The Woman Who Would Be King Book Review

Title: The Woman Who Would Be King

Author: Kara Cooney

Genre: Biography, Historical, Egypt,

Plot: Hatshepsut has intrigued people for decades and probably will for decades more as researchers work to uncover the veiled mysteries of the past. This great woman of the ancient times rose to power and ruled the greatest kingdom on earth, wielding the might of an empire for years and defying the ancient world's views on women with one great swoop. But she wasn't the first Egyptian daughter to do this and so much of her story will never come to light, lost to the shadows of time and speculation. Such a shame. If time travel existed, the wonders of the past would be available to dazzle us with just how spectacular and horrifying they really were.

Till such a time as time travel comes into existence, we have talented authors and brilliant researchers who attempt to step into the void of the past and peel back, inch by inch, the layers shielding this great historical figures and reveal them more fully to us. And while we may never know what their daily lives were truly like, we can at least know more about the moments that made them great.

Likes/Dislikes: Hatshepsut is one of those Egyptian figures that hovers at the edges of my personal scope of interest, ranking above Cleopatra {whom I have very little interest in studying at all} and below Nefertiti {whom I'm always interested in studying}. The fact that a woman rose to rule Egypt will always intrigue every woman in the modern times, but what I really want to know is lost to the vastness of time. What was she really like? What did she think of all the events that put her on the throne? What was her education like? What made her strong enough to take the reins of an empire? And more importantly, who was the ruling queen before her who dared to ascend the throne? We know for a historical fact that Hatshepsut wasn’t the first or the last woman to rule Egypt, just the most famous. So who was the first and what was her story? And while this book attempts to paint more of Hatshepsut's picture, it does nothing for the former queen to set the trend and little for the daily life of the heroine. Still, an excellent attempt and wonderfully written, which is hard to do with a biography of an ancient person.

Rating: PG-15 and up, mainly for reading level and some frank talk about intimate historical situations. Anyone who's studied Egypt knows just how open they were about everything.

Date Review Written: June 21st, 2016.

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. I wasn’t required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

A Worthy Heart Book Review

Title: A Worthy Heart

Author: Susan Anne Mason

Genre: Christian, Historical Fiction, Romance, Sequel,

Plot: Coming to America has been a dream of Maggie Montgomery's for so long and now it's finally happening. She and her brother have just landed in New York, intent on visiting their older brother Rylan and his lovely wife. Seeing more of the world than just her little corner of Ireland gives Maggie a burst of fresh air and being away from the increasingly unwanted attentions of her suitor back home is an added bonus. But what neither brother knows is that Maggie intends to stay in America permanently.

Meanwhile, Rylan's no good brother in law Adam O'Leary has just been released from prison. Shrunken and dirt poor, Adam slinks back to his old family home to swallow his pride and ask for a job, knowing that his family will never see him the same way again. But keeping his head down proves to be a challenge when he meets the curious Maggie. Warned to stay away from Adam, Maggie finds herself intrigued by the mysterious man and wants to know more about him.

Despite the family's efforts, a bond is formed between the two that now must stand the test of the past and the pull of the future.

Likes/Dislikes: The description of this novel sounded so intriguing and exciting that I was eager to delve into the pages of what was sure to be an epic story. And while Maggie and Adam's individual story lines are intriguing and exciting, I didn't realize this was a sequel. Everyone else's stories are mysteries to me and therefore rather boring in the overall scope of the book for me. Because of this and the flipping between the main characters and these established secondary character's viewpoints, it's a bit hard to pick up the book and resume reading after a week or so. Toddlers can make reading for pleasure so hard sometimes. I haven't yet finished this book but I intend to because I want to find out more about Maggie and Adam's relationship and how it all comes into play. It'll just take me awhile to get there.

Rating: N/A, though clean so far with hints of a bad past.

Date Review Written: June 21st, 2016

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publishers in exchange for an honest review. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

Fading Starlight Book Review

Title: Fading Starlight

Author: Kathryn Cushman

Genre: Christian, Contemporary Fiction, Friendships, Mystery/Intrigue, Hollywood Fashion,

Plot: Lauren Summers is an up and rising fashion designer with all her hard work finally paying off in the form of a lovely gown being worn by a teenage star on the red carpet. With her future in fashion glittering and sparkling in the camera flashes, Lauren couldn't be happier, until a suspicious wardrobe malfunction sends her career plummeting and Lauren scrambling out of the spotlight as fast as she can.

An old professor friend comes to her rescue with a job and a place to stay in a secluded neighborhood with strict rules. The perfect hide out, or so Lauren thought. But when a reporter comes snooping around, Lauren's fight or flight instinct kicks in - only to turn to intrigue when she learns that the reporter isn't after her. She's after the mysterious Charlotte Montgomery, the reclusive old woman who rules the neighborhood with a firm hand.

With her dreams in tatters, Lauren is grasping at straws and poking into her neighbor's secrets seems like a good straw to grasp.

Likes/Dislikes: I was intrigued to read this book by the lovely cover and the description which made it sound like a historical fiction set around the turn of the century with a dashing hero reporter to come rescue the floundering fashion designer. I was somewhat disappointed to get the book and learn that the story is modern and the reporter is just a nosy woman looking to expose hidden secrets. While still interesting, it wasn't exactly the story I wanted to read. Hence why I haven't finished it yet. But I'll keep poking away at it because the descriptions of Lauren's new house and remodeling sound nice. The writing style is quite nice and smooth. Very easy to read and follow along.

Rating: N/A, though very clean so far.

