to investigate the themes of the Twilight Saga from a Biblical perspective. Some Christian readers have praised moral principles illustrated in the story, such as premarital sexual abstinence, which align with Meyer’s Mormon beliefs. But ultimately, Beth Felker Jones examines whether the story’s redemptive qualities outshine its darkness.

Cautionary, thoughtful, and challenging, Touched by a Vampire is written for Twilight fans, parents, teachers, and pop culture enthusiasts. It includes an overview of the series for those unfamiliar with the storyline and a discussion guide for small groups.

My Review:
Admitingly I didn't read all of this one. I have only read the first of the Twilight series, and while I knew this was about the entire series I started to feel like it was really giving away too much of the rest of the stories. Of what I have read I did like it, the themes in Twilight are looked at with Christian beliefs. After I finish the series I will definatley pick this one up and finish it. There is one passage from the introduction that I want to share because it was written perfectly:

"I love the way a story can carry us into another world, a world of imagination and mystery. When a story captures our hearts, we dive into it. We sink deep into the waters of the world the author has created for us and learn its geography. We fear what the characters fear and love what the character love. Most of all I love what happens when we come out of the story world. We come up from under the water of imagination and take a deep breath of the air of our own world. But it isn't the same world it was before we dove into the story. The story world changes our world. It helps us imagine possibilities we couldn't possibly have seen before. It suggests new dreams to guide us, new fears to horrify us, and new hopes to inspire us."

I know that was a long one, but it just really resonated with me and I couldn't help but share it.

To find out more about Touched by a Vampire please visit the Waterbrook Mulnomah website.

So it's been a while!!!

Well, hello to my bloging family! Sorry it's been so long but I've had a crazy couple of months... My sister got married at the end of August. It was a beautiful cerimony and the bride was dazaling. A few snafus (like when her veil fell off during the cerimony Oppss!) but I think that's to be expected. Then I spent some time with my mother, twice this summer actually. My grandfather was sick for a few days, he's better now, but you always worry. Then my PartyLite business has really taken off, and that's a great thing. Plus I'm almost done with my associates degree and school was a little crazy with everything else going on. Sadly at the begining of the month I lost two neighbors. One took her own life and the other lost her battle with cancer. It was a bit shocking loosing both within a week and a half of each other. Now that the initial shock has worn off and I've dealt with the losses I've come to a place where I've accepted the losses. Please send your prayers to their families who are struggling much more with their losses than I am.

So now that my life has calmed down I'm ready to post all of the reviews for the books I've been reading while I was away. Believe me there are a TON of reviews that I need to get posted. Even though I wasn't at my computer I was still reading, so I have to play a lot of catch up now!!!

Good to be back in the saddle and hopefully stay on it this time :-)

-Jennifer

Review: Extraordinary by John Bevere

This one came from Staci at Random House.



My Review:

In Extraordinary John Bevere explains how all people are extraordinary and were created for extraordinary purposes. He gives advice on how to realize and accept your extraordinary purpose.

This book just did not sit well with me. It wasn't that I didn't like the message, actually I think it was a great message: We are all created for an extraordinary life. I also liked that the author used real-life experiences from his life, he wasn't simply retelling stories about other people. Self-help authors that are able to open their own lives up and share their stories with the world get many kudos from me.

Despite that I just couldn't connect with this book. The writing style was to pushy for me. I felt as if reading this one was a chore rather than an enjoyable experience and I felt as if I was being scolded through the whole thing.

The message is great but the presentation didn't work for me.

For more information on Extraordinary or to purchase a copy please visit Random House's website.

For more information about the Author John Bevere please visit his ministry website: Messenger International.

Review: Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham

Thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishing for letting me review this book.

Buy		Read

My Review:

Marcus Buckingham seems to really understand the struggles that women face. By understanding what struggles women face he is able to give us a plan on how to make our lives stronger. He gives advice on how to make every aspect of your life stronger: work, relationships, raising children, and personal life.

I think the ideas make sense to some extent, but the ideas he presents go against all popular ideals. But I think that's the point, obviously what we've been told to do isn't working so a different plan of attack may just be what we need. I liked the ideas and have started to try and use them in my life.

It was a fairly well-written book. The information is pretty straight forward and easy to understand. Overall I'd say this was a decent book.

To get more information about Marcus Buckingham or Find Your Strongest Life please visit Thomas Nelson's website.