Running with Roselle, by Michael Hinson with Jeanette Hanscome

Thanks for visiting today. This will be my last blog post here on Blogger. Starting next week, I will begin posting book reviews from my new website! I'm still fine tuning things, but I'd like to leave you with the link: www.joannereese.com.

Here is this week's review:

It's rare to find a story that shares two points of view--that of a blind boy and a dog. I found the combination delightful!

Written for children, this book really got into a youngster's head and answered all of the questions one would ask about what it feels like to be a dog. Roselle, a golden retriever bred and trained to become a guide dog, passed all of the rigorous testing needed in order to ensure she could be trusted to guide her companion safely. The internal dialogue was a lot of fun and masterfully written. 

Mike, a blind boy who was raised by parents that never wanted him to feel different from other kids, did not allow the limitations of blindness to keep him from succeeding in life. He brought inspiration to every page. 

Bring the two of them together on one of the worst days in America's history, September 11, 2001, and you have a real page-turner. Come and see this pair find not only find their own way through the rubble, but also help others to safety. 

I highly recommend this story for adults and children alike. If you are an animal lover, or if you like learning about new things, this book will entertain you the whole way through. 

A Distant Melody, by Sarah Sundin

Allie Miller fails to reach the standards her parents set, starting with her plain appearance and ending with her choice of a church. But when her marriage to Baxter is practically arranged, she feels strangled by the impending doom of a loveless happily-ever-after. Everything changes when she meets the real love of her life, Lt. Walter Novak. Feelings spark as they try and find deeper meaning to life's ups and downs through a series of letter-writing. Friendship escalates to more than that, but society's rules and a few misguided assumptions keeps either one of them from admitting it.

I was swept away by the story immediately. Sundin did an extraordinary job bringing the protagonist and her love interest together with genuine trepidation and the cordiality that would have fit this time period perfeclty. It was clear to me that this novel had been carefully researched, making me feel like I'd been dropped right into the World War II time period.

I found myself pulling for Allie and Walt all the way through. The cat and mouse of their romance was done with a great amount of integrity. This whole perspective was delightfully refreshing. Upon the turn of the last page, I was left with an ending that was well thought-out and satisfying. I would highly recommend this novel for anybody interested in taking a trip back to a time when a person's word still meant something.

The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls

It's an absolute miracle Walls lived to tell her family's story. Growing up with parents who did more things wrong than they did right, Walls found every day to be an adventure, and their unconventional view of life made this story a real page-turner.

And although I felt sickened a time or two, through each of my gasps and chuckles, I couldn't help but fall in love with her father for his unrelenting optimism and passion for life, and with her mother for the determination she had to preserve the artist within. The non-domesticated and carefree ways in which her parents navigated through life molded Walls into the writer she would someday become.

I came away from the story with a new appreciation for the simple conveniences and pleasures in life, like running water and going to bed having satisfied my hunger. Each scene was told with immaculate sensory, allowing me to feel the cold on my skin and the hunger in my own gut. This story provided me with a fresh look at life. I admire Walls and each of her siblings, not only for surviving, but for seeing the beauty in what her parents truly tried to impart. I found charm in her alcoholic father, as well as in her mother who was bent on making sure her needs were met first. There was something refreshingly human about both of them.

I highly recommend this memoir for anybody looking for an entertaining read. But be warned, while you will laugh out loud a time or two, the honesty will change you forever.

An Invisible Thread, by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

I am so happy to announce that my website will be up and running in the next couple of weeks! As a result, I've decided to have my blog posts consist solely of book reviews. I hope my reading has spurred your own desire to nestle in with a good book. There are so many of them out there. Here is my latest review:

It was a single question that changed two lives forever. 

A successful businesswoman named Laura Schroff strolled the streets of New York City, lost in her own thoughts, doing her best to block out all of the noise. That is, until the plea of a young boy named Maurice stopped her in her tracks. Laura's response to his hunger was remarkable. And with the planting of a new and an unbreakable bond, the friendship ended up feeding many of her own deep and desperate needs.

I found the parallel of their lives to be extraordinary, even though they'd both come from such a different socioeconomic backgrounds. Laura's own childhood struggles created an empathy that prepped her heart for the kind of pain Maurice dealt with every day. She reached out with Monday afternoon lunches, baking dates and shopping sprees. Laura would purchase necessities and a few fun items too. The story was heartfelt and compelling and it stirred my own empathy for people God may end up putting in my own path. I will certainly have my eyes open in a new way.