Date Review Written: June 21, 2016

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publishers. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

Jo's Boys Book Review

Title: Jo's Boys

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Genre: Classic, Children, Sequel, Christian, Adventure

Plot: In this third installment in a presumably unintentional trilogy, the March girls take a backseat and watch as their grown children take on the world. The boys of Jo's school are men now and branch off on their own paths, some to never return and some to strive, fail and ultimately triumph. One of the professor's nephew's is set adrift in the sea and survives the horrible experience, coming out alive with a beautiful wife, while the other nephew marries in a hurry to surprise everyone. Nan pursues her medical education and continues to refuse Tommy's marriage proposals, while Nat has his hands full trying to survive on a struggling musician's salary. And Dan? Well, he is perhaps having the greatest adventure and causes poor Jo the deepest heartache.

All of Jo and the Professor's hard work to raise these boys pays off in this sequel and we get to see how God carries the lessons through into their adult lives.

Likes/Dislikes: This is my favorite book by Alcott. I loved all the romance and meeting old friends all grown up, taking on the challenges in life and rising above the hardships thrown in their paths. Dan was my favorite character and I loved his adventures, but was sad that he never got to marry his true love.

Rating: G-all ages. Highly recommended.

Date Review Written: November 10th, 2015

Inside Out Movie Review

Title: Inside Out

Starring:

Release Date: Theaters early 2015, DVD November 3rd, 2015

Genre: Children, Fiction, Humorous, Family

Plot: Have you ever wondered what it's like inside other people's heads and what emotions would look like if they were people like us? Well, Pixar's newest movie explores those concepts in a fun colorful humorous way. Ever since she was born, eleven year old Riley has had two dominant emotions; Joy and Sadness. Of course, Anger, Disgust and Fear came along eventually but the two primaries are Joy and Sadness. Joy, with her blue hair and twirling yellow dress, just wants to keep Riley happy and does everything she can to keep the other emotions under control. She puts Fear in charge of making lists of possible disasters, Disgust in charge of fashion, and Anger is talked out of blowing his top and using that one curse word he knows. Poor Sadness doesn't really have a use, so she's stuffed into a corner and given manuals to read. And Joy "drives," creating an abundance of happy memories for Riley to recall later on.

All is going great till Riley and her parents move from Minnesota to San Francisco. That's when everything changes. Separated from her friends, unable to play hockey for the time being and thrust into a new school with a new house to adjust to, Riley has her hands full. And her emotions are running amuck. Disgust, Fear and Anger are unexpectedly left in charge when Sadness touches the sore memories and threatens to turn them blue, causing Joy to overreact and both of them with the main memories are sucked into Long Term Memory. Away from the keyboard of Riley's brain, Joy and Sadness begin a long journey through her colorful mind to get back to headquarters and put everything to rights. But will they be in time to save the day before Riley makes a terrible decision?

Likes/Dislikes: This movie is unique and very colorful. With each emotion their own set color, it's easy to figure out their personality and watch how they work together to grow and shape Riley's day. While I thought Disgust was an odd character for an eleven year old to have {it seems more fitting for a teenager}, I enjoyed all the others and the added balance Disgust provided. Anger was hilarious and quite possibly my favorite, while I felt bad for Sadness and Joy is well, Joy. My daughter's name is Joy so we get a kick out of watching this movie with her. I thought it was weird that in the Riley's mom's head, all the emotions are mature women who look like her and in the dad's head all the emotions are mature men who look like him, but in Riley's head, there's a blend of male and female emotions who don't really look like her. Just kinda odd to me. I loved seeing the parents, school friends, dog's and cat's emotions are the end. That was great. This is definitely a fun clean family movie.

Rating: G- 10 and up mainly for storyline. Recommended for all ages.

Date Review Written: November 9th, 2015.

My Joy

One of the reasons why I haven't been posting nearly as much as I'd like is that my sweet toddler has Juvenile Arthritis and its been a real roller coaster ride the last six months since we found out. She'd sprained her ankle in Oct 2015 and gradually stopped walking over the holidays, alarming us and {after an insurance issue}, sent us to the urgent care to see what was wrong. They bounced us around a little and two exhausting weeks later we learned she has Arthritis. Since then we've been doing everything we can to ease her pain, lower her inflammation and get her back on her feet. She's several doctors {some good, some not} her diet has changed and she's improving.

We've placed her on a Weston Price/anti-inflammatory diet with no gluten, soy, dairy, corn oil, processed foods and reduced sugar {all of which is hard to communicate to a two year old with a roving appetite}. We discovered she's allergic to soy and citrus so we immediately removed those from her diet and began to see immediate improvement in that area. She's seeing a nutritionist and a physical therapist regularly, and I'm happy to say that she has been walking independently for some months now and is in the process of trying to run. She still has a few kinks to work out though. We just started her on immune suppressant therapy which should help. We're hoping and praying that that combined with everything else we're doing will have her in remission sooner rather than later and she can go about her life in a happy pain-free toddler way once more.

And just in time too since she'll be dealing with a whole new challenge of having a baby sister here very very soon. Another reason for my lack of posts. Anyway, the reason I'm writing about all this now is partly because I just can't remember if I posted about it previously or not, and partly because I need your help. Some of you may have seen this lovely post over at In The Bookcase; my blogger buddy Tarissa kindly wrote it up for me and it says so clearly what we need; we need, help, we need funds, but most importantly, we need prayers and to get the word out about this sweet little girl who is going through so much at such a young age. Please hop over to her blog and check out the post, and then click Share. Also, please please share the GoFundMe page made just for my Joy. Anything and everything you can do to help is greatly appreciated. It's at difficult times like this that God tests us and shows us His grace. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you.