Josiah For President - A Review

 

Josiah For President

By Martha Bolton

Published by Zondervan, October 2012

 

 

This is most definitely not your typical Amish novel :-)

When a disgruntled American Congressman decides to abandon his entry for the Presidential elections, he little expects to have an accident when driving on his way home and meet an Amishman who changes his life in a multitude of ways.

Mark Stedman's encounter with Josiah Stoltzfus makes him re-assess his attitudes and priorities to the point where he feels what America really needs is someone like Josiah at the helm. When, with Mark's help, Josiah wins the Presidential election despite all the usual back-stabbing campaigns and attempts to discredit him, America suddenly has a President who acts according to his conscience and in accordance with the mandates of Scripture.

This is a clever premise, and provides much information both about the Amish and about how the American electoral system works. Both Josiah, Mark and their wives are engaging and believable characters. The main rival candidate, Harley Philips, is a little exaggerated but still an interestingly devious character and I *so* enjoyed disliking him!

It is an amusing book, which caused me to laugh out loud on several occasions,  although there is a very sad but perhaps inevitable twist in the tale towards the end.

 I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and had been "champing at the bit", waiting for the postman to deliver my copy to me.

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Book Review - Legacy A Genetic History Of The Jewish People

 Legacy
A Genetic History Of The Jewish People
by Harry Ostrer
Oxford University Press, 2012

This a remarkable book, both for the subject and the amount of controversy the publication of the original subject matter generated.
The author is a medical geneticist who spent a great deal of time researching  the medical susceptabilities and strengths of Jewish people as they spread across the globe, and the publication of his work into the Jewish Hapmap Genome generated controversy and concern even though it was primarily an attempt to explain and document in genetic terms the spread of Jewish people across the globe long after the original Diaspora. This book was written in to dispel some of the concerns raised, to outline the genetics of the Jewish people and to discuss whether Jews  "constituted a race, a people, or a genetic isolate." 

The book is divided into  six chapters, covering the topics of Looking Jewish, Founders, Genealogies, Tribes, Traits and Identity.

In  Chapter One, for example, he discusses what consitutes a stereotypical Jewish facial appearance and how accurate the perceptions are in reality, with special reference to  the work of Jewish scientists such as Maurice Fishberg, a keen physiognomist who himself had emigrated from Russia to America. The work of one or more Jewish scientists and thinkers is showcased in each chapter, and I was woefully unfamiliar with any of them before reading this book.

 I was particularly interested in the epidemiology of diseases which showed distinct variations between Jews and Christians across the world, raising questions as to how much the variations can be described as purely genetic or lifestyle or an admixture of both factors. The increased incidence of Tay-Sachs disease amongst Askkenazi Jews is generally well-known, but Dr Ostrer draws in many medical conditions such as Thalassaemia, Gaucher disease and Phenylketonuria to name but a very few, which the general reader may not initially think have any specific point of reference to Jews but which occur in greater numbers in Jews of particular geographic communities. The genetics of mental illness, discussed in detail in "Traits" made for truly heartbreaking reading, so "Caveat Lector".

 How genetics works - both in theory and in practice - and the scientific bases for a variety of medical conditions are very clearly and succinctly explained for the lay reader, and this book is highly accessible to the general reader as well as being detailed enough to hold the interest of readers who may have a more extensive background knowledge of genetics and medicine. That in itself is a considerable achievement !

This book is by no means simply about science and medicine, however; history, literature, linguistics, intermarriage, adherence to religious customs, historic living and working conditions and the role of  social cohesion are all discussed in depth with special reference to the Jewish people.

Interestingly, the US census return forms regard Jewish purely as a descriptor of religious adherence, not a racial identificator. It will be worth watching to see if this will change in due course, as the genetic research work of Dr Ostrer and others is adding increasing weight to the scientifc basis for Jews to be regarded as a biological race and not just a group who happen to profess the same religious faith.

 I found the book to be an absorbing and enjoyable read and it has certainly inspired me to continue to read about this topic.