I would highly recommend An Invisible Thread to anybody interested in getting lost in a good memoir. I was pleased to see how much the author is doing to ensure her message gets replicated. There are so many others out there with compelling stories just like hers and Maurice's. Her next project includes a compilation of other people's invisible threads.

You can visit her website at www.aninvisiblethread.com. 

The Mermaid Chair, by Sue Monk Kidd

As Jaime rushes to untangle the confusing behavior of her mother, she's confronted with a setting that stirs a lot of unhealed pain concerning her father's death. An unplanned encounter with a monastery monk has her second-guessing the life she's left behind, and she's tempted to surrender to this new awakening. The safety of over twenty years of marriage become less and less appealing, and lines begin to blur along the intoxicating shoreline. A mermaid chair stirs more questions for Jaime than answers. She searches for reasons, and ends up finding her own heart. 

Sue Monk Kidd creates a delightful playground for a woman who might be dangling on the edge of an empty nest. With vivid detail and sentimentality, Kidd weaves a story of sweetness mixed with tragedy that brings the truest part of love to the surface. Back story is revealed in delicious layers and the whole story comes together in a rushing wave of crescendo.

I would highly recommend this novel for its interesting setting, unmatched prose and deep characterization. The ending left me with a deeper appreciation of middle age, and its potential for growth and new beginnings.

A Dream

I'd like to share a post I wrote years ago when I'd spent some time considering the very breadth and depth of God in every moment of my life. Reading it now, I see a vulnerability and freshness that I fear I may have lost through the years. This was the heart of what I hoped to contribute to the publishing world. And it still is.

I have been given a dream. A very low level of my consciousness knows it. Day and night it calls to me in whispers. Words I can't quite make out that make more sense than the things I can hear and see. Wanting so much to see the end result, to really know where this journey will lead.

But I am instructed to be still, to wait and simply be.

I return to the world of blogging for many reasons. Documenting my encounters with a God who has captured my heart seems like a good use of time. The practice posting affords, keeps ideas fresh and fingers flying. But more than anything I find a need to get what is inside, out. Like a dam about to burst, my heart longs to be seen.

In my last post, I spoke of taking steps toward the writing industry. The last couple of months have proven to be more than getting that next paragraph written. Embracing truth becomes necessary for anybody who aspires to become an artist. 

Facing truth ensures death. Death of self.

If you are still with me, I hope you will stick around. I aspire to inspire, much like the griot in Freedom's Pen, by Wendy Lawton. Every gifted storyteller began with one idea - a seed. Every seed must succumb to terrible conditions and surrender to death before the transformation can begin. 

What kind of seed has God handed you? This is your ministry to the world! God needs your voice, your ambition, your heart.

I am just finishing up a book that has stirred the dreamer inside. I would recommend it to anybody who loves to get lost in a good story. Sweet Janxa, with incredible talent, would not have been able to blossom without the Wheatley's. 

You've heard the old saying, "Timing is everything." I'd like to throw in my two cents this morning. God's timing is everything. It can mean the difference between spinning your wheels and reaching the stars.

My dear readers, I hold a special place in my heart for you. I hope to deliver a story to you, through the posts in this blog that will challenge you to embrace truth.

A mighty oak waits to break past that dirt. Patience dear one . . . God's timing is well worth the wait.

Room, by Emma Donoghue

I just finished a rare treasure that I'd like to share with all of you today. This piece of literature is unique in so many ways. I watched the movie shortly after turning the last pages of the book, and as always, the book was so much better. 

Have you read anything lately worth recommending?

Jack and his Ma have been kidnapped and they are trapped in the backyard of their perpetrator. Jack, being a result of this man's abuse, is oblivious to the torment inflicted on his mother. The entire story it told through the eyes of this 5 year old little boy, and the author educates the reader through somebody who is not yet able to understand what he is seeing. It's absolutely brilliant.

This unique perspecitve provides this story with a fresh curiosity right from the start. She introduces the reader to a very limited POV, then slowly branches out, peeling away the whereabouts in small layers. This style mirrors the book's setting, another amazing literary device, and once the stakes are introduced, any reader will have a hard time putting the book down.

A new empathy sprouted inside of me from reading this piece, and I will never look at abduction the same way again. I thought the story played out realistically, and while the plot line ended up being more about the emotional and psychological ramifications, I still clung to every sensory detail.

I recommend this book for anybody who is looking to read a heartwarming story about a young mother who is determined to make everything as normal as possible for her little boy, in a not-so-normal world.