Mother, Mother - Koren Zalickas

Wow!  This was a great read and Koren Zalickas does a wonderful job weaving the story together and pulling you in.

The Hurst family appears to have it all together, mom Josephine is a former educator who is now devoting herself to home schooling her youngest child Will who suffers from seizures and has recently been diagnosed with Asperger’s.    Her oldest daughter Rose ran away from home with a boyfriend that she did not approve of so from the outside looking in, it appears that her attempts to control Will and his sister Violet are possibly done out of fear of losing them.   Their father Douglas is a wiz at work but more or less non-responsive and checked out at home and is possibly having an affair.

Since he is home schooled, Will spends his days and his nights with his mother and it almost seems as his role in the family is that of stand in husband for the absent Douglas.   Will overhears his father whispering on the phone one night, confides to his mother that he fears his father is having an affair and then sets out to find out if this is true and if so, who the person is.

Violet hangs out with some of her friends one afternoon and tries some hallucinogenic seeds and has a bad reaction, that evening she is admitted to the psychiatric ward after allegedly attempting to stab her younger brother.     While in the hospital she receives a letter from her sister Rose who has run away from home and they begin a cautious rebuilding of their relationship and Rose offers Violet a safe place away from their abusive mother.

While Violet is in the hospital, Josephine is visited by two Children’s service workers, one of whom is clearly more passionate about his job and is able to see through the elaborate display of smoke and mirrors Josephine has used to control not only her family for so many years, but also to control others outside the family to make decisions that will have long term, serious consequences.   Really can’t say too much here without giving everything away!!

As the finely crafted web Josephine has skillfully put together begins to unravel you get a much clearer picture of what is actually happening in the Hurst family, and it is crazier and scarier than you imagined.

Koren Zalickas is a wonderfully creative writer with fantastic insight.    This book was certainly dark and disturbing but it was also wonderfully written and poignant.  She does a great job building her characters and you fully understand why they do what they do.  It also gives you pause, how many families deal with these sorts of issues and we have no idea because they all wear their masks firmly in place so the rest of world only sees what they want them too.   Really fascinating.

I highly recommend this book, you can get it here, happy reading!

I received a free copy of Mother, Mother from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

The Humanity of Justice

This is a wonderful and informative look into the justice system from the inside. Mr. Strunksy is a senior deputy district attorney who specializes in homicide cases and crimes against children, some of which have been featured on national television. Mr. Strunksy expertly weaves some of the cases he has prosecuted throughout the book as real world examples of how the justice system is set up to work and why and how that looks and plays out in real life.


I really enjoy crime shows on TV, like CSI, Law and Order etc and one of my guilty pleasures is the show Snapped.  I, like most people are very curious about why people do the terrible things they do.

Real life is often incredibly painful and traumatic and a real crime is not always wrapped up as neatly as one on TV. Some of the stories of cases in the book are very difficult to read. I had to pause multiple times while reading about a few cases because it was just too hard to continue and almost too hard to wrap my head around the heinous things human beings are capable of doing. The stories in the book however unsettling are important for their role in demonstrating the various aspects of the legal system. The stories also serve another, more critical purpose. They remind of most certainly of the evils in the world but they also remind us of the victims. The stories give the victims a name and a face, they introduce us to the human beings whose lives are forever altered and sometimes ended, far too often by the hands of those they trust to protect them. These stories also demonstrate the passion, compassion and tireless effort those who prosecute put in to ensure the offender is held accountable and to provide a sense of closure and justice for the family and loved ones of the victims.

The book did a wonderful job explaining concepts that I thought I knew and understood and made them much clearer, specifically how the legal system was formed and why, the reasoning for and importance of trials by jury and the critical role they play in the process. The power of words, their use, voice modulation and body language is also discussed and the power they wield is a very important point.