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Recently Read

Or perhaps I should say, Recently Re-read !

Locked Rooms

 I think this may perhaps be my very favourite of Laurie King's wonderful Sherlock Holmes / Mary Russell series.  Since her childhood, Mary has carried the burden of believing that she was the direct cause of the terrible accident which caused the deaths of her parents and her brilliant younger brother. But was she really to blame ? Or was there a deeper, darker element to the accident, which becomes a more possible explanation as she investigates the strange happenings to those who knew her parents.....

The Language Of Bees

This was a gripping read, the first of a two-part novel. Dark, disturbing and unsettling, it deals with a fanatically deluded  charlatan who causes tragedy to strikes very close to home indeed for Sherlock and Mary. Not for the faint-hearted, but brilliantly crafted.

It's All Greek To Me!

This is a gentle, respectful and loving look at Greek culture and life as one man and his family attempt to come to terms with buying and renovating an old property in a small village.

Prayers For The Dead

Mrs Kellerman has produced another thought-provoking  book; this one explores how a religious family can be  profoundly and fatally divided.

I do love the classic Ellis Peters'  "Inspector Felse" detective novels. Rainbow's End  was a particularly good one in the series, which revealed hidden depths on re-reading.

As did Death And The Joyful Woman ! These books are as much about Dominic Felse as about his father George, and Dominic is a delightfully drawn teenager.

The Hermit of Eyton Forest  also deals with betrayal, division and loss.

It is interesting how sometimes one unconsciously chooses a succession of books which deal with a particular theme or set of circumstances. I am currently reading Laurie King's magnificent The God of The Hive, and am finding it to be just as difficult to put down as it was the very first time I read it !

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Book Review - A Perfect Square

A Perfect Square

by Vannetta Chapman
Published by Zondervan, 2012

This is the sequel to Falling To Pieces, and I would definitely advise that you read the first book before tackling this one. I didn't, and it did take me some little while to get to grips with the characters and their past histories :-)

The story opens with the eagerly anticipated wedding of Tobias and Esther in their Amish community becoming entwined with the death of a young woman found in the pond on the land of Tobias' brother Reuben.
Esther's dear friend Deborah joins forces yet again with her English friend Callie to try to discover just why Reuben is refusing to say anything about the girl's death - is he implicated in her murder or totally innocent ? Why won't he speak to defend himself ?

Ghosts from the past also re-emerge for an elderly man who requests Callie's help in a seemingly impossible quest, and Callie finds herself being drawn ever deeper into the life and friendships she has made in Shipshewana after she inherited Daisy's Quilt Shop.
 
All in all, an enjoyable read !

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Book Review - The Get Yourself Organised Project

The Get Yourself Organised Project 
by Kathy Lipp
Harvest House Publishers, 2012

None of my nearest and dearest could accuse me of being obsessively house-proud, yet even I have sometimes looked at the clutter which surrounds me and wished that it didn't have to be like this. Well, it doesn't, and this great book has really inspired me to make a start at getting myself better organised. The problem is always knowing where to start, and it can seem a truly overwhelming task which then gets put on the back-burner out of fear and trepidation.

 The author, Kathy Lipp, shows us how to make things much more manageable and to tackle one small project at a time, using the brilliant Three-Box, Two-Bag System :- 

One cardboard box is marked  “Other Rooms,” for things that have gone astray
One  is marked “Put Back” in this room but in the proper places
The final one is marked  “Give Away” to charity shops or friends.
 A  garbage bag, a bag for recyclables plus a kitchen timer are the remaining essential tools, and Kathy  provides clear guidance on how to plan realistic goals which will enable the reader to make a start and then to keep on top of tasks which need to be done.

I love the way the book is divided up into different projects covering physical areas of the house,  your family - including laundry, meal planning, grocery shopping and paperwork, and then projects for your personal life, covering wardrobes, handbags, To Do lists and more.

 I always tend to leave things build up and then be faced with days of de-cluttering to get the house looking really nice again, but this book has made me determined that 2012 is going to be the year I take charge, even if it means spending much less time wasting on the computer in order to do so !

