A Time To Dance by Karen Kingsbury

 Synopsis: 

A Story of Reconciliation

John and Abby were the perfect couple, but they are about to lose it all: On the verge of having an affair, John is no more the man Abby married than she is the long ago girl of his dreams. They make the sad decision to divorce. When they gather their three children to tell them the news, their daughter makes an announcement of her own: she's getting married that summer.

Determined not to ruin their daughter's season of happiness, Abby and John secretly agree to put their divorce plans on hold. But as the wedding nears, they wonder: Is it possible to find joy, after all these years, and perhaps the time...to dance?

Here is where I got this book.  It's such a joy to find this gem among the many books there.  Such books are not readily available in our mainstream bookstores so I really count my blessing to come across a book by one of my favourite author.

 
It is also a rare occurrence that the name and address of the previous owner of the book in so nicely 'sticker-ed' in the inside front page.  I really hope that A Time To Dance has been a blessing to Robin Wroten of Spring TX as it has been to me.

It's really a wonderful book. Karen Kingsbury has this incredible gift and talent in telling stories that touches the heart and soul.   She has this God given abilities to teach about God through stories (Jesus taught his disciples using parables/stories in the biblical days and it worked then.  I dont' see why it can't be a tool in today's society as well in learning about God's messages).

While A Time To Dance is the story of John and Abby, it can also be the story of any married couples in the world today.  Couples who let pride and self preservation gets into the way. Couples who do not really talk and search deep into their hearts.  Couples who are hurting alone but not willing to reach out.   Couples who feel throw away marriages too quickly. That's what John and Abby nearly did but God hate divorce and He intervene. He spoke to both John and Abby and both of them have the choice to listen or to close their ears and hearts and allow hurt, hate and bitterness to take root in their heart.  But what they didn't know is that God has impressed in the heart of Nicole, their daughter to pray and intercede for them and it's through intercession that God, who is the God of impossible and who is the author and finisher of our lives begin to intervene in the situation.

The habits of the eagles are mentioned here and the relationship between an eagle and it's mate is liken to the marriage of a husband and wife.  God also called His people to be like eagles.  Quoting from the book ' The eagle eats only life-giving food. When he eats something that makes him sick, he flies to the highest rock he can find and lays spread eagle with his wings out against the surface of the rock. He stays there until the sun draws out the poison, freeing him to fly with the other eagles.'.  Can you link that to the importance for us to let God deal with the issues that is poisoning us and making us sick?  How we need to go to the place and seek His face and let Him free us from our sins?

There's so many lessons in this book and I'm sure that if I'm to read this again, I would find more learning points to drawn from.  A Time to Dance is followed by the 2nd book entitled A Time To Embrace.  I would love to have a chance to read this.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Synopsis :

Meet Dolores Price. She's a thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies.  When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds. Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder.  But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.

In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.  At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably lovable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections.  She's Come Undone includes a promise : you will never forget Dolores Price.


There's as many negative review about this book as there are positive comments especially about the fact that the author is a male writing about the coming of age of a girl.  Most common and immediate thoughts would be what would he know about being a girl?  I guess it's the same as being a writer of magic and wizards and vampires - I mean, we don't have any authors who are actual wizards and vampires, right?

All I feel is that Wally Lamb must have done lots of research and in not wanting any of his research material to go to waste, he dumps them all in this book.  I really pity Dolores Price.  She has to shoulder the burden of all that the author inflicted on her.  Her dad left the family when she's about ten, her mum had a mental breakdown subsequently she was raped when she was thirteen, she was super fat as that's the way she deals with her life, she tried to kill herself and was sent to a mental institute, she married someone who forced her to terminate her pregnancy, stole from her and cheated on her.  Subsequently, the author decided that that's too much for one person to take and decided to give her a break and we see a light in the end of the tunnel for Dolores.

It's a pretty easy book to read as well as it's pretty comical at times but I am sure you will find yourself either rooting for the main character or wanting to shake some sense into her.

If you do come across a copy, do check it out.

Holiday Read

It's a school holiday week next week and the family will be going on a road trip.   Everyone's pretty excited as this will be a new experience for us - driving over eight hours to a small town that I have been before for work but the rest of the family have not been yet.

Naturally, I must make sure I have a good read during the long journey and while we're there too.  Most of the times, I would end up not having enough time to read as we'll be too busy doing enjoying our holidays :) but there would be pockets of down time and that's when I would lost myself in whichever book that I brought alone.  As such, it's important that I bring along the right book as a wrong choice would mean nothing to read for the whole trip.

I did mention here that I inherited heaps of new read recently.  I have started on them and the few that i read so far met my expectation.

For next week holidays, I have shortlisted my choice to these three books : 

•  She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb - read a couple of chapters already and quite like it.

• The Village By The Sea by Anita Desai - since I'm traveling to the town by the river.

• Ishg and Mushg by Priya Basil -  a story of three generations of a family in India, East Africa and UK

I haven't decide yet on which so I guess the next review would reveal my choice. :)



In the meantime, if you're on a holiday, wishing you a wonderful holiday.