The thing that stood out to me most was the discussion on revenge and the desire for justice. Neuroscientists have discovered the desire for revenge is actually hard wired into our brains and interestingly is located in the same region that controls our appetite, and when we imagine enacting revenge on someone who has done us wrong our brain waves fire in the exact way that they do when we are craving our favorite foods! There is a quote that states “ A cry for Justice is always a cry for Revenge” and when one stops to ponder that statement? It is absolutely true.

I very much enjoyed the book and think that those interested in the workings of the criminal justice system would also enjoy this book. It is clear that Mr. Strunsky has many years of experience but more importantly he is able to explain the system in a way that makes it easy to understand and relate to. Very early into the book you feel the passion that he has for his job and his commitment to the victims that he works with, the fact that 100% of the proceeds of the book will be donated to The Humanity of Justice Foundation (a nonprofit organization that works to prevent child abuse and neglect) speaks volumes. I am left feeling better educated, a bit sad but incredibly thankful for the men and women who dedicate their lives shining their light into some very dark places.

Interested?  Check it out here and happy reading!

The Girl in the Road

I am very often disappointed after reading glowing reviews of a book as they often seem to be written about another book entirely or the review is based solely on a particularly well written paragraph or chapter of the book.

The reviews for The Girl in the Road were fantastic and I was thrilled to discover that they were also accurate!

There seem to be so few people anymore who have the ability to create something new and fresh but Monica Byrne is obviously one of those people and I certainly hope her writing career will evidence that.

The book tells the story of two girls, Meena and Mariama.   Both girls are on the run from tragic events and are seeking safety they are convinced they will find in Ethiopia.   Their journeys happen years apart but are woven together side by side in the book beautifully.

Meena's story takes place in a futuristic time and the majority of her journey occurs on a "bridge" that spans the ocean between India and Africa.   I am not typically a fan of sci-fi type books but I was so drawn in by the story and the creativity and was fascinated by the tools she used on her travels and could clearly imagine them in my mind.

When I read the front cover of the book I was hopeful but honestly doubtful that it would fulfill the promise of being "mysterious and shocking to the core."

It was!


I highly recommend this book and wish I could say even more about it but I fear I would give too much away!

Take a look here, and happy reading!



***I received a free copy of The Girl in the Road from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

YOU were made for this!

I have always believed that it is important to do good unto others, for many reasons one of them being I think that God has many angels here on earth who look just like us and they serve as a way of testing the many things we humans fall short on sometimes.  Like grace, forgiveness, faith, compassion etc.  

I have also always felt internal proddings that I would laugh about and jokingly call my nudges from God.  Depending on who I was speaking with they either laughed and understood or laughed and eyed me warily.  I often feel compelled to step in and talk to someone, or offer my assistance to someone even when I feel really awkward about it because I feel like I have to.  I have heard some heart wrenching stories but on the plus side I have been able to provide assistance in some way be it a shoulder to cry on, a meal or connections to resources for other kinds of help.

The premise of the book is that so often we pray to God to deliver us from a situation, or to help us with a problem and sometimes it feels as though He is not hearing us or if he is hearing, he is choosing not to help.  

But as the book states and as I fully believe, sometimes that is OUR job.  God grants us the ability to step in and serve as His hands and feet and when we get a nudge and do nothing?  Someone may have missed out on a blessing.  There are many wonderful examples in the book of the authors acting in that very capacity and doing some really wonderful things for people.  They suggest beginning each day by asking God to show you who needs a blessing and ask that if you are to be the one to provide that to assist you in doing so.   

Like I have mentioned, I have always believed this but after reading this book I am much more aware of the people that God steers onto my path and I am thankful that He trusts me to be the one to reach out to on of his children.  I have also been more aware of the people who God has sent to me to serve me in that way and I am extremely grateful.