This isn't a  book showing you how to spend the rest of your life organising your life, it is a book showing you how to organise your life to give you time to live your life to the full.

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Book Review - My Dearest Naomi

 My Dearest Naomi
by Jerry & Tina Eicher
Published by Harvest House Publishers, July 2012


 This book chronicles how Eugene Mast, a young Amish man from Indiana, accepts a full school year teaching post at a Mennonite school in Iowa and must leave his family and his sweetheart, Naomi Miller, behind for nine months.

Eugene and Naomi write frequent letters to each other, some long, some short, some filled with sadness, some with joy. They tell each other everything about their lives, and how they are coping with their separation, and in the process, learn a great deal about each other's deepest hopes, fears and beliefs. Will Eugene find life in the more liberal Mennonite community more to his liking than his strict Amish background, and will he or Naomi meet other potential partners ? Their long separation is hard to bear, but they find reserves of inner strength and emerge with themselves and their relationship intact, maturer and stronger than ever.

This is a touching, endearing and gentle book, accurately chronicling the heartbreaks and joys of the first love relationship of this sweet and earnest young couple. It made me smile, sigh and ultimately rejoice as they are eventually reunited. The story is based upon the letters which the authors themselves wrote to each other during a period of separation and definitely carries the stamp of an authentic relationship.
A great read !

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And More Recently Read !

Being in hospital so much over the last two weeks has given me ample opportunity to read :-)

My Sister's Keeper reduced me to tears. A couple with a desperately ill daughter choose to have a designer baby to "save" their first daughter. Problem is, as the designer daughter grows up, she doesn't want to continue to be a source of spare parts for her sister, who now needs a kidney transplant........ an interesting look into the family dynamics, morals and ethics of choosing to have a designer baby to save a sick sibling.

The Little Dancer by Lorna Hill is an old book. I have read many of  Lorna Hill's ballet books for children/young teens; many are superb but this was truly not one of her best. I will keep it for the sake of enhancing my collection by this author, but I won't be reading it again.....

I ♥ Pioneer Woman, which in the USA is sold as From High Heels to Tractor Wheeels. Ree Drummond has a wonderful photography /cooking website  and the book tells of her romance with the man who would become her husband and her move from city living to life as a home-schooling Mom on a cattle ranch.

An oldie but a goodie! The story of the Phantom of the Opera, told as only Terry Pratchett can.

For anyone who loves the Anglican shrine at Walsingham and its history, this is a must-read, albeit tangentially.  Fr Bernard Walke was a very high church Anglican who transformed  the religious life of his Cornish parish at St Hilary. Hard-core Protestants conspired with the Consistory Courts to destroy his beautification of the church, and the Children's Home which he established in St Hilary was later transferred to Walsingham and supported by Fr Hope Patten and the Shrine, to provide the children with a safe haven and continuing Anglo-Catholic life and worship away form the distressing situation in St Hilary. To read Fr Bernard's account of the despoilation of his lovely little Church is heart-breaking and reduced me to tears.

I like Faye Kellerman's Jewish detective thrillers immensely, and my DD3 found this in the Library for me. It is a clever book, well-written by Faye and her young daughter - but strange, unnerving and quite unsettling.

Another detective writer of note is Georgette Heyer. This was a gem, bought at a charity shop !

This was one of my Mother's Day gifts.  The return of Jewish cop Peter Decker and his family, now including Gabe, the RC son of a hitman who has an uneasy and grudging respect for Decker and his wife. Gabe is a young musical genius who falls head over heels in love with a much younger Persian Jewish  girl, and the family end up embroiled in a nightmare scenario of teen sex, drug misuse, bullying, teen suicide and some of the most vicious  - but sadly realistic- behaviour  you  pray would never happen to your kids.  Frightening, disturbing, graphic and realistic, this makes me want to homeschool my kids.

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Book Review - An Amish Wedding

An Amish Wedding
Published by Thomas Nelson, 2011

I wasn't sure how well having a trio of established Amish fiction writers writing on the same theme  would work, but to my pleasure, it did indeed work pretty well ! Beth Wiseman is probably by far the best known of the authors, and I must admit that her story was definitely my favourite as I really like her style of writing and characterisation, but the other stories were great fun too.

The three novellas focus on the characters of one community, where all will be gathering to celebrate the forthcoming wedding of Priscilla and Chester. In A Perfect Plan, Beth Wiseman follows the ups and downs, trials and tribulations of the preparations being made by Priscilla and Chester's families for the big day - but so many things go wrong that poor Priscilla begins to have second thoughts and wonder if she is truly meant to get married at all.

The Perfect Match by Kathleen Fuller follows the story of Naomi, who manges to act as the perfect matchmaker for her friends and relations but is still single herself. She finds it hard to see her friend immersed in all the wedding preparations. Will she be able to find someone whom she can fall in love with and marry ?

Kelly Long's story, The Perfect Secret, is the one with which I struggled the most. The premise of the story was brilliant - that a young Amish woman is marrying a childhood friend for whom she cares and loves greatly as a friend, but with no major passion.Is this a strong enough basis for a marriage ?  Are there more hidden depths to the handsome but rather stolid Luke Raber than she ever dreamed possible ? And just who is the thief who has been stealing from various homes in the community?

As I said, the plot is excellent but it just doesn't quite work for me in terms of the character and behaviour of Luke in the first half of the book, though it got much better towardst the end. On the whole, still an enjoyable read.








I was given a free copy of this ebook from Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

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Recently Read

Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Now, of course, this book would most likely never even make it into print because of its lack of politicial correctness, but I found it to be a delightful voyage of discovery through colonial India as Kim disovers the facts behind his parentage and is carefully groomed for work as an undercover British spy in the Great Game between the nations competing to use India for their own ends and gains. Fascinating, absorbing, hilarious and sad in turn, it is well worth a read to gain a picture of life in colonial India..

     The Sheen on the SilkThis almost 600 page novel starts in 1273 when Anna Zarides disguises herself as a male physician in order to try to discover the truth behind the murder of Bessarion, a nobleman involved in politicial intrigue and religious controversy in an attempt to secure the future of the Byzantine empire against the encroachments of Islam and the political scheming of Catholic Europe.  Her twin brother is in exile, having been accused of the murder of  Bessarion, his best friend and Anna -or Anastasios, as she now styles herself, is determined to infiltrate the ranks of the great and the good in her dangerous search for the truth.  With the caveat that both the Orthodox and Catholic characters involved in intrigue and assassinations appeared to have very lax confessors to allow them to systematically decimate their political and religious opponents, the book appeared to be well-researched till the fateful page 398: "She never stopped muttering the names of all the holy places she had been to, like an incantation. Canterbury, Walsingham, Lourdes, Compostela....."
I cannot believe that an author researching this period did not check her facts; Bernadette Soubirous did not claim to have had her visions of the Virgin at the Massabieille grotto, Lourdes,  till the year 1858. This really took the edge off my enjoyment of the story and does cast into doubt the veracity of other facts in the book, which is a shame.

The Politics of Hope by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Rabbi Sacks examines the political changes which have tansformed modern British and European society particularly from the immediate pre-WW2 period  and looks at the theories underpinning many social and political thinkers of note of this period, some well-known and some very much less well-known, but all of whom have been influential for good or bad. The morality and politics of responsibility are examined in depth, and Rabbi Sacks postulates that although there has been much change for the worse, causing society to lose its social cohesion, there is still a way to find our path back by identifying, examining and upholding our basic and God-given responsibilities and obligations to our family, friends, neighbours and those with whom we have dealings  whether on a regular or irregular basis.  Not everyone will agree with his politics, but all will agree that protecting liberal values whilst protecting the fabric of society itself is worthwhile and truly essential. Not an easy read, I grant you, but an interesting one which makes me question my own political views and social values.