Disclosure:  Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers

I loved this book. Wildly creative, and wonderfully written!! This book is narrated by a young boy named Grady who is traveling with a con man named Floyd. Floyd tells Grady that he found him during his travels and Floyd is all Grady has, but all Grady wants is to be loved and Floyd has no love to spare. As they travel they pretend that Grady is a "feechie" a rare breed of human found deep in the swamps that no one has ever seen before. They make a decent living for awhile with this scam until people start to wise up and they have to up the ante. They try several different ideas one of which is to have Grady be the "world's ugliest boy." The desire he feels to actually BE the world's ugliest boy so that he is the best at something comes off the page and just punches you in the stomach, his longing to belong and be loved is palpable. The story moves a great pace and keeps you fully engaged and the message is wonderful, we all want to be loved and belong and we do, we all belong, somewhere. The story did not end the way I expected, it was much better! This is a wonderful book for kids, but I also enjoyed it very much as an adult!! I think you will love it just as much, click here and enjoy! I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my review from WaterBrook Press, the opinions are entirely my own.

Finding Our Way Home - Charlene Ann Baumbich

What a great love story.

When I say love story, I don't just mean romantic love, although there is certainly a wonderful romantic love story in this book. The best part, is there is not just one. It is a love story of the love and a pride a mother feels for her daughter, a love that lifts her up and carries her through hard times and gives her the wings to fly and become a world famous ballet dancer.

It is a love story of a married couple whose marriage is forever altered after a terrible accident, forever altered, but not over. Their story is a story of faith, commitment and the hurdle that seemed perhaps insurmountable but when handled with love and prayer, wasn't.

It is a love story of young lovers who found something in each other that they were missing, who were able to see each other as they were and eventually realized that the feeling of love often doesn't fix everything. And that even when it is for the best, the end of a relationship is so very painful.

It is a love story of a family that acts as an umbrella when the storms come, a safe haven, even when someone is doing their best to push away. It is learning that you can grow up but the comfort of your parents and grandparents arms and unconditional love will be there waiting whenever you need it.

It is a love story of friendship. It is the story of feeling so broken and unlikable and then suddenly realizing that someone you never expected is there by your side, walking along a dark path with you, sharing their light.

It is also a love story of self, learning to stand on your own two feet while looking to heaven to keep you balanced.

I really loved this book, I think you will too! Click here and happy reading.


**I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, by WaterBrook Press. My opinions about this book are totally my own.**

Lazarus Awakening - Joanna Weaver

Books have played a huge part in my life; because of this I treat them reverently. It is difficult for me to even highlight in a textbook so most of the time I painstakingly rewrite whatever material I want to remember into a notebook. A notebook that always gets lost in the shuffle after the course ends.

When I received the book I was a little worried because I have not read Joanna’s previous book Having a Mary heart in a Martha World, and I thought I would miss something. I was wrong, so, so wrong. From the start I was hooked, and immediately had to smile and thank God for once again, sending me what I needed because I am often too stubborn to do the work on my own.
The book tells the story of Jesus and Lazarus, a story of love and friendship, faith and strength. It also tells the story of our importance, how much God loves us and why we are so important to Him.

What hooked me in the first chapter? It was actually in the second paragraph of the first chapter. Joanna tells the story of a woman who asked to speak to her after Bible study, the woman says “ I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I could go to the worst criminal or a drug addict living on the street, and I could look him in the eye and tell him “Jesus loves you!” and meant it from the bottom of my heart” “But, Joanna, she said, I can’t seem to look in the mirror and convince myself.”

That brief conversation brought me to tears, because I could be the person talking to her, and I am sure that there are a lot of other people who feel the same way.

The book includes a 10-week study guide and TONS of information that is so incredibly useful. I was not out of the first chapter before I went to find a highlighter to mark what I felt was important and what I needed to work on. I was highlighting like crazy and then it dawned on me, WHAT was I doing?!?! I was marking up a book, and in doing so I was feeling such a huge sense of peace, this is not information that is going in a notebook to be lost. I can refer to this information any time that I need to do so, and for that I am thankful.

Don't miss out, grab a highlighter, click here and happy reading!

I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah press in exchange for this review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.