The Daughters of the Promise series by Beth Wiseman
Plain Perfect
Plain Pursuit
Plain Promise
Plain Paradise
Plain Proposal



 I bought all five of the Daughters of the Promise series on the strength of having recently enjoyed reading her book The Wonder Of Your Love. It is fascinating to see how the characters have developed and how Beth Wiseman's writing style has changed over over the five books, and I have actually read the first three books twice over, I enjoyed them so much. The last two I read in a slight post-anaesthetic haze, and will read them again soon to assess them properly.

Georgette Heyer - Biography of a bestseller by Jennifer Kloester
 I savoured each and veery page of this book, and was so sad to get to the end of it! It was a mine of information, though not as tightly written as Joan Aiken Hodge's biography of Georgette Heyer. Informative and absorbing, nonetheless.

Amish Grace - how forgiveness transcended tragedy by Donald B Kraybill et al
This was a heart-breaking yet inspiring book about the tragic school shooting of ten Amish girls at Nickel Mines, Pa. and how the Amish and English communities dealt with the tragedy and the struggle to seek and extend forgiveness.Further details here

Silverfin (Young Bond series) by Charlie Higson
This was an extremly good book aimed for children aged 11+. It tells the story of a young James Bond when he starts school at Eton and finds himself drawn into a web of intrigue and terror that lies behind the behaviour of one of his school enemies as they both find themselves in Scotland visiting their individual relatives during the holidays. Fast-paced and well-written, this will appeal to those who enjoy action packed stories with a serious amount of creepy factor.

The Narrow Path by Gail Satler
I read this an free ebook from Kindle, and I enjoyed every page of it :-)  Ted belongs to an Old Order Mennonite community and church, and when the church hire a Mennonite composer from out of state to design  a Church special outreach for them, he is not prepared for her to be a very modern woman indeed who in turn feels as if she has been dropped into Pioneer times:-)
You can read Chapter 1 here !

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Book Review - Almost Amish

Almost Amish : One Woman's Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life by Nancy Sleeth
Published by Tyndale House Publishers, April 2012

"The Amish are islands of sanity in an ocean of change."

How did one family change their lives so radically as to be regarded - and to regard themselves as  "Almost Amish" ?

Perhaps one of the most important questions facing us in the developed world is whether it is really necessary to have the most modern technology for enhancing one's life or just a fad ? This book aims to show the reader that technology has implications and costs for the well-being of families and communities as well as the simple financial costs of purchasing the equipment.

The book looks at the need for - and the morality of - caring for the environment and how the Amish have set the rest of the world a gold standard by their plain living and belief in being stewards of their land and homes. Few in the developed world may want to go quite as far as the traditional Amish farming way of life, but their ideas have much to teach us and inspire us to take back control of our lives and technology rather than allowing technology and the general busyness of life to overwhelm and control us. It is perfectly possible to combine environmentally friendly living with solid Christian values to enhance our lives. 

I found it to be an extremely interesting and thought-provoking book, once I got past the slightly slower paced first few chapters.

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Book Review - Grieving God's Way

Grieving God's Way
by  Margaret Brownley

Published by Thomas Nelson, due July 2012


Grieving God's Way is a 90 day devotional book of thoughts, Bible verses and practical advice.

As Christians, we are truly blessed with the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection, and we have the hope and expectation of meeting our loved ones  again one day. It is normal, natural and healthy to grieve, but it is also important to grieve in a positive, life-affirming way, not in a destructive or addictive way, and this book sets out many ideas for Christian grieving.
The importance of taking care of one's body as well as one's mind and soul at this difficult time are stressed, as is learning to cope with and accept grief rather than trying to "numb" it away as is sadly so often the case for many people struggling to deal with grief. 
Art as therapy, plans for involving children in funeral and memorial services, and learning from their spontaneity are all covered in this unusual book.

I found this quite a difficult book to review, however, given my very clear recollections of how I felt  after my brother's death. I am a voracious reader and read every single day without fail, but after his death for a very long time I found it difficult to sit still long enough to read even a short daily devotional such as one of these .
 And of course, there is always the problem/issue  about which  you may desperately need to be comforted  or receive advice on is not covered during the time-scale you need it, but later on in the 90 day period.

I am sure that for  many this will be a valuable and useful book in helping them deal with their grief, but  I don't think  that I would have found this book particularly helpful or comforting at that particular stage in my life.

 However,  I do definitely think it is an extremely useful book to read when you know that the death of a loved one may be imminent. There are many useful things and comforting things, but perhaps it is better to have read them in advance  for them to seep back into the conscious memory for when one is actually grieving.


 This book will be particularly useful for those belonging to Protestant denominations, but I  think it may be of limited usefulness for those in the Orthodox Christian and Roman Catholic traditions for whom great comfort is gained by prayer for the dead , which is not really covered by this book .

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Book Review - Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat with Diabetes

Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat with Diabetes

By Michelle May, MD with Megrette Fletcher, MEd, RD, CDE
New Harbinger Publications, Inc. 2012

We have a family history of diabetes and some of my daughters' friends are diabetic, so I found this book extremely interesting.
It isn't a cookbook of recipes for those who have diabetes or are hovering on the verge of diabetes (pre-diabetes), nor a prescriptive manual of things to do or not to do; but it is  a guide to living and dealing with this health issue in a truly positive, life-enhancing way.

It is essential to truly understand what diabetes is, how it affects the body and the mind before being able to make informed choices about  the necessary lifestyle changes, dietary choices and embracing a positive  mental attitude to living with diabetes and this book is a comprehensive guide which achieves just that. Instead of being afraid of food and its possible effects on the body, we are shown how to tune into our bodies and see food choices and glucose monitoring as a challenge, a long-term puzzle to be solved, not a depressing chore which seems to set us apart by forbidding certain foods.

Mindfulness , balance and taking charge are key concepts in the challenge of taking care of oneself with this illness.The importance of exercise, relaxation, acceptance and taking responsibilty for ensuring adequate medication and medical care are explained thoroughly, and how to maintain a healthy weight  are all covered in detail, including how to work out one's own current patterns of eating which have been culturally and socially conditioned and may not be really related to the messages the body gives of hunger. Think of this book as a workbook, a guide to managing *your* diabetes.  A truly fascinating read.

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Book Review - Hiding In Plain Sight

Hiding in Plain Sight
by  Amy Wallace

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Pub Date: April 01, 2012



Ashley Walters is a police officer who moved to Montezuma, a small town with a Mennonite community. Her encounter with a traumatised young Mennonite boy, Bradley Yoder, whom she finds breaking and entering a grocery store, is the start of a journey which sees her settling ever deeper into the life of the small town. She finds herself becoming more and more enmeshed in a web of mystery which surrounds the town’s proposed new development and the epidemic of attacks on Mennonite families in the area.

The strong plot was well-handled, but I really could not find the love interest character - Patrick - to be very likeable, and I think that perhaps the strong Christian emphasis might have been even more effective if it hadn’t been quite so emphatically stressed. I would certainly enjoy seeing Ashley return in future books.

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The Research Virtuoso


 Toronto Public Library

Annick Press, 2012

Attractively illustrated and clearly laid out, this is a great study guide. It teaches the basics of research for preparing a presentation or essay on any topic. Nothing is assumed or taken for granted; it is a common-sense, step by step guide which tells you exactly what you need to know clearly and succinctly, with plenty of humour. In many ways, the rise of the Internet has made a plethora of information and misinformation available to the unsuspecting reader/researcher, and this books shows the reader how to weigh up and assess the merits of information gained from libraries, archives and the internet.

Bloom's taxonomy of learning is used as the base and there are check lists for the reader to use to make sure all important areas have been covered when preparing an essay. How to use a library effectively, as well as efficient methods of

taking notes, organising and writing material and the advantages of saving materials in the "cloud" for easy access and retrieval are discussed as well as keeping focused to avoid getting sidetracked and swamped . The importance of avoiding infringing copyright and plagiarism are covered, and this useful book teaches a truly essential life skill. It is suitable for young people and adults alike, and I found it helpful and informative.

Highly recommended.

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Book Review - Fleas, Flies, and Friars

Fleas, Flies and Friars


Children's Poetry From The Middle Ages

by Nicholas Orme

Published by Cornell University Press, 2011.


As children's verses and nursery rhymes have been primarily passed down by the oral route, this is a part of literature which has hitherto not been extensively written about. I found this to be an absolutely fascinating look at children in late mediaeval life and how these ideas and rhymes persisted; despite having a degree in medieval studies myself, many of these poems were quite unknown to me and were an absolute delight.

An enormous variety of verse is included in this slim but charming volume: poems composed by adults for or about children as well as children's own rhymes of abuse, charms, riddles and tongue-twisters. There are references to books of advice about behaviour and morals and the even rarer advice poems for girls. It was nice to see St Nicholas and the Holy Innocents so well represented in the section on religion and I particularly enjoyed the school days helps for learning Latin.

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Book Review - Necropolis

Necropolis by Anthony Horowitz

This is the fourth story in "The Power Of Five" series, and although I had not read any of the other books, this one is so well-crafted that it is perfectly possible to jump straight in to folowing the the life of Scarlett, the last of the Five Child Guardians who, when they are finally united, are the only force which can hold back the relentless and overwhelming evil of the Old Ones determined to take over the world once more.

A supernatural fantasy/thriller book set firmly and squarely in modern day society, we follow Scarlett's relatively normal life in affluent suburban London, then on a school trip where she opens a Church door which unexpectedly acts as a portal which transports her to a dilapidated monastery in the Ukraine. Here she meets evil face to horrifying face, finds out that she is the last of the Five to be discovered in this generation and realises that her life is never, ever going to be normal again.

The series is aimed at teenaged readers and my thirteen year old daughter has read the other books and enjoyed them. She has been patiently waiting for me to finish this one so she can read it, but I would be wary of giving this book to a younger reader unless you are confident that h/she is fairly mature and of a strong disposition, as some of the situations are both quite violent and graphically described. There are quite a few deaths of minor characters which made me wince, and I'm used to reading Andy McNab and Chris Ryan.....

The bulk of the book's fast-paced action takes part in Hong Kong, and I was absolutely spell-bound from the first page to the last. It is definitely one of the very best thrillers I have read in a long time. Very highly recommended, and I am now reading the first book in the series, "Raven's Gate", to see what I have been missing !

Many thanks to the staff at The Book People for sending me a review copy !

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Book Review - Walking In The Dust Of Rabbi Jesus

Walking In The Dust Of Rabbi Jesus.

How the Jewish Words of Jesus Can Change Your Life

 by LOIS TVERBERG
 Published by Zondervan, March 2012

I re- read some portions of this book several times before I started writing this review, carefully absorbing and digesting many of the concepts. The title refers to the tradition of a Rabbi's disciples walking so closely tho the Rabbi in order not to miss a word of his teachings that they would be covered in the dust raised by the Rabbi's footsteps, which is a beautiful mental picture.

First century Israel was a very different place from our twenty first century technologically-savvy western world, yet the message of Jesus is just as important to both, and it is far too easy to overlook the true radicality and depth of some of Jesus' teachings purely because we do not have much awareness of the political, historical, social and religious controverseies that were being debated and discussed at that time. This book addresses that deficit, and makes us more aware of what life was like in Jesus' world, and how his teachings resounded with his hearers, the early church, and began to change the world.


 I particularly enjoyed the many opportunities taken to explain what traditional Jewish teaching on various topics was, and how Jesus' teachings are totally saturated with Talmudic teaching and insights. By acknowledging and exploring the Jewishness of Jesus, Tverberg opens our eyes to  the riches of Jewish traditional understanding of the scriptures and of Jewish teaching relating to moral issues which also provide valuable illumination on the teachings of Christ.

The linguistic issues I found of great interest, and these highlight the problems of using translations of the bible which can rarely convey the full depth of meaning of the original texts. I had no idea that Biblical Hebrew had so few words compared to English, nor that each Hebrew word could hold so many meanings as a result.

This is a throughly enjoyable, easily read book and I hope that Lois Tverberg will continue to produce more books exploring these ideas.  Thoughtful comments at the end of each chapter for pondering and discussing make this book a valuable one for discussion or study groups as well as for the individual reader.

You can read a sample of the book here.


Many thanks to Zondervan for sending me a review digital copy of this book via NetGalley !

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Book Review - Following Your Heart

Following Your Heart by Jerry Eicher

Harvest House Publishers, May 2012

Having read several Amish romance fiction books recently, it was refreshing to find that there are some written - and very well written, I hasten to add - by a male author, Jerry Eicher. This was book two in the "Fields of Home"  series, and as I had not read the first book, it did take me a little while to mentally catch up with the events of the first story, but the characters were very well-drawn with a nicely paced narrative flow.

Teresa is a single mother with a young baby, who has been befriended by an Amish girl named Susan when Susan was living away from her community. Teresa is now happily living with Susan and her family on their farm. Teresa really wants to settle permanently into this close-knit and deeply Christian community and raise her son Samuel in a godly manner from his earliest infancy. She meets with opposition from the Amish hierarchy, who decree that she will only be allowed baptism - and hence full membership into the community- if she marries. A confirmed bachelor named Yost Byler offers for her hand, and she accepts, but there is another suitor who would like to lay claim. Will she be able to be baptised or is the situation and her tenuous position in the Amish community all set to unravel ?
 Susan also has to face her own dilemma about whether she should forgive her somewhat arrogant, conceited and interfering two-timing former boyfriend Thomas, who is convinced that Susan still both loves and wants him. Susan is torn between what she feels is pressure from her family and friends to settle down and marry Thomas, and her own  hankerings towards living back in the Englisch world again.

It was a very enjoyable read indeed, and I enjoyed seeing so much of Amish life from a refreshingly male perspective. I definitely look forward to reading more books from Jerry Eicher in the future.

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Book Review - The World In Your Lunchbox

The World In Your Lunchbox by Claire Eamer
Published by Annick Press, February 2012


This is a great book which will capture the attention of almost any child or even adult. Full of delightfully quirky  and funny colour cartoon illustrations by the talented Sa Boothroyd, it takes the reader on a whistle-stop tour through the background of some of our most commonly eaten foods.
Divided into seven chapters, and featuring a different lunchbox meal in each, the book is crammed full of funny and fascinating facts.
Did you know about the Bishop who ate his boots to avoid starving to death when on a perilous journey in Canada in 1909? I certainly didn't, and I learnt something new on virtually every page I read. Even staple foods like ham and tomato sandwiches have an interesting  background, and I had no idea that you can even get stripy tomatoes......

Hot dogs, pizza, macaroni cheese and other favourite foods get the same treatment and as a result, history, science and food technology are all neatly combined in this super book. Highly recommended for the young and young at heart alike.

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Book Review - The Sewer Demon

 The Sewer Demon
by Caroline Lawrence
Published by Orion Children's Books, 2012

My daughters and I are huge fans of Caroline Lawrence's wonderful series, The Roman Mysteries, and I was delighted  to  read her latest book - The Sewer Demon - which is pitched at a slightly younger audience.

Threptus is a young beggar boy from the Roman port of Ostia who has become "apprenticed" to a self-proclaimed soothsayer named Floridius, who works on the shady side of legal trading. What starts off as a simple shopping trip leads Threptus through a frightening journey into the sewers and the chance to solve a mystery involving a suspected demon in the sewer of a Roman lady's house. It is crammed full of fascinating information about life in Roman times, especially  toilets and the dreaded sponge stick, and  will appeal to children  aged 7+, or to  even younger confident  readers.
Mild peril, fast-paced adventure, oodles of lavatorial humour and bravery permeate the whole book, and it is destined to become a firm favourite for any child with an interest in history, the Romans or who just wants a really, really fun book to read.

I thoroughly enjoyed it even if I am 48 :-)